Foisie
Business School department head frequently referenced in academic
scientific publications
January
13, 2017
Being
recognized by your peers is probably one of the most satisfying
accomplishments one can experience as a professional.
In
that respect, Professor Joseph
Sarkis has
distinguished himself. A department head within the Foisie
Business School,
Sarkis recently made the esteemed “Highly
Cited Researchers”
list for 2016. The distinction is based on Thomson Reuters’s vast
database of research journals and articles, which is used to identify
writers who are frequently referenced in academic scientific
publications. The mass media firm ultimately calls the group the
“Most Influential Scientific Minds.”
“It’s
the first time I’ve received it,” Sarkis says, adding, “I was
surprised, actually.”
The
list names a total of 3,200 researchers whose work varies widely in
discipline. “The database for Thomson Reuters is very exclusive,”
says Sarkis, who is one of only 150 researchers to be listed in the
engineering category. “It’s typically used as gold standard for
journal indexing in which only the top journals in each academic
discipline are included.”
His
inclusion is based largely on his research in the burgeoning field of
green and sustainable supply chains. He has authored and co-authored
hundreds of publications, and his 2004 paper, Relationships
Between Operational Practices and Performance Among Early Adopters of
Green Supply Chain Management Practices in Chinese Manufacturing
Enterprises,
is his most highly referenced—it’s been cited 1,333 times,
according to his Google Scholar page.
Additionally,
Sarkis has been identified by a publication in Scientometrics
as
the most productive researcher in the field of supply chain
management from the years 1995 to 2015.
“I
was one of the early people involved in researching the area,” says
Sarkis. “The field is still young. There are lots of
possibilities.”
As
he explains it, the work so far has been highly focused on China, as
the majority of supply chains have ties to the emerging superpower.
Emphasis has been on promoting “good practices,” investigating
various pressures to supply chains, and identifying ways to manage
those supply chains in efficient ways. His research has also focused
on developing models to help businesses and organizations reduce
their environmental footprint, as well as manage hazardous waste
materials use and resource depletion.
“Essentially,
it’s going beyond the financial aspects and the business aspects in
the supply chain to think about ethical, social, and environmental
issues,” he says.
More
recently, the work has broadened to include developing suppliers,
helping them to be greener and more proactive about their business
practices when it comes to the environment. “The environment needs
to be considered by industry because of all the damage that’s
occurring,” says Sarkis. As he notes, the question becomes, “How
do you help suppliers become greener or more environmentally sound?”
Ultimately,
it’s a rewarding field of study he says he plans to keep focusing
on for years to come. “One of the things that attracts me to this
research is that it’s doing good,” he says. “Social good and
impact is an important aspect of this research.”
No comments:
Post a Comment