Reflections on the Evolution of Operations Management

Stephen C. Graves (2021) Reflections on the Evolution of Operations Management. Management Science 67(9):5379-5388. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3802

In this paper, I provide some observations on how the academic field of operations management has changed over the past 40 years. For this purpose, I have identified and classified the operations management (OM) papers published in Management Science in 1976 and in 2016. From this review, I comment on what’s changed, what’s new, and what we might see in the future. In reflecting on these changes, I also document and discuss how the OM editorial structure and mission have evolved at Management Science over this time.

Where Are the Future Research Opportunities?

What are the new opportunities or challenges related to OM that arise in the “age of acceleration” as a result of the exponential increase in computing power Friedman (2017)? What solutions or analyses are now possible given our computing capabilities? How might we use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance our approaches to the design, planning, and improvement of an operating process? What new OM issues arise as a result of the deployment of AI applications across these operations?

What are the new OM issues resulting from global challenges,  such as income inequality, climate change, food insecurity, and increased global interdependence? Any policy or programthat is designed to address one of these issues is likely to have a significant operational element; this might then benefit from new research on, say, the design and planning of the operation.

What are the new business models that depend critically on operations? This can be a very ripe area for new research; indeed, we have great recent examples of completely new research thrusts, including the operation and optimization of digital marketplaces, supply chain planning for online retailing, and various issues of pricing and capacity management associated with shared-economy businesses. One might expect that there will continue to be new business models that were unimaginable today, and with them there will be new research opportunities for OM.