Key underlying theories in academic research

Operations Management

There are a number of words that can best describe (and are currently being used) how operations management is causing a renaissance in the business community. Words such as flexibility, agility and responsiveness have found their way into the business jargon commonly used throughout the new global business environment. The reason behind the use of such lexicons seems to be to make it simpler for management to explain what it is they are striving to achieve; this holds true in almost all types of business operations including IT, mining and manufacturing. The literature concerning operations management is replete with the use of such terms and oftentimes the words are used in conjunction with one another or in the place of other less attention grabbing language.

One recent study is a prime example when it states that the "evaluation of flexibility in a manufacturing system development in operations management is important to determine the competitiveness of manufacturing systems" (Shian-Jong, 2007, p. 409). The question that remains, however, is how does flexibility get measured in the first place? It is interesting to note that flexibility is sought in a number of different areas, but that determining what operations are flexible and what operations are not flexible could be much more difficult than what the evaluation can reveal in the long run anyway. Flexibility is even used to describe mining operations; as in a recent study that was conducted in order to determine what the increased expected value of mining operations were that are attributable to intelligent management responses to changing operating conditions and market prices (Cardin, de Neufville, Kazakidis, 2008,, p. 65). What the study was really looking to determine was the "option value of flexibility in the exploitation of deposits" (p. 65).

In addition to the flexibility sought by many operation managers, agility is sought almost as widely. Current literature often uses both words to mean the same thing. An example could include the article that states "streamlining has a very big payback in boosting productivity and agility" (Buckingham, 2009, p. 43). So, research can now focus on streamlining a business because that is what will make it more agile? That's an interesting concept. Buckingham continues in the same article to state that the increased productivity and agility will result in the ability for the company to "grow organically and inorganically without a significant increase in our IT costs" (p. 43). Theoretically then, agility and flexibility are so similar, they could be interchanged without really batting an eye. Another study confirms this point when it found that "the agile manufacturing paradigm has emerged as an important concept in the development of manufacturing systems" (Ming-Shan, Lu-Kuo, 2010, p. 1107). Determining what is agile, or in the case of the Ming-Shan et al. study; an agile paradigm that helps in developing manufacturing systems that does not really explain how it is agile. The study does show that agility is based on "reusability, maintainability and modularity" (p. 1108). The study concludes that with these characteristics "the agility of manufacturing systems can be achieved" (p. 1108).

It would seem therefore, that both flexibility and agility are used throughout current literature and they are used to oftentimes describe the same aspect operations management is seeking to achieve. As Ming-Shan et al. determined; an agile manufacturing system allows the company an ability to produce products efficiently and to respond rapidly to changing market needs (p. 1107).

Responsiveness is the third word used throughout literature complementing the use of both flexibility and agility. Oftentimes studies will succeed in determining that agility and flexibility allows operations management to highest level of responsiveness to changing markets, global business environments, and changing customer needs and desires in an ever-increasing manner.

As one recent report concerning managers states; "we are organized so that the voices of its key customers can be heard, consolidated, and appropriately channeled for prioritization" (Siew Kien, Soh, Weil, 2010, p. 61). The reason behind such organization…prioritization of customer demands, or as the study also stated "the objective of value managers was to enable responsiveness" (p. 60).

It is not just value managers who espouse that particular objective, retail managers also tout the same responsiveness issues regarding their customers. The literature shows how retail issues (whether online or in brick and mortar locations) are challenging many managers in today's demanding environment. As one 2008 study found "one of the challenging questions that online retailers are current facing is how to organize the logistic fulfillment processes…with the ongoing need to create greater responsiveness to customers" (Gong, De Koster, 2008, p. 1070).