Indian-American Nick Vyas is founding executive director of the Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute and associate professor of clinical data sciences and operations at the University of Southern California’s prestigious Marshall School of Business. Dr Vyas, who was born in Ahmedabad, believes that amidst the global supply chain crisis post-pandemic, India has emerged a thought leader and a strategic player in global trade growth.He spoke to the Times of India on a range of topics including the growing number of students from India studying global supply chain at USC and Indian-Americans rising to senior positions in academia.
Q: Are there many Indian students taking courses at the USC global supply chain institute?
A: In terms of average cohort, which is the students who come in, Indian students represent Number 2 after our students from China. So, we have a good number of Indian students that come to the programme. In 2014, we signed an MoU with SP Jain Institute of Management and Research to create a collaborative structure for students to do one semester at SP Jain and then join our masters programme at USC. This has created a pathway where students get the diploma from SP Jain in India as well as the master of science degree from USC. So, I think, that sort of collaboration has done an incredible job for students to have the pathways both from the Indian institute as well as USA.
Q: Typically, what is the profile of your students from India?
A: The programme that I run, of which I’m the academic director, is called master of science in global supply chain management. Most of the students coming from India have a very sophisticated background. They either have an engineering degree with electrical, industrial engineering and a technical kind of background. Or others are from a business background. We have been very fortunate with students coming in from India, they have at least on an average 3-4 years higher experience than my students from other countries.
Q: Are you looking at other collaborations in India to attract students from here?
A: We recently hosted the USC India business innovation summit, which was an indication that we have a strong interest between the relationships between USC and India. We want to really create a deep tie not only into our supply chain programme but also with other programmes with partner universities. We have signed an MoU with Birla Institute of Technology and Science School of Management (BITSoM) on a dual degree programme where we would have MBA students coming out of BITSoM who can do a specialised masters, including supply chain, as a sort of a dual degree. We are looking at many other creative and innovative ways to make sure that the pipeline between US and India is robust, both ways.
Q: Are there many professors of Indian origin such as yourself at your institute and in the business school?
A: In our data science group we have sizeable population of Indian heritage. I did my undergrad and all my advanced degrees in the US; but many of my colleagues have done their undergraduate here in India and then their masters or PhD in the US. So, we do have a very good representation of ffaculty of Indian background, as well as second and third generation Indian faculty members whose parents are from India but they were born and raised in the US. Both ways, I think, Indian culture is well represented in the business school.
Q: Have your own research areas of interest, in supply chain, ever focused on India?
A: In 2016, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the first logistics and supply chain summit Delhi, I was asked to deliver a keynote on the subject of global supply chain and how India can prevail in terms of improving its ranking on what was known then as the logistics performance index. I had a chance to work with the Indian government, at that time, in helping understand the human capital side of that. Later, when the Covid pandemic disruption occurred, I had launched a consortium at the institute that I run on Covid related issues because the healthcare system globally had collapsed and I used to get so many calls from chief medical officers and doctors about how to manage the medical supply chain and keep it going. So, we decided to create this collaborative framework in which I had faculty from other universities and industry leaders joining in creating a very successful engagement. And just when we were really successful of being useful in the US-centric framework, India got hit with Covid. So, we pivoted on my applied research in this area and were able to really use that framework to duplicate what we had learnt in the US in terms of the COVID response. All the members of the consortium, even the non-Indians, stayed on to build on the collaborative research framework, for the US situation, to help India.
Q: Do you personally have any ties in India?
A: All my close family is in the US, so when I travel to India, I am sort of a visitor. But I do visit often and before Covid it was once a year for speaking engagements or working with government or industry. I teach global supply chain management and while there’s so much you can do by reading; when you’re on the ground interacting with business leaders and government leaders you actually
have a different perspective. So, I always try to keep myself current with that and travel to India has always been there. I have a lot of friends and they are like my extended family, and so it’s great. And the Indian hospitality is like it doesn’t matter if you are close family or not.
Q: There are many Indian-Americans who risen to senior positions in academia such as deans and presidents; is there any formal group of people of Indian origin in US academia that you are a part of?
A: I’m very active in general and I have been fortunate to be part of the White House supply chain committee with three presidents – [Barack] Obama, [Donald] Trump and [Joe] Biden. I’ve worked on a series of issues with the local government as well in terms of supply chain and higher education. But I don’t think we have any formal sort of set up of Indian-Americans.
Q: The Biden administration has many people of Indian origin in senior roles; is there a network?
A: They consider us as a model minority. Indians representing the US diaspora are very affluent demographically. But I don’t think there’s any formal group that I’m aware of it that’s strictly about Americans of an Indian descent living in America, forming and having conversations.
Q: But you feel that Indian-Americans form a powerful model minority?
A: Yes, I think, the Indian community at large, in not only higher education but in many disciplines like medicine, technology, and law, has flourished very well. India is so diverse and that diversity carries on to the US as well and there are so many different facets of different groups. In our faculty, those of Indian origin celebrate diverse festivals such as Diwali or Durga Puja. They share that common thread and tradition in the US.
Q: What have been some of the landmarks of your institute?
A: About 13 years ago, this was a concept for USC which is in the backyard of one of the largest ports – Los Angeles. We wanted to start a research institute in thought leadership in supply chain and we were the youngest in that area among other universities. But as a latecomer we are so proud that our executive master of science programme has been ranked Number 1 for the last six years. Our on-campus full time programme, which represents close to 70% of the students of foreign nationality, is among the top five. We feel that our success is truly because of what we’re doing in terms of the global reach and importance of global supply chain and global trade. We have solidified the ecosystem of our ability to not only train but we are fortunate to have 100% placement for students in a meaningful way. We create that industry affiliation and industry relations where students are always engaged outside of the classroom. The first decade was to build this foundation and I think the next decade for us is now really creating a global confluence of our capability to make an impact. I’m really proud that India is on the positive logistical inflection point where there’s a lot that the Indian diaspora in America and other places across the world can contribute to.
Q: Are there many Indian students taking courses at the USC global supply chain institute?
A: In terms of average cohort, which is the students who come in, Indian students represent Number 2 after our students from China. So, we have a good number of Indian students that come to the programme. In 2014, we signed an MoU with SP Jain Institute of Management and Research to create a collaborative structure for students to do one semester at SP Jain and then join our masters programme at USC. This has created a pathway where students get the diploma from SP Jain in India as well as the master of science degree from USC. So, I think, that sort of collaboration has done an incredible job for students to have the pathways both from the Indian institute as well as USA.
Q: Typically, what is the profile of your students from India?
A: The programme that I run, of which I’m the academic director, is called master of science in global supply chain management. Most of the students coming from India have a very sophisticated background. They either have an engineering degree with electrical, industrial engineering and a technical kind of background. Or others are from a business background. We have been very fortunate with students coming in from India, they have at least on an average 3-4 years higher experience than my students from other countries.
Q: Are you looking at other collaborations in India to attract students from here?
A: We recently hosted the USC India business innovation summit, which was an indication that we have a strong interest between the relationships between USC and India. We want to really create a deep tie not only into our supply chain programme but also with other programmes with partner universities. We have signed an MoU with Birla Institute of Technology and Science School of Management (BITSoM) on a dual degree programme where we would have MBA students coming out of BITSoM who can do a specialised masters, including supply chain, as a sort of a dual degree. We are looking at many other creative and innovative ways to make sure that the pipeline between US and India is robust, both ways.
Q: Are there many professors of Indian origin such as yourself at your institute and in the business school?
A: In our data science group we have sizeable population of Indian heritage. I did my undergrad and all my advanced degrees in the US; but many of my colleagues have done their undergraduate here in India and then their masters or PhD in the US. So, we do have a very good representation of ffaculty of Indian background, as well as second and third generation Indian faculty members whose parents are from India but they were born and raised in the US. Both ways, I think, Indian culture is well represented in the business school.
Q: Have your own research areas of interest, in supply chain, ever focused on India?
A: In 2016, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the first logistics and supply chain summit Delhi, I was asked to deliver a keynote on the subject of global supply chain and how India can prevail in terms of improving its ranking on what was known then as the logistics performance index. I had a chance to work with the Indian government, at that time, in helping understand the human capital side of that. Later, when the Covid pandemic disruption occurred, I had launched a consortium at the institute that I run on Covid related issues because the healthcare system globally had collapsed and I used to get so many calls from chief medical officers and doctors about how to manage the medical supply chain and keep it going. So, we decided to create this collaborative framework in which I had faculty from other universities and industry leaders joining in creating a very successful engagement. And just when we were really successful of being useful in the US-centric framework, India got hit with Covid. So, we pivoted on my applied research in this area and were able to really use that framework to duplicate what we had learnt in the US in terms of the COVID response. All the members of the consortium, even the non-Indians, stayed on to build on the collaborative research framework, for the US situation, to help India.
Q: Do you personally have any ties in India?
A: All my close family is in the US, so when I travel to India, I am sort of a visitor. But I do visit often and before Covid it was once a year for speaking engagements or working with government or industry. I teach global supply chain management and while there’s so much you can do by reading; when you’re on the ground interacting with business leaders and government leaders you actually
have a different perspective. So, I always try to keep myself current with that and travel to India has always been there. I have a lot of friends and they are like my extended family, and so it’s great. And the Indian hospitality is like it doesn’t matter if you are close family or not.
Q: There are many Indian-Americans who risen to senior positions in academia such as deans and presidents; is there any formal group of people of Indian origin in US academia that you are a part of?
A: I’m very active in general and I have been fortunate to be part of the White House supply chain committee with three presidents – [Barack] Obama, [Donald] Trump and [Joe] Biden. I’ve worked on a series of issues with the local government as well in terms of supply chain and higher education. But I don’t think we have any formal sort of set up of Indian-Americans.
Q: The Biden administration has many people of Indian origin in senior roles; is there a network?
A: They consider us as a model minority. Indians representing the US diaspora are very affluent demographically. But I don’t think there’s any formal group that I’m aware of it that’s strictly about Americans of an Indian descent living in America, forming and having conversations.
Q: But you feel that Indian-Americans form a powerful model minority?
A: Yes, I think, the Indian community at large, in not only higher education but in many disciplines like medicine, technology, and law, has flourished very well. India is so diverse and that diversity carries on to the US as well and there are so many different facets of different groups. In our faculty, those of Indian origin celebrate diverse festivals such as Diwali or Durga Puja. They share that common thread and tradition in the US.
Q: What have been some of the landmarks of your institute?
A: About 13 years ago, this was a concept for USC which is in the backyard of one of the largest ports – Los Angeles. We wanted to start a research institute in thought leadership in supply chain and we were the youngest in that area among other universities. But as a latecomer we are so proud that our executive master of science programme has been ranked Number 1 for the last six years. Our on-campus full time programme, which represents close to 70% of the students of foreign nationality, is among the top five. We feel that our success is truly because of what we’re doing in terms of the global reach and importance of global supply chain and global trade. We have solidified the ecosystem of our ability to not only train but we are fortunate to have 100% placement for students in a meaningful way. We create that industry affiliation and industry relations where students are always engaged outside of the classroom. The first decade was to build this foundation and I think the next decade for us is now really creating a global confluence of our capability to make an impact. I’m really proud that India is on the positive logistical inflection point where there’s a lot that the Indian diaspora in America and other places across the world can contribute to.