Area Of Operations Management Research Articles

Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak

Purpose: With this work, we intend to promote research on the application of Operations Management tools in order to assist with decision-making in health crisis situations. During the first six weeks of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain, we have contacted a large number of hospital and health department managers in the Valencian Community and other regions of Spain. The result is that very few, at least when contact was made and at the time of writing this article, had consulted staff members in the Operations Management area for advice on this situation, and they are quite reluctant to do so. This is in spite of the fact that some medical sources also consider this crisis to be one of resources, not merely a medical crisis. Our opinion is that Operations Management can make a useful and valuable contribution to anticipate and improve the management of scarce resources, even in times of crisis. If those responsible for public health or heads of hospitals do not see this usefulness, then there is a huge gap between research and practice in Operations Management and what is transmitted to the healthcare sector. Our aim is to help reduce this gap.Design/methodology/approach: In the first part of the article, we will justify that this crisis, besides being a medical crisis, is also a crisis in terms of resources. We will briefly review some of the Operations Management tools that we believe are appropriate for managing this crisis. We will focus on those that we will illustrate in the second part of the article as a practical example of the action research protocol (only the action planning phase), in which we are currently involved.Findings: Due to the peculiarities of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is reasonable to think that the evolution and duration of each outbreak, and the way it is dealt with, will be different in each hospital and/or each health department. Anticipating the number of patients who will require care and forecasting the consumption of resources over time is complex, due to the long and variable incubation times and the uncontrolled evolution of the treatments needed by each patient. Furthermore, since the evolution of new patient admissions is not homogeneous, the forecasting of requirements is difficult. Providing real-time support and detecting with a certain degree of anticipation the potential levels of demand for health care will enable hospitals to define what stages of the contingency plan to apply and how to (re)assign the available resources in the most efficient way possible.Research limitations/implications: Hardly any current data are available, not only publicly, but also through public health ministries and managers; those that are available are not very reliable and come from studies with non-representative samples. For this reason, all forecasts must be taken with a note of caution, and in particular, designing review mechanisms every time a new set of updated reliable data becomes available (something that occurs on a weekly basis).Originality/value: In this work, we will show an example of a proposal for the practical application of Operations Management tools. Our proposal may be useful to hospital managers and public administrators in the healthcare sector (regional ministries or their equivalents). Each health department, hospital or hospital group will generate the aggregate data that facilitate the calculation of needs as input parameters for the model (available and occupied beds, daily admissions, mean lengths of stay in each healing phase and the percent of patients who evolve from one stage to another in the progression of the disease/healing process) and will be able to analyze how the system responds and evaluate different strategies or mitigating actions. These tools have been shown to be useful and reliable in manufacturing and service contexts that show a strong seasonal demand (both occasional and recurring) requiring a great deal of resources. We believe these situations are analogous to those faced by hospitals and the healthcare system in an epidemic like COVID-19. With them, we could facilitate the aggregate planning of resources for hospital administrators in order to provide them operational support during the COVID-19 contingency plan. However, the array of useful tools for this crisis is not limited to those that we will illustrate. Our intent is to encourage the Operations Management academic community to demonstrate how they contribute to the service of society in this COVID-19 epidemic, providing knowledge that can be extrapolated to other similar situations in the future that we may be unfortunate enough to experience.

Behavioral perspective of newsvendor ordering decisions: review, analysis and insights

PurposeThe traditional newsvendor model has focused on deriving the optimal order quantity that minimises the balance between stocking too much or too less number of products. However, the managers make inventory decisions based on intuitions and shortcuts, which may involve human errors and biases. The effect of cognitive biases and heuristics influencing the inventory ordering decisions in newsvendor settings is highlighted. The advancement of research associated to the newsvendor biases is reviewed to appreciate the behavioral aspects of the minds underlying this process.Design/methodology/approachThe use of experimental and non-experimental methods to investigate the ordering behaviour of newsvendors is described and we present a framework of the existing literature and highlight the research gaps to point to future research possibilities and priorities.FindingsThe proposed framework gives a systematic approach to confirm the existence of a substantial scope of research opportunities and points to specific areas for further research. It synthesizes the existing results of behavioral newsvendor research and will act as a key reference paper. In addition, it will help the practitioners and software tool vendors to comprehend the behavioral perspective of newsvendor preferences and design strategies to mitigate this effect. The insights will be helpful for academicians, researchers and practitioners working in the areas of experimental economics, behavioral economics, behavioral operations, bounded rationality theory, newsvendor modelling and supply chain contracts.Originality/valueA summary of literature in this evolving area of research is very scarce. Considering the impact of behavioral economics on managerial decisions in the contemporary world, it is highly important to have an educational summary which can act as a tool for the practitioners and researchers in the area of behavioral operations management.

