Imperatives of the science of operations and supply‐chain management

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAlthough knowledge in operations and supply-chain management (O&SCM) has advanced substantially during the last six decades, our community has not fully utilized the potential for radical innovations. We identify two sets of opportunities for pursuing radical innovations. First, there is an opportunity to pursue all phases of science, including exploratory and qualitative research, developing theories, causation and internal validity, and testing models and theories for external validity (the ability to generalize knowledge to other situations). This would broaden the domain covered by each research effort, minimize the bias resulting from the choice of research paradigm and research domain, to enhance external validity, and to minimize the gap between our research efforts and the real world our community seeks to reshape. Second, there is an opportunity to pursue multiple perspectives because a scientific conclusion valid for a narrow domain may prove to be partially true or even false if one obtains multiple perspectives. Multiple perspectives can be obtained by investigating different parts of the system, by employing different methods of analysis, by using different sources of data, or by using different subsets of the same data. Developing scientific knowledge requires pursuit of all phases of science and of multiple perspectives. In a separate paper, we propose and analyze ways to accomplish it.

Hockey Stick Phenomenon: Supply Chain Management Challenge in Brazil

“…It also aligns with the view that organizations are complex systems and that real-world problems involve different departments (Singhal & Singhal, 2012).…”

“…Lee et al (1997b) stresses actions to reduce the bullwhip effect must be evaluated considering the advantages and disadvantages for both players. Singhal and Singhal (2012) claims that organizations are complex and must be approached as a system and that real-world problems usually involve different areas in the company. Therefore, academic research, to be useful for managers, must also cross discipline boundaries.…”

Supply chain disruption propagation: a systemic risk and normal accident theory perspective

“…If the contagion is not stopped, the disease spreads and it can become pandemic. This is supported by Singhal and Singhal (2012) who cite a Washington Post article (Heal and Kunreuther, 2010) calling for firms to understand interconnectedness and how a disruption in an obscure branch of the supply chain could bring the entire system to its knees. In other words, compounding effects will increase supply chain disruption propagation.…”

An Integrated Approach to Evaluating and Selecting Green Logistics Providers for Sustainable Development

“…A large number of studies have therefore employed DEA to evaluate logistics providers [36][37][38][39][40][41]. Singhal and Singhal [42] described the usage of DEA for purposes of supply chain management. They indicated that DEA could identify DMUs on an efficiency frontier.…”