Professor Daniel Guide Named POMS Fellow for Sustainability Research

Guide was recently named a POMS (Productions and Operations Management Society) Fellow, a prestigious title given by the POMS Society, saved for those who pioneer growth and development in the supply chain industry given their research.

Professor Daniel Guide’s last name already gives it all away— the Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations & Supply Management is an inspiring and endowing leader who guides the center’s students, faculty and research initiatives to full success.

Guide was also recently named a POMS (Productions and Operations Management Society) Fellow, a prestigious title given by the POMS Society, saved for those who pioneer growth and development in the supply chain industry given their research.

The professor’s work was also featured in academic journals like Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and Harvard Business Review. The content was significant as it centered on sustainability in closed-loop supply chains (products that are designed for multiple life cycles), a lacking facet in today's world.

“We all need to remember when we’re on a planet with finite resources, and we don’t have a planet B,” Guide said. “If we don’t start employing sustainable practices, we will use it up.”

The professor and POMS fellow ultimately works to bridge the gap between companies making profits and companies employing sustainable practices.

“All I’m trying to do is show companies the importance of making industrial systems environmentally friendly— I have to show them the way to make money that also benefits society,” Guide said, smiling.

It was no accident, therefore, that Guide was named a POMS fellow.

His extensive, necessary knowledge is only matched by his work ethic, as he also served as editor for academic journals like the Journal of Operations Management and Production and Operations Management, and traveled to Europe for sustainability workshops that gave him the breadth of experience he desired.

“A lot of Europe has destroyed their drinking water supplies— they’ve stripped out forests and used up resources—they’ve seen the consequences, making them much more open about the sustainability discussion,” Guide explained. “I am so passionate about sustainability and bringing that discussion here (in the U.S.) because people forget there aren’t just recycling fairies. We ship to underdeveloped communities all our e-waste and it’s not fair to people. We think we’re exporting waste, but, really, we’re exporting misery. Those communities feel the effect of these consequences more than we do.”

Guide wants companies to consider what to do with products when they “reach the end of their life,” but vehemently urges consumers to think of their role as well.

They, at the end of the day, hold the power of change. They have the power to buy smart, to buy green, to buy from businesses that show they care. And that, ultimately, is the defining quality of what he himself gained from his own studies.

“We shouldn’t buy stuff just to buy stuff,” Guide said. “It’s up to consumer behavior to influence and show businesses that they won’t stand for practices that hurt the planet.”