Coronavirus Crisis

What CEOs Need To Know As U.S. Industry Rallies To Fight Coronavirus

Tobias Schoenherr, Srinivas Talluri & Vedat Verter, Michigan State UniversityApril 10, 2020May 7, 2020

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The business community has leapt into action to help fight the novel coronavirus pandemic. Automakers like Ford, GM and Tesla are retooling their factories to produce ventilators. 3M and GE Healthcare are working to boost production of masks, face shields and other protective equipment for healthcare workers. Even small-scale “makers” and volunteers armed with nothing more than sewing machines and 3-D printers are pitching in.

While these efforts are heroic, business leaders can’t simply snap their fingers and transform their production lines and supply chains overnight. It could take months, for example, for automakers to fully ramp up production of ventilators—well after the (first) coronavirus peak hits the U.S.

What can business leaders do to respond as rapidly and effectively as possible? . . .

Read the full article at Chief Executive

This article was produced by Footnote in partnership with the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.

Contributed by

Srinivas Talluri

Endowed Professor in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Broad College of Business
Michigan State University

Sri Talluri is a Hoagland-Metzler Endowed Professor and Professor of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University's Broad College of Business. He has more than 20 years of research and teaching experience in the areas of supply chain management, operations management, operations research/management science, and statistics. He earned his Ph.D. in production and operations management from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Tobias Schoenherr

Endowed Professor in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Broad College of Business
Michigan State University

Dr. Schoenherr is the Hoagland-Metzler Endowed Professor in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University's Broad College of Business. He is an award-winning scholar and teacher focusing on the area of sourcing, with a particular interest in buyer-supplier relationships. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management and Decision Sciences from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Vedat Verter

John H. McConnell Chair in Business Administration, Broad College of Business
Michigan State University

Vedat Verter is the John McConnell Endowed Chair of Business Administration and the Chairperson of the Supply Chain Management Department at Michigan State University's Broad College of Business. He specializes in the application of operations research for tackling challenges in the public sector including service chain design, hazardous materials logistics, sustainable operations, and healthcare operations management.