Morris A. Cohen

Morris A. Cohen
  • Panasonic Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing & Logistics
  • Co-Director, Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management
  • Professor Emeritus of Operations, Information and Decisions

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3730 Walnut Street
    546 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: service supply chain strategy & solutions, machine-learning applications to supply chain planning, servicization and product-service systems, global operations strategy, bench-marking of manufacturing/logistics systems, performance based incentives and contracting, service quality measurement, supply chain coordination, manufacturing/marketing interfaces

Links: CV, Personal Website

Overview

Morris A. Cohen is the Panasonic Professor of Manufacturing and Logistics in the Operations, Information and Decisions Department, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also Co-Director of Wharton’s Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management.  He is currently the department editor for services in the Journal of Manufacturing and Service Operations Management and is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, and a Senior Fellow of the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society.

Until recently, Dr. Cohen was founder and chair of the board of MCA Solutions, a software company specializing in after-sales logistics planning systems, which recently merged with PTC, a leading provider of product design and service life cycle management decision support systems.  He recently founded a startup (AD3 Analytics), that is applying concepts of machine learning and big data to a new paradigm for supply chain planning and control.  He has also been a policy analyst for the planning branch of the Treasury Board Secretariat of the Government of Canada.

Dr. Cohen holds a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Sciences from the University of Toronto, as well as an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Northwestern University.

Continue Reading

Research

Dr. Cohen’s research interests include analysis of the current drivers of global supply chain sourcing strategy and product-service system modeling with a focus on performance based incentives and buyer-supplier coordination to support a Servicization strategy.  His recent application and consulting work includes development of a machine-learning based methodology to support operations planning decision making.  He has also developed and implemented advanced optimization tools for strategic and tactical planning systems for service supply chains in industries such as Aerospace & Defense, Consumer Electronics, Health Care Technology, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Semiconductor Equipment, Computers, and Telecommunications.  Professor Cohen holds a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Sciences from the University of Toronto, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Operations Research from Northwestern University.

  • Siyuan Yin, H. Arkes, John McCoy, Morris A. Cohen, Barbara Mellers (2021), Conflicting Goals Influence Physicians’ Expressed Beliefs to Patients and Colleagues, Medical Decision Making, 41 (5), pp. 505-514. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X211001841

    Abstract: Background Physicians who communicate their prognostic beliefs to patients must balance candor against other competing goals, such as preserving hope, acknowledging the uncertainty of medicine, or motivating patients to follow their treatment regimes. Objective To explore possible differences between the beliefs physicians report as their own and those they express to patients and colleagues. Design An online panel of 398 specialists in internal medicine who completed their medical degrees and practiced in the United States provided their estimated diagnostic accuracy and prognostic assessments for a randomly assigned case. In addition, they reported the diagnostic and prognostic assessments they would report to patients and colleagues more generally. Physicians answered questions about how and why their own beliefs differed from their expressed beliefs to patients and colleagues in the specific case and more generally in their practice. Results When discussing beliefs about prognoses to patients and colleagues, most physicians expressed beliefs that differed from their own beliefs. Physicians were more likely to express greater optimism when talking to patients about poor prognoses than good prognoses. Physicians were also more likely to express greater uncertainty to patients when prognoses were poor than when they were good. The most common reasons for the differences between physicians’ own beliefs and their expressed beliefs were preserving hope and acknowledging the inherent uncertainty of medicine. Conclusion To balance candor against other communicative goals, physicians tended to express beliefs that were more optimistic and contained greater uncertainty than the beliefs they said were their own, especially in discussions with patients whose prognoses were poor.

  • Morris A. Cohen and Hau L. Lee (Forthcoming), Designing the Right Global Supply Chain Network.

  • Morris A. Cohen, S. Rahimi-Ghahroodi, A. Al Hanbali, I.M.H. Vliegen (Forthcoming), Joint Optimization of Spare Parts Inventory and Service Engineers Staffing with Full Backlogging.

  • Morris A. Cohen and Jose A. Guajardo, “Service Differentiation and Operation Segments: Research Opportunities and Implementation Challenges”. In Advances in Service Science - Proceedings of the 2018 INFORMS International Conference on Service Science, edited by, (2019), pp. 43-52

  • Morris A. Cohen, Shimon Bitton, Izack Cohen (2019), Joint Repair Sourcing and Stocking Policies for Repairables Using Erlang-A and Erlang-B Queueing Models, IISE Transactions.

  • Morris A. Cohen and Jose A. Guajardo (2018), Service Differentiation and Operation Segments: A Framework and an Application to After-Sales Services, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 20 (3), pp. 440-454.

  • Morris A. Cohen, Shiliang Cui, Fei Gao (Working), The Effect of Government Support on Green Product Design and Environmental Impact.

  • Morris A. Cohen, Shiliang Cui, Ricardo Ernst, Arnd Huchzermeier, Panos Kouvelis, Hau L. Lee, Hirofumi Matsuo, Marc Steuber, Andy A. Tsay (2018), OM Forum: -Benchmarking Global Production Sourcing Decisions: Where and Why Firms Offshore and Reshore, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 20 (3), pp. 389-402.

  • Morris A. Cohen, Izack Cohen, Elad Landau (2017), On Sourcing and Stocking Policies in a Two-echelon, Multiple Location, Repairable Parts Supply Chain, Journal of the Operational Research Society.

  • Morris A. Cohen, Shiliang Cui, Fei Gao (Under Review), Performance, Reliability or Time-to-Market? Innovative Product Development and the Impact of Government Regulation.

Teaching

All Courses

  • ESE9990 - Thesis/Diss Res

    For students working on an advanced research program leading to the completion of master's thesis or Ph.D. dissertation requirements.

