Penn State Smeal College of Business
Business Building
475 Shortlidge Rd
University Park, PA 16802

Professor of Supply Chain Management
Dr. Alptekinoğlu received his Ph.D. in Operations Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2004. Prior to joining Smeal in 2013, he held faculty positions at University of Florida and Southern Methodist University. His broad research interests involve three elements of product strategy: Variety, price, and availability.
(1) Variety: mass customization, retail assortment planning, multiproduct competition, post-purchase variety. (2) Price: advance selling, pricing service capacity, product-line pricing. (3) Availability: inventory pooling, inventory competition.
Ph D in Operations Management, UCLA, Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, CA, 2004-06-01 MS in Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, Systems and Industrial Engineering Department, Tucson, AZ, 1996-08-01 BS in Industrial Engineering, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkiye, 1993-06-01
BA 595 – Internship
Supervised off-campus, nongroup instruction, including field experiences, practicums, or internships. Written and oral critique of activity required.
SC&IS 596 – Independent Study
SC&IS 596 – Individual Studies
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, that are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. A specific title may be used in each instance and will be entered on the student's transcript.
SC&IS 597 – Special Topics
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or semester.
SC&IS 597E – Operations-Marketing Interface: Research Tools and Topics (E)
This is a doctoral level course that focuses on research at the interface of operations management and marketing disciplines. Topics include product variety management, retail assortment planning, mass customization, pricing, revenue management, consumer
SCIS 596 – Individual Studies
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, that are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses. A specific title may be used in each instance and will be entered on the student's transcript.
SCIS 597 – Special Topics
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or semester.
SCIS 597E – **Special Topics** (E)
SCM 450 – Design and Mgt Sc
Strategic design and management of supply chains. SCM 450W Strategic Design and Management of Supply Chains (3) This course is about the strategic design and effective operation of supply chains. It will help prepare you for supply chain management positions in manufacturing, distributing, and other service firms including providers of logistics services. The course focuses on the definition, as well as the application, of a single logic that guides the management of all the supply chain activities. Information decision support systems, primarily computer-based, provide the foundation for this logic. Because the determination of inventory locations and the control of inventory levels play a key role in this logic, we spend considerable time on these subjects. The last section of the course covers ways to lead and organize people to manage cross-firm and cross-functional relationships effectively. After completing this course, students should have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to: -Articulate the process perspective and the total systems view of supply chain management, the impact of systems thinking on firm performance, and the nature of relationships supply chain networks. -Quantify the effect of strategic initiatives such as postponement and risk pooling on the financial performance of the firm, as well as on supply chain performance. -Use and apply selected quantitative tools useful in implementing supply chain strategies. -Explain the complex nature of human interaction needed to successfully introduce supply chain concepts in the firm.This is the prescribed capstone course for the Supply Chain and Information Systems major. It builds upon the fundamental supply chain knowledge, skills, and abilities developed in foundation and intermediate courses. Students must complete SCM 421 before taking this course. SCM 450W is a writing-intensive course. In addition to written assignments encompassing case studies, hands-on exercises, and examinations, student evaluations include oral presentations and class participation.
SCM 450W – Design and Mgt Sc (W)
Strategic design and management of supply chains. SCM 450W Strategic Design and Management of Supply Chains (3) This course is about the strategic design and effective operation of supply chains. It will help prepare you for supply chain management positions in manufacturing, distributing, and other service firms including providers of logistics services. The course focuses on the definition, as well as the application, of a single logic that guides the management of all the supply chain activities. Information decision support systems, primarily computer-based, provide the foundation for this logic. Because the determination of inventory locations and the control of inventory levels play a key role in this logic, we spend considerable time on these subjects. The last section of the course covers ways to lead and organize people to manage cross-firm and cross-functional relationships effectively. After completing this course, students should have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to: -Articulate the process perspective and the total systems view of supply chain management, the impact of systems thinking on firm performance, and the nature of relationships supply chain networks. -Quantify the effect of strategic initiatives such as postponement and risk pooling on the financial performance of the firm, as well as on supply chain performance. -Use and apply selected quantitative tools useful in implementing supply chain strategies. -Explain the complex nature of human interaction needed to successfully introduce supply chain concepts in the firm.This is the prescribed capstone course for the Supply Chain and Information Systems major. It builds upon the fundamental supply chain knowledge, skills, and abilities developed in foundation and intermediate courses. Students must complete SCM 421 before taking this course. SCM 450W is a writing-intensive course. In addition to written assignments encompassing case studies, hands-on exercises, and examinations, student evaluations include oral presentations and class participation.
