OM Reading: A 40 Year View of Operations Management

Jay, our colleague Jeff Heyl (at Lincoln U. in New Zealand), and I just wrote a short article for OR/MS Today (Feb., 2011) that appears on-line today. The title is “A Four Decade View of Changes in OM”. We look back on 12 topics that have had a major impact on texts and the teaching of OM over our careers.

The changes include: (1) viewing OM through a strategy lens; (2) how quality and TQM have permeated the course; (3) Goldratt’s influence with the Theory of Constraints; (4) the movement from manufacturing to services; (5) the globalization of OM; (6) integration of marketing/finance into OM topics; (7) JIT’s role ; (8) how process analysis and re-engineering have played a role; (9) the surging impact of Supply Chain management; (10) the spread of Ethics in our courses; (11) Lean’s impact; and (12) how green manufacturing and Sustainability have entered our course and books.

The teaching OM has definitely seen an evolution over the decades and we hope you enjoy our look back.