Addressing endogeneity in operations management research: Recent developments, common problems, and directions for future research

Operations management research: an update for the 1990s

PurposeThus far, no study collects evidence from practitioners directly to investigate the characteristics of operations management (OM) research that appears to have impacts on OM practice, nor do we know how practitioners evaluate the managerial relevance of OM research. This paper aims to answer two interesting and important questions: how do practitioners judge the managerial relevance of OM research; and whether practitioners' criteria on managerial relevance can help OM researchers improve the relevance?Design/methodology/approachA panel of senior executives was asked to read the top 10 most downloaded papers from theJournal of Operations Managementand fill the designed questionnaire. Following Cronbach's cumulative theory‐building process through which progress is made by successively testing the efficacy of the measures, this research examined the diverse disciplines, consolidated relevant findings, and integrated them into a tractable, meaningful research framework.FindingsThis paper reveals that practitioners evaluate our OM research by three criteria: whether academic research is applicable or implementable (solution oriented), whether academic research provides novel insights or new perspectives to management (eye opening), and whether academic research helps practitioners recognize their situations (accessibility).Originality/valueWhile the awareness of managerial relevance in OM research has been growing, few systematic, quantitative‐oriented empirical studies of practitioners' attitude toward academic OM research exist in current literature. This paper directly explores practitioners' opinions on managerial relevance through quantitative analysis and identified several possible dimensions to pursue managerial relevance in OM research.

Objeto: El objetivo planteado es analizar la investigación en docencia en Dirección de Operaciones (DO) publicada en revistas de alto impacto del área, con objeto de estudiar tendencias y establecer futuros retos.\n\t\t\t\t Diseño/metodología/enfoque: Se ha realizado un estudio bibliométrico en 45 de las principales revistas JCR de DO y Management para el periodo 1995-2010. Los 129 artículos identificados sobre investigación en docencia en DO han sido analizados.\n\t\t\t\t Aportaciones y resultados: Existe una escasez de artículos sobre docencia en las principales revistas de DO y Management. El 62.2% de las revistas analizadas no han publicado ninguno, y las restantes (17) han dedicado tan solo el 0.4% del total de sus publicaciones a esta temática. Predominan los trabajos descriptivos y teóricos/conceptuales, en los que se abordan innovaciones docentes. Entre los retos identificados destacar la necesidad de desarrollar trabajos empíricos de calidad que permitan conocer\n\t\t\t\t el impacto real de las metodologías docentes en la mejora del rendimiento del alumno (en sus diferentes vertientes).\n\t\t\t\t Limitaciones: El análisis se ha restringido a 45 de las revistas más importantes de DO y Management basándonos en trabajos previos. Esta muestra puede considerarse representativa dados los objetivos del estudio planteado.\n\t\t\t\t Implicaciones prácticas: Los investigadores en docencia en DO reciben un análisis los trabajos publicados que les permitirá orientar sus futuras investigaciones en función de los resultados y retos planteados. A los docentes de DO se les ofrece una selección de artículos que pueden ayudarle en el desarrollo de su estrategia formativa. Las empresas se beneficiarán de este trabajo en la medida de que nuestros resultados pueden ayudar a que se ofrezca al mercado laboral directivos mejor formados.\n\t\t\t\t Valor añadido: La innovación en docencia es la base para la mejora de la formación y de la capacitación que obtengan los alumnos y futuros gestores de empresa. No se habían realizado investigaciones previas que estudiaran las publicaciones sobre docencia en revistas de DO y Management y pusieran en valor este importante campo de estudio.

To address managerially relevant problems, scholars in operations management are increasingly adopting a design science based approach, that is, a pragmatic problem solving approach undergirded by abductive and inductive reasoning. Despite its increased adoption, the full potential of the design science approach and range of its application remains underappreciated by operations management scholars. To elaborate on how the design science approach can usefully be employed by operations management scholars, the current study examines five studies that adopted it. Treating these studies as exemplars in the Kuhnian sense, this study identifies six analytic moves that can enhance the rigor and relevance of scholarship in operations management. The study concludes with some reflections on the implications of adopting the design science approach in OM scholarship.

