UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Operations Area studies a complex range of business activities associated with the coordination of resources and effective delivery of value-added products and services to global customers. Our faculty is well known for conducting research in a variety of applied clusters, including supply chain management, inventory management, retail operations, health care, energy, information technology, e-business/e-commerce, sustainable enterprise, learning and knowledge-based innovation, outsourcing/offshoring, revenue management, global health, product safety in the supply chain and technology management.
Students in our Operations and Data Management program develop into top research scholars well-prepared to investigate critical problems in operations management.
You will work closely with faculty members on cutting-edge projects. The scope of their research interests and expertise is quite broad, addressing problems in supply chains and operations management in global manufacturing and service firms. The context for this research is broad and includes various industries — banking, information services, retail, healthcare, airline and automotive — and humanitarian, nonprofit organizations.
The Operations curriculum provides a background in the literature and techniques used in research. It is quantitative in nature and as such, incoming PhD students often have a background in economics, engineering, mathematics, or statistics.
Although some students have completed graduate work prior to entry into the PhD program, it is not required.
View our current Operations PhD students.