Editor’s Note: Photo available upon request.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Prashant Yadav, a University of Alabama management science doctoral candidate, has received the University of Arkansas’ Supply Chain Management Research Center’s Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award in supply chain management.

“The purpose of the award is to encourage, recognize and reward individuals involved in pursuit of a doctoral degree in supply chain management,” said James Crowell, director of the SCMRC.

Yadav’s dissertation focuses on collaborative forecasting and supply chain contracts. His idea stemmed from his work in March of 2001 with the Alabama Productivity Center and its client, McGriff Industries. The Alabama Productivity Center is a non profit organization focused on stimulating economic development within the state of Alabama through University research and educational resources. The McGriff Treading Company, located in Cullman, manufactures and sells retreaded truck tires.

McGriff Treading started a service called McGriff Tire Management Solution, which provides a complete service to trucking fleets covering retreading, maintenance, and repair of tires for a fixed annual fee. To ensure that the fleet operator actively participates in reducing tire costs, the contract specifies that the two parties share any savings realized due to the fleet operator’s participation.

By designing the contract carefully, McGriff Tire Management Solution aligns the incentives of the retreader and the fleet operator. The Alabama Productivity Center aided McGriff in establishing the contract parameters and quantifying the value proposition for the initial offerings of this service. Yadav then contributed to an article about the McGriff project that has been accepted for publication.

“This experience spurred my academic interest in the area of two parties collaborating for one objective and the need to have an incentive structure to do it,” said Yadav. With his experience in hand, Yadav shifted focus to collaborative forecasting between retailers and manufacturers/suppliers.

He began the research for his dissertation in the summer of 2001 with the help of Dr. Chuck Schmidt, professor of management science. Supply chain management and incentive structures that induce cooperation of the whole chain are a hot area right now, said Schmidt.

“What’s unique to Prashant is his focus on forecasting,” said Schmidt.

Yadav hypothesizes that return policies that allow retailers to return unsold merchandise at the end of the season for full or substantial refund can discourage collaborative forecasting.

“Retailers don’t have an incentive to forecast or collaborate with suppliers unless there is some value to them,” said Yadav. “My on-going research focuses on contracts that offer the best options for both parties, such as a partial return policy.”

This research prompted Yadav to apply for the University of Arkansas’ SCMRC Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award. The SCMRC, located in the Sam M. Walton College of Business on the main campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, is a research center and serves as a direct link between the private sector and university resources. The number of applicants typically ranges from 8-14 for this particular award, said Crowell.

“The number of applicants is determined by the number of people ready to participate at the time of the evaluation… we have a distribution list of over 100 programs.”

The evaluation process consists of 8-10 reviewers, all faculty from different universities. The evaluation criterion includes: contribution to supply chain management; likelihood of completing dissertation; theoretical basis for research; and appropriateness of research design. “The reason this award exists is to promote scholarship in the area of supply chain management …there are not enough supply chain graduates,” said Crowell.

Past recipients of the award include doctoral candidates from The University of Tennessee and Ohio State.

Yadav was recognized for his accomplishment at the Annual Council of Logistics Management Conference in Chicago. He receives a $5,000 monetary grant paid directly to him in two installments upon receipt of the final research proposal and upon receipt of the completed, bound dissertation that has been approved by his dissertation committee.

“Receiving this award represents the degree to which leading supply chain management academics felt Prashant Yadav’s dissertation will contribute to supply chain management,” Crowell said.