Editorial

We write this editorial having just returned from the 13th European Operations Management Association's (EurOMA) Annual Conference, held this year in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference theme, “Moving up the Value Chain”,reflects the rapidly changing nature of the global economy in which we live,where organizations of all shapes and sizes, operating in a variety of sectors,are looking for ways to move up the value chain in order to sustain their performance. This movement started around 15 years ago within the manufacturing sector, in response to increasing competition from developing economies. As a result we have seen radical changes in the global manufacturing landscape. Moreover, the interest in moving up the value chain is not limited just to organizations operating in developed economies. There is now clear evidence that organizations and policy makers in developing economies are also placing considerable emphasis on this imperative. Wherever we are, be it in manufacturing, service or the public sector, the pursuit of moving up the value chain remains critical to future sustainability.

This was an upbeat and stimulating conference, despite the stereotypical Glasgow rain, with too many highlights to list here. For us, perhaps the most pleasing event was our receipt of the Emerald Leading Editor Awards for our contributions to IJOPM since taking over as co-editors in April 2004. As we have often said before, the improvements we have made to the journal could not have happened without the commitment and cooperation of our reviewers and authors, to whom we say thank you once again. We look forward to next year's conference, taking place from 17 to 20 June, in Ankara, Turkey.

One of the guiding principles of EurOMA Conferences, and of IJOPMitself, is to stay close to operations management practice. We aim to ensure that our academically exciting ideas are tempered with the realities of the possible, and equally, that commonly believed notions are tested empirically. The first two papers in this issue are exemplars of this tradition.

In their paper entitled “Performance improvement through supply chain collaboration in Europe”, Vereecke and Muylle question whether the assertion that collaboration leads to increased performance is any more than a common belief, and whether there is any robust evidence to suggest that firms should evolve towards more collaborative buyer-supplier relationships. The answers they find are that there is a dearth of empirical studies that support the rhetoric; and that thus far, the prevalent research methods have been analytical modeling and case-based studies. Consequently, to this end, they use a subset of data from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey covering 374 companies from 11 European countries to examine two types of collaboration viz; information exchange (related to, for example, forecasts, inventory and delivery schedules) and structural collaboration (such as installing kanban systems, initiating vendor managed inventory, or even co-locating plants). Their findings support the development of a concerted approach to collaboration with both suppliers and customers in order to reap maximum performance improvement benefits. Their results also indicate that supply chain collaboration efforts may be too modest and un-orchestrated in many companies, leading to unmet expectations.

The theme of testing common beliefs is also addressed by Danese, Romano and Vinelli whose paper entitled “Sequences of improvement in supply networks”highlight gaps in some of the accepted wisdom surrounding supply networks. For example, it has often been pointed out that companies should first enhance inter-functional integration before gradually increasing inter-organizational integration within the supply network. Other studies have emphasized the need to rationalize the supplier portfolio before concentrating on integration between customers and suppliers. Enhanced inter-company communication is cited by many as a pre-requisite for the implementation of collaborative practices. These previous studies delineate necessary conditions for supply network development,but are they sufficient to explain why companies decide to continue to develop their networks even further? Apparently not. Danese et al.'s evidence suggests that the fit between actual supply network performance and that required to stay in the market is likely to be the primary trigger for the implementation of further initiatives, while also influencing the choice of which initiatives to put into effect.

The third paper by Bozarth, “ERP implementation efforts at three firms:integrating lessons from the SISP and IT-enabled change literature”,summarizes the approaches prescribed by the strategic information systems planning literature for aligning IS investments with the overall business strategy, and by the IT-enabled change management literature for ensuring a successful implementation. It compares those approaches with the practices observed in three ERP projects, using the case study method. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in three companies in order to develop an in-depth understanding of the ERP selection and implementation processes followed. Perhaps not surprisingly, these projects did not necessarily adhere to all of the steps prescribed in the literature. The paper discusses why some of the steps were skipped. This paper makes two contributions: on the one hand, it studies ERP selection and implementation processes from the perspective of two well-established streams in the literature. This is very welcome, as the ERP discussion is still dominated by anecdotes rather than carefully designed studies. As Bozarth observes, even though OM papers frequently cite works in the MIS literature, they rarely take full advantage of the constructs and models contained therein. On the other hand, it investigates how closely the prescriptions furnished by these two streams are followed in practice. Some findings are not surprising (e.g. focusing on control rather than creativity). Others are indeed surprising, even alarming (e.g. the lack of sound cost/benefit analyses and comprehensive specifications prior to making the ERP selection decision).

The penultimate paper by De Burca, Fynes and Brannick is also on the theme of information systems in operations settings. Their paper entitled “The moderating effects of information technology sophistication on services practice and performance” adds to the emerging literature on the relationship between services management and information technology by extending the basic service practice – service performance relationship through incorporation of the interaction effects of IT. They provide evidence that the relationship is contingent upon the level of IT sophistication and that this phenomenon exerts an enabling or indirect effect on service performance.

Finally, Pilkington and Fitzgerald's paper, “Operations management themes, concepts and relationships: a forward retrospective of IJOPM”facilitates some welcome self-reflection by analyzing the central themes of papers published in IJOPM between 1994 and 2003. The results reveal OM research to be thriving and in good shape. More recent papers increasingly reflect authors' efforts to embrace theory construction and empirical validation– two of the longstanding criticisms of OM research in the past. By plotting sub-field trajectories they also show that recent studies are seeking a more subtle understanding of OM by considering its practice in relation to strategy, context and resources.

Professor Andrew Taylor and Dr Margaret Webster