Jie Yang, an associate professor of operations management quantitative methods at the University of Houston-Victoria, recently won an award for a paper she published in 2008 while teaching in New Jersey.

Jie Yang

The Bright Idea Award she received is granted by the South Orange, N.J.,-based Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University and the Trenton, N.J.,-based New Jersey Policy Research Organization Foundation to recognize outstanding papers published by business faculty in the state.

Each year, the two organizations gather academic papers from business professors across New Jersey and compile them into the �Annual Volume of Published Research Works.� Yang�s paper �Relational Stability and Alliance Performance in Supply Chain,� was selected as one of the top-10 works out of 130 in the volume.

�I was really surprised to get the award and happy to be recognized for my work,� Yang said. �This award really inspires me to continue working hard on my research.�

The paper details an empirical study of ways to improve supply chains for manufacturing companies, said Yang, who is originally from China. It provides important implications for both researchers and practitioners.

�We are very proud of Dr. Yang and glad to have her at UHV,� said Farhang Niroomand, dean of the UHV School of Business Administration.

Before starting at UHV in the fall, Yang taught for two years in the Department of Management at Kean University in Union, N.J.