Sunil Chopra is the IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management. He was also Interim Dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University from 2009-2010. From 2006 – 2009, he served as Senior Associate Dean: Curriculum and Teaching. He became a faculty member of the school in 1989. Previously he was an Assistant Professor at the Stern School of Business Administration at New York University. He has a PhD in Operations Research from SUNY Stony Brook.

Professor Chopra’s research and teaching interests are in Operations Management, Logistics and Distribution Management, design of communication networks and design of distribution networks. He has co-authored the books Managing Business Process Flows and Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation. Both books are published by Prentice Hall and are used at several of the top business schools to teach Operations Management and Supply Chain Management respectively. The Supply Chain Management book was awarded the best book of the year for 2002 by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). Professor Chopra has won several teaching awards at Kellogg.

He has been Departmental Editor for the journals Management Science and an Associate Editor for the Decision Sciences Journal, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and Operations Research. His recent research has focused on risk management in supply chains. He has also studied distribution systems in a variety of companies trying to identify market, manufacturing, and product characteristics that drive the structure of a supply chain.

He has consulted for a variety of firms.

Operations management, network design, combinational optimization

• PhD, 1986, Operations Research, State University of New York, Stony Brook
• MS, 1984, Operations Research, State University of New York, Stony Brook
• BT, 1981, Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi

• IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management and Information Systems, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1995-present
• Interim Dean, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2009-2010
• Senior Associate Dean, Curriculum and Teaching, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2006-2009
• Chairman, Managerial Economics and Decision Science, Northwestern University, 2000-2002
• Director, Master of Management and Manufacturing program, Northwestern University, 1998-2006
• Associate Professor, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1992-1995
• Assistant Professor, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1989-1992
• Assistant Professor, Leonard N. Stern School of Business Administration, New York University, 1986-1989

• Saul Gass Expository Writing Award, INFORMS Annual Meeting
• Saul Gass Expository Writing Award, INFORMS Annual Meeting, 2019
• Winner Case Category - Indian Management issues and Opportunities, EFMD Case writing competition, 2015
• A-List of Management Academics, Business Educators, 2011
• Executive MBA Program Outstanding Teaching Awards, Kellogg School of Management, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2001, 1999
• Kellogg Alumni Professor of the Year Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2005
• Selected IIE Book of the Year for Supply Chain Management, IIE, 2002

• Department Editor for, Management Science, 2003-
• Associate Editor, Management Science, 2000-2002
• Associate Editor, Operations Research, 1997-1999

Operations management, network design, combinational optimization

Distribution Channel Management

For senior leaders who have responsibility for distribution strategy and channel management in virtually any business model, this rigorous, one-of-a-kind learning experience delivers a practical approach to the challenges of creating highly effective go-to-market growth strategies.

Supply Chain Management

Revolutionize your operations with the latest tools, techniques and models for efficient — and effective — supply chain management. The experts will show you how to meet the complex challenges of managing facilities, inventories, transportation, information, outsourcing, strategic partnering and more.

Strategic Decisions in Operations (OPNSX-454-0)
This course builds on the core operations management class with an emphasis on strategic level decisions. It emphasizes the long-term, "big" decisions firms face in structuring their operations. Topics covered range from evaluating flexible technologies to designing supply chains.

Operations Management (OPNSX-430-0)
Operations Management examines the basic principles of managing the production and distribution of goods and services. The course approaches operations as a managerial integration function and provides frameworks and tools to target and implement improvements in business processes.

Field Study (OPNS-498-0)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.

Supply Chain Management (OPNS-455-0)
What are the key capabilities a supply chain must develop to support the business strategy of a firm? What is the relationship between the desired capabilities and the structure of a supply chain? This course provides a framework to answer these questions. We define supply chain structure in terms of the following drivers of performance: facilities, information, inventory and transportation. The relationship between structure and performance is analyzed using various case studies that require students to develop analytical spreadsheet models to support their decision making. Students are taught the strategic role of the supply chain. The course also discusses methodologies for designing and planning a supply chain.

Designing and Managing Business Processes (OPNS-440-0)
The course focuses on designing and managing business processes to best support the strategic objectives of the organization and the needs of the market segments being served. We will first develop a strategic framework that allows a process designer to understand what the process needs to do particularly well (process competence) based on the needs of the customer being served. We then define key operational metrics - flow time, throughput, inventory, cost and quality - and link them to financial measures of performance. Such a linkage allows a manager to identify operational metrics along which a process needs to excel or improve. We then discuss how various operational metrics can be tracked and measured. The rest of the course then focuses on identifying design and management levers that allow a manager to improve process performance along each of the key operational metrics. Prerequisites: Student must be part of the MMM Program.