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Dr. Zhili Tian is a nationally recognized scholar who has been appointed as the inaugural Dunavant Endowed Faculty in Supply Chain Management (SCM). He serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at the Fogelman College of Business and Economics (FCBE) at the University of Memphis. His expertise spans supply chain management, marketing, transportation and logistics. Dr. Tian is an accomplished scholar with an extensive research portfolio, strong industry engagement and a deep commitment to student success.
Dr. Tian joins FCBE from the University of Houston-Downtown, where he served as an Associate Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management and successively led the MBA program in Project Management and Process Improvement. He previously taught at Florida International University, where his primary teaching responsibilities were in the Healthcare MBA program.
An internationally recognized researcher, Dr. Tian's work has been published in many of the world's leading operations, supply chain management and marketing journals, including Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Decision Sciences, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, European Journal of Operational Research, OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science and the Journal of Advanced Transportation. His research focuses on supply chain optimization, logistics, data-driven decision-making and applications of artificial intelligence in operations management.
Throughout his career, Dr. Tian has secured research support and collaborated with major global organizations, including Pfizer, Novartis, Stanley Black & Decker, Solutia, IQVIA and Servier Pharmaceuticals. His work translates rigorous analytical research into measurable business improvements for industry partners.
Dr. Tian brings complementary expertise and a strong record of research, teaching, and industry engagement that will have a meaningful and lasting impact on our students and the FCBE community.- PhD in Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology, Washington Univ. in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
- MS in Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, CA
- MS in Transportation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
- BE in Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China
- SCMS 4510 - Operations Planning and Control
- SCMS 6510 - Operations Planning and Control
- Excellent research Awards Marilyn Davies College of Business, Univ. of Houston
- Colonel Lindsey V. Vereen Endowed Professorship Wall College of Business, Coastal Carolina Univ.
- Summer research grants Florida International Univ. 2014 – 2016 (three consecutive years)
- ISE Transaction 2011 Best Applied Paper Prize in Scheduling and Logistics for paper “Buffer Location and Sizing to Optimize Cost and Quality in Semi-Continuous Manufacturing Processes: Methodology and Application”
- Fellowship Olin Business School, WUSTL, 2007-2011; UCLA Anderson School of Management, 2004-2006; MIT, 2000-2001
My research focuses on developing data-driven decision models and analytical methods to address complex decision-making problems in supply chain management (SCM), logistics, operations management (OM), marketing, and information systems. I integrate advanced analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), reinforcement learning, dynamic programming, sequential decision-making, and business analytics to generate actionable insights for improving operational efficiency, supply chain resilience, innovation, and digital transformation.
A central objective of my research is to bridge theory and practice by developing rigorous analytical models that address important and emerging challenges faced by businesses and public organizations. My research has applications in manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and humanitarian operations and provides insights for managerial decision-making, operational strategy, and public policy.
Selected Research Themes and Topics
- Emerging Technologies and Digital Supply Chains
- Integrating AI, IoT, and blockchain technologies to enhance supply chain traceability, transparency, and efficiency.
- Supply Chain Management and Logistics
- Logistics network design for precision medicine and high-value, short-shelf-life products under shipment restrictions.
- Capacity investment for new product launches to coordinate manufacturing and distribution.
- Supply chain coordination through contractual mechanisms to improve profitability.
- Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chains
- Reverse logistics network design incorporating learning from product returns.
- Product-line complexity management to balance product variety with operational efficiency.
- Data-driven supply chain resilience and decision-making under uncertainty and disruption.
- Facility Location and Humanitarian Logistics
- Location planning and resource allocation for long-term care facilities.
- Clinical trial center selection and opening decisions with learning about patient arrivals.
- Data-driven staging and allocation of medical supplies, rescue teams, and emergency resources.
- New Product Development and Innovation Management
- Project management under uncertainty with learning about product efficacy, safety, and market potential.
- Collaborative pharmaceutical development with shared costs and learning about drug efficacy.
- Resource allocation between R&D and marketing to maximize returns and support innovation.
- External collaboration and financing strategies for new product development at startups.
- Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in New Product Development
- Large language models (LLMs) and text analytics for generating new product ideas from customer reviews and unstructured data.
- Collaboration network and its impact on organizational innovation capabilities.
- Platform Economy and Digital Operations
- A/B testing optimization and group-sequential experimentation for digital products.
- Reinforcement learning for driver–passenger matching in ridesharing platforms.
- Resource Allocation and Marketing Analytics
- Multi-channel promotion and adaptive digital marketing with learning from customer responses.
- Predictive and prescriptive analytics for product adoption and pharmaceutical pricing.
Research Expertise
- Methodologies: Optimization and analytical modeling; linear and nonlinear programming; mixed-integer programming; game theory; dynamic programming; Markov decision processes; stochastic modeling; empirical and econometric research; data-driven analytics.
- Research Domains: Supply chain and operations management; transportation and logistics; marketing and information technology; new product development and A/B testing; pharmaceutical marketing and drug pricing; healthcare and precision medicine; production scheduling and product-line complexity management; high-speed rail operations.
New Product Development and Reinforcement Learning:
- Z Tian, GB Hazen, H Li. Optimal enrollment in late-stage new drug development with learning of drug’s efficacy for group-sequential clinical trials. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 25 (1), 88-107
- Z Tian, W Han, WB Powell. Adaptive learning of drug quality and optimization of patient recruitment for clinical trials with dropouts. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 24 (1), 580-599
- P Kouvelis, J Milner, Z Tian. Clinical trials for new drug development: Optimal investment and application. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 19 (3), 437-452
Product Development Collaboration:
- Z Tian, H Gurnani, Y Xu. Collaboration in development of new drugs. Production and Operations Management 30 (11), 3943-3966
Supply Chain Management and Production Scheduling:
- Z Tian, SY Tang, P Kouvelis. Soft order commitment in supply chains: role of penalties and rationing rules. Decision Sciences 50 (2), 340-373
- Z Tian, P Kouvelis, CL Munson. Understanding and managing product line complexity: Applying sensitivity analysis to a large-scale MILP model to price and schedule new customer orders. IIE Transactions 47 (4), 307-328
- K Rajaram, Z Tian. Buffer location and sizing to optimize cost and quality in semi-continuous manufacturing processes: Methodology and application. IIE Transactions 41 (12), 1035-1048
Disaster Reponses and Relief:
- K Liu, C Liu, X Xiang, Z Tian. Testing facility location and dynamic capacity planning for pandemics with demand uncertainty. European journal of operational research 304 (1), 150-168
- J Jianga, K Liu, Z. Tian, G Zhu. Joint Single and Multi-Trip Delivery of Consumable and Non-consumable Relief Supplies with Integrated Deprivation Costs. The International Journal of Management Science (OMEGA), Accepted in 2026
Marketing Promotions:
- Z Tian, S Moon, Y Cai. Direct and spillover promotional effects on drug prescriptions: Comparing differential physician-vs. patient-focused promotional effects. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 54 (2), 381-401
Transportation and Rail Transportation:
- Z Tian, H Yang, WHK Lam. Transit assignment under crowded conditions. Journal of advanced transportation 31 (1), 19-38
- S KAWAKAMI, T ZHILI. An Equilibrium Model of Motorists' Parking Choice Behavior and Parking Demand in Central Area. Studies in Regional Science 26 (2), 53-66
- Z Tian, H Zhou. Application of modified gravity model of traffic distribution. Journal of Highway and Transportation Research and Development 13 (1)