Yasaman Asayesh

I am a PhD Candidate in the Supply Chain and Operations department at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, and am on the academic job market for 2026-2027.

My research contributes to people-centric operations by examining how policy, technology, and design of employment contracts transform the supply chain frontline workforce and, particularly, how they affect key operational outcomes, namely worker productivity and turnover in manufacturing and warehousing operations. I use causal inference and causal machine learning on large-scale, multi-source data, complemented by experimental methods. My work has been recognized with the Academy of Management OSCM Division Best Student Paper Award (2024) and the Carlson Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2025–2026). 

Before joining Carlson, I worked for seven years as a project engineer and product manager in the manufacturing and service sectors, collaborating with global leaders such as Siemens and Olympus. These experiences highlighted for me how operational decisions are inseparable from the institutional context in which firms operate. The lessons I drew from these settings continue to motivate my research on how macro-level institutional shifts reshape micro-level operational outcomes. My academic training reflects this interdisciplinary perspective: I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (Amirkabir University of Technology), an MBA (University of Tehran), and a Master’s in Healthcare Management (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth). This combination of engineering and management equips me with a systems-thinking mindset that I now apply to workforce-centric challenges in operations.

If you would like to learn more about my research, I invite you to attend my presentations and the invited session I am chairing:

• INFORMS: “Health Insurance and Labor Productivity: Evidence from US Manufacturing” | Sunday, November 1, 1:15–2:30 PM | Moscone Center, South 154
• DSI: “When the Next Employer Is One App Away: Ride-Sharing, Marketplace Thickness, and Worker Turnover in Small Manufacturing Firms” | Sunday, November 22, 10:00–11:30 AM | Marriott Marquis, Level B3, Salon 12
• DSI (Session Chair): Invited Session: Innovation Under Change: Technological Transitions, Competitive Disruptions, and Emerging Research Methods | Saturday, November 21, 10:00–11:30 AM | Marriott Marquis, 2nd Floor, Foothill D