A multi-dimensional decision framework for modular value transfer activity

This paper explores the key dimensions and value-adding elements of a supply chain delivering cockpit modules to an automotive assembly operation in the United Kingdom. The findings demonstrate that supplying on a modular basis is influenced by the initial design decisions of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), the capabilities of the Module supplier and the ability to offer greater levels of customisation in a high-volume environment. The research articulates the findings through the concept of the ‘Dimensions of Modularity’ which seeks to demonstrate the key decision areas in a modular context and extend the concept of ‘Value Transfer Activity’ within a modular context. Our research provides insights into the specific dynamics of a module supply chain from OEM through to Modular supplier and a supplier of sub-modules. From this research, those involved in developing modular solutions can determine the multi-dimensional issues that need to be addressed to ensure that the supply chain is effectively connected and value transfer implications are accommodated and maximised. By adopting a single supply chain approach to exploring the impact of modular practices this paper provides valuable observations into an area of supply chain and operations management that is becoming increasingly relevant to both academic and practitioner communities.

Identification of seminal works in the spectrum of knowledge management system through Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)

The aim of the present study is to identify the seminal works in the spectrum of knowledge management system (KMS) by employing a recently developed scientometric technique viz. Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS). Preliminary data of the study was extracted from Web of Science by using two phrases i.e., "Knowledge Management System" and "Knowledge Management Systems" to search in terms of topic (comprising the four parts: title, author keywords, abstract and KeyWords Plus). The search was confined to the time span from 1974 to 2017 which formulated a dataset of 1541 documents covering 37826 cited references. The seminal publications were associated with peak years of 1958, 1959, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1975, 1986, 1991, 1995 and 1998. In the second historical analysis, N_TOP10 indicator of CREx-plorer further identified seven landmark publications related to KMS. Landmark publications were described as those belonging to the top 10% of the most frequently cited publications for more than 15 years. In essence, this study identified 18 seminal/landmark works in the continuum of KMS. Moreover, the results of the investigation on seminal/ landmark works revealed that the subject of KMS is rooted in the areas of anatomy, economics, entrepreneurship, information systems, operations management, computer science, and management science. The results of this study could be useful for researchers, practitioners working in the spectrum of KMS.

Healthcare 4.0: trends, challenges and research directions

This paper aims at examining the trends, challenges and theoretical gaps in the implementation of Healthcare 4.0 (H4.0) based on a scoping review of the literature. For that, we searched journal articles in four widely known databases and screened the retrieved articles to obtain a publications’ portfolio. Our findings indicate that, despite the recency of the subject, research in H4.0 has been conducted in an interdisciplinary way with a diversified set of applications and functionalities. In terms of its implementation, H4.0 has been more commonly found in hospitals’ information flows, especially the ones related to healthcare treatments. The identified implementation trends, however, neglect a more holistic approach for H4.0, which originated three main research directions for this topic. Although identified as a trending topic in the area of healthcare operations management, literature on H4.0 may be viewed as randomly conceived, lacking academic alignment and practical orientation based on a grounded theory, which we aim at providing with the present study.

