Knowledge dissemination in operations management: Published perceptions versus academic reality

The channels for knowledge generation and dissemination in the business disciplines are many: presenting research at conferences, writing books, distributing working papers, offering insights in society newsletters, giving invited talks, publishing studies in academic journals, and many other venues, including even blogs and perhaps Facebook^®. But the most important venue is probably published research in “top-level” academic journals. In the discipline of Operations Management, many studies and lists have been published that attempt to determine which of these journals are supposedly the “top” according to either citation analyses, the opinion of recognized experts, author affiliations, bibliometric studies, and other approaches. These lists may then, in turn, be used in different degrees to evaluate research. However, what really counts is what the academic institutions actually use for guidance in evaluating faculty research. Based on a new source of ranking data from AACSB-accredited schools, we compare published journal-ranking studies against that of academe to determine the degree to which the studies reflect academic “reality”. We present rankings of OM journals based on this new source of data and on an aggregate of the stream of published studies, and evaluate their consistency.     

Is the German system of corporate governance converging towards the Anglo-American model?

This paper analyses whether the German corporate governance is converging towards Anglo-American practices. We summarise the extant empirical evidence on the various governance mechanisms that economic theory suggests ensure efficiency and describe recent legal developments. We find no clear signs of convergence in form, i.e. the main distinctive features of the German system have remained largely unaltered. However, changes occurred over the last decade (specially in the legal framework) suggest a certain convergence in function, i.e. some governance mechanisms have effectively incorporated aims and/or goals generally associated with the Anglo-American model.

CONSTITUENCIES OF JOURNALS IN PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: IMPLICATIONS ON REACH AND QUALITY*

I analyzed the contributions made by members of the following constituencies in terms of the number of articles published in the Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (M&SOM), and Production and Operations Management (POM): the top 20 U.S. business schools and the top 7 non‐U.S. business schools as ranked by Business Week or U.S. News and World Report, business and government organizations, U.S. business schools ranked between 21 and 50, non‐U.S. business schools not included above, and U.S. business schools not included above. I also analyzed the contributions made by U.S. business schools with top 10 programs in production and operations management; 9 of which are also in the list of top 20 U.S. business schools. Authors from the schools with top 10 programs in production and operations management contributed 20.2% of the articles published in POM and 3.5% of the articles published in JOM during 1997‐2001. They contributed 24.6% of the articles in the eight issues (from July 2000 through June 2002) of M&SOM. During these periods, authors from the top 27 schools contributed 29.3% of the articles published in POM, 9.4% of the articles published in JOM, and 37.4% of the articles to the eight issues of M&SOM. Also during the same periods, authors from business and government organizations contributed 6.6% of the articles published in POM, 1.9% of the articles published in JOM, and 5.8% of the articles published in the eight issues of M&SOM. The findings reported in this paper reflect the reach of the three journals and the perceptions of various constituencies regarding journal quality. The findings about POM and JOM have a very high degree of validity because both journals are more than 10 years old and have well‐established constituencies. The conclusions about the M&SOM constituencies are tentative because it is about 3 years old, and it is still developing its constituencies.     

Forty years of European Management Journal: A bibliometric overview

The European Management Journal (EMJ) is a renowned peer-reviewed journal of international reputation in the fields of business and management research since 1982. EMJ publishes original and high-quality conceptual, empirical, and review research papers that contribute to the advancement of the body of knowledge and its application in the field. Until the time of this overview, 2164 papers (including 2004 articles, 96 editorials, 28 conference papers, 27 notes, and 3 short surveys) have been published in the journal between 1982 and 2020. We analyzed all these articles using bibliometric techniques to examine the impact of the journal’s publications, most productive and influential authors, and their contributions in the field of business and management research. Co-authorship among the top authors, co-occurrences of the topics, co-citations of the journals, bibliographic coupling of the authors, affiliating institutes, and countries were analyzed by applying network analysis techniques using VOSviewer software. The advancement of research in the field of management during the last decade is also critically discussed in order to understand recent developments in the field of business and management research.     

A Framework for Examining the Interface between Operations and Information Systems: Implications for Research in the New Millennium*

Even though much research has been published in operations and information systems, both functional areas find their roots in other disciplines. While operations management evolved from operations research in the 1960s, the field of information systems is of more recent vintage and traces its original roots to computer science. Both disciplines now naturally have come closer together as information and process-technology-based changes force manufacturing firms to become more efficient and customer focused. Market and technology-driven e-commerce initiatives that are likely to dominate business strategies in the future cannot be successfully achieved without a successful integration of operations and information systems. In this paper, we present a unifying framework that can be used to better understand the management of the functional interface between operations and information systems. We also categorize and highlight the contributions of the articles that appear in this special research focus issue. Finally, research directions that emerge from our understanding of this interface are outlined in an effort to stimulate further thinking and research that can advance our knowledge of this interface area.     

基于管理类国际权威期刊的中国管理科学与工程学科研究现状分析

基于管理科学与工程学科2010~2019年发表在46份国际权威期刊上的13391篇论文数据,利用文献计量学分析方法,从文献发表记录和基金资助文献两个维度对管理科学与工程学科19个领域的研究现状进行分析。研究结果表明:近10年来,管理科学与工程学科的研究热点主要集中在“博弈论”“创新”“定价”“项目管理”“动态规划”和“供应链管理”等方向。美国、中国、英国、加拿大、德国的发文量排名前5位。在发文量最多的5个国家中,中国国家自然科学基金委员会资助的论文数量排名第一位,且信息系统与管理、管理系统工程是获得资助最多的领域。此外,在国家自然科学基金资助项目中,“供应链”是最热门的主题,“交通管理”和“优化”等主题受到较大关注。在中国大陆机构中,香港城市大学、香港科技大学、香港理工大学、香港中文大学和清华大学的发文量位居前5位。     

A longitudinal analysis of the impact of firm resources and industry characteristics on firm-specific profitability

Using a dynamic heterogeneous panel data model, we examine the relationship between firm-specific resources (corporate management capabilities, employee value-added and technological competence) and firm-specific profitability and the potential moderating effects of industry characteristics on this relationship. We find that firm-specific resources enhance both accounting-based measures (return on assets and return on sales) and market-based measure (Tobin’s q) of firm-specific performance. Moreover, industry characteristics moderate the relationship between firm-specific resources and firm-specific profitability. Managerial implications are discussed.

基于中国数据的国际管理研究学术进展——基于UTD-24和FT-45的可视化分析

本研究基于2009年—2015年UTD-24和FT-45使用中国数据源的文献数据库, 从研究领域、研究作者和关键词角度分析了基于中国数据的国际管理研究学术进展的现状和趋势, 并进一步基于数据挖掘和可视化技术提出描述学术研究发展趋势的一系列挖掘方法和呈现模式, 分析了商业管理学术领域对于中国数据源的关注程度、关注点以及研究模式, 以期更好地理解近年国际管理理论研究中中国数据的影响力和研究发展图景.在研究领域层面, 本文侧重在学科领域、期刊和时间维度上对基于中国数据的关注程度进行分析.在研究作者层面, 本文侧重于发现关注中国数据源的研究学者的来源, 发现不同来源的研究者对中国数据源的不同研究视角及其之间的合作偏好.在关键词分析层面, 本文旨在发现基于中国数据学术研究中的热点问题, 把握研究主题随着时间的演变趋势.此外本文还感兴趣于关键词内部之间的关联性, 本文通过关键词与地域、研究领域的关联分析探索发掘各个领域或者地域对于研究主题的研究偏好, 通过关键词内部的关联性分析获得并发掘出潜在的可以协同研究的主题.     

基于文献计量学的管理学学术期刊定量分析与评价 --以《南开管理评论》为例

本文运用清华大学中国科学文献计量评价研究中心编制的<中国学术期刊综合引证报告>(2002、2003、2004版)的统计数据,分析比较了国家自然科学基金委员会管理科学部认定的管理科学类重要学术期刊和CNKI"中国期刊全文数据库"B缉中"社会与管理/管理/综合"类收录的所有管理学期刊的被引频次、影响因子、即年指标等数据,重点评价了<南开管理评论>在管理学期刊中的学术影响和地位.     

Family Business Performance from a Governance Perspective: A Review of Empirical Research

Given the complexity of the family business phenomenon, empirical research has still reached no consensus on whether family control is beneficial or detrimental to firm performance. To shed new light on this issue, this paper covers more than 350 articles published in 37 top finance and management journals. More specifically, it provides an in‐depth analysis of the family business governance system in three steps. First, after examining the various family business definitions and measures of performance used in empirical research, the authors discuss the findings on the direct effect of family control on performance in different geographical regions. Second, the authors pay special attention to the choice of ownership structures by business families and analyse how family owners influence strategic decisions faced by their corporations, including the succession process. Finally, the authors explore the interaction of family control with other governance devices to gain a better understanding of family firms' corporate decision‐making and performance. The holistic approach highlights the need to contemplate the multiple relations that exist among the various governance dimensions of family firms to explain their unique performance. In addition to enhancing understanding of family business conduct, the authors emphasize the need to go beyond the borders of the family firm to identify its external antecedents and consequences. By integrating the finance and management perspectives and analysing the theoretical frameworks and methodologies used in these disciplines, the review highlights the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to advance family business research and thus to consolidate it as a distinctive academic field.     

Soft OR comes of age—but not everywhere!

Over the last forty years, new methods and methodologies have been developed to deal with wicked problems or “messes”. They are structured and rigorous but non-mathematical. Prime examples are: soft systems methodology (SSM), cognitive mapping/SODA and the strategic choice approach (SCA). Collectively they are known as Soft OR, Soft Systems, or Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs). Soft OR has now come of age in terms of both dealing with complex practical situations and having a presence in the academic literature. However, Soft OR is not recognized, or even seen as a legitimate part of an OR, everywhere and this is especially so in the US, where top journals such as Operations Research and Management Science do not publish Soft OR papers. The purpose of this paper is to generate an informed discussion and debate, which may lead to a greater recognition of the contribution of Soft OR, and to it being seen to be a proper part of the OR discipline worldwide. In order to achieve this, the first section outlines the nature of Soft OR and describes briefly some of the main methods. The second section demonstrates that Soft OR has been successful both in practice and within the academic literature. The third section documents the invisibility of Soft OR within important sections of the OR literature, and the final section then suggests some explanations for this, and also proposes practical actions to try and alleviate the problem. It is not suggested that Soft OR is an alternative to traditional, mathematical OR but, rather, a complement.     

Digital Finance and FinTech: current research and future research directions

Since decades, the financial industry has experienced a continuous evolution in service delivery due to digitalization. This evolution is characterized by expanded connectivity and enhanced speed of information processing both at the customer interface and in back-office processes. Recently, there has been a shift in the focus of digitalization from improving the delivery of traditional tasks to introducing fundamentally new business opportunities and models for financial service companies. Digital Finance encompasses a magnitude of new financial products, financial businesses, finance-related software, and novel forms of customer communication and interaction—delivered by FinTech companies and innovative financial service providers. Against this backdrop, the research on finance and information systems has started to analyze these changes and the impact of digital progress on the financial sector. Therefore, this article reviews the current state of research in Digital Finance that deals with these novel and innovative business functions. Moreover, it gives an outlook on potential future research directions. As a conceptual basis for reviewing this field, the Digital Finance Cube, which embraces three key dimensions of Digital Finance and FinTech, i.e., the respective business functions, the technologies and technological concepts applied as well as the institutions concerned, is introduced. This conceptualization supports researchers and practitioners when orientating in the field of Digital Finance, allows for the arrangement of academic research relatively to each other, and enables for the revelation of the gaps in research.     

Response Rates in Business and Management Research: An Overview of Current Practice and Suggestions for Future Direction

This paper examines response rates (RR) in published research in business and management journals. Its aim is to evaluate the efficacy of RR‐enhancing strategies, explore differences in RR between sub‐disciplines and geographical regions, provide a critical appraisal of RR in business and management research, and offer guidelines for assessing and improving RR in business and management research. Data are analysed from 1093 survey‐based papers published between 2009 and 2013 in a representative sample of business and management journals. The results of the study are discussed, and their implications for RR in business and management research are provided.     

