Role
Prof Usha Ramanathan is a Professor of Sustainability and Supply Chains in Nottingham Business School. Her teaching experience spans for over 20 years in India, Oman and the UK.
Usha is a module leader for ‘Data for Operations Decision Making’, one of the new modules for PG courses, combining data analysis and decision-making skills. She is also involved in teaching UG and PG modules on Global Supply Chain Management and Operations Management.
Usha’s research interest lies in the area of supply chain and operations management, retail customer behaviour, Big Data and the Internet of Things. She is actively engaged in research activities within the Business school across various disciplines such as marketing, strategy, retail service operations and supply chain with a view to producing high number of academic/research outputs to support research funding applications and the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF).
Usha is the Research Coordinator for the Department of Management.
Career overview
Prof Usha Ramanathan joined Nottingham Trent University in March 2016 as a Reader in Supply Chain Management. Before joining NTU, Usha was a Senior Lecturer in the University of Bedfordshire, where she was a course leader for Executive MBA programme running in the UK, Oman and European countries. She supervised many PhD students to completion. In the past, she worked in Higher Education sector within the UK and outside, including University of Nottingham (Teaching Assistant), University of Bedfordshire and Northumbria University (Senior Lecturer) in UK and Middle East College, Muscat, Oman.
Usha is a regular session chair for many international conferences namely EurOMA, POMS and OR Society, India. She has been a scientific committee member of the prestigious European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) since 2013. Usha delivers special lectures on collaborative supply chains and sustainability in conferences and workshops. Usha is a Chartered Member in the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Research areas
Usha’s research interests includes supply chain collaboration for sustainability, role of collaboration in SMEs’ performance, Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR), value of information sharing and forecasting, e-commerce, RFID, Big Data, retail customer behaviour and loyalty in the contexts of service and operations. Usha’s case-based research are focussing on recycling, upcycling and Verbund concepts. She uses case studies and quantitative approaches such as Structural equation modelling, simulation, AHP and SERVQUAL in research and analysis. She has published in leading journals such as International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Expert Systems with Applications and Omega: The International Journal of Management Science.
Some of her research work obtained high honours such as the ‘Highly Commended Award’ at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence in 2012 and 2018. She obtained funding for her research projects from the British Council, the British Academy, Newcastle Business School and the Nottingham City Council.
Usha’s research proposal ‘Reduction of carbon footprint in UK food retail chains’ was selected for the PhD student scholarship from Vice-Chancellor, NTU in 2017. Usha is currently managing 'REAMIT' project funded by Interreg North West Europe.
External activity
Usha is an external supervisor for PhD students in the University of Bedfordshire and external examiner for Northumbria University. Her students are presently working in the areas such as Chinese SMEs’ collaborative relationships, e-supply chain performance of Chinese companies, and sustainability in food retail sector.
She is presently holding the following roles of esteem:
- Editorial Review Board member of ‘International Journal of Operations and Production Management’ (ABS 4*)
- Scientific committee member of annual conferences of the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) from 2013 (on going)
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) from 2020; Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) from Feb. 2014
- Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CMILT) from Feb 2011 (life membership).
Sponsors and collaborators
Usha’s PhD was partly funded by the University of Nottingham during 2006-2009. She was awarded in 2017 a grant from the British Council–Newton fund to conduct a workshop in Unidavil, Brazil. The follow-up seminar was conducted in NBS with many collaborators from Brazil and UK Universities.
Usha obtained sponsorship from the British Council in collaboration with University of West of England to attend a workshop in Thailand on Short Food Supply Chain in March 2016. She also secured funded places to attend workshops in Mexico and India from the British Council.
Recently, Prof Ramanathan secured funding from Continuation, Growth and Development Fund, Sustainable Futures Steering Group, Nottingham Trent University to conduct a study in India with Thiagarajar College, Madurai to explore the challenges and benefits of converting waste to ingredient: A Verbund concept.
Usha is working with Academics from UK Universities and many other Universities around the world such as Palermo University, Italy; Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India; Concordia University, Canada; Monash University, Australia; University of Massachusetts, USA.
Currently Usha is involved in REAMIT project funded by Interreg North West Europe.