Application of Learning Curves in Operations Management Decisions

In the time of industry 4.0 and big data, methods which are based on the collection and the processing of a large amount of data in order to support managerial decisions have outstanding significance. The learning curve theory pertains to these methods. The purpose of this paper is to explore some application possibilities of the classical learning curve in manufacturing and service operations. The learning effect assumes that as the quantity of units manufactured increases, the time needed to produce an individual unit decreases. The function describing this phenomenon is the learning curve. Various learning curves have been developed and applied in the area of production economics and much research studies the significance of the learning effect in management decisions. This study summarizes the main learning curve models and demonstrates how learning can be considered in three classical areas of operations management. First, the calculation of economic manufacturing quantity in the presence of learning is studied. Next, the effect of learning in break-even analysis and assembly line balancing is explored. The results show that with the consideration of the learning effect, calculations become more complex and require greater efforts, but the application of the learning curve concept can provide valuable insight both at operational and strategic levels.

Operations managers’ individual competencies for mass customization

PurposeThe development of mass-customization capability (MCC) is crucial for a growing number of manufacturing firms nowadays and presents great challenges, especially in the area of operations management. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into which individual competencies (ICs) of an operations manager (OM) are important to the MCC of the manufacturing organization the OM works for.Design/methodology/approachA multiple-case study was designed, involving eight machinery manufacturers in one European country, to collect data on their MCC and on the ICs of their OMs. Empirical case data were triangulated with analytical conceptual arguments grounded in the existing literature.FindingsThe study provides empirical evidence of, and logical explanations for, the fact that OMs working in high-MCC manufacturing organizations use the ICs of negotiation, information seeking, efficiency orientation, analytical thinking and pattern recognition significantly more often than OMs employed by low-MCC organizations.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could replicate this study in other industries and countries, as well as for other managerial roles.Practical implicationsThe study provides indications for OM selection and training in companies that are pursuing a mass-customization strategy.Originality/valueWhile the literature on technological and organization-level enablers of MCC has grown considerably, the understanding of its individual-level enablers is still limited and concerns mostly the workforce. This is the first study that relies not on practitioners’ opinions, but on data regarding manufacturers’ MCC and their managers’ ICs to shed light on which managerial competencies are important to a manufacturer’s MCC.

A Rule-Based Approach Founded on Description Logics for Industry 4.0 Smart Factories

This paper develops a formal framework, founded on description logics, to assist decision making in relation to the manufacturing operation and control in modern enterprises that stand to benefit from the transition to Industry 4.0. The objective is to provide sophisticated support to individuals making decisions in the area of production operations management and in particular, production scheduling and material requirements planning. Using this framework, this paper demonstrates an approach to encode the domain knowledge of human experts managing the production as sets of formal rules. These rules can be implemented in an intelligent system that can assist and empower human experts, reducing difficulty when making decisions in complex manufacturing environments.

Relating entrepreneurial orientation with operational responsiveness

PurposePremised on dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and operational responsiveness (OR). In addition, grounded in contingency theory, the authors examine the roles of competitive intensity and technological turbulence in affecting the entrepreneurial orientation and OR link.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes that firms’ entrepreneurial initiatives in terms of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking significantly affect their responsiveness. Competitive intensity and technological turbulence moderate the EO and OR relationship. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the authors analyze the data generated from a sample of 164 small-and-medium enterprises in the USA.FindingsThe findings show that entrepreneurial initiatives are instrumental in responding to market requirements, which in turn results in superior performance. The authors also find that the interactive effects of innovativeness/risk-taking and competitive intensity are significant and positive, while those of innovativeness/proactiveness and technological turbulence on responsiveness are significant but negative. These findings imply that OR is effective when the level of competitive intensity is high while technological turbulence is low.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors conclude the paper by suggesting that entrepreneurial actions are pre-requisites for OR, which becomes effective only when the market experiences a moderate level of competition and a low level of technological change. The study provides implications for cross-functional research in the areas of entrepreneurship and operations management (OM) and also suggests future directions in this research stream.Originality/valueAlthough responsiveness has been recognized as a critical competitive capability in the OM literature, its relationship with EO is not fully understood and has not been empirically tested. Moreover, the interplay between EO and competitive intensity/technological turbulence and their effects on effective OR have not been gauged in the past.

