Dr. Oliva is Associate Professor of Information and Operations Management at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.  His research explores how behavioral/social aspects of an organization interact with its technical components to determine the firm's operational performance.  His current research interests include service operations, behavioral decision making in supply chains, and the transition that product manufacturers are making to become service providers.  Dr. Oliva's research work has been published in several academic journals, among them, Management Science, California Management Review, European Journal of Operational Research, System Dynamics Review, and the Int. Journal of Service Industry Management.

Prior to joining the Mays faculty, Professor Oliva taught for six years at the Harvard Business School and for three years at ITESM in Mexico.  He has worked for small manufacturing businesses in Mexico and as a researcher for the Center for Organizational Learning and the System Dynamics Group at MIT.  Professor Oliva has consulted on total quality management, improvement of service operations, organizational change initiatives, and designing learning laboratories using system dynamics models.

• Service Operations
• Behavioural Decision Making In Supply Chains
• Service Industry Management

• Oliva, R. and Suarez, F. F. (2007), “Economic reforms and the competitive environment of firms”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 131-154.
• Kampmann, C. E. and Oliva, R. (2006),” Loop eigenvalue elasticity analysis: Three case studies”, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 141-162.
• Oliva, R. and Watson, N. H. (2006), “Managing functional biases in organizational forecast”, Foresight: International Journal of Applied Forecasting, Vol. 5 Fall, pp. 27-31.
• Suarez, F. F. and Oliva, R. (2005), “Environmental change and organizational transformation”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 14 No.6, pp. 1017-1041.
• Oliva, R. and Kallenberg, R. (2005), “Managing the transition from products to services”, in Bettley, A., Mayle, D. and Tantoush, T. (Eds.), Operations Management: A Strategic Approach, Sage Publications, London, pp. 48-57. (Originally published in International Journal of Service Industry Management, 2003).
• Oliva, R. (2004), “Servicios: Creando valor mediante el conocimiento”, in Garrocho, C. and Loyola, A. (Eds.), San Luis Potosi Vision 2025, Universidad Politecnica de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, pp. 91-103.
• Oliva, R. and Watson, N. H. (2004), “What drives supply chain behavior?”, Working Knowledge, Boston, MA. (w/SJ Johnston), June 7.
• Oliva, R. (2004), “Model structure analysis through graph theory: Partition heuristics and feedback structure decomposition”, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 313-336.
• Oliva, R. (2003), “Model calibration as a testing strategy for system dynamics models”, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 151 No. 3, pp. 552-568.
• Oliva, R. and Kallenberg, R. (2003), “Managing the transition from products to services”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 160-172. (Winner, 2004 Literati Club Highly Commended Award)
• Oliva, R., Sterman, J. D. and Giese, M. (2003), “Limits to growth in the new economy: Exploring the 'get-big-fast' strategy in e-commerce”, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 83-117.
• Oliva, R. (2002), “Tradeoffs in responses to work pressure in the service industry”, in Managing Human Resources, Business Fundamentals Series, HBS Publishing, Boston, MA, pp. 75-92. (Originally published in California Management Review, 2001).
• Suarez, F. F. and Oliva, R. (2002), “Learning to compete: Transforming firms in the face of radical environmental change”, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 62-71.
• Oliva, R. (2001), “The essence of service lies in focus”, in Pickford, J. (Ed.), Mastering Management 2.0,  Financial Times, Prentice Hall, London, pp. 465-469. (Originally published in Financial Times -Mastering Management (January 15, 2001):6-7).
• Oliva, R. and Sterman, J. D. (2001), “Cutting corners and working overtime: Quality erosion in the service industry”, Management Science, Vol. 47 No. 7, pp. 894-914.
• Oliva, R. (2001), “Tradeoffs in responses to work pressure in the service industry”, California Management Review, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 26-43. Reprinted in (2002), IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 53-63.
• Homer, J. B. and Oliva, R. (2001), “Maps and models in system dynamics: A response to Coyle”, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 347-355.
• Oliva, R. (2001), “The essence of service lies in focus”, Financial Times (London), January 15, pp. 6-7.
• Keating, E. and Oliva, R. (2000), “A dynamic theory for sustaining process improvement teams in product development”, in Bayerlein, M. M. and Johnson, D. A. (Eds.), Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams: Product Development Teams, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, Vol. 5, pp. 245-281.
• Keating, E., Oliva, R., Repenning, N., Rockart, S. F. and Sterman, J. D. (1999), “Overcoming the improvement paradox”, European Management Journal, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 120-134.
• Lane, D. C. and Oliva, R. (1998), “The greater whole: Towards a synthesis of system dynamics and soft systems methodology”, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 107 No. 1, pp. 214-235.
• Oliva, R., Rockart, S. F. and Sterman, J. D. (1998), ”Managing multiple improvement efforts: Lessons from a semiconductor manufacturing site”, in Fedor, D. B. and Goush, S. (Eds.), Advances in the Management of Organizational Quality, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, Vol. 3, pp. 1-55.
• Aranda, R. R., Fiddaman, T. and Oliva, R. (1993), ‘Quality microworlds: Modeling the impact of quality initiatives over the software product life cycle”, American Programmer, Vol. 6 No. 5, pp. 52-61.
• Oliva, R. (1990), “Conceptos de control en modelos de sistemas”, in Cardenas, R., Guerra, L. et al. (Eds.), Lecturas para fundamentos de ingeneria de sistemas, Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico.
• Oliva, R. (1990), “El sistema de actividad humana como lenguaje de modelacion”, in Cardenas, R., Guerra, L. et al. (Eds.), Lecturas para fundamentos de ingeneria de sistemas, Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico.