News

Sustainable supply chain expert joins W. P. Carey as distinguished chair

Karen Donohue explores opportunities for research, education, and industry connection through the business school's newest center.

2025-01-27

"At this point in my career, I'm looking to have a broader impact," says W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair and Professor of Supply Chain Management Karen Donohue, who joined ASU this summer. An expert in sustainable supply chain and behavioral operations, Donohue knew W. P. Carey was the right fit for the next phase of her career after reading the ASU Charter.

"I'm interested in elements of responsible supply chain management, and the word 'responsible' is prominent in the ASU Charter. It felt like the stars aligned."

The W. P. Carey Foundation gifted the business school $10 million in 2019 to create new endowed professorships, called W. P. Carey Distinguished Chairs, to recruit prominent professors recognized as leaders in their research fields. Donohue is the third W. P. Carey faculty member to receive the honor of distinguished chair. Charles J. Robel Dean Ohad Kadan became the first W. P. Carey distinguished chair in business in 2022, and Professor of Information Systems Olivia Liu Sheng received the second distinguished chair in July 2023.

Donohue is also the director of the recently approved Center for Responsible Supply Chain Management, which is dedicated to fostering sustainable and ethical global supply chain practices that positively impact society and the environment through research, education, and industry partnerships. In her role, Donohue oversees the center's vision, identifying university resources and points of leverage between W. P. Carey and other schools at ASU to elevate the center's mission, managing and growing relationships, and securing funding.

"Infusing responsibility into business practices is key to W. P. Carey's commitment to make a positive societal impact through excellence in education, research, and engagement with businesses and communities," says Kadan. "Karen is already leading this work through the center's innovative efforts to address society's most pressing supply chain challenges."

Donohue has been instrumental in developing the behavioral operations field, which studies how human behavior affects operational systems and how possible interventions can improve decision-making in operations and supply chain contexts. She developed the first core PhD course on behavioral operations and founded the first editorial department focused on behavioral operations within the flagship academic journal Production and Operations Management. She also helped spearhead the Behavioral Operations Conference (BOC), an annual international conference now celebrating its 18th year.

Donohue most recently served as the Carlson Chair in Supply Chain Operations at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and was the founding academic director of the school's Master of Science in Supply Chain Management program, an innovative degree created to enhance the strategic capabilities of supply chain leaders. Before the University of Minnesota, Donohue was on the faculty at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting faculty member at London Business School.

Born into a family of teachers dedicated to inclusive learning, education was "put forth as foundational to a happy, successful life and as a way to build up others" during Donohue's childhood.

"I hit the jackpot in terms of the parent lottery," says Donohue, whose mother was an elementary school teacher and whose father taught high school science. "It wasn't just about educating yourself, but sharing the gift of education with others. That was their mission: educating in inclusive ways."

Donohue earned her PhD in industrial engineering and management science from Northwestern University and worked as a software engineer before transitioning to academia. It was in her research with capacity planners within manufacturing plants that Donohue first recognized the impact behavioral biases have on supply chains. She began to examine supply chain challenges through a behavioral lens, receiving an NSF Career Award for her early work on improving flexible contract terms between suppliers and manufacturers.

Over time, her focus shifted beyond profit-driven goals to embrace environmental and social outcomes, shaped by her involvement in initiatives at the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Donohue’s research now centers on two key areas: studying human behavior to understand when and why supply chain managers and customers deviate from expectations and designing "nudging" strategies to align supply chain partners toward outcomes that benefit profits, people, and the planet.

Donohue uses various research methods to investigate supply chain behavior, including practitioner interviews, field data analysis, collaboration with company decision-makers to explore decision-making processes, and game-theoretical modeling to capture how decisions propagate through supply chains. She also conducts laboratory experiments to uncover the psychological mechanisms driving these behaviors.

"I am excited to help organizations and our students make better supply chain decisions that improve profitability and have a positive impact on people and the environment. My goal is to provide practical methods and tools that can nudge decision-makers to better outcomes,” says Donohue.

Infusing sustainability into the global supply chain

The Center for Responsible Supply Chain is delving deeper into these goals and focusing on promoting long-term sustainability in three areas: environmental impact, social justice, and resiliency. By unlocking the academic community's potential to uplift others through use-based research, the center aims to create a safe space for conversations related to supply chain sustainability between organizations that otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to connect.

Donohue anticipates bringing companies together at W. P. Carey to discuss their supply chain challenges and opportunities. These discussions and workshops will provide the foundation for research on sustainable supply chain solutions as well as generate real-world case studies that can be brought into the classroom to educate future ASU students.

The center will host its first event, the inaugural Responsible Supply Chain Management Distinguished Lecture Series, on Friday, Feb. 28. The lecture, titled "Supply Chains and the Future of Work," will feature keynote speaker and MIT professor Yossi Sheffi and aims to connect researchers with industry leaders to discuss how rapid technological advances are changing how supply chains operate and the ways these advances raise questions and fears around job retention, tech automation vulnerabilities, and more.

"Arizona is at the center of exciting growth — from the booming semiconductor industry to massive fulfillment centers," says Donohue. "As we think about the future of work in supply chains, it’s critical to consider how all this impacts the environment and the health of our communities. We have a real chance right now at ASU to help shape supply chain decisions that will make a difference for decades to come."

Sustainability Supply Chain Management