Yossi Sheffi (born April 10, 1948) is the Elisha Gray II Professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He founded or co-founded five companies, has authored numerous scientific publications and nine books.
He obtained his BSc from the Technion in Israel in 1975, his SM from MIT in 1977, and PhD from MIT in 1978. He now resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
Life and work.
Yossi Sheffi has served as the Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics since 1992. From 2007 to 2012 he was the Director of the MIT Engineering Systems Division. He is the founding Director of MIT's Master of Supply Chain Management degree, established in 1998. In 2003 he launched the Zaragoza Logistics Center, situated in PLAZA, the largest logistics park in Europe. In 2008 he launched the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation in Bogota, Colombia. In 2011 he launched the Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation in Kuala Lumpur.
Publications.
Sheffi is the author of nine books: "Urban Transportation Networks", a textbook on transportation networks optimization (Prentice Hall, October 1985), "The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage" (MIT Press, October 2005) and "Logistics Clusters: Delivering Value and Driving Growth" (MIT Press, October 2012), "The Power of Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected", (MIT Press, September 2015), "Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (and When Not To)" (MIT Press, 2018), "The New (Ab)Normal: Reshaping Business and Supply Chain Strategy Beyond Covid-19" (CTL Media, 2020), "A Shot in the Arm: How Science, Engineering, and Supply Chains Converged to Vaccinate the World" (CTL Media, 2021), "Strategic Planning for Dynamic Supply Chains: Preparing for Uncertainty Using Scenarios" (Palgrave, 2022), and "The Magic Conveyor Belt: Supply Chains, AI, and the Future of Work" (CTL Media, 2023).
"The Wall Street Journal", in a review of "The Resilient Enterprise", said the book is "the timely analysis of an important – and often overlooked – aspect of business strategy. Mr. Sheffi argues that crisis control can be a competitive advantage for companies that get it right."
"The Resilient Enterprise" was selected by the "Financial Times" as one of the best Business Books of 2005. "...Sheffi shows managers how to build flexibility into all areas of their businesses," the review said.
The book received "Book of the Year" award in the category of Business and Economics from "Forward" magazine.
Academic publications include:
Non-academic publications include:
Entrepreneurship.
Yossi Sheffi has founded and co-founded five companies:
Media appearances.
In an interview with CIO Magazine entitled "Captain Contingency", Sheffi gave his views on what companies should be doing to emulate firms like Wal-Mart and The Home Depot that perform well in natural disasters. "...Communication is key and I’ve found that resilient companies communicate obsessively."
In a 2009 interview with the MIT Sloan Management Review, Sheffi said that economics would take precedence over the environment in the short term: "The next two, three years will be utterly dominated by the financial crisis, so I’m really hesitant to talk beyond that because every decision counts...For companies, it will boil down to having to make money."
In a December 28, 2009 New York Times op-ed article on Airport Security prompted by the near-miss attack on a Detroit-bound plane by a Nigerian man, Sheffi stated: "We were lucky that in addition to the malfunctioning bomb, there were no further attacks — so treating the terrorist as a common criminal did not cause more disasters. But would this be the same next time?"
Other interviews and profiles:
In 2010 Sheffi participated in CNBC's Executive Vision program dealing with global logistics. He explained the role of logistics software in creating the efficiency of the global logistics companies.
In November 2010, Sheffi was interviewed on Bloomberg Television in a segment dealing with air security cargo. He analyzed the possibilities and costs of increased cargo scanning on cargo planes.
On December Sheffi was interviewed on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, explaining the reasons for the airline delays that hit the US Northeast. A more complete explanation was published by the MIT Press blog.
In 2010, Sheffi weighed in on the question of security for international flights that cross but do not touch down in the United States in The Washington Post. "We have tens of millions of packages flying almost every night," Sheffi said. "…There has to be a balance between acceptable risk and economics."
In 2019, at an MIT faculty meeting, Sheffi defended MIT's decision to take money from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that "MIT did nothing illegal" and comparing those who said MIT should have categorically refused the money to "children who only deal in absolutes."
References.
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