Researcher Receives Award for Improving American Red Cross Operations
Discovery enhances efficiency by turning data into decision-making tool
Not only are charitable organizations reaching out to increasing numbers of Americans
hit by hard times, the non-profits themselves are becoming cash-strapped as donations
decline. When non-profits like the American Red Cross want to more efficiently and
effectively manage their operations, they turn to experts like Kalyan Pasupathy,
PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Informatics.
As an industrial and systems engineer, Pasupathy specializes in using operations
research to improve health care and social services organizations. This process,
sometimes called “the science of better,” aids leaders in applying analytical methods
to their decision-making processes.
Beginning in 2001, Pasupathy spent four years as a researcher and as an engineer
for the Red Cross. During this time, he and his colleague Alexandra Medina-Borja,
PhD, developed an algorithm to convert financial, human resources, quality and service
delivery data from the organization’s nearly 1,000 chapters into useful information
for decision-makers. The optimization algorithm draws graphs in a multidimensional
space to identify potential for improvement.
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Kalyan Pasupathy, PhD
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“The algorithm evaluates the operations in various chapters, and identifies best
practices across the board,” Pasupathy said. “It then benchmarks and offers recommendations
on how to go about delivery, fundraising or reducing administrative expenses.”
By implementing this system, Pasupathy and Medina-Borja estimated the Red Cross
was able to save at least $700,000 a year in terms of staff and volunteer hours.
“We saved approximately 40,000 human hours per year,” Pasupathy said. “It’s definitely
volunteer time, but if you think about it at the end of the day, it’s still money.”
As a result of this collaboration with the Red Cross and their subsequent publishing
of an article in the Journal of the Operational Research Society describing their
methods, Pasupathy and his co-authors were recently presented with the prestigious
Goodeve Medal at the Royal Society in London, the independent scientific academy
of the United Kingdom.
“This really does give him worldwide recognition for the work that he does,” said
Grant Savage, PhD, chair and Health Management and Informatics Alumni Distinguished Professor. “He took an optimization analytical tool and showed its relevance for
helping manage a large organization in a very productive way.”
The international Operations Research Society reviewed all the operations research
published in 2007 – over 500 articles – and determined that Pasupathy’s work with
the Red Cross had made the most outstanding contribution to the philosophy, theory
and practice of operations research.
Pasupathy continues to serve as a consultant for the Red Cross on various aspects
of its operations, and in 2007, he received funding to involve students in this
research.
“It’s a great help because these types of relationships and training are what our
students need to be successful in their careers,” Savage said. “Every university
department is known on the basis of its stakeholders, and to have the Red Cross
as a stakeholder is a wonderful thing.”
