Operations Management: A Field Rediscovered

Abstract

"Manufacturing is in flower. After years of neglect, America's factories are taking on a fresh allure." This quote from Time (DeMott, 1984) also applies directly to the field of operations management, a field that was spawned in the factory and has only recently reentered the limelight as a subject of practical and academic concern. This review provides an overview of operations management with emphasis on current research trends and research needs. Our objective is to position the field relative to other functional disciplines of business and to suggest research areas where interdisciplinary work seems particularly worthwhile.