Operational competencies and relational resources: a multiple case study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to use relational vision as a theoretical support for an investigation of how operational competencies are developed from the interaction of shared relational resources in the supply chain and to verify how these competencies allow the resources to be able to function, unity, integration and direction. Design/methodology/approach This multihull study was based on semi-structured interviews with 13 representatives of four dyads from companies in the steel, automotive and industrial applications, pulp processing and manufacturing and application of flexible tubes. Findings The results indicate that information, knowledge and learning are significant constructs to influence the development of operational skills in the supply chain because they represent the ability of the company to promote skills to efficiently use resources and create a barrier to imitation. Research limitations/implications There are limitations in the use of four companies from different industrial segments because it is possible to generalize the results. However, given the cross-sectional nature of the research, new studies may adopt a longitudinal approach to verify the evolution in the area of operations. Future studies may also expand the unit of analysis to understand the role of the relationship between the focus business and its strategic suppliers from the viewpoint of the suppliers. Thus, new research can be expanded to dyads, triads and business networks by investigating the various stages in the supply chain. Practical implications This study contributes to the literature and adds the dimension of relational operational skills, which is hitherto little explored in previous studies. Social implications This study contributes to the literature in the area of operations management, in collaborative relationships between buyers and sellers, focusing on the relational view of competitiveness. Originality/value The growing importance of organizations and the role of collaboration, based on mutual benefits and grouping of skills, tend to increase the competitive benefits of companies operating in this context. The management of this type of arrangement becomes a challenge for researchers, reinforcing the originality of this study.

Design science in operations management: conceptual foundations and literature analysis

Goal: The aim of this paper is to show that design science and design science research may contribute as a methodological approach in the context of operations management.
 Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify articles that have applied design science and design science research in operations management studies.
 Results: The findings show that the concepts of design science and design science research are relevant and can be applied to conduct more relevant research. Moreover, this paper presents appropriate steps for conducting design science research and provides a summary of the main studies conducted in operations management until the present time. Some drivers are also suggested for advancing research in design science and design science research in operations management.
 Limitations of the investigation: The main limitation of this paper is the lack of an empirical approach.
 Practical implication: This paper can contribute to other researchers in the sense of presenting a methodological approach that can help reducing the gap that exists between the research that is developed by academics and what is necessary to support practitioners in organizations, mainly in operations management problems.
 Originality/value: Publications that discuss research in the area of operations management generally consider the aims and practices determined by traditional sciences (natural and social) as a reference. Thus, it is important to explain the core concepts and foundations, as well as presenting the papers, which have already been developed using design science research in operations management, is necessary for advancing the discussion regarding the use of this method in this area.

Impact of Loss-Aversion on a Financially-Constrained Supply Chain

Traditionally, in the area of production and operations management, the financial states and decision-makers’ behaviour regarding loss have been ignored in the supply chain, which may lead to infeasible or unrealistic practices or even catastrophic losses in practical supply chain operations. Therefore, this study aims to provide a model for operational efficiency in a financially constrained supply-chain system consisting of a financially deficient retailer, a supplier, and a bank, and to analyse the impact of the behaviour of the bank and the supplier on the operational decision. It is assumed that the bank provides a loan to the retailer considering the supplier’s credit guarantee for the retailer. The supplier’s credit guarantee implies that, if the retailer goes bankrupt after the sales season, then a pre-guaranteed proportion of the retailer’s loan is repaid by the supplier. Moreover, to capture the decision-makers’ behaviour regarding loss, it is assumed that the supplier and the bank are loss-averse in their risk preference on the final profit. Under this circumstance, it is intended to draw the theoretical implications by analysing a loss-averse behaviour model for a supplier and a bank, in which a kinked piecewise linear and concave utility function is considered. The optimal decision is analytically derived for the retailer (the optimal order quantity), the supplier (the optimal wholesale price), and the bank (the optimal interest rate). In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate how the model parameters affect the optimal decision for the retailer, the supplier, and the bank under different degrees of loss-aversion. The optimal decisions are shown to be highly affected by the degree of the loss-aversion coefficient of the bank and the supplier and to be more conservative than the result in the traditional case which optimises the risk-neutral expected profit (the unit degree of loss-aversion). The analytical results can be summarised as follows. First, as the wholesale price and the interest rate increase, the optimal order quantity decreases. Second, the more loss-averse the supplier is, the higher the optimal wholesale price that is offered to the retailer by the supplier. Third, the larger the credit guarantee that is provided to the retailer by the supplier, the higher the optimal wholesale price that is provided to the retailer. Fourth, the more loss-averse the bank is, the higher the interest rate that is offered to the retailer; and the larger the credit guarantee that is provided by the supplier, the lower the interest rate that is offered to the retailer.

