Stanley Lim

Stanley Lim is an assistant professor of supply chain management in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from the University of Cambridge, a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an M.B.A. from Warwick Business School. In his research, he examines operational issues at the interface between retail supply chain management and end consumers. Stanley has developed a stream of research that is grounded in practice with a strong managerial emphasis. He adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to improve operations' theory and practice. He integrates work in operations management, marketing, and economics and leverages customer behavior analytics to inform how and under what conditions can firms best distribute their products and services to the end consumers.

At present, he focuses on understanding the economics of distribution services in digital and nondigital retail with applications in omni-channel retailing, food waste management, and last-mile supply chains, covering the four A's: (1) accessibility of location/information, (2) availability of inventory, (3) product assortment, and (4) assurance of product delivery. These areas comprise the four core services retailers provide to help consumers reduce their search and transaction costs.

Based on this research agenda, Stanley has developed analytical models to predict failed delivery attempts for routing models, estimate the opportunity cost of product stockouts to inform inventory planning, and evaluate the degree of spatial competition to guide the design of store market areas. He has also examined the effects of contract terms on retailer and supplier's bargaining power and their economic outcomes, drivers' workload on their delivery performance, subscription models on consumer behaviors, and consumers' sensitivities to lead times and their product return behaviors across digital and nondigital channels. 

Stanley reviews for Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Business Logistics, and Decision Sciences Journals. He has also served as a guest associate editor at Journal of Operations Management for a special issue on omni-channel retailing. He frequently serves as session chairs of empirical retail operations and economics of distribution services at INFORMS and POMS annual conferences. Stanley welcomes opportunities for new collaborations.

Lim, S.F.W.T., Richards, T.J., Rabinovich, E. and Choi, M. 2021. Scan based trading and bargaining equilibrium: A structural estimation of channel surplus. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (Minor revision).Lim, S.F.W.T., Rabinovich, E., Park, S. and Hwang, M. 2021. Shopping activity at warehouse club stores and its competitive and network density implications. Production and Operations Management, 30(1): 28-46.Lim, S.F.W.T. and Winkenbach, M. 2019. Configuring the last-mile in business-to-consumer e-retailing. California Management Review, 61(2): 132-154.