Prof. Dr. Maria Besiou

Logistics is crucial for the environment and society; by improving it we can make a difference.

Prof. Dr. Maria Besiou

Assistant Professor of Logistics

Dr. Maria Besiou is Assistant Professor of Logistics at the Kuehne Logistics University. She received her Ph.D. in Operations Management from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) in Greece. She holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from AUTH. Before joining the KLU she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Social Innovation Centre at INSEAD, France.

Professor Besiou’s specialization is on the field of supply chain management. Her main research interests are in closed-loop supply chains, humanitarian logistics and stakeholder media. She studies dynamic complex systems, characterized by multiple actors and feedbacks, in a strategic level rendering system dynamics methodology an appropriate tool. Her research focuses on the decision-making of commercial companies and humanitarian organizations, while managing their supply chains. It has been motivated by real problems that these supply chains face such as regulations, limitation of resources, stochasticity, decentralization and monitoring by online communities. Hence, the insights that arise from her research can be transferred to policy-makers and decision-makers dealing with supply chain issues. Her dissertation focused on the impact of environmental regulations and consumer preferences for green products on the environmental and economical sustainability of closed-loop supply chains. During her postdoctoral research she also integrated the social aspect of sustainability. Her research appears in several case studies and peer-review international journals like the European Journal of Operational Research and the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management. She has also presented her work at major international academic and practitioner conferences and workshops.

Professor Besiou during her Ph.D. has taught System Dynamics, Industrial Management, Business Finance and Investment Analysis and Evaluation at the Bachelor students in Mechanical Engineering in AUTH. She was also Instructor on Simulation Tools for System Dynamics Methodology at the Bachelor students in Engineering and Management of Energy Resources in University of Western Macedonia, Greece. During her Ph.D. she also worked as a researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in AUTH.