Ž.The use of field-based empirical methodologies in the production and operations management POM area has been steadily increasing over the past several years. One of the most prominent among these is the survey research methodology which has often been used to capture data from business organizations. However, to effectively contribute to theory development in the POM field, this methodology must be carefully implemented. Poorly designed and executed survey research is of little or no value. This paper attempts to provide a normative perspective on 'good survey research practices'. In doing so, it attempts to bridge the gap between survey research and theory development. The paper liberally draws from work in other social science disciplines like psychology, marketing, organizational behavior, and other related fields that are more mature in the use of surveys, and applies it to the POM area. A set of ideal survey research attributes are identified, and existing POM survey work in four prestigious academic journals is evaluated with respect to these attributes. Results of assessing 25 survey-based articles published in these journals between 1990 and 1995 indicate that both exploratory as well as explanatory survey research is being conducted, with current emphasis being more on explanatory kind of research. In order to move the field forward, greater attention will need to be focused on employing multi-item constructs, assessing them for content validity, and purifying them through field-based pretesting. More sophisticated POM studies in the future would have to aim for testing theory with reliable and valid scales that are relatively free of measurement related errors. It is hoped that this work will act as a catalyst in compressing the learning curve with respect to survey research practices in POM, and also accelerate the use of greater methodological rigor in future empirical studies in the field. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. of the importance of field-based research in which data is gathered from the business context or the social setting in which practice occurs. This is particularly true in the production and operations manage-Ž. ment POM field, which has witnessed an increasing number of 'nontraditional' field-based methodologies in recent years as opposed to the more 'traditional' ones involving simulation and modeling. While diversity of methods is generally positive and indicates the maturing of a field, it is critical that the methods be appropriately implemented in order to 0272-6963r98r$19.00 q

Over the past decade, transaction cost theory (TCT) has received considerable attention from researchers in various disciplines of business. Unfortunately, the rich theoretical base of TCT has seen limited application in the operations and supply chain management research. This article seeks to change that by providing a cogent synthesis of TCT, its assumptions, constructs, and propositions. It also summarizes existing empirical work in management and other disciplines that draws from the TCT perspective and examines relationships in manufacturing organizations. A measurement model of transaction costs is subsequently presented using data from 203 manufacturing firms in the OEM electronics industry. Guidelines and recommendations for researchers are then presented regarding both the uses of the theory and its measurement. It is hoped that this study will stimulate work in the important areas of inter‐firm relationships that draw from this rich but underutilized theoretical lens, and thereby add another perspective to the knowledge base in related areas of the operations and supply chain management fields.

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The competitive environment of today has generated an increased interest in flexibility as a response mechanism. While the potential benefits of flexibility are familiar, the concept of flexibility itself is not well-understood. Neither practitioners nor academics agree upon, or know, how flexibility can be gauged or measured in its totality. Consequently, this study seeks to provide a framework for understanding this complex concept and to create a theoretical foundation for the development of generalizable measures for manufacturing flexibility. With this objective in mind, we first critically examine diverse streams Ž. Ž. Ž . of literature to define four constituent elements of flexibility: range-number R-N , range-heterogeneity R-H , mobility M , Ž. and uniformity U . The R-H element is new, and has not been proposed before in prior literature. These four elements can be applied to consistently define different types or dimensions of flexibility. Definitions for 10 flexibility dimensions pertaining to manufacturing are thus obtained. These definitions serve a dual purpose. First, they capture the domain of flexibility. Second, we show in this study how these definitions can be used to generate scale items, thereby facilitating the development of generalizable manufacturing flexibility measures. Several research avenues that can be explored once such measures are developed are also highlighted. q duction of a few standardized products, are no longer sufficient competitive weapons by themselves. Customers are demanding a greater variety of high qual-Ž. ity, low-cost goods and services Pine, 1993 . Organizations must consequently develop new methods and perspectives to meet these market needs in a timely and cost effective fashion.Creating flexible organizations is one response to dealing with such challenges. A firm that is flexible and possesses a set of different strategic options can respond effectively to dynamic environments Ž. Sanchez, 1995 . The competitive potential of flexi-0272-6963r99r$ -see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Ž. PII: S 0 2 7 2 -6 9 6 3 9 9 0 0 0 1 0 -8 () L.L.

Manufacturing firms are increasingly seeking cost and other competitive advantages by tightly coupling and managing their relationship with suppliers. Among other mechanisms, interorganizational systems (IOS) that facilitate boundary-spanning activities of a firm enable them to effectively manage different types of buyer-supplier relationships. This study integrates literature from the operations and information systems fields to create a joint perspective in understanding the linkages between the nature of the IOS, buyer-supplier relationships, and manufacturing performance at the dyadic level. External integration, breadth, and initiation are used to capture IOS functionality, and their effect on process efficiency and sourcing leverage is examined. The study also explores the differences in how manufacturing firms use IOS when operating under varying levels of competitive intensity and product standardization. In order to test the research models and related hypothesis, empirical data on buyer-supplier dyads is collected from manufacturing firms. The results show that only higher levels of external integration that go beyond simple procurement systems, as well as who initiates the IOS, allow manufacturing firms to enhance process efficiency. In contrast, IOS breadth and IOS initiation enable manufacturing firms to enhance sourcing leverage over their suppliers. In addition, firms making standardized products in highly competitive environments tend to achieve higher process efficiencies and have higher levels of external integration. The study shows how specific IOS decisions allow manufacturing firms to better manage their dependence on the supplier for resources and thereby select system functionalities that are consistent with their own operating environments and the desired supply chain design. † Corresponding author. 366Examining the Impact of Interorganizational Systems