Bio: 

Vishal Agrawal is Henry J. Blommer Family Endowed Chair in Sustainable Business and Professor of Operations Management at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. His main research focus is sustainable operations, focusing on managerial challenges at the interface of business and the environment. His research interests and expertise extends across a variety of topics related to the role of businesses in addressing sustainability challenges such as circular economy, business model innovation, renewable energy, product development, supply chain sustainability and consumer behavior. He teaches courses related to these topics at all levels including executive and custom programs. He frequently consults and collaborates with several companies and startups on different issues related to sustainable business.

His research has appeared in leading journals such as Management Science and M&SOM, and has received several awards including the Management Science Best Paper in Operations Management Award (2015), Paul Kleindorfer Award in Sustainability (2016), and the INFORMS TIMES Best Paper Award (2022). He was awarded the 2023 MSOM Young Scholar Prize, which recognizes exceptional young researchers (of age 40 years or younger) who have made outstanding contributions to scholarship in operations management. He has also received several awards for his teaching including MBA Excellence in Teaching Award (2020) and Poets and Quants Top 40 under 40 MBA Professor (2020).

He is the Director for the McDonough School of Business's Business of Sustainability Initiative, MBA Certificate on Sustainable Business, and the Undergraduate Sustainable Business Fellows Program. He is also currently serving as the Co-Academic Director of the M.S. in Environment and Sustainability Management degree. He also currently serves as an associate editor for Management Science and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and previously served as a department editor for Production and Operations Management (2020-2023). 

Research Interests

Business of Sustainability, Sustainable Operations and Supply Chains, Business Model Innovation, Effect of Consumer Behavior on Operations, and New Product Development.

Journal Articles

1.  Agrawal, V. and M. Ferguson, 2007, “Bid-Response Models for Customized Pricing,” Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management 6(3), 212-228.

2.  Agrawal, V., M. Ferguson, L. B. Toktay, and V. Thomas, 2012, “Is Leasing Greener than Selling?,” Management Science, 58(3), 523-533. 

3.  Agrawal, V. and S. Ulku, 2013, “The Role of Modular Upgradability as a Green Design Strategy,” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 15(4), 640-648.

4.  Agrawal, V., A. Atasu, and K. van Ittersum, 2015, “Remanufacturing, Third-Party Competition and Consumers’ Perceived Value of New Products,” Management Science, 61(1), 60-72. 

5.  Agrawal, V., S. Kavadias, and L. B. Toktay, 2016, “The Limits of Planned Obsolescence for Conspicuous Durable Goods,” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 18(2), 216-226.

6.  Agrawal, V., M. Ferguson, and G. Souza, 2016, “Trade-in Rebates for Price Discrimination and Product Recovery,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 63(3), 326-339. 

7.  Agrawal, V., A. Atasu, and S. Ulku, 2016, “Modular Upgradability in Consumer Electronics: Economic and Environmental Implications,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, 20(5), 1018-1024. 

8.  Agrawal, V., I. Bellos, 2017, “The Potential of Servicizing as a Green Business Model,” Management Science, 63(5), 1545-1562. 

9. Agrawal, V., A. Atasu, and L. N. Wassenhove, 2019, “New Opportunities for Operations Management Research in Sustainability,” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 21(1), 1-12. 

10. Agrawal, V. and D. Lee, 2019, “The Effect of Sourcing Policies on a Supplier’s Sustainable Practices,” Production and Operations Management, 28(4), 767-787. 

11. Alev, I., V. Agrawal, and A. Atasu, 2020, “Extended Producer Responsibility for Durable Products,” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(2), 354-382. 

12. Agrawal, V. and N. Oraiopoulos, 2020, “The Role of Decision Rights in Co-Development Initiatives,” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(4), 832-849. 

13. Agrawal, V., A. Atasu, and S. Ulku, 2021, “Leasing, Modularity and the Circular Economy,”  Management Science, 67(11), 6629-7289.

14. Gao, F., V. Agrawal, and S. Cui, 2022, ``The Effect of Multi-Channel and Omni-Channel Retailing on Physical Stores,’’ Management Science, 68(2), 809-826.

15. Agrawal, V., L. B. Toktay, and S. Yucel, 2022, ``Non-ownership Business Models for Solar Energy,’’ Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 24(4), 2048-2063. 

16. Agrawal, V. and S. Yucel, 2022, ``Design of Electricity Demand-Response Programs,’’ Management Science, 68(10), 7441-7456. 

17. McKie, E., A. Saez de Tejada Cuenca, and V. Agrawal, 2025, ``Does Less Result in More? The Role of Information and Rewards in Take-Back Programs for Clothing,'' Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 28(2), 362-380. 

18.  Agrawal, V. and C. Zhang, 2025, ``Sustainable Sourcing of Agricultural Products: Fixed vs. Flexible Premiums,'' forthcoming in Management Science. 

19. Ertekin, N., A. Atasu, and V. Agrawal, 2026, ``The Implications of Retail Trade-ins on Sales, Returns, and Profitability,'' Production and Operations Management, 35(7), 2812-‌2829. 

20. Agrawal, V., S. Chakraborty, and S. Yucel, 2026, ``Additionality of Carbon Offsets: Project-specific vs. Standardized Baselines,'' forthcoming in Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. 

21. Agrawal, V., I. Bellos, and H. Ren, 2026, "The Role of Dealer Demonstration in the Adoption of Electric Vehicles," forthcoming in Production and Operations Management. 

22. Agrawal, V., I. Bellos, and X. Huang, 2026, ``Economic and Environmental Implications of Ride-Hailing and Vehicle Age Limits for Car Sales Markets,'' forthcoming in Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. 

Papers under Review and Working Papers

23. Agrawal, V., G. Esenduran, and S. Yucel, 2025, ``Delivery Terms of Voluntary Carbon Offsets,'' under major revision for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. 

24. Cavallin Toscani, A., V. Agrawal, A. Atasu, and L. N. van Wassenhove, 2026 "Accounting for Imperfect Displacement in Life Cycle Assessment for Refurbishing and Remanufacturing Operations," under review at Journal of Industrial Ecology. 

25. Agrawal, V., E. Astashkina, and A. Saez de Tejada Cuenca, 2024, The Effect of Variety on the Economic and Environmental Performance of a Clothing Rental Business Model."

Book Chapters

1. Agrawal, V. and L. B. Toktay, 2010, “Interdisciplinarity in Closed-Loop Supply Chain Management Research,” Closed Loop Supply Chains: New Developments to Improve the Sustainability of Business Practices, Ferguson, M. and G. Souza (Eds.), Taylor and Francis Publishing, 197-214. 

2. Agrawal, V., and D. Lee, 2016, “Responsible Sourcing,” Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains: Opportunities and Challenges, Atasu, A. (Ed.) Springer Publishing, 71-87. 

3. Agrawal, V., and I. Bellos, 2016, “Servicizing in Supply Chains and Environmental Implications,” Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains: Opportunities and Challenges, Atasu, A. (Ed.) Springer Publishing, 109-127. 

4. Agrawal, V., and S. Yucel, 2021, "Renewable Energy Sourcing," Responsible Business Operations, Deshpande, V. and J. Swaminathan (Eds.), Springer Series on Supply Chain Management, 211-224.