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Abstract The field of Operations Management has evolved from a purely descriptive origin through the Management Science/Operations Research phase, and is now in the process of finding itself as a functional field of management. Emerging with this identity and at last founding the Journal of Operations Management, researchers need to give careful thought concerning the future directions of research. Research during the MS/OR phase made great progress, but is characterized by the development of models of problems of restricted scope, the results of which could be evaluated by a single valued criterion. The most promising future research is felt to be embodied in projects that are of broader managerial scope, reflecting relationships between subsystems and interfunctional effects. Evaluative criteria should reflect the multiple criteria realities of the managerial world. Types of research that appear to be in keeping with the new thrust of Operations Management are suggested.
Elwood S. Buffa (Fri,) studied this question.