Yasaman Asayesh

I am a fifth-year PhD Candidate in the Supply Chain and Operations department at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, and will be on the academic job market in 2025–2026.

My research lies at the intersection of operations management and labor economics, with a focus on how institutional changes and labor market disruptions shape workforce dynamics and, in turn, affect firms’ operational performance. I am particularly drawn to the US manufacturing sector, which has reemerged as a focal point of federal industrial policies and economic revitalization efforts, yet continues to face pressing challenges such as labor shortages, high turnover, and stagnant productivity. In my dissertation, I adopt a labor market lens to operations by studying how external forces such as public policy reforms, gig economy expansion, and shifting worker preferences influence key operational outcomes like productivity, turnover, and worker effort. Leveraging econometric and machine learning methods, I uncover how these shocks reverberate through operational systems and generate insights that help firms improve performance while informing policies to enhance job quality and worker well-being.

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 at the INFORMS and DSI conferences in Fall 2025.

• INFORMS: Job Market Showcase, Human Capital, Decision-Making, and Organizational Performance, Mon, October 27, 2025, 8:00 to 9:15 AM, Georgia World Congress Center, Building A, Level 3, A314
• DSI: Invited Session, Inclusive, Sustainable, and Responsible Operations, Sun, November 23, 2025, 4:30 to 6:00 PM, Orlando World Center Marriott, Magnolia 8
• DSI: Invited Session, Digital Platforms, Market Competition, Innovation, and Operational Implications, Sat, November 22, 2025, 10:00 to 11:30 AM, Orlando World Center Marriott, Magnolia 6