TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential of a qualitative middle-range research approach to contribute to the advancement of operations management (OM) field. Design/methodology/approach–To better signify such contribution, it takes insight from Merton's (1968) notion of middle-range theory as a means to create pathways of propositions that link substantive concepts and practices of OM in both context-specific and context-free operational environments. Findings– The paper brings to the fore the argument that achieving the primary objective of filling the “theory-methods” void in OM can be achieved through adoption of a qualitative middle-range approach. Originality/value– The originality of this paper hinges on the premise that theory-oriented qualitative field research that is able to incorporate experiences of different stakeholders of the OM intervention is highly likely to benefit OM theory advancement as well as OM practice.
VL  - 34
IS  - 8
SN  - 0144-3577
DO  - 10.1108/IJOPM-11-2012-0486
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-11-2012-0486
AU  - Soltani Ebrahim
AU  - K. Ahmed Pervaiz
AU  - Ying Liao Ying
AU  - U. Anosike Paschal
PY  - 2014
Y1  - 2014/01/01
TI  - Qualitative middle-range research in operations management: The need for theory-driven empirical inquiry
T2  - International Journal of Operations & Production Management
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 1003
EP  - 1027
Y2  - 2024/05/05
ER  -