The relative importance of journals used in operations management research A citation analysis

A couple of years ago, one of us was a co-author on a paper presenting the results of a nice little operations management (OM) research study. Although narrowly focused, it came to some important conclusions and insights regarding an important concept in our field, but we were at a loss about where to try to publish it. It wasn’t a massive study with multiple confounded variables that had to be teased out using sophisticated statistical techniques, nor did it present impressive, earth-shaking conclusions, so it seemed obvious that it wasn’t suitable for the top journals in our field. Nor, some editors informed us, was it appropriate for the engineering or math or management oriented, journals where OM researchers sometimes publish their work. It seemed we had run out of alternatives. Whereas the field of Finance has 46 or more journals that have the words Finance or Financial in their title, and somewhat the same is probably true for Marketing, Economics, and Management, in OM, there are only about five journals with the words Operations Management somewhere in their title. It thus seemed clear that there was a tremendous need, and opportunity, for additional journals in our field. Moreover, since the demise of the Production & Inventory Management Journal published by APICS (formerly, the American Production and Inventory Control Society) and the Notes section of the Journal of Operations Management, there has been no place for academic scholars to read about and publish small but high-quality OM research studies. Between just these two publications themselves, that means about 70 short OM research papers are not being published each year, or are perhaps being published but in less preferred or less appropriate journals. And since that time, the field has grown in both size and stature, while the pressure for publishing continues to increase. As a result, we decided to take matters into our own hands and initiate an OM journal dedicated to smaller, focused papers that held particular promise of advancing practice, since OM is basically an applied field. The journal would not compete with existing A-level journals in the field but would instead aspire to publish shorter, more sharply focused work that exhibited solid methodological rigor. The journal would entertain all OM topics and all forms of research: survey, math modeling, case, field, qualitative, simulation, ethnography, hermeneutics, metaanalyses, and other such reputable methodologies. However, total manuscript length would be limited to 20 pages (including figures and tables) and the turnaround time would be fast, with a target maximum of 8 weeks. We Oper Manag Res (2008) 1:1–5 DOI 10.1007/s12063-008-0009-8

The operations management research agenda: An update

Statistical power in operations management research

Operations Management Research was started to promote research that advances both the theory and practice of operations management (Meredith and McMullen 2008). In this guest editorial, we discuss how operations management (OM) researchers could more systematically engage in the exploration of technological opportunity. In this respect, operations management research is an activity shaped by technological invention and innovation in use. Whereas OM researchers currently are still mainly interested in the performance of OM processes and practices adopted by large populations (e.g. of firms or customers), they should also attend to early adopters trying out new technology as well as those combining and configuring existing technologies in new ways. Expanding attention from studying how established practice transforms operational contexts in terms of efficiency and reliability to the development of innovative practice requires an integrative methodological approach for OM research. We outline such an integrative approach, based on a science-for-design approach. To systematically link practice and science, five methodological steps for the systematic formulation of research agendas and the development and testing of design principles are proposed. As such, we provide a framework that effectively connects practice and the scientific knowledge base in developing field-tested and grounded OM knowledge.

agile information systems, flexible information systems development, distributed information systems development, global software development, software development, special issue

The observed behavior of customers and managers often does not fit the assumptions of theoretical models used in the operations management (OM) literature. New research in behavioral OM is emerging to bridge the gap between traditional models and these newer observational findings. This work is both deductive and inductive, and it draws on multiple reference disciplines: experimental and behavioral economics, judgment and decision making from psychology, and organizational behavior and decision analysis from management. This special issue presents seven interesting papers that reflect the wide range of current research activity in behavioral OM. These papers provide insightful and thought-provoking introduction to this new direction in OM research.

International operations management and operations management research: a comparative analysis

Social media data contain rich information in posts or comments written by customers. If those data can be extracted and analysed properly, companies can fully utilise this rich source of information. They can then convert the data to useful information or knowledge, which can help to formulate their business strategy. This cannot only facilitate marketing research in view of customer behaviour, but can also aid other management disciplines. Operations management (OM) research and practice with the objective to make decisions on product and process design is a fine example. Nevertheless, this line of thought is under-researched. In this connection, this paper explores the role of social media data in OM research. A structured approach is proposed, which involves the analysis of social media comments and a statistical cluster analysis to identify the interrelationships amongst important factors. A real-life example is employed to demonstrate the concept.

This paper provides guidelines for the design and execution of survey research in operations management (OM). The specific requirements of survey research aimed at gathering and analysing data for theory testing are contrasted with other types of survey research. The focus is motivated by the need to tackle the various issues which arise in the process of survey research. The paper does not intend to be exhaustive: its aim is to guide the researcher, presenting a systematic picture which synthesises suitable survey practices for research in an OM context. The fundamental aim is to contribute to an increase in the quality of OM research and, as a consequence, to the status of the OM discipline among the scientific community.

Behavioral Operations Management investigates new developments around behavioral components — “people issues” — in operations management (OM). While these “people issues” are not new, OM has not dealt with them in a serious or consistent manner until the last 10 years or so. What is new is the emergence of a set of methods and structured areas of study that allow researchers to study these issues within the OM paradigm. The authors provide a definition of Behavioral OM and survey a number of relevant behavioral issues and their applications to the existing OM research. Finally, the authors propose that culture studies in OM may represent a promising direction of future behavioral OM research.