Neha Sharma

Neha Sharma

Neha Sharma

Ph.D. candidate in Operations Management

I am a doctoral candidate in Operations Management at Kellogg School of Management. I am on the 2022-2023 job market. I am very fortunate to be advised by Prof. Achal Bassamboo, Prof. Gad Allon, and Prof. Milind Sohoni.

My research focuses on problems in service operations with novel business models and strategic agents. I have worked on designing knowledge-sharing platforms where there is no clear separation between consumers and producers (for instance, Question and Answer communities) and online asset-sharing platforms for urban mobility where asset-owners are scarce (for example, highly regulated or developing economies). I enjoy using data to support and build analytical models, I have been collaborating with multiple firms to answer relevant problems with immense potential for social impact.

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  1. Nov 03’22 – Structuring Online Communities” is covered by Kellogg Insight.
  2. Oct 09’22 – List now or later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms” is listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list for sub-topics – Game Theory and Pricing Decisions.
  3. Sep 15 ’22Structuring Online Communities is a finalist for IBM Service Science Best Student Paper. Presentation at INFORMS 2022, session TA77 Oct 18, 8:00-9:15 am ET at M-Texas, and session MD 51, Oct 17, 2:00 pm at M-Santa Fe.
  4. Sep 13 ’22List now or later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms” is a finalist for IBM Service Science Best Cluster Paper. Presentation at INFORMS 2022 in session ME53 Award on Oct 17, 5:00-6:15 pm ET at M-Denver, and in session TA27 on Oct 18, 8:00-9:15 am ET at CC – Room 138.
  5. Aug 29 ’22 – “Structuring Online Communities” won second place in the poster competition at CMU Informs YinzOR’22.
  6. Aug 29 ’22 – “List now or later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms” won second place in the Flash talk competition at CMU Informs YinzOR’22.
  7. Jun 13 ’22 – “Structuring Online Communities” has been invited for M&SOM SIG Fast Track.
  8. Apr 20 ’22 – “Structuring Online Communities” has been selected for M&SOM SIG’22 in session SD04: SIG Platform Operations at 15:00.

My research focuses on analysis of marketplaces using data, stochastic models, and game theory. 

Published Work

  • Payment for Results: Funding Non‐Profit Operations – N. Sharma, S. Devalkar, and M. Sohoni. Production and Operations Management, 2020. [Link to paper].

Working Papers

  • Structuring Online Communities – N. Sharma, G. Allon, and A. Bassamboo. Under Minor Review at M&SOM. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].  
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Student Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Poster competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.
  • List now or Later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms – N. Sharma, S. Singha, M. Sohoni, and A. Bassamboo. Under Review at Management Science. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Cluster Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Flash talk competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.
  • Scaling sharing platforms with supply constraints with lease-to-earn contracts – N. Sharma, M. Sohoni, and A. Bassamboo. (Under Revision) [Abstract], [slides], [Talk] (previous version).
  • Should Ride-sharing platforms manage driver decisions? – N. Sharma, C. Bandi (Under Revision) [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].
  • Improving reliability in asset sharing platforms – N. Sharma, M. Sohoni, M. Shukla (Zoomcar India), A. Bassamboo, and S. Roy (Zoomcar India). (Soon to be submitted to INFORMS Applied Analytics)

 

At Kellogg, I have served as a Teaching Assistant for courses for MBAs, Executive MBAs, and doctoral students. The courses range across topics such as Operations Management, Competitive strategy, Non-profit operations, and analytical and data-driven decision models. Below is a complete list of courses I have assisted. More details about teaching and courses can be found here.