Project: Improving Resource Efficiency of Agribusiness supply chains by Minimising waste using Big Data and Internet of Things sensors (REAMIT)
Funder: Interreg North-West Europe(www.reamit.eu)
Project Lead: University of Bedfordshire, UK
Communication Lead: Prof Usha Ramanathan, NTU
Total budget: Euro 4,875,170.61
Project period: 42 months (11 Jan. 2019 – 10 July 2022)
Total project partners: 12 academics and European companies, including NTU
The REAMIT project proposes to adapt and apply existing innovative technology to food supply chains in NWE to reduce food waste and hence improve resource efficiency. Reducing food waste is of highest priority for the EU (88Mt or € 143B wasted per year). The EU has committed to halving food waste by 2030 by focusing on all stages in the supply chain.
REAMIT will adapt existing Internet of Things and Big Data technologies to best fit the needs of the food supply chain management system in NWE. Through testing and adaptation, these technologies will be enabled to continuously monitor and record food quality and signal potential food quality issues. Through analytics, owners of ‘food to be at risk of becoming waste' will be provided with decision support options to minimise food waste including redistribution to nearby customers.
REAMIT project will save 1.8Mt of food waste or €3B per year in NWE, avoid 5.5Mt/yr of CO2 emissions, test and operationalise 8 solutions, and, support 20 enterprises. The technologies will be self-sustaining at the end of the project. They will be made available to the public via REAMIT website and social media.
The long-term effects of REAMIT will be optimising (re)use of food and natural resources in NWE economies and a consortium capable of jointly addressing the challenges in food sector.
Nottingham Trent University will support achieving the REAMIT objectives and help to:
a) Influence agribusinesses to decrease amount of food waste in food supply chains by 10% by 2021
b) Raise awareness of the potential from combined technologies
c) Convince agribusiness users of the value of REAMIT's technologies
Publications
Journal Article
ARSHI, T., BURNS, P., RAMANATHAN, U. and ZHANG, M., 2020. Bringing back the discourse on entrepreneurial orientation construct: further clarifications on its dimensions. Journal of International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 12 (4). ISSN 1549-9324
JAIN, A., DARBARI, J.D., KAUL, A., RAMANATHAN, U. and JHA, P.C., 2020. Facility selection model for BOPS service for an omni-channel retail chain. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. ISSN 0018-9391
RAMANATHAN, U., MAZZOLA, E., MOHAN, U., BRUCCOLERI, M., AWASTHI, A. and GARZA-REYES, J.A., 2020. How selection of collaborating partners impact on the green performance of global businesses? An empirical study of green sustainability. Production Planning and Control. ISSN 0953-7287
AIKINS, E. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2020. Key factors of carbon footprint in the UK food supply chains: a new perspective of life cycle assessment. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. ISSN 0144-3577
RAMANATHAN, U., WILLIAMS, N.L., ZHANG, M., SA-NGUANJIN, P., GARZA-REYES, J.A. and BORGES, L.A., 2020. A new perspective of e-trust in the era of social media: insights from customer satisfaction data. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. ISSN 0018-9391
SIBANDA, N. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2019. A holistic approach of process variation reduction: a case of UK chocolate manufacturing. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 37 (5), pp. 711-731. ISSN 0265-671X
DABIĆ, M., VLAČIĆ, E., RAMANATHAN, U. and EGRI, C.P., 2019. Evolving absorptive capacity: the mediating role of systematic knowledge management. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. ISSN 0018-9391
RAMANATHAN, U., WIN, S. and WIEN, A., 2018. A SERVQUAL approach to identifying the influences of service quality on leasing market segment in the German financial sector. Benchmarking. ISSN 1463-5771
GARZA-REYES, J.A., TORRES ROMERO, J., GOVINDAN, K., CHERRAFI, A. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2018. A PDCA-based approach to Environmental Value Stream Mapping (E-VSM). Journal of Cleaner Production, 180, pp. 335-348. ISSN 0959-6526
RAMANATHAN, R., RAMANATHAN, U. and BENTLEY, Y., 2017. The debate on flexibility of environmental regulations, innovation capabilities and financial performance - a novel use of DEA. Omega. ISSN 0305-0483
ALLETTO, A., BRUCCOLERI, M., MAZZOLA, E. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2017. Collaboration experience in the supply chain of knowledge and patent development. Production Planning & Control, 28 (6-8), pp. 574-586. ISSN 0953-7287
RAMANATHAN, U., SUBRAMANIAN, N., WANTAO, Y. and VIJAYGOPAL, R., 2017. Impact of customer loyalty and service operations on customer behaviour and firm performance: empirical evidence from UK retail sector. Production Planning & Control, 28 (6-8), pp. 478-488. ISSN 0953-7287