基于元分析的国际知识管理研究特征分析

利用元分析方法,对1990～2007年间发表在20种国际管理学科核心期刊上的知识管理论文进行分析,从研究主题、参考学科、研究方法和分析层次4个维度分别揭示了国际知识管理的研究特征,明确了知识管理的研究现状和存在的问题,为完善知识管理学科结构提供实证研究数据,为知识管理的研究和发展提供参考依据.     

Aiming for Excellence: Reflections on the Advanced Institute of Management Research and its Elite

In 2002, the UK government launched the Advanced Institute of Management Research, a major initiative intended to raise the quality of research in business schools. Rather than offering research grants in open competition, AIM deliberately funded a select few leading lights in management. Insufficient allowance was made for the Research Assessment Exercise, which measured research excellence in terms of papers published in top journals. The AIM's elite exploited its existing publishing advantage, and AIM provided further resources to aid their efforts. The AIM recruited willing acolytes to work with its elite in fashioning the sort of papers required by the top journals of management – positive papers, consensual and endlessly citable. Analysis of the publishing patterns of AIM senior fellows reveals research cliques and publication silos rather than a network organization. Much as the elite saw its AIM funding as recognition of its own excellence, so AIM itself came to be seen as acknowledgement of the excellence of management research as a whole. That AIM existed to raise management research from intellectual poverty was forgotten. The AIM was wound up in 2012, having spent £30 million, most of it on the subject's elite. The problems that beset management research remain.     

Bibliometric analysis of production planning and control (1990–2016)

Production Planning and Control (PPC) has been one of the primary publishing outlets for operations management research for nearly three decades. This paper presents bibliometric analysis of the journal from its inception through 2016. PPC was analysed from six different perspectives to provide reliable and in-depth information about the journal’s performance and development. The analysis considered the development of the journal itself, the countries of contributing authors, authors’ academic and practitioner organisation affiliations, the top publishing and most cited authors, the most cited articles, and finally the topics of published papers through analysis of titles, keywords and abstracts. It was found that the journal is considered an outlet for both practice and academic research, reflecting changes over time in the landscape of operations management.     

A bibliometric analysis of operations research and management science

Bibliometric analysis is the quantitative study of bibliographic material. It provides a general picture of a research field that can be classified by papers, authors and journals. This paper presents a bibliometric overview of research published in operations research and management science in recent decades. The main objective of this study is to identify some of the most relevant research in this field and some of the newest trends according to the information found in the Web of Science database. Several classifications are made, including an analysis of the most influential journals, the two hundred most cited papers of all time and the most productive and influential authors. The results obtained are in accordance with the common wisdom, although some variations are found.     

The use of qualitative case studies in top business and management journals: A quantitative analysis of recent patterns

The use of case studies as qualitative research strategy in social sciences seems to have increased recently, but there are no studies that empirically verify such claim. By explicitly focusing on the field of business and management studies, we aim to investigate the extent of publication and the main features of qualitative case studies published in the 20 highest impact factor business and management journals. The paper discusses the correlation between a journal's ranking and the extent of case studies it published, and between selected features of case studies (e.g. research purpose, design and data sources). Moreover, we shed light on how the identified features of a case study impact its probability of being published.Methodologically, we analyse by means of correlation and regression statistics, as well as clustering techniques a total of 19 features in the 352 qualitative case studies published between 2002 and 2011 in our sample of top business and management journals.     

Wird die Relevanz von Ertragsteuern für die Unternehmensrechnung nach rechtlichen oder ökonomischen Kriterien beurteilt?

Textbooks in the areas of Management Accounting, Finance and Valuation treat taxes very differently. Finance and Valuation increasingly consider tax effects. Management Accounting considers taxes only if they meet certain legal “cost” criteria. These criteria follow tax law rules, but not economic rules and primarily consider tax effects of the local business tax only. This view is also reflected in recent cost accounting regulations. We present evidence from a survey of managers and chambers of commerce, according to which practitioners’ views of whether the local business tax is a cost are heterogeneous. The majority of managers do not consider the local business tax as a cost and do not pass it on to customers. The chambers of commerce however still consider the local business tax as a cost.