List of courses:

  • MBA courses, OPNS-430, 440 Operations Management, (2018-2020). Instructors: Sunil Chopra, Achal Bassamboo, Maria Ibanez, and Tarek Abdallah.
  • MBA course, OPNS-455, Operations Management, (2018-2020). Instructor: Sunil Chopra.
  • MBA course, OPNS-450, Analytical Decision Modeling (2020). Instructor: Chaithanya Bandi.
  • Executive MBA course, OPNX-430, Operations Management, (2019). Instructor: Sunil Chopra.
  • Executive MBA course, OPNX-454 Strategic Decisions in Operations (2019). Instructor: Sunil Chopra.
  • Course Design for Digital Operations. Instructors: Jan A. Van Mieghem and Achal Bassamboo.
  • MBA course, OPNS 451, Analytical Decision Modeling: R, (2021). Instructor: Rob Bray.  Mean – 3.98, Median – 4.5 (On scale 0 – 5).
  • MBA course, OPNS 951, Humanitarian and Non-Profit Operations, (2021). Instructor: Karen Smilowitz.
  • MBA course, MECN-441, Competitive Strategy and Industrial Structure (2021). Instructor: Joshua Mollner.
  • Ph.D. course, OPNS-524, Empirical Methods in Operations Management (2021). Instructors: Maria Ibanez.

Structuring Online Communities – N.Sharma, G.Allon, and A.Bassamboo – Invited for SIG Fast Track at MSO&M. [Link to paper], [slides], [Talk].

  • Invited for presentation at INFORMS Annual Meeting 2022 @ Indianapolis, IN in Session TA 77, October 18 at 8:30 am M-Texas, and Session MD 51, October 17 at 2:00 pm at M-Santa Fe.
  • Invited for poster presentation at Young Researchers Workshop 2022 @ Cornell, Ithaca, NY.
  • Presented at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022 Poster Competition.
  • Presented at M&SOM SIG @ Munich, 2022.
  • Presented at Marketplace Innovation Workshop, 2022.
  • Presented at NYC OPS Day @ Cornell Tech, 2022.
  • Presented at POMS Conference, 2022.
  • Presented at RMP Conference, 2022.
  • Presented at M&SOM Conference, 2021.
  • Presented at INFORMS Annual Meeting 2020, 2021.

List now or Later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms – N.Sharma, A.Bassamboo, S.Singha, and M. Sohoni. Under Review at Management Science. [Link to paper], [slides], [Talk].

  • Invited for presentation at INFORMS Annual Meeting 2022 @ Indianapolis, IN in Session ME 53, October 17 at 5:00 pm at M-Denver, and Session TA 27, October 18 at 8:00 am CC-Room 138.
  • Presented at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022 Flash Talk Competition.
  • Presented at M&SOM Conference 2022.
  • Presented at RMP Conference 2022.
  • Presented at Marketplace Innovation Workshop, 2022.
  • NYC OPS Day @ Cornell Tech, 2022.
  • Presented at POMS Conference 2022.
  • Presented at TSL, IIM-A, 2021.

Scaling sharing platforms with supply-constraints with lease-to-earn contracts- N.Sharma, M. Sohoni, and A.Bassamboo. (Under Revision) [slides], [Talk] (previous version).

  • Presented at INFORMS Annual Meeting 2021.
  • Presented at POMS Conference (2022, 2021),
  • Presented at M&SOM Conference 2021.
  • Presented at RMP Conference 2021.
  • Presented at Marketplace Innovation Workshop Conference 2021.

Should Ride-sharing platforms manage driver decisions? – N.Sharma, C.Bandi (Under Revision) [SSRN link], [slides], [Talk].

  • Presented at INFORMS Annual Meeting (2019 @ Seattle, WA, 2020).
  • Presented at M&SOM Conference 2020.
  • Presented at ICSS 2020.
  • Structuring Online Communities – N.Sharma, G.Allon, and A.Bassamboo. Under Review at M&SOM SIG Fast Track. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].  
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Student Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Poster competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.
    3. Invited for SIG Fast Track at M&SOM.
  • List now or Later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms – N.Sharma, S.Singha, M. Sohoni, and A.Bassamboo. Under Review at Management Science. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Cluster Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Flash talk competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.

