Operations Management Scholars Research Articles

Heart analytics: Analytical modeling of cardiovascular care

AbstractCardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death and disability both in the United States and worldwide. Despite high morbidity, mortality, and cost in the United States and global healthcare systems, cardiovascular care has been understudied in the healthcare operations management literature. In this paper, we identify research opportunities for healthcare operations management scholars to aid in improving cardiovascular care. We focus on three burdensome conditions, including (1) coronary artery disease, (2) stroke, and (3) heart failure, which, collectively, lead to the vast majority of CVD‐caused mortality and disability. For each condition, we characterize a typical patient's journey in receiving cardiovascular care, elucidating key challenges in improving care and outlining research questions for healthcare operations management scholars. We close with a reference to new research opportunities that emerge as artificial intelligence is likely to transform much of cardiovascular care.

Heart Analytics: Analytical Modeling of Cardiovascular Care

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death and disability both in the United States and worldwide. Despite high morbidity, mortality, and cost in the US and global healthcare systems, cardiovascular care has been under-studied in the healthcare operations management literature. In this paper, we identify research opportunities for healthcare operations management scholars to aid in improving cardiovascular care. We focus on three burdensome conditions, including (1) coronary artery disease, (2) stroke, and (3) heart failure, which, collectively, lead to the vast majority of CVD-caused mortality and disability. For each condition, we characterize a typical patient’s journey in receiving cardiovascular care, elucidating key challenges in improving care and outlining research questions for healthcare operations management scholars. We close with a reference to new research opportunities that emerge as artificial intelligence is likely to transform much of cardiovascular care.

Where in the supply chain network does ISO 9001 improve firm productivity?

Operations management scholars have long suggested that processes play a critical role in a firm's competitive advantage. ISO 9001, in particular, provides a standard to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of processes. Similarly, network researchers argue that a firm's embedded position in the network plays a critical role in their competitiveness. Taking a network perspective, this research investigates if the productivity benefits of ISO 9001 depend, in part, on the network topology that connects the firm to their network partners. Using customer disclosure data from COMPUSTAT and ISO 9001, this study finds that network closure, industry homophily, and network centrality each moderate the effect of ISO 9001 on firm productivity. We find that ISO 9001 is more effective when firms are well embedded in the supply chain network and least effective when they are isolated. The overall results provide managers guidance on the strategic benefit of network position with regards to ISO 9001 effectiveness.

OM Forum—Challenges and Strategies in Managing Nonprofit Operations: An Operations Management Perspective

The operations management (OM) community is paying increasing attention to the analysis of nonprofit operations. However, what is it about this type of operation that makes it particularly interesting to OM scholars? We address this question by studying the objectives, actors, and main activities of nonprofit operations and the most common challenges they face. In addition, we suggest tactical and operational strategies to address these challenges by considering works in the for-profit sector and in different applied areas. The ultimate goal of this paper is to inspire and stimulate OM researchers to develop significant theoretical and empirical models in this novel stream of literature.

Deviations from aspirational target levels and environmental and safety performance: Implications for operations managers acting irresponsibly

AbstractThe relationship between sustainable operations and a firm's financial performance has been an ongoing focus of operations management scholars. Previous literature has extensively explored the impact of acting responsibly on financial performance. This article applies the behavioral theory of the firm and prospect theory to assess the much‐neglected reverse relationship, exploring whether a firm's relative aspirational financial performance impacts its likelihood of acting irresponsibly. Furthermore, we explore whether operational slack in the form of capacity, productivity, and inventory attenuates a firm's likelihood of acting irresponsibly when its actual financial performance deviates from its aspirational level. We use a matched pair design with privately held manufacturing firms in the United Kingdom who acted irresponsibly matched with similar firms who did not act irresponsibly. While most firms do not act irresponsibly, we find that the further a firm moves (positively or negatively) from its aspirational level of financial performance, the more likely it is to act irresponsibly. The results also indicate that slack generally does not prevent managers from acting irresponsibly, especially when performing relatively well. This study contributes to the sustainable operations literature and provides important theoretical, managerial, and policy implications.

Implementing visual management for continuous improvement: barriers, success factors and best practices

Visual management (VM) has become an important lean management practice for continuous improvement and has gained increasing attention from academics and practitioners. While operations management scholars have studied its benefits and functions, the factors that enable or hinder VM implementation have not been systematically investigated. Against this background, our study analyses qualitative case study data from Swiss manufacturing firms to reveal important barriers and success factors that are relevant for the implementation of VM. Moreover, for each success factor, we present several best practices observed in the case companies to overcome the associated barriers. The results contribute to the emerging field of VM within the lean management literature and provide insights for practitioners how to implement VM more effectively.

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

Addressing endogeneity can be a challenging task given the different sources of endogeneity and their impacts on empirical results. While premier business journals typically expect authors to rigorously address endogeneity, this expectation is relatively new to many Operations Management (OM) scholars, as exemplified by a recent editorial in Journal of Operations Management that calls for more rigorous treatment for endogeneity. This study serves two purposes. First, we summarize recent OM literature with respect to the treatment for endogeneity by reviewing studies published in leading OM journals between 2012 and 2017. The review provides evidence that endogeneity problems have received increasing attention from OM scholars. However, we also find some common problems that may render the chosen techniques for addressing endogeneity less effective and potentially lead to biased analysis results. Second, since instrumental variable regression is the most prevalent technique for dealing with endogeneity in the OM literature according to our review, we provide an empirical illustration tailored to OM researchers for using instrumental variable regression in the post-design (data analysis) phase. Using variables from a publicly available healthcare dataset, our analysis sheds light on the importance of examining instruments' quality and triangulating results based on more than one test/estimator.

Keeping up with growing complexity of managing global operations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that operations management (OM) scholars ought to be among the thought leaders in research into the design and management of global production networks, but too few of them currently are. It suggests possible reasons for what is holding them back and calls for ideas for removing the obstacles.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a viewpoint. Nevertheless, it reports results of an indicative survey and uses example cases to illustrate and support its arguments.FindingsThe survey confirms the conclusions from previous studies that the number of publications specifically in leading OM journals focusing on management of global operations is small. Relatively high levels of detail and dynamic complexity and hysteresis of variables affecting the management of global operations are identified as the major hurdles. Applying analytical modeling, a popular research methodology among OM scholars, may be of limited use as it mandates making too many simplifying assumptions. Empirical research is also difficult because it is time consuming and requires access to often sensitive data and may require longitudinal studies. These are tough problems with no clear solutions.Originality/valueThe paper urges OM scholars to take on the broad and strategic problems in management of global operations. That would not only change how the OM discipline is viewed, but it would also benefit the firm, the economy, and the society.

OM Forum—Innovative Online Platforms: Research Opportunities

Economic growth in many countries is increasingly driven by successful startups that operate as online platforms. These success stories have motivated us to define and classify various online platforms according to their business models. This study discusses strategic and operational issues arising from five types of online platforms (resource sharing, matching, crowdsourcing, review, and crowdfunding) and presents some research opportunities for operations management scholars to explore.

Operational safety: The hidden cost of supply-demand mismatch in fashion and textiles related manufacturers

Inventory management is a focus for operations management scholars and operations managers. Previous literature mainly investigated the relations between firm's inventory and financial performance. However, the relation between firm's inventory and non-financial performance (e.g., social outcome) is less clear. This study takes a fresh perspective to examine the impacts of supply-demand mismatch on firm's safety performance. Based on a sample set from fashion and textiles related manufacturers, the analysis suggests that supply-demand mismatch (measured by inventory volatility) associates with a higher likelihood of safety incidents. The impact is more salient where the firms are operating in complex (labour intensive) and tightly coupled (high production capacity utilization) environments. This study provides significant contributions to the inventory management literature, occupational health and safety management literature and operational managers.

Six Sigma success: Looking through authentic leadership and behavioral integrity theoretical lenses

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to broaden the current understanding of the relationship between top leadership characteristics and Six Sigma success. Design/methodology/approachThe research used a cross-sectional survey methodology where 212 companies from six different industries were analyzed to investigate the research question. FindingsThis study provides insight into how authentic leaders and leaders with behavioral integrity can facilitate and promote the Six Sigma process in an organization. The key finding is that in order to reap the best benefits of Six Sigma, both qualities in leaders are desired. The study obtains evidence that by staying true to the values they espouse, authentic leaders with high behavioral integrity can foster elevated levels of Six Sigma performance in the workplace. The research model can be applicable in other empirical settings. Research limitations/implicationsThe current study broadens the existing knowledge about leadership, trust, and performance. While many forms of leadership have been found to motivate employees to perform more effectively through mutual trust, little theory and research has examined the interrelationships among these variables within a Six Sigma context. By identifying authentic leadership and behavioral integrity of leaders as potential enhancers of the effects of top leadership in organizations, our findings represent a departure from prior approaches to understanding the impacts of top leadership on Six Sigma performance. For practitioners, the results of this study further shed light on how leader integrity relates to effective performance and highlights the fact that it is not only important for leaders to remain true to themselves, but they must also walk their talk. The limitations of this study may include the cross-sectional data, specific sample and context in which the proposed relationships were tested that may restrict the generalizability of our findings. Originality/valueThe main contribution of this work is the integration and extension of two emerging theories, authentic leadership and behavioral integrity from the leadership literature, to the field of operations management. This study is a timely response to calls from operations management scholars who strongly believe that incorporating theories from organizational behaviour can provide greater insights to practical consequences of implementing operations management practices. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to investigate the relationship between the authenticity and behavioral integrity of a leader and the success factors of a Six Sigma process. The study contributes to the quality management field that has been largely been considered to be lacking on strong theoretical foundations.

Innovative Online Platforms: Research Opportunities

Economic growth in many countries is increasingly driven by successful startups that operate as online platforms. These success stories have motivated us to define and classify various online platforms according to their business models. This study discusses strategic and operational issues arising from five types of online platforms (resource sharing, matching, crowdsourcing, review, and crowdfunding) and presents some research opportunities for operations management scholars to explore.

Does Loss Aversion Preclude Price Variation?

Problem definition: In modern retailing, frequent discounts are seemingly at odds with the idea that price variation antagonizes loss-averse consumers and hence, diminishes their demand for products and services. Our research question then is whether (or not) loss aversion rules out price variation—and in particular, cyclic pricing. Academic/practical relevance: Pricing and revenue management subject to behavioral considerations are key research areas in operations management. Our approach contributes to this research by highlighting the importance of incorporating heterogeneity in consumers’ behavioral responses in pricing models. Methodology: We model a monopolist selling a product over time to loss-averse consumers who differ in their sensitivity to gains/losses. Although the market is thus segmented, the firm cannot price discriminate among consumers based on that sensitivity. We then characterize the structural properties of the firm’s optimal pricing policy. Results: We show that charging a long-run constant price may be suboptimal and then derive conditions under which the optimal policy is cyclic. These findings establish that loss aversion does not preclude price variation and thereby, underscore the importance of incorporating consumer heterogeneity into pricing policies. Managerial implications: For operations management scholars, our model highlights the importance of heterogeneity in consumers’ behavioral responses to firms’ policies and shows that structurally different insights are obtained from pricing models if this heterogeneity is appropriately accounted for. This approach offers new avenues in pricing and revenue management research. For managers, our model suggests that they could vary prices, under certain conditions, without worrying that price variation will antagonize consumers. Our model offers insights on what these conditions are, which managers may incorporate in devising the pricing policies.

OM Forum—Three Simple Approaches for Young Scholars to Identify Relevant and Novel Research Topics in Operations Management

The revolution in information technology has provided the research community in operations management (OM) with new areas to explore and many new avenues to develop. In recognition of this, many editors of OM journals strive to publish new ideas. These two forces generate strong motivation, but many young OM scholars find it difficult to find new OM research ideas. To address this challenge, I describe three simple thought processes (or approaches) that I have learned and used to identify new research topics over the last 35 years. These approaches are as follows: (1) observe and learn to develop “problem-based” research, (2) ask “whys” to develop “phenomenon-based” research, and (3) sketch graphs to develop “insight-based” research. Clearly, these simple approaches are neither complete nor optimal; however, I share these personal thought processes with the hope of contributing to discussions as to how the next generation of OM researchers can build upon and expand the remarkable impact that our field has had and will continue to have.

The differing impacts of operational and financial slack on occupational safety in varying market conditions

Operations management scholars have long debated the right level of slack resources required to optimize a production system. Recent research suggests that the right level of operational slack, typically in the form of inventory, is very little but not none. However, this conclusion was reached without considering the role of slack resources in occupational safety, which is a critical oversight since the safety literature predicts that the reduction of operational slack harms workers. To address this gap, secondary data from 3945 publically listed U.S. firms is used to explore the role of operational and financial slack as well as market factors in occupational safety. The results show that decreasing operational slack harms workers and that this effect is mitigated when firms hold higher levels of financial slack. Furthermore, the external market environment also plays a crucial role in the operational slack – safety relationship.

Does the Bullwhip Matter Economically? A Cross-Sectional Firm-Level Analysis

This paper investigates whether the bullwhip has economic consequences at the firm level. In particular, we examine the relation between the bullwhip and various accounting/financial performance measures including equity returns, cash flows, earnings, and earnings attributes such as earnings quality and earnings persistence, using a large panel of cross-sectional firm-level data. Performance is measured both in terms of first-moment mean effects and second-moment volatility effects. Contrary to the maintained assumption of economics and operations management scholars, our analysis yields results that are inconsistent with the notion that the bullwhip has significant negative economic consequences at the firm level. In particular, we find almost no significant statistical/economic relations between accounting/financial measures of profitability and the bullwhip, both with and without covariate controls.

Changing a Leopard's Spots: A New Research Direction for Organizational Culture in the Operations Management Field

Operations Management (OM) research on organizational culture has to change to be able to inform practice. Currently, organizational culture research in OM is largely confined to narrow topical and methodological niches and culture is most frequently used as an explanatory variable in quantitative, survey‐based research. We argue that the relegation of culture to this niche is due to self‐imposed methodological blinders that hobble the OM field. We then present four research imperatives to reinvigorate organizational culture research within our field. We urge OM scholars to view culture as a dynamic concept that can be influenced, to adopt alternative methods, to use non‐traditional data sources, and to rethink assumptions about dependent variables. We also identify gaps in the current knowledge and new research questions for the OM domain. We conclude that the field of OM could greatly expand its understanding of organizational culture and in so doing greatly improve business practice, but that to do so will require a change in the culture of the operations management research community.

Conducting systematic literature review in operations management

Systematic literature review (SLR) is a well-known research method. However, there is a paucity of detailed SLR guidelines in operations management (OM). The recent interest in SLR in OM has not been followed by the same rigour observed in disciplines as medical sciences and public policy. There are no OM-specific SLR protocols, detailed step-by-step methods and reporting procedures. Therefore, this paper provides a step-by-step approach to SLR for OM scholars and an overview of SLR’s evolution as a research method in OM and the resulting progression of themes. The step-by-step approach aims to serve as a guideline sufficiently broad to avoid skipping any significant step, but still being easy to be understood and applied. The paper describes procedures for rigourous SLR, reveals a growing use of literature review in OM, specially for qualitative SLR and traditional narrative reviews, assesses contemporary and emerging themes in OM, and provides a research agenda.

Linking business strategy to service failures and financial performance: Empirical evidence from the U.S. domestic airline industry

Developing an understanding of the relationship between service quality and profitability is of central importance to operations management scholars. In this study we seek to reconcile inconsistencies between extant theory and empirical findings regarding the relationship between service quality and profitability in the airline industry. More specifically, we draw on theories from strategic management, operations strategy, and economics to explain why the relationship between measures of service quality and profitability will be moderated by an airline's competitive strategy. We test our hypotheses by fitting mixed-effects models to longitudinal data obtained from several governmental databases in the context of the U.S. domestic airline industry. We find that airline strategy moderates the relationship between some service failures and profitability. Specifically, we find that mishandled baggage and customer complaints more negatively affect the profitability of focused than non-focused airlines. We also find the relationship between arrival delays on profitability is universally negative for focused airlines, but displays an inverted U-shaped relationship for non-focused airlines. Our findings provide significant contributions to the existing body of knowledge in service quality and operations strategy. We further outline the implications of these findings for practice and future research.

Timeframe Alarm System: Designing a Practical Tool for Caseflow Management

A major challenge in effective caseflow management in courts is the low level of acceptance concerning the established timeframes and only modest compliance toward them. This article introduces a practical tool for improving caseflow management, called the “timeframe alarm system.” The tool has been designed to improve managerial and work planning actions in courts and to help bring timeframes as a more integral part of everyday court operations. The tool is designed in an improvement project in a Finnish court. The aim of the project has been to combine the expertise of judiciary and operations management scholars. The article introduces the main features of the tool and the tool design process, as well as analysis concerning the functionality and usability of the tool.