Operations and Supply Chain Management, Best Thesis winner

Shandong is now an Assistant Professor in the Business School at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, China. He was awarded his PhD degree in Operations and Supply Chain Management in 2019 for a thesis entitled: “Real-Time Labour Allocation in Retail Stores”.

What was the doctoral thesis about?

Supervised by Professor David Robb, Dr Valery Pavlov, and Professor David Sundaram, Shandong’s research project was on workforce management in retailing, specifically looking at the practice of allocating cross-trained store associates to different jobs in real time.

Shandong explains, “Almost all of us have experienced this situation: when checkout queues become too long, an employee – who might be working in another area of the store – is asked to come and open a new checkout till to help reduce waiting time. Although this is widely observed in practice, our discussions with retail practitioners revealed that there are few specific guidelines for such decisions.”

“We worked with a Kiwi retailer and aim to understand how managers make such decisions, the impacts of their decisions, and how we can help managers make better decisions to effectively address a shortage (or an abundance) of employees. Based on the research, we expect to help managers with various recommendations and ultimately improve customers’ shopping experiences.”

Overall, the thesis, which consists of three original papers, provides a deeper understanding of retail store operations as well as RTLA decision-making in retail stores.

Shandong’s research has appeared in a number of top-tier international journals, such as Computers & Industrial Engineering, Decision Support Systems (ABDC A*), European Journal of Operational Research (ABDC A*), and International Journal of Production Research. He has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Doctoral Publication Award, China Scholarship Council (CSC) Scholarship, First Prize in the Solve It Challenge for Fonterra sustainable packaging, Procter & Gamble Logistics Scholarship from China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, Outstanding Student Award, and Exchange Student Scholarship.

More about Shandong

The opportunity to work with Professor David Robb was the primary reason Shandong chose the University of Auckland for his doctoral study. Shandong says, “Professor Robb is considered an operations management expert in both New Zealand and China. The University’s world-leading reputation and the beauty of Aotearoa also helped finalise my decision”.

Now back in his post at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, Shandong says he is again “enjoying working on research topics of his interest and discussing with his students”.

Looking back to his time at the University of Auckland, Shandong says, “The PhD programmes at the University of Auckland are of rigour and relevance. The University and the Business School provide funding opportunities for research collaboration, which are essential for young academics. With funding support, I was able to present my research output at various conferences and gradually grew my professional networks. Also, I enjoyed attending the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition and the Solve It Challenges to further develop my skills.”

“Discussing research as well as daily life regularly with my main supervisor, Professor David Robb, were the most enjoyable moments during my studies. David has been a lifelong friend of mine. PhD study at the University of Auckland has been an incredible part of my life.”