Research Collaboration

During my Ph.D., I have been very fortunate to have collaborated with two firms that work on urban mobility solutions in India. The first is India’s largest car-sharing platform, Zoomcar, where car owners can share their cars for other individuals to rent for a short duration. We also collaborate with Turno, an early-stage platform that aims to improve EV adoption through improved battery analytics and real-time experiments to shift driver behaviors and improve battery lifecycle.

  • Our research was motivated by data from Zoomcar. We were able to implement the following research on the platform. 
    1. Optimal Pricing and Supply Contracts: We designed and implemented a simple pricing policy and revenue sharing contract for a platform where (a) customers make reservations for assets (See “List now or Later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms”), and (b) supply is scarce and gets assets from the platform with lease-to-earn contract (See “Scaling sharing platforms with supply constraints with lease-to-earn contracts”). Impact: ~10% revenue uplift compared to legacy pricing system.
    2. Allocating Inventory: Online inventory allocation for reusable products is known to be an NP-Hard problem. The problem becomes more involved when customers can reserve assets in advance and are heterogenous in booking times and lead times to booking. We combine market thickening and online allocation algorithms to reduce stock-outs and improve customer experience (See “Improving reliability in asset sharing platforms”). Impact: Reduction in empty searches by 12% and 2.5% revenue uplift.
    3. Designing Insurance contracts to improve revenue: Asset-sharing platforms lose money in accident and maintenance damages due to the driving behavior of asset renters. At Zoomcar, like other sharing platforms like Turo, renters need to choose an insurance option for their trip. An insurance option is a combination of the premium percentage paid at the time of booking and the deductible owed by the renter in case of an accident. To improve overall revenue collection from renters,
      1. We designed randomized control trials to find the platform’s revenue-maximizing menu of insurance options for renters. 
      2. We capture the braking, speeding, and acceleration harsh events on every trip. We combine the car maintenance trips and accident data to attribute a driver score to each booing. This has been patented by the platform. In the next steps, we will use the driver score as a measure of serving a customer on the platform and use it to optimize the assortment shown to a renter based on their history. See Blog here
      3. Impact: Driver scoring coupled with Real-time suggestions has reduced harsh events by 8-10%.
  • Conventional banks and financial institutions do not provide loans and other assistance to individuals associated with commercial transport who are financially constrained and need guarantees on the vehicle’s resale value. For example, the premium paid for EVs goes as high as 50% more than the cost of an IC four-wheeler [1].  The uncertainty in the value of used EVs primarily stems from the ambiguity in the battery’s state after use, which depends on its chemistry, environment, and user’s driving and charging behavior. At Turno, we are working with the firm to design real-time experiments and statistical learning methods to understand the battery depreciation process.

    This would lower the uncertainty in the asset’s value and, ultimately, the financing and ownership costs. Further, we aim to use secondary market linkages and advanced analytics to extend the battery’s life and improve the resale value of the EV. Given that 75% of road transport pollution comes from commercial trucks, [2] finding a good estimate of the battery’s health and the value of the used vehicle would propel the mass adoption of EVs in commercial transport

    1. Estimating the State of Charge in the presence of measurement noise, different driving patterns, temperatures, and road altitudes. 

Work Experience

Before beginning my Ph.D. at Northwestern University, I worked as an Assistant Manager in the New product development Department in the Research & Development Wing at Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest auto manufacturer. At Maruti, I was responsible for building prototypes of new products, which included designing the process for manufacturing new parts with vendors and production managers, setting up the production process for the prototypes, managing the Bill of Materials, and costing of all parts.

[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/renewables/electric-vehicles-a-roadmap-to-mass-adoption-in-india/articleshow/88336832.cms?from=mdr

[2] https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-transport

Our work on driver score algorithm that maps harsh events to driving scores, along with real-time nudges reduced harsh events and number of accidents. It was also covered in the media- Zoomcar claims 23% drop in accidents with driver app – The Hindu BusinessLine.

Our pricing function that accounts for hosts’ strategic behavior to delay committing their asset resulted in ~10% revenue uplift compared to the legacy pricing system.

