Contingency research in operations management practices

Abstract

A B S T R A C TAs operations management (OM) best practices have become mature, research on practices has begun to shift its interest from the justification of the value of those practices to the understanding of the contextual conditions under which they are effective-OM practice contingency research (OM PCR). This article sets out to examine and critique the current state of OM PCR. We review OM PCR studies through the lens of the major theoretical view on contingencies, contingency theory, along a number of relevant dimensions: contingency variables, performance variables, measurement, research design and employed form of fit. In this process, we put forward a number of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to move OM PCR forward and develop more solid conceptual foundations in which to anchor rigorous research in this area. Finally, we reflect on the theoretical arguments that underlie OM PCR (which are based on the contingency approach) and identify its limitations in fully explaining the currently observed patterns of use of OM practices and associated performance outcomes. As a result, we propose that in order to increase our understanding of these patterns, OM scholars need to study in more depth the process of selection of OM best practices by organizations. Accordingly, we put forward a framework to underpin such research integrating contingency theory and other theoretical perspectives. ß

A systematic assessment of quality assurance-based food safety management system of Chinese edible oil manufacturer in view of context characteristics

“…Contingency theory implies that an organisation should adapt its structure to the contextual situation to attain good performance (Sousa & Voss, 2008). In the contingency theory, three types of variables have been identified.…”

“…Response variables are the organisational or managerial actions taken in response to current or anticipated contingency factors. Performance variables are the dependent measures and represent specific aspects of effectiveness that are appropriate to evaluate the fit between contextual variables and response variables for the situation under consideration (Sousa & Voss, 2008).…”

Process design principles in service firms: Universal or context dependent? A literature review and new research directions

“…The universal view promoted in the BPM literature contrasts with the contingent approach of management theory in general and of OM theory in particular. Sousa and Voss (2008) argue that the OM field is strongly rooted in a manufacturing strategy contingency paradigm, which advocates consistency between manufacturing strategy choices to increase performance (Voss, 1995).…”

“…These characteristics closely relate to the two categories of contextual variables introduced above, namely service concept and customer inputs. Drawing on Porter's generic framework (1980), the service operations strategy literature (Zahay and Griffin, 2004;Sampson and Froehle, 2006;Frei, 2007), and manufacturing strategy research (Sousa and Voss, 2001;Sousa and Voss, 2008), we therefore synthesise and consolidate the contextual factors in table 2 into a new, general contingency variable, the service strategy context. The service strategy context embodies the major operational characteristics resulting from a service firm's choice of a specific business strategy.…”

“…Overall, there is growing empirical evidence that many management practices may be context dependent (Dow et al, 1999;Ketokivi and Schroeder, 2004;Sousa and da Silveira, 2010). A comprehensive review of the manufacturing literature by Sousa and Voss (2008) concludes that OM is strongly oriented towards a contingency paradigm.…”