RAMANATHAN, U., SUBRAMANIAN, N. and PARROTT, G., 2017. Role of social media in retail network operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37 (1), pp. 105-123. ISSN 0144-3577
RAMANATHAN, R., RAMANATHAN, U. and ZHANG, Y., 2016. Linking operations, marketing and environmental capabilities and diversification to hotel performance: a data envelopment analysis approach. International Journal of Production Economics, 176, pp. 111-122. ISSN 0925-5273
RAMANATHAN, R., DI, Y. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2016. Moderating roles of customer characteristics on the link between service factors and satisfaction in a buffet restaurant. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 23 (2), pp. 469-486. ISSN 1463-5771
RAMANATHAN, R. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2016. A new rational IPA and application to cruise tourism. Annals of Tourism Research: a Social Sciences Journal. ISSN 0160-7383
RAMANATHAN, R., RAMANATHAN, U. and KO, L.W.L., 2014. Adoption of RFID technologies in UK logistics: Moderating roles of size, barcode experience and government support. Expert Systems with Applications, 41 (1), pp. 230-236. ISSN 0957-4174
RAMANATHAN, U. and GUNASEKARAN, A., 2014. Supply chain collaboration: Impact of success in long-term partnerships. International Journal of Production Economics, 147 (B), pp. 252-259. ISSN 0925-5273
RAMANATHAN, U., 2014. Performance of supply chain collaboration – A simulation study. Expert Systems with Applications, 41 (1), pp. 210-220. ISSN 0957-4174
RAMANATHAN, U., BENTLEY, Y. and PANG, G., 2014. The role of collaboration in the UK green supply chains: an exploratory study of the perspectives of suppliers, logistics and retailers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 70, pp. 231-241. ISSN 0959-6526
RAMANATHAN, U., 2013. Aligning supply chain collaboration using Analytic Hierarchy Process. Omega: the International Journal of Management Science, 41 (2), pp. 431-440. ISSN 0305-0483
RAMANATHAN, U. and RAMANATHAN, R., 2013. Investigating the impact of resource capabilities on customer loyalty: a structural equation approach for the UK hotels using online ratings. Journal of Services Marketing, 27 (5), pp. 404-415. ISSN 0887-6045
RAMANATHAN, R., RAMANATHAN, U. and HSIAO, H.L., 2012. The impact of e-commerce on Taiwanese SMEs: Marketing and operations effects. International Journal of Production Economics, 140 (2), pp. 934-943. ISSN 0925-5273
RAMANATHAN, U., 2012. Supply chain collaboration for improved forecast accuracy of promotional sales. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 32 (6), pp. 676-695. ISSN 0144-3577
RAMANATHAN, R. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2011. A performance measurement framework combining DEA and balanced scorecard for the UK health sector. International Journal of Operational Research, 12 (3), pp. 257-278. ISSN 1745-7645
RAMANATHAN, U. and MUYLDERMANS, L., 2011. Identifying the underlying structure of demand during promotions: A structural equation modelling approach. Expert Systems with Applications: an International Journal, 38 (5), pp. 5544-5552. ISSN 0957-4174
RAMANATHAN, U. and RAMANATHAN, R., 2011. An investigation into rank reversal properties of the multiplicative AHP. International Journal of Operational Research, 11 (1), pp. 54-77. ISSN 1745-7645
ZHU, J.C., RAMANATHAN, R. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2011. Measuring Service Quality using SERVQUAL and AHP: an application to a Chinese IT company and comparison. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 8 (4), pp. 418-432. ISSN 1744-2370
RAMANATHAN, U. and RAMANATHAN, R., 2011. Guests' perceptions on factors influencing customer loyalty. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23 (1), pp. 7-25. ISSN 0959-6119
RAMANATHAN, U., GUNASEKARAN, A. and SUBRAMANIAN, N., 2011. Supply chain collaboration performance metrics: a conceptual framework. Benchmarking: an International Journal, 18 (6), pp. 856-872. ISSN 1463-5771
RAMANATHAN, U. and MUYLDERMANS, L., 2010. Identifying demand factors for promotional planning and forecasting: A case of a soft drink company in the UK. International Journal of Production Economics, 128 (2), pp. 538-545. ISSN 0925-5273
RAMANATHAN, R. and RAMANATHAN, U., 2010. A qualitative perspective to deriving weights from pairwise comparison matrices. Omega - the International Journal of Management Science, 38 (3-4), pp. 228-232. ISSN 0305-0483
Authored Book
RAMANATHAN, U., 2011. Role of information exchange in collaborative supply chains : analysing the role of information exchange for demand forecasting in collaborative supply chains. Saarbrücken, Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 9783846544198
For a full list, see Usha's iRep profile >>