AMBIDESTRIA E COEVOLUÇÃO EM OPERAÇÕES: INTEGRANDO TEORIA E PRÁTICA

What factors influence changes related to operations in companies? Usually, the operations management area prioritizes a technical view of its issues, often with limited theoretical support, consequently distancing itself from other areas of business administration. How could the co-evolution theory help this understanding by making contributions to research and practice of operations management? In this context, the development of a new product or business process leads to significant changes in the way a company configures its operations. The growth of e-commerce in recent decades illustrates how a change takes place not just in the company’s strategy, but also in the operations along the entire supply chain. However, what would drive change? Several answers have been proposed. Initially, one thinks of internal resources as the main drivers of such changes. Even with criticism, the resource-based view (RBV) has assumed a predominant role in operations research (Bromiley & Rau, 2016). According to RBV, internal resources, including the business leader, are essential to strategies of and changes in the company’s operations (Hitt, Xu, & Carnes, 2016). However, external causalities, such as the influence of the industrial sector, are also important. Considering this approach, it is valid to consider Michael Porter’s influence in the way the strategy of companies has been thought for decades (Hayes & Pisano, 1996).

Operational Efficiency of School-Based vs. Community-Based Summer Food Service Programs

The purpose of this study was to assess costs and sales (i.e., operational efficiency) associated with two summer food service programs (SFSPs): a local school district operated one program, and a community organization, with the assistance of a state-administered food bank, operated the other program. The researchers proposed possible solutions to operational inefficiency based on a case study approach to study the costs (i.e., food, labor, and administrative expenses) and sales of these two programs. They utilized the participants’ observations and source documents in phase one followed by gathering focus groups, composed of key stakeholders, in phase two. The results showed four major themes concerned each site’s respective SFSP: cost management, program barriers, program management, and atmospherics. To address the overarching concerns with the community-based program operating metrics, the researchers asked if the utilization of non-violent, work-release inmates and food trucks reduced costs or increased sales, or both. Child nutrition professionals can utilize the results of this study to increase operational efficiency in their SFSPs. The implications support the need for additional funding for each program and for training and development in the areas of food system operational management for the community-based program and creative marketing to reach more children in the summer months.

Operations Management Perspectives in the Air Transport Management

The area of operations management has had a substantial effect on the today’s air transportation management. Having moved with huge demand from management to obtain a competitive advantage in the market, the airlines are utilizing advanced optimization techniques to develop decision support systems for operations management and control. In order to provide a service with high quality and low cost, airlines spend a tremendous amount of resources and effort to generate profitable and cost-effective fare classes, flight schedules, fleet plans, aircraft routes, crew scheduling, gate assignment, etc. In this paper, the techniques and operations management applications that are used in the air transportation industry are reviewed including demand forecasting, fleet assignment, aircraft routing, crew scheduling, runway scheduling problem and gate assignment.