Before Zoomcar switched to SKU-level inventory, we implemented an algorithm that waits for market to thicken and allocates cars to customer bookings a few hours before the trip start time. Our goal was to minimize stock outs, car pickup distance, and car depreciation costs for Zoomcar. We saw a reduction in stock outs by 12% and a 2.5% revenue uplift. 

 

 

Research at a Glance

Knowledge Sharing and Social Networks

 

The growth of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing has changed how firms support their customers. Firms are building online communities to support and grow their customer base. However, as demonstrated by the failure of Yahoo Answers!, setting up self-sustaining communities is not straightforward. This raises the question; how should platform designers think about building successful communities, and what levers can they use?

Research Papers
  • Structuring Online Communities – N.Sharma, G.Allon, and A.Bassamboo. Under Minor Review at M&SOM. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Student Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Poster competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.
Asset sharing for Urban Mobility

 

Asset sharing platforms hold immense potential to benefit the environment. However, to ensure inclusive growth, it is critical to address the challenges in developing markets, such as low asset ownership rates, regulations, mutual trust, renter behavior, and complexities arising from advance-booking feature in many such platforms. We collaborated with India’s largest car-sharing platform and holistically address the challenges faced by such platforms.

Research Papers
  • List now or Later? An equilibrium analysis of advance-booking platforms – N.Sharma, S.Singha, M. Sohoni, and A.Bassamboo. Under Review at Management Science. [Abstract], [slides], [Talk].
    1. Finalist for IBM Service Science Best Cluster Paper, 2022.
    2. Won second place in the Flash talk competition at CMU Informs YinzOR 2022.
  • Scaling sharing platforms with supply constraints with lease-to-earn contracts – N.Sharma, M. Sohoni, and A.Bassamboo. (Under Revision) [Abstract], [slides], [Talk] (previous version).
  • Should Ride-sharing platforms manage driver decisions? – N.Sharma, C.Bandi (Under Revision) [Abstract], [slides], [Talk]. 
  • Improving reliability in asset sharing platforms – N.Sharma, M. Sohoni, M.Shukla (Zoomcar India), A.Bassamboo, and S.Roy (Zoomcar India). (soon to be submitted to INFORMS Applied Analytics)
Improving EV Adoption

 

Conventional lending institutions do not provide loans for EV to individuals associated with commercial transport, who are financially constrained and need guarantees on the vehicle’s resale value. The uncertainty in the value of used EVs primarily stems from the ambiguity in the battery’s state, which depends on the cell chemistry, environment, user’s driving and charging behavior. We collaborate with Turno in India to design real-time experiments and statistical learning methods to understand battery depreciation.

Research Papers

Work in Progress:

  • Estimating state of charge of battery in presence of unobserved vehicle loads, temperature changes and noisy measurement. 
Non-Profit Operations

 

NPOs are dependent on voluntary contributions from donors to undertake their activities. However, there is growing evidence that despite not being consumers of the social good, donors care about the benefit provided by the NPO using their contributions. We study different types of funding mechanisms in terms of their welfare to the society and NPOs’ utility.

 

Research Papers
  • Payment for Results: Funding Non‐Profit Operations – N.Sharma, S.Devalkar, and M. Sohoni. Production and Operations Management, 2020. [Link to paper].

Bio

I am a 5th year Ph.D. student of Operations Management at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Before joining Northwestern, I worked as a Research Associate at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (ISB) with Professors Milind Sohoni and Sripad Develkar for two years. At ISB, I worked on modeling and understanding how different funding schemes impact non-profit operations. 

Prior to joining ISB, I worked as an Assistant Manager in Research and Development of India’s largest automobile manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited. At Maruti, I was working in the department of New Product Development, where I was involved in developing of prototypes of the new vehicle, designing and validating new processes and managing design changes of the existing vehicles.  I hold a Bachelors in Technology in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, now changed to Delhi Technological University.

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