MIS Research Center Seminar Series
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM
1st Floor Auditorium, Carlson School of Management

Abstract

In June 2003, Wal-Mart asked its top 100 suppliers to begin using RFID tags on pallets and cases shipped to the Dallas , Texas region by January 2005. This announcement, followed shortly thereafter by initiatives from the Department of Defense, Target, Best Buy, and Albertson's, among others, propelled the RFID industry forward. In the ensuing period since that announcement, companies have worked feverishly to understand and utilize RFID to meet the mandates and, more importantly, create business value for themselves. Unfortunately, creating business value is not an easy task.

Drawing upon his extensive experience working with a variety of companies implementing RFID, Dr. Hardgrave has produced a ‘roadmap' to business value. This roadmap, referred to as the Three Waves of RFID , helps a company understand the major obstacles, detours, and successes associated with RFID implementation and examines, in depth, the three major phases a company must pass through to achieve business value.

Biography

Dr. Bill Hardgrave is founder and director of the RFID Research Center at the University of Arkansas . He also holds the Edwin & Karlee Bradberry Chair in Information Systems and serves as the Executive Director of the Information Technology Research Institute. He received his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from Oklahoma State University . Dr. Hardgrave has published three books and more than 50 articles primarily on the topic of software development. His publications have appeared in outlets such as Journal of Management Information Systems, Communication of the ACM, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management . He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Management Information Systems .

Dr. Hardgrave has worked extensively on an assortment of RFID projects with companies from the retail, manufacturing, transportation, and information industries. His research efforts in this area include: data analytics, business case / ROI, and technology deployment. In the area of data analytics, Dr. Hardgrave's team has been heavily involved in analyzing RFID-generated data. He has also conducted a series of studies examining the potential efficiencies of RFID for various distribution and store processes. Finally, he has conducted extensive research in read rates at various points in the supply chain and various technology deployments that affect those read rates. Dr. Hardgrave's RFID efforts have culminated in the creation of an RFID research center and laboratory at the University of Arkansas .

Contact information:

Bill C. Hardgrave
Edwin & Karlee Bradberry Chair in Information Systems
Executive Director, Information Technology Research Institute
Director, RFID Research Center
Information Systems Department
Sam M. Walton College of Business
University of Arkansas
Phone: (479) 575-6099; Fax: (479) 575-4168
e-mail: bhardgrave@walton.uark.edu
http://itri.uark.edu