Vidya Mani

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I am a Research Associate Professor at the Biocomplexity Institute, University of Virginia as well as a Visiting Associate Professor at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University and Indian School of Business (ISB).

I have a deep expertise in global supply chains. My research focuses on how supply chain imperatives drive operational decisions across key sectors, including automotive, electronics, energy, tech, pharmaceuticals, and retail. My work highlights how businesses within these supply chains will respond to specific market constraints and regulations. Research topics include examining impact of trade policies on national competitiveness and resilience of critical supply chains, developing energy-transition pathways for industrialized and less-developed economies, evaluating the effectiveness of inspection and penalties towards ensuring environmental safety and compliance for energy sector, effective ways to create a secure supply chain in the electronics sector, developing an efficient product portfolio and distribution strategy for specialty drugs and making targeted assortment and labor decisions for retail stores.

I teach an electives on Sustainable Global Value Chains, Operations Analytics and Excellence, Digital Business and Retail Operations, and Leveraging Operations for Environmental and Social Sustainability.

I collaborate with industry and policymakers to assess the impact of recent legislative efforts and ESG standards on the supply chain and evaluate the trade-offs associated with local policies, national security, and global objectives. In collaboration with the US Department of Defense and the LMI Research Institute, I developed a data-driven intelligent response toolkit to mitigate counterfeit risk in the weapons system supply chain. I am a Franklin Fellow at the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Office of International Labor Affairs, a member of the working group tasked with developing sustainability standards for the textile and apparel sector at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Senior Research Fellow for Digital Trade and AI at Inter-American Dialogue, and an Expert Advisor on Critical Supply Chains and Emerging Technologies at Public Spend Forum (PSF).

Experience

  • 2025–present
    Visiting associate professor, Cornell University
  • 2025–present
    Senior research fellow, InterAmerican Dialogue
  • 2019–present
    Associate professor, University of Virginia

Education

  • 2012 
    University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill, PhD in Operations Management
  • 2002 
    SJMSOM, IIT Bombay, MBA

Publications

  • 2026
    Use of Public-Private Partnerships (P3s), Book Chapter in Policy and Ecosystem Support for Social Entrepreneurship, Springer Nature
  • 2023
    Not a Box of Nuts and Bolts. Distribution Channels for Specialty Drugs, Production and Operations Management
  • 2022
    Estimating substitution and basket effects in retail stores, Management Science
  • 2021
    Inventory Prepositioning for UNICEF Plumpy Nut Supply Chain. Book Chapter in Responsible Business Operations: Challenges and Opportunities. , Springer Nature
  • 2019
    How learning from inspections affect environmental outcomes: Evidence from unconventional drilling, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
  • 2015
    Estimating the impact of understaffing on sales and profitability in retail stores., Production and Operations Management
  • 2015
    An overview of industry practice and empirical research in retail workforce management - Book Chapter in Retail Supply Chain Management: Quantitative Models and Empirical Studies , Springer Nature
  • 2013
    The relationship between abnormal inventory growth and future earnings for US public retailers, The relationship between abnormal inventory growth and future earnings for US public retailers

Contact Vidya for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision