Search results

The purpose of this paper is to analyze more than three decades of theory testing published in leading operations management (OM) journals.

This piece examines the amount of theory testing, the extent to which theories are tested multiple times, and the disciplinary origins of the theories that are tested.

The analysis revealed that empirical OM researchers have increasingly responded to demands for more theory-driven knowledge over time. OM researchers are developing and using a wide array of domestic theories to understand empirical data. The examination also revealed a substantial focus on theory borrowed from other scientific fields.

The findings here suggest that OM is clearly a maturing discipline. As the discipline matures, it is important to consider to what extent borrowed theories and frameworks can offer value to OM. A preliminary vetting model is advanced in order to critically assess foreign theory. It is hoped that future screening promotes only the most useful non-domestic theory, thereby ensuring sufficient journal space for domestic theory and resulting in effective solutions to the pressing, practical problems of the OM field.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a large-sample empirical investigation of how relational capital impacts bullwhip at the supplier.

The study uses mandatory disclosures in regulatory filings of US firms to identify a supplier’s major customers and constructs empirical proxies of supply chain relational capital, i.e., length of the relationship between suppliers and customers and partner interdependence. Multivariate regression analyses are performed to examine the effects of relational capital on bullwhip at the supplier.

The findings show that bullwhip at the supplier is greater when customers are more dependent on their suppliers, but is reduced when suppliers share longer relationships with their customers. The results also provide additional insights on several firm characteristics that impact supplier bullwhip, including shocks in order backlog, selling intensity and variations in profit margins. Furthermore, the authors document that the effect of supply chain relationships on bullwhip tends to vary across industries and over time.

The study employs a novel data set that is constructed using firms’ financial disclosures. This large panel data set consisting of 13,993 observations over 36 years enables thorough and robust analyses to characterize supply chain relationships and gain a deeper understanding of their impact on bullwhip.

This paper aims to report on a case study conducted to help plan a rollout process for hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) type food safety policies at a frozen pie facility in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Existing company policies were prioritized using a quality function deployment tool, which quantified the qualitative material in the original manual based on a number of developed criteria. Interrelations between the different required tasks were also quantified to facilitate effective implementation.

The use of quality function deployment was shown to be useful in speeding up the implementation of food safety policies in the facility.

Quality function deployment, originally from new product design, proved useful when applied to HACCP implementation.

This paper discusses the use of product development tools to facilitate the effective introduction of HACCP like procedures. Thus it will be of use to academics and practitioners interested in HACCP implementation.

Many algorithms have been proposed to form manufacturing cells from component routeings. Most of these methods require specialized algorithms for implementation. Some others use well known procedures such as integer programming. However, these may be difficult for practising managers to comprehend. Proposes a simple method that can be implemented using spreadsheet software. The method is based on similarity coefficients and a pair‐wise interchange procedure. Describes the method and the spreadsheet implementation. Compares our procedure with many existing procedures using eight well‐known problems from the literature. Using three evaluation measures shows that the proposed procedure is effective. Given its simplicity and effectiveness, it may be useful to practitioners and researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of compensation‐based incentives in relationships between enterprise resource planning (ERP) usage and delivery performance in manufacturing.

The authors carry out two studies exploring links between ERP, incentives, and performance from alternative perspectives: first, of incentives tied to regular production activities, and their relationship with delivery performance advantage over competitors; second, of incentives tied to improvement activities and their relationship with delivery performance improvements. Statistical analysis is carried out on data from 698 metal‐working manufacturers from 22 countries, giving a broad cross‐sectional view of a global industry.

The studies indicate that ERP usage relates positively with both delivery advantage and delivery improvements. Furthermore, incentives tied to improvement initiatives may explain delivery improvements, both directly and as moderators in the relationship between ERP and performance.

The results suggest that ERP adoption can be framed as a principal‐agency phenomenon where performance outcomes are partially influenced by incentives.

The results imply that incentives tied to improvement initiatives may foster employee engagement with the new ERP, leading to stronger delivery performance benefits.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research to explore ERP usage as a principal‐agency problem, and to analyse its relationships with incentives under alternative performance perspectives. The results may significantly contribute to the knowledge of ERP‐performance relationships and the role of incentives.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

Five case studies of Canadian SMEs were conducted. They included interviewing individuals from five roles at each organization and gathering project documents. Following an evaluation of each project's success (within‐case analysis), cross‐case analysis was conducted to elicit influential and distinctive factors.

Factors were identified that appeared to explain variation between successful and unsuccessful implementations at SMEs, besides factors that appeared to be innovative or counter‐intuitive in light of the established literature.

The study reinforces the need for more research that is focused on SMEs. All cases were of Canadian SMEs with either a manufacturing or distribution focus, potentially limiting the generalizability of findings to other industries or countries.

By identifying relevant CSFs for SMEs, managers can better prioritize implementation efforts and resources to maximize success of ERP implementations.

The paper appears to be one of the first studies to focus on the CSFs of ERP implementation at SMEs.

The purpose of this research paper is to discuss cellular manufacturing is discussed under conditions of changing product demand. Traditional cell formation procedures ignore any changes in demand over time from product redesign and other factors. However given that in today's business environment, product life cycles are short, a framework is proposed that creates a multi‐period cellular layout plan including cell redesign where appropriate.

The framework is illustrated using a two‐stage procedure based on the generalized machine assignment problem and dynamic programming. This framework is conceptually compared to virtual cell manufacturing, which is useful when there is uncertainty in demand rather than anticipated changes in demand. A case study is used to explain how the concept would work in practice.

One major characteristic of the proposed method is that it is flexible enough to incorporate existing cell formation procedures. It is shown through an example problem that the proposed two‐stage method is better than undergoing ad hoc layout changes or ignoring the demand changes when shifting or cell rearrangement costs exist. It also sheds some insight into cellular manufacturing under dynamic conditions.

This paper should be useful to both researchers and practitioners who deal with demand changes in cellular manufacturing.

COVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour and retailers' responses has been studied in detail through multiple lenses. Now that the effect of COVID-19 is abating, there is a need to consolidate the learnings during the lifecycle of COVID-19 and set the agenda for research post-COVID-19.

Scopus database was searched to cull out academic papers published between March 2020 and June 6, 2022, using keywords; shopping behaviour, retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail channel choice along with COVID-19 (171 journals, 357 articles). Bibliometric analysis followed by selective content analysis was conducted.

COVID-19 was a black swan event that impacted consumers' psychology, leading to reversible and irreversible changes in retail consumer behaviour worldwide. Research on changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns has been mapped to the different stages of the COVID-19 lifecycle. Relevant research questions and potential theoretical lenses have been proposed for further studies.

This paper collates, classifies and organizes the extant research in retail from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies three retail consumption themes: short-term, long-term reversible and long-term irreversible changes. Research agenda related to the retailer and consumer behaviour is identified; for each of the three categories, facilitating the extraction of pertinent research questions for post-COVID-19 studies.