Service Operations Management research

Abstract

The extraordinary importance of the services sector for the economy both in production and employment cannot be denied. As a result, there have been both demands for an increase in Service Operations Management (SOM) research since the 1980s on the one hand, and, on the other, predictions that such an increase will take place [e.g.: Buffa, E.S., 1980. Research in Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management 1 (1), 1–8; Miller, J.G., Graham, M.B.W., Freeland, J.R., Hottenstein, M., Maister, D.M., Meredith, J., Schmenner, R.W., 1981. Production/Operations Management: agenda for the 80s. Decision Science 12 (4), 547–571; Mabert, V.A., 1982. Service Operations Management: research and application. Journal of Operations Management 2 (4), 203–209; Amoako-Gyampah, K., Meredith, J.R., 1989. The Operations Management research agenda: an update. Journal of Operations Management 8 (3), 250–262; Chase, R.B., 1996. The mall is my factory: reflections of a service junkie. Production and Operations Management 5 (4), 298–308; Pannirselvam, G.P., Ferguson, L.A., Ash, R.C., Siferd, S.P., 1999. Operations Management research: an update for the 1990s. Journal of Operations Management 18 (1), 95–112; Roth, A.V., Menor, L.J., 2003. Insights into service Operations Management: a research agenda. Production and Operations Management 12 (2), 145–164; Slack, N., Lewis, M., Bates, H., 2004. The two worlds of Operations management research and practice. Can they meet, should they meet? International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 24 (4), 372–387]. And yet, the amount of SOM research done in OM research has still only been minimal. This contradiction calls for an in-depth study of the state of affairs of SOM research, and we have conducted just such a study in 10 of the most relevant and representative outlets in the OM field, as well as in pipeline research (Proceedings of the POMS, DSI and EurOMA Conferences). Our results aim to provide answers to the following questions, amongst others: (1) Is greater importance now attached to SOM research within OM research? (2) What are the main topics of research? Are they the same topics that have been proposed in SOM research agendas? (3) What methods are used in SOM research? (4) What are the most commonly studied sectors of economic activities? (5) Are there any differences from OM research in terms of content and methods? Some of our findings show that although a growth in SOM research had been predicted in earlier studies, there is still only a minimal amount done (7.5% of OM research); seven topics command 61.5% of SOM research, which (with some exceptions) is consistent with SOM research agendas; there is more research done on strategic issues than on tactical/operational issues; models and simulations are still more common than empirical research, but trends point to a shift to the latter; the majority of research focuses on a specific sector, and three sectors account for 50% of the total; there is a clear connection between type of journal and type of research, research method and sector of activity.