Kate Ren

Assistant Professor
Marketing & Logistics

Background

Kate Ren is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing and Logistics. She joined the Fisher College of Business after receiving her Ph.D. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where she is the recipient of the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Award.

Dr. Ren’s research centers on the supply chain-marketing interface and solves real-world problems in the retail operations domain. She primarily focuses on examining the impact of omnichannel operations on firms’ financial and operational performance. She has worked closely with several leading North American retailers to collect proprietary datasets and analyze them using big-data analytics. Dr. Ren’s research has been published in several leading journals, including Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Business Logistics, and International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.

Dr. Ren teaches core undergraduate and working professional MBA courses in logistics and supply chain management.

Areas of Expertise

Logistics/Supply Chain Management
  • Inventory Management
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Logistics
Marketing
  • E-commerce
  • Online/Offline Marketing Interaction
Production/Operations Management
  • Operations Marketing Interface
  • Buyer-Supplier Relationship

Education

  • Ph.D., Supply Chain Management, University of Maryland
  • M.S., Supply Chain Management, University of Maryland

Publications

Hofer, C., D'Oria, L., Cantor, D., Ren, X., 2023. Competitive actions and supply chain relationships: How suppliers' value-diminishing actions affect buyers' procurement decisions. Journal of Business Logistics, 44(4), 719-740.

Ren, X., Windle, R.J. and Evers, P.T., 2022. Channel Transparency and Omnichannel Retailing: The Impact of Sharing Retail Store Product Availability Information. Journal of Operations Management, 69(2), pp. 217-245.

Esper, T., Castillo, V., Ren, X., Sodero, A., Wan, X., Croxton, K., Knemeyer, M., DeNunzio, S., Zinn, W., Goldsby. T., 2020. "Everything Old is New Again: The Age of Consumer-Centric Supply Chain Management." Journal of Business Logistics, 41(4), pp. 286-293.

Grimm, C., Knemeyer, A.M., Polyviou, M. and Ren, X., 2015. "Supply Chain Management Research in Management Journals: A Review of Recent Literature (2004-2013)." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(5), pp. 404-458.

Courses

BUSML 4380 - Advanced Logistics Management
Advanced coverage of the concepts and methods used to plan and manage logistics activities in a business environment; in-depth understanding of the components of logistics management and tradeoffs required to manage the integrated flow of goods. Prereq: 3380, and AcctMIS 2200, 2300, and BusOBA 2320, 2321; and BusMHR 2291 or 2292.
BUSML 4383 - Supply Chain Management
Focuses on distinction between logistics and supply chain management; cross-functional integration of key business processes within the firm and across network of firms that comprise supply-chain; framework for supply chain management. Prereq: 3380, and AcctMIS 2200, 2300, and BusMgt 2320, 2321; and BusMHR 2291 or 2292.
BUSML 7383 - Supply Chain Management
Students learn the distinction between logistics and supply chain management (SCM) and develop SCM skills with a focus on cross-functional integration of key processes within the firm and across the network of firms that comprise the supply chain. Prereq: Enrollment in MBA, Online MBA, WPMBA, or MAcc program.
BUSML 8381 - Research Seminar in Supply Chain Management
Focuses on research issues in supply chain management. Prereq: 7380 (880) and 7383 (885). Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs.