Ade Oyedijo

Transcript

Derek Smith:
Hello and welcome to Baylor Connections, a conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week we go in depth with Baylor leaders, professors, and more discussing important topics in higher education, research and student life. I'm Derek Smith, and today we are talking supply chain and more with Dr. Adé Oyedijo. Dr. Oyedijo serves as assistant professor in the Department of Management at Baylor's Hand Camera School of Business. Prior to joining the Baylor faculty last year, he spent 15 years in the United Kingdom, most recently serving at the University of Leicester. His supply chain focused research and scholarship aims to find solutions to challenges confronting organizations, policy makers, consumers, and more in areas like food production, security, ethical and responsible sourcing, sustainability, healthcare delivery, and much more. Oyedijo is an agenda contributor at the World Economic Forum where he plays a role in shaping the global agenda on sustainable supply chain management, and he's with us today on the program. Adé, thanks so much for taking the time to join us here. Glad to have you with us today.

Ade Oyedijo:
Thank you very much for having me.

Derek Smith:
Well, it's wonderful to have you here. We actually got to meet you briefly at a faculty orientation event in August. You're getting settled in here at Baylor, coming from a ways away after spending 15 years in England. So I guess the obvious question is how are you and your family settling into life at Baylor and life in central Texas?

Ade Oyedijo:
Thank you very much, first of all, for having me. It's been great since we moved in here, although we moved in July. That's the way you talk about how are we settling in. At that time, it was quite hot in Texas. We got out of DFW and my wife and I looked at each other and said, "This eater has a PhD." But so far, so good. We are settling in. My first few months here at Baylor have been really good, really productive as well, I must say. And I could talk more about that with regards to some of the things that I've been able to do since I've moved into Baylor.

Derek Smith:
That's great. Settling in with your colleagues and your students there in the foster campus?

Ade Oyedijo:
Yes, yes. That's great. So this semester, for example, when I joined in August, I did some teaching. So I did two classes. The first was Global Supply Chain Management, so I had two sections of that, and that was quite productive with that class. I taught students about international trade, global issues that affect suppliers across different countries and so on and so forth. But this semester I'm teaching a different course called Operations Management, and with operations management, I'm teaching some of the behind the scenes activities that happen with organizations, how organizations will literally take nothing and transform it into something, but also the complexities around that from planning to control to warehousing inventory and how do you then manage costs and lower costs whilst trying to maximize profit for competitive advantage. But that's from a teaching standpoint, that's some of the things I've been doing or those are some of the things I've been doing.
Research-wise I've also been quite productive. I had four articles published since I joined Baylor, which is really nice. One of them was on CSR corporate social responsibility. So when you mentioned some of the things I do around sustainability, that article was talking about how employees can be part of that CSR drive for organizations to become more socially responsible. Another article that we published in October was about how SMEs can benefit from public procurement and some of the barriers hindering small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in healthcare sector. Then we published another article in November, which was on AI, so artificial intelligence capabilities and how those, particularly the investments from organizations investing in artificial intelligence could help improve their environmental and economic performance. And in January we got an article published really interesting article with a bunch of doctors, which was on how regular meetings that employees would have in hospitals, particularly staffs, how do those meetings contribute to the resilience of their healthcare delivery service, etc. So we've been doing some work and it's been a productive time. I just wanted to highlight that, that my first few months in Baylor have been very productive.

Derek Smith:
You have settled right in here and kept the work going, which is great. Let's talk about that a little bit. The supply chain, obviously it's your field of study. You worked with organizations in that area. And for most of us we'd heard of it, but I think it took on added import back during COVID. It really became front and center for the rest of us. So obviously you talked about helping organizations improve efficiency, profitability, but I know you also look at it like you said, through really an ethical lens, social responsibility, sustainability. Take us inside that a little bit further. What are some of the questions around the supply chain and the ethical side of things that really intrigue you and drive you?

Ade Oyedijo:
I think some of this go back to my background, my upbringing, but also they tie to my journey as an individual. I'm originally from Nigeria, from a city called Ibadan. I was born and raised in Ibadan. Ibadan is a huge city in West Africa, in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country in West Africa. Growing up in Ibadan, moving to the UK, I was able to see sort of differences in how you have contextual realities of two different countries. And when I do research today, particularly thinking about ethical, responsible behavior of organizations, it spans back to my roots as a young boy growing up in Nigeria, where you would often see manufacturing companies from the west who would come in to a country like Nigeria, extract from a sourcing viewpoint. But locally where these extraction activities are going on, you would find that there are literally no basic amenities to help the local community. So with what I do as a researcher, when I preach in my research, sustainable, ethical, responsible behavior, they are more towards how organizations that are part of a wider supply network could be of good behavior that would help have an economy that is sustainable, long-term and not thinking solely about profit, but also about social good.

Derek Smith:
Talking with Adé Oyedijo. And Adé, so when you talk about the supply chain, you paint that picture of what you saw as a young man. I'm curious, when we talk about the supply chain, who is the supply chain? Because it sounds like as you're talking about it's not just the people involved with moving the goods and services, but the people impacted by that.

Ade Oyedijo:
Yes, absolutely. And in fact, with today's market conditions, we are beginning to see that emphasis coming up or coming into light even further, that the supply chain today involves everybody, involves a wide stakeholder group. Usually traditionally with supply chain management, we would classify the supply chain to be a system or a value-adding network that comes from raw materials. How do you source those raw materials? And that stage would be the upstream stage. Okay. Those raw materials are then extracted or gotten or taken from somewhere. It could be maybe back down in Bangladesh that we've taken those raw materials. Then we need to refine them. We need to transform them. And the transformational activities usually happen in maybe more Westernized or developed countries. And then they will be transported. So you've got logistics or transport in that supply network. And then move to a point where they will be assembled or disassembled or detached, etc. And then from there they will be transformed into a good, a final product that will move to the end consumer.
But going back to what you're saying, we see today due to issues from a social, particularly an ecological viewpoint today, a societal perspective that through that activity or through those series of activities from upstream, midstream where you transform those goods and downstream, there are local environments that are affected or local communities that are affected by either the manufacturing activities that are taking place or the extraction activities that are taking place, or even the distribution that when we are transporting goods from one point to another, how are we emitting the environment or how is the climate changing as a result of those logistical activities. So to define it, the supply chain today involves not just the traditional buyer-supplier actors, organizational level thinking, but also comes to a systemic perspective that organizations are part of a massive system that involves people, that involves local communities and even external stakeholders that are not necessarily part of that business-to-business trade.

Derek Smith:
Yeah. But they are impacted by it as you just painted that picture. Yes. As we visit with on Adé Oyedijo. And so obviously that's a big challenge to get your arms around, right?

Ade Oyedijo:
Yes.

Derek Smith:
There's probably a lot of different ways you could dive in. So I'm curious for you in your research, where do you attack that, for lack of a better term? Where do you take that? Where's the low-hanging fruit to begin trying to have an impact through research?

Ade Oyedijo:
Very good question. From the literature, we try to attack things from different angles. For me, I often go to the people side. I say, well, supply chains are managed by people. Supply chains are not... When you say supply chain management, we are often quite operational about how we conceptualize it. We don't think that we need to really focus on the human side. So in terms of how do I target it, I often go from a human-centered design to improve ethical practices, to improve responsible behaviors or responsible sourcing, claiming or preaching that people are centered to the decisions that are made in supply chains. So when the orientation of people are aligned with a force for good or a trajectory towards doing right, acting in a just and fair manner that we will begin to see change that way.
At the end of the day, people will influence systems and people will be the ones to maybe make those investments and decisions. And if people are not well-oriented to be able to act in a right just and sustainable manner, we will probably see, but the actions or the types of outcomes we want to see will not be as accomplished as they should be.

Derek Smith:
I know you worked in the corporate world in the supply chain on that side before moving to the academic side. As you paint that picture, how did your experience in the corporate side, how does that impact if it does your scholarship and research and maybe help you understand even further ways that you can bridge gaps?

Ade Oyedijo:
Very good, thank you. Before I started my full-time academic job, I worked for a company called TNT Express. At the time, TNT was the largest logistical company or logistics company in Europe. TNT would be primarily responsible for business-to-business movement of goods and services. And then I later moved to FedEx, which was a US company that came to Europe to acquire TNT. So I moved on to the FedEx team. With my experience with FedEx, particularly, I was handling dangerous goods, so goods that were classified by government and regulators as dangerous. And basically behind the scenes working with different actors, different stakeholders, to see how those goods that are dangerous or classified to be dangerous would be able to move efficiently, smoothly, without error from point A to point B. Now, point A to point B, when you think of a company like FedEx or TNT is a complex process. You have different intermediary points, you have different checkpoints, checking for quality, checking for adherence and regulation, etc. Before it gets to, for example, 4,000 miles away from the originating point.
Now that experience where I saw that actually we have a system here, there is a system, but people are behind the system. People are actually the ones who enable the system to flourish. And it was that experience that I had with FedEx particularly that made me, when I started to do research in supply chain management, emphasize the people-centric approach to how we would think about justice, how we would think about fair practices or how we would think about efficiency as a whole. Which is why today I still often work with employee relations or human resource scholars because I tend to gear towards people as the focal direction of managing supply chains. T.

Derek Smith:
His is Baylor Connections. We are visiting with Dr. Adé Oyedijo, assistant professor in the Department of Management at Baylor. I want to shift just a little bit, Adé, you came here to Baylor last year. You share with us the work you do and can see it's a great fit. But I'm curious, why was Baylor the right place for you to continue the academic journey? I know it was a big move after 15 years in the UK, so what was it that brought you here?

Ade Oyedijo:
Many things brought me here, apart from family reasons. My wife has family here in the US in Texas, but beyond that, my family live in Canada. So from a North American standpoint, coming from the UK, we wanted to come here due to closer proximity to our family. But beyond that, Baylor, when I did my research, I saw that Baylor had a good strong academic reputation coming from the UK, particularly coming from a university like the University of Leicester where I was, but also the previous universities that I was before Leicester, and where I did my PhD at Newcastle University, I was coming from an environment that was research oriented. So moving into Baylor, I wanted to continue in that light to be in an environment that would enable me flourish from a research and innovation viewpoint. And I knew that Baylor had a strong academic reputation, particularly that the institution had recently gotten the R1 status. And that was quite important for me in that regard.
I'm a Christian and I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. And as an academic in the UK, being able to join an institution where I can be able to say Jesus, and I wouldn't be shy or I wouldn't be afraid to get in trouble for saying that was something that was a huge attraction to Baylor for me, that I could also write about my spiritual faith or my faith impacting on how I think as a researcher was something that I found unique about Baylor. And when the opportunity came, I couldn't let it pass. But lastly, and this is something I've been reflecting on lately, is the location. Texas is thriving as a state, but beyond that, Waco being in the center of Texas or being at a central location in Texas also gives me that attraction that, particularly from a logistics and supply chain viewpoint from the Baylor's campus, we are just right next to the I35. And I gave one of my students an assessment to, can you track how many trucks pass the I35 every day from a logistics standpoint? And he couldn't finish it.

Derek Smith:
I would struggle with that too, I think.

Ade Oyedijo:
Just because of how... So if you think about the location, Baylor being situated in a very central place, I think those were really attractive and made me make that decision to come here.

Derek Smith:
That's wonderful. Yeah. I'm hearing the phrase Texas Triangle more. We're here in between DFW, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, a lot of big cities moving goods through. You also, we mentioned at the top of the show are an agenda contributor for World Economic Forum, and that provides some great opportunities for you to speak into some things. Tell us about World Economic Forum, what it is, and what your affiliation with them allows you to do with the work you do.

Ade Oyedijo:
Okay, thank you. The World Economic Forum is a global platform that basically brings world leaders, different stakeholders, business leaders across the globe into one location, into one room. And when they come around to that location or to that setting, they discuss critical issues that affect you and I or that affect organizations, that affect countries. With regard to a platform that is dedicated for bringing this caliber of people together, the World Economic Forum, I think is the only one that has that influence to be able to bring people from different regions either developed or developing economies, to come to a center location, to talk about issues that affect organizations, societies, and also economies.
But with regards to my role, I'm an agenda contributor. So oftentimes I would contribute insights to shape World Economic Forum's agenda, particularly from a supply chain and transportation viewpoint. This links to my approach as an academic to what I do as a scholar. Oftentimes as academics, we publish our work in academic journals, which is good, but with some of the experiences I had in the UK also my practitioner experience, I had seen that practical people, people who work in industry oftentimes don't have a chance to read our academic articles. You might have a bright idea that dies there on the shelf in the journal volume or issues because they don't get to be seen by the people who make the decisions that are related to the research that we do.
And this was also stemming from four years ago now I was invited to the House of Commons. So we were in a Roundtable with MPs, top people in the food industry in the UK, and I was one of the academic speakers at that event. And after the event, I spoke to one of the MPs, one of the members of Parliament, to ask him, does he ever get a chance to read our work as academics? And he says, "Nope. If you want to speak to me as an MP, as a busy MP, you've got to speak to me in a really different manner, in a one-pager or maximum of one and a half pages, clear-cut expression of those complex things you've discussed in your article that you can then bring into another realm." And I found that to be interesting. And since that time, since that encounter, I've always endeavored that when I do research and it's published, I take it somewhere else as a product to sell to a wider audience. And that's how my journey with World Economic Forum started. Although I recognize that's also a different skill now that you're able to not just write an academic piece, but also writing for policymakers and industry people.
But with the World Economic Forum, with regards to what I write, we contribute to how supply chains can become more sustainable. It's a topic that has grown and continues to grow. When we think about climate change, when we think about human rights and exploitation of labor in global supply chains, when we think about the degradation of many environmental activities that organizations particularly in the West carry-out, and that finally we want to be able to have a planet for our children and our children's children to be able to live in. And those thoughts, I try to put them into writing and put them in the agenda for the World Economic Forum that when world leaders come together, those contribute to what they will be able to converse or discuss about to make impact for our better planet.

Derek Smith:
Well, that impact is obviously important to you, and I think as you demonstrate that to your students, that ability to speak to different audiences is something that would only extend that impact and really benefit them at them as well.

Ade Oyedijo:
Yes, yes, yes. And I often bring that to the classroom as well, where it shapes how we think in the classroom. It shapes how we think that, look, guys, you guys will go into the real world. You will be the ones who will make these tough decisions in the next 10, 15 years. Remember what we are talking about today, remember the impact of many of these issues that we discussed, and that by the time you go, you are going to be real stewards of change. You're going to be real citizens of change. That not just change, change could be negative, but positive change to have on our planet. And we oftentimes use cases from the World Economic Forum as well. I do that all the time to share in the classroom, and then we go into deep discussions where oftentimes we even disagree, and then we come to a confluence point about how to move forward with those thoughts.

Derek Smith:
That's great. Well Adé, we are winding down on our time here on the program today, and I think you've really described this, but I'm going to ask you specifically, as we close know, you're here at Baylor doing this work. You can see how your faith impacts the work you do. And I'm curious, as you think about the impact Baylor could have on some of these challenges surrounding the supply chain and supporting the people around it, what's your hope for that impact that Baylor could have?

Ade Oyedijo:
Oh, Baylor has a really unique position. As I listened to Baylor Connections before I joined here at Baylor-

Derek Smith:
Thank you.

Ade Oyedijo:
And thank you for the fantastic work that you do-

Derek Smith:
Thank you very much.

Ade Oyedijo:
... for the Baylor Connections as well. That really helped me actually, when I was preparing to join Baylor, to listen through the thinking of the institution. So I listened to President Livingstone, Provost Brickhouse talk about, I know President Livingstone in our inaugural speech talking about the world needs a Baylor, and then the conversation after that was, what does the world need a Baylor for? And I think it links to your question now about the fact that Baylor is in a really unique position, being a faith-based Christian that is not scared to say it's Christian institution, to be able to shape how our students think, thinking for the good of others, in line with what the Bible says. But also that with Baylor's new Promundo strategic initiative, at the addition of Promundo thinking globally, not thinking only from a Texas or the US perspective, we're thinking about how as our students go into the real world or as we as scholars, the type of research we do, the impact that we make on the global environment, I think there is potential for even better growth.

Derek Smith:
Absolutely. Well Adé, I'm certainly grateful that you listened, but even more grateful for guests like you and some of those you just mentioned who come and join us and have so many great things to share. Well, we're excited to have you here at Baylor and appreciate you sharing your work with us today. Thanks for joining us.

Ade Oyedijo:
Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Derek Smith:
Thank you very much, Dr. Adé Oyedijo, assistant professor in the Department of Management, our guest today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. A reminder you can hear this and other programs online, baylor.edu/connections. You can subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for joining us here on Baylor Connections.