Lean Six Sigma in Brazil: a literature review

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Brazilian context, seeking to identify its main characteristics and opportunities for future research.Design/methodology/approachThis study focuses on a literature review in the area of production engineering and operations management, where 104 relevant scientific publications were identified.FindingsThe results show that the most important critical success factor for integrating LSS in Brazil is top management support and commitment. LSS integration occurs predominantly in large industrial companies, being incipient in small and medium-sized enterprises. In general, there is no structured way of applying LSS. A standard framework for LSS is still lacking.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to a sample that only comprises Brazilian scientific studies.Practical implicationsProfessionals and practitioners can understand the evolution of LSS through practical applications and the main LSS tools used in both the industrial and services sectors. It also points out the critical success factor for the implementation of LSS. The study highlights several roadmaps for LSS implementation adopted by large and modern Brazilian automotive industries based on a robust technological base. This study also contributes to expanding the evidence base of LSS application, both in Brazil and in other countries.Originality/valueSome suggestions are proposed to clarify the structure and complexity of integrated implementation of LP and SS as well as expand the LSS application in small and medium-sized enterprises. This study is the first to discuss the current situation of LSS in Brazil and provide suggestions to expand LSS in the country. Comparisons of Brazilian LSS literature review with researches of others countries are also presented.

DuPont Model: A Tool Promotes System Thinking and Integration in Undergraduate Business Education

The increasingly complex world of commerce has forced business schools to focus on preparing students for a new environment that requires systemic thinking, the ability to work in teams and the skill and motivation needed to respond to rapid change. Unfortunately, little has changed in how we educate future business leaders. In this paper we report the preliminary results of an attempt to increase under graduate students’ levels of cross-functional and systemic thinking using the DuPont model to integrate across the traditional functional areas of information systems and operations management). The model provides a valuable framework for educators, and can be used to display how typical functional-area tasks (e.g., determining capital structure) are related to firm-level outcomes (e.g., return on equity), and how decision making in one functional area (e.g., managing inventory) has a similar impact on firm-level outcomes as decisions made in other functional areas (e.g., managing cash).

The Impact of Strategic Operations Management Decisions on Shoppers’ Wellbeing

Various studies have looked at the operations management field in shopping malls, but the impact of strategic decision areas on shoppers’ wellbeing in malls has not been explored. This study elaborates the importance of structural and infrastructural decision areas for shoppers’ wellbeing in malls. Since operations management is one of three vital departments (along with marketing and finance) of most organisations, it is important to examine how decisions in operations management of shopping malls impact shoppers’ wellbeing. This paper examines the structural and infrastructural decision-areas made by shopping mall operations managers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to see how they impact shoppers’ wellbeing. A survey questionnaire was administered to 575 shopping mall customers. IBM SPSS 23 was used to conduct exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. Additionally, an IBM AMOS 23 was used to conduct structural equation modelling. The results indicate that both the structural and infrastructural decision areas of operations management are significantly important in determining shoppers’ wellbeing. The variance of shoppers’ wellbeing in each strategic decision area is further explained. The findings of this study consist of implications for researchers and especially for practitioners. The study constructs a framework for future studies about how the operations strategic decision areas impact shopper wellbeing in malls. Furthermore, practitioners can use the findings of this study when they perform their strategic planning. Finally, those developments would influence consumers’ wellbeing during their visits to shopping malls.

WITHDRAWN: Response invalidity in empirical research: Causes, detection, and remedies

AbstractResearch in behavioral operations management and related areas relies heavily on self‐report measures. The utility of such measures depends on the extent to which the responses are valid, meaning they correspond to the thoughts and beliefs of respondents with regard to the phenomena under study. Response validity is undermined when respondents are unwilling or unable to provide adequate responses to survey questions, an issue that has generated an array of methods for screening and evaluating survey data and dealing with dubious responses. This article uses the work of Abbey and Meloy (2017) as a point of departure to examine the causes, detection, and remedies of response invalidity. The article concludes with recommendations for future research that treats response validity and its dimensions as methods factors that should be formally incorporated into statistical models.

Optimal pricing and inventory strategies for introducing a new product based on demand substitution effects

This paper studies a single-period inventory-pricing problem with two substitutable products, which is very important in the area of Operations Management but has received little attention. The proposed problem focuses on determining the optimal price of the existing product and the inventory level of the new product. Inspired by practice, the problem considers various pricing strategies for the existing product as well as the cross elasticity of demand between existing and new products. A mathematical model has been developed for different pricing strategies to maximize the expected profit. It has been proven that the objective function is concave and there exists the unique optimal solution. Different sets of computational examples are conducted to show that the optimal pricing and inventory strategy generated by the model can increase profits.