  • OIDD2200 - Introduction To Om

    This course introduces basic concepts of operations management and application of the same in business practice today. We will examine the theoretical foundations of operations management and how these principles or models can be employed in both tactical and strategic decision making. Topics covered in detail are forecasting techniques, planning under deterministic and uncertain demand, operations planning and scheduling, queuing theory, service operations management, newsvendor models, risk pooling strategies in firms, capacity and revenue management, and supply chain coordination. We will conclude by discussing how supply chains evolve under technological change.

  • OIDD2240 - Analytics For Service Op

    This course considers tools and concepts that can generate operational excellence for the production and delivery of services in industries such as banking, transportation, health care, and communications. Since services typically are intangible, not storable or transportable, and often highly variable, the management of their operations is complex and involves distributed operations with a significant amount of customer contact. Therefore, the understanding and effective management of service operations requires specialized analytical tools and customer-centric focus. This course covers a mix of topics with the emphasis on quantitative methods, application of analytics and strategic frameworks. The class will introduce simple models and basic concepts that support analysis of tradeoffs in a variety of common service processes. Students also will have the opportunity to apply the ideas and analytical models developed in the course to a particular service industry. They will do so by conducting a guided, application group project which includes opportunities for in-depth analysis of a particular service process and field work.

  • OIDD3800 - Ops Strategy Practicum

    This course focuses on the management of operations at manufacturing and service facilities located in Israel that are used either by domestic corporations or by multinational companies. The emphasis is on the evolving patterns of operations strategies adopted by firms for producing products, sourcing manufacturing, distributing products, delivering services and managing product design as well as on programs for enhancing quality, productivity and flexibility and managing technology. We will focus on formulation and execution of such strategies for established Israeli multinationals with world class operations and innovative strategies as well as start-ups and smaller companies that are scaling their global supply chain infrastructure to support growth. The course will consist of a set of site visits in Israel during Winter Break that will provide the opportunity to observe company processes directly and in-class sessions which include lectures, case discussions and management speakers who will describe their companies' current strategy. NOTE: THIS COURSE REQUIRES YOU TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION. Enrollment will be limited. Please contact Ramon Jones at ramjones@wharton.upenn.edu for more information. Application available at https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs OIDD 1010 is recommended but not required.

  • OIDD3990 - Supervised Study

    This course number is currently used for several course types including independent studies, experimental courses and Management & Technology Freshman Seminar. Instructor permission required to enroll in any independent study. Wharton Undergraduate students must also receive approval from the Undergraduate Division to register for independent studies. Section 002 is the Management and Technology Freshman Seminar; instruction permission is not required for this section and is only open to M&T students. For Fall 2020, Section 004 is a new course titled AI, Business, and Society. The course provides a overview of AI and its role in business transformation. The purpose of this course is to improve understanding of AI, discuss the many ways in which AI is being used in the industry, and provide a strategic framework for how to bring AI to the center of digital transformation efforts. In terms of AI overview, we will go over a brief technical overview for students who are not actively immersed in AI (topic covered include Big Data, data warehousing, data-mining, different forms of machine learning, etc). In terms of business applications, we will consider applications of AI in media, Finance, retail, and other industries. Finally, we will consider how AI can be used as a source of competitive advantage. We will conclude with a discussion of ethical challenges and a governance framework for AI. No prior technical background is assumed but some interest in (and exposure to) technology is helpful. Every effort is made to build most of the lectures from the basics.

  • OIDD6800 - Ops Strategy Practicum

    This course will focus on the management of operations at manufacturing and service facilities of domestic corporations and foreign multinational companies. Our emphasis will be on the evolving patterns of operations strategies adopted by firms for producing products, sourcing manufacturing, distributing products, delivering services and managing product design as well as on programs for enhancing quality, productivity and flexibility. The course will focus on the formulation and execution of such strategies for a collection of firms in the context of the current dynamics of global competition. The course consists of a set of site visits and in-class sessions which include lectures, case discussions and management speakers who will describe their company's current strategy.

Awards and Honors

  • Advisory Board, Center for Transportation & Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019
  • Plenary Speaker, International Symposium, Japanese Operations Management and Strategy Association, 2019
  • Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation Award, The Wharton School, 2015
  • INFORMS Fellow, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, 2013
  • Plenary Speaker, German Operations Research Society, 2008
  • Inaugural POMS International Distinguished Lectureship Award, 2007
  • Tibbets Award, National Science Foundation – SBIR, 2007
  • Senior Fellow, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society, INFORMS, 2004
  • Institute of Industrial Engineers Best Paper Published in IIE Transactions, 1999
  • Fellow, International Academy of Management, 1998
  • S.J. Hardy Award for Best Paper in Operations Management, Decision Sciences Institute, 1990
  • Edelman Prize for best practice in Operations Research (finalist), 1990
  • Lauder Institute Prize for Advances in Theory and Practice of International Management, 1989

In the News

Knowledge at Wharton

Activity

Latest Research

Siyuan Yin, H. Arkes, John McCoy, Morris A. Cohen, Barbara Mellers (2021), Conflicting Goals Influence Physicians’ Expressed Beliefs to Patients and Colleagues, Medical Decision Making, 41 (5), pp. 505-514. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X211001841
All Research

In the News

Will Reshoring Chip Production Help Fix the Supply Chain?

Billions in federal funding for computer chip manufacturing is a good start, says Wharton’s Morris Cohen, but may not be enough to help the U.S. overcome its East Asian competitors.Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 8/22/2022
All News

Wharton Magazine

Lessons From Tohoku

The effects of the earthquake of March 2011 have rippled along every link in supply chain management.

Wharton Magazine - 01/26/2012