Guangzhi Shang

Twenty-six years of operations management research (1985–2010): authorship patterns and research constituents in eleven top rated journals

This paper investigates the research contributions over a 26-year time frame (1985–2010) of academic institutions and individual authors to the field of operations management (OM). We use two measures, shared articles and distributed articles, to assess the research productivity of institutions as well as individual researchers. Further we assess the contribution of institutions based on affiliated author research as well as the research of their PhD graduates. In order to accomplish this, we utilise the published OM research articles in 11 top-rated and well-known academic journals over the time period from 1985 to 2010. In addition to the research, contributions of academic institutions and individual authors, we look at several bibliometric statistics related to this body of published research. These measures indicate that the research constituency is growing as evidenced by increasing numbers of researchers and institutions represented. Lastly, the collaboration between researchers appears to be increasing as evidenced by an increasing percentage of articles with three or more authors and the average number of authors per article published.

The origins of research and patterns of authorship in the International Journal of Production Research

This paper evaluates the origins of the research that has been published in the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) for the time period 1985–2010, which includes approximately 77% of all articles that have been published in IJPR since its inception. We assess the productivity of individual authors, the author’s affiliation at the time each article was published, the country the author’s affiliation is located, and the institution where the author was granted a Ph.D. degree. By analysing the countries in which author affiliations are located, we can determine which countries are having the greatest impact on defining the research published in IJPR. For international journals, it is important to publish research from an international constituency, thus maintaining one of its purposes. By analysing the affiliations of the authors as well as where the authors received their Ph.D. training, we can determine which institutions are having the greatest contributions to the research published in IJPR. We believe it is useful to consider both the affiliations of the authors and where the authors received their academic training since both are indicative of an institution’s true influence on a journal. To date, no published study has examined the individuals, institutions, and countries that have contributed to IJPR and, in particular, where the contributing researchers received their Ph.D. degrees.

The internationalisation of operations management research

Operations management (OM) is a relatively new field of business, having become recognised as a standalone discipline in the mid 1980s. With this in mind, this study analyses the origins, geographical regions, countries, and institutions, of OM research in 11 top level academic journals from 1985 through 2010. Since the field is rather new and is still being developed, an analysis of current and past research constituents offers a unique opportunity to assess how research and education in OM has spread across the globe. We identify those geographic regions and countries that encourage and support OM research and education from the academic institutions within their boundaries. Further, through the research contributions of affiliated authors and PhD graduates, we identify those institutions within each country that are the leaders in terms of OM research and education efforts. We consider the research of faculty affiliated with each institution as well as the research of each institution’s PhD graduates. We find that the early development of the field was centred in the US and UK but, in recent years, much of the research is being published by authors and institutions from many other geographic regions and countries.

The Competitive Impact of Targeted Television Advertisements Using DVR Technology

Digital video recorders (DVRs) are an emerging technology that is fundamentally changing the competitive landscape in industries that advertise on television. Perhaps the most familiar impact of DVR technology is that it enables consumers to avoid advertisements (ads) by fast forwarding through them. However, this �zipping� of ads is only one aspect of the impact of DVR technology. DVRs also collect a wealth of information at the consumer level that can be used by firms to target their ads more effectively. We examine how this targeting capability moderates the impact of ad avoidance in a competitive setting. Insights are provided on how best to manage this emerging technology in terms of the key managerial decisions of product pricing and advertising efforts, as well as its impact on profits in a competitive (duopoly) marketplace.

Mitigating the Impact of Functional Dominance in Cross-Functional Process Improvement Teams

Manufacturing process improvement teams often draw upon cross-functional expertise. However, teams dominated by a single or few functions often do not achieve the desired interdisciplinary learning and cooperation, which in turn could negatively affect the performance of that cross-functional team. Through an empirical analysis of 149 manufacturing process improvement teams in six SIC industrial categories, we show that even after controlling for several factors such as team size, number of functions, gender diversity, ethnicity, number of management levels, and geographic dispersion of team members, psychological safety of work environment fully mediates the relationship between functional dominance and team performance. We also confirm that a team leader possessing high interpersonal justice mitigates the deficiency of dominated teams and improves team performance by fostering a psychologically safe work environment. Our recommendation therefore is that when a dominated team is unavoidable due to the needed skill sets or other organizational considerations, to ensure success it is imperative that the firm chooses a team leader who can promote psychological safety by being just, and who can effectively encourage input from all functional team members and give them objective feedback.