SCM 450W – Strategic Design and Management of Supply Chains (W)
Strategic design and management of supply chains.
SCM 596 – Individual Studies
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, that are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
Alptekinoglu A., Benade G. "Achieving Rawlsian Justice in Food Rescue" Management Science, 2026-07-01
Kosilova N., Alptekinoglu A. "Discrete Choice via Sequential Search" Management Science, vol. 72, 2026-02-01
Lauren M., Zhang D., Alptekinoglu A., Karamalidis T. A. "Enhancing the Resilience of Platinum Group Metal Supply Chains: Mine to (Re)use" Sustainable Development, vol. 33, 2025-05-01
Alptekinoglu A., Bhandari A. S., Sapra A. "Demand Management Using Responsive Pricing and Product Variety to Counter Supply Chain Disruptions" European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 314, 2024-05-01
Alptekinoglu A., Blank A. S., Meloy M. G., Guide V. "Can Mass Customization Slow Fast Fashion Down? The Impact on Time-to-Disposal and Willingness-to-Pay" Journal of Operations Management, vol. 69, 2023-12-01
Alptekinoglu A., Orsdemir A. "Is Adopting Mass Customization a Path to Environmentally Sustainable Fashion?" Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, vol. 24, 2022-03-01
Alptekinoglu A., Semple J. "Heteroscedastic Exponomial Choice" Operations Research, vol. 69, 2021-01-01
Samorani M., Alptekinoglu A., Messinger P. "Product Return Episodes in Retailing" Service Science, vol. 11, 2019-12-01
Alptekinoglu A., Ramachandran K. "Flexible Products for Dynamic Preferences" Production and Operations Management, vol. 28, 2019-06-01
Petersen J., Alptekinoglu A. "Managing Product Returns in Retailing" Handbook of Research on Retailing, 2018-08-01
Alptekinoglu A., Semple J. H. "The Exponomial Choice Model: A New Alternative for Assortment and Price Optimization" Operations Research, vol. 64, 2016-12-01
Seref M. M., Seref O., Alptekinoglu A., Erenguc S. S. "Advance Selling to Strategic Consumers" Computational Management Science, vol. 13, 2016-11-01
Alptekinoglu A., Grasas A. "When to Carry Eccentric Products? Optimal Retail Assortment under Consumer Returns" Production and Operations Management, vol. 23, 2014-05-01
Alptekinoglu A., Banerjee A., Paul A., Jain N. "Inventory Pooling to Deliver Differentiated Service" Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, vol. 15, 2013-01-01
Ulu C., Honhon D., Alptekinoglu A. "Learning Consumer Tastes Through Dynamic Assortments" Operations Research, vol. 60, 2012-07-01
Alptekinoglu A., Corbett C. J. "Leadtime-Variety Tradeoff in Product Differentiation" Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, vol. 12, 2010-01-01
Alptekinoglu A., Grasas A., Akcali E. "Is Assortment Selection a Popularity Contest? A Study of Assortment, Return Policy and Pricing Decisions of a Retailer" Consumer-Driven Demand and Operations Management Models, 2009-06-25
Smith J. C., Lim C., Alptekinoglu A. "New Product Introduction Against a Predator: A Bilevel Mixed-Integer Programming Approach" Naval Research Logistics, vol. 56, 2009-01-01
Alptekinoglu A., Corbett C. J. "Mass Customization versus Mass Production: Variety and Price Competition" Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, vol. 10, 2008-01-01
Chen Y., Vakharia A. J., Alptekinoglu A. "Product Portfolio Strategies: The Case of Multifunction Products" Production and Operations Management, vol. 17, 2008-01-01
Alptekinoglu A., Tang C. S. "A Model for Analyzing Multi-Channel Distribution Systems" European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 163, 2005-01-01
Tang C. S., Rajaram K., Alptekinoglu A., Ou J. "The Benefits of Advance Booking Discount Programs: Model and Analysis" Management Science, vol. 50, 2004-01-01