Spanish University Business Chairs used to increase the deployment of Action Research in Operations Management: A case study and analysis

Avella, Lucía; Alfaro, José A.

doi:10.1177/1476750314528010

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Action research (Avella & Alfaro, 2014;Erro-Garcés & Alfaro-Tanco, 2020;Marin-Garcia et al, 2018;Mejia-Villa & Alfaro-Tanco, 2017) in a framework of recursive optimization-simulation for mathematical modeling based on discrete events (integer linear programming based on scenarios), with a focus on queuing theory and Markov chains (Belanger et al, 2020;Saez-Mas et al, 2018, 2020 will be proposed. We will develop the basis for the models with tools that are accessible to the heads of cooperating health centers or health systems.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak

Marín-García

García-Sabater

Ruiz³

et al. 2020

JIEM

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Purpose: With this work, we intend to promote research on the application of Operations Management tools in order to assist with decision-making in health crisis situations. During the first six weeks of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain, we have contacted a large number of hospital and health department managers in the Valencian Community and other regions of Spain. The result is that very few, at least when contact was made and at the time of writing this article, had consulted staff members in the Operations Management area for advice on this situation, and they are quite reluctant to do so. This is in spite of the fact that some medical sources also consider this crisis to be one of resources, not merely a medical crisis. Our opinion is that Operations Management can make a useful and valuable contribution to anticipate and improve the management of scarce resources, even in times of crisis. If those responsible for public health or heads of hospitals do not see this usefulness, then there is a huge gap between research and practice in Operations Management and what is transmitted to the healthcare sector. Our aim is to help reduce this gap.Design/methodology/approach: In the first part of the article, we will justify that this crisis, besides being a medical crisis, is also a crisis in terms of resources. We will briefly review some of the Operations Management tools that we believe are appropriate for managing this crisis. We will focus on those that we will illustrate in the second part of the article as a practical example of the action research protocol (only the action planning phase), in which we are currently involved.Findings: Due to the peculiarities of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is reasonable to think that the evolution and duration of each outbreak, and the way it is dealt with, will be different in each hospital and/or each health department. Anticipating the number of patients who will require care and forecasting the consumption of resources over time is complex, due to the long and variable incubation times and the uncontrolled evolution of the treatments needed by each patient. Furthermore, since the evolution of new patient admissions is not homogeneous, the forecasting of requirements is difficult. Providing real-time support and detecting with a certain degree of anticipation the potential levels of demand for health care will enable hospitals to define what stages of the contingency plan to apply and how to (re)assign the available resources in the most efficient way possible.Research limitations/implications: Hardly any current data are available, not only publicly, but also through public health ministries and managers; those that are available are not very reliable and come from studies with non-representative samples. For this reason, all forecasts must be taken with a note of caution, and in particular, designing review mechanisms every time a new set of updated reliable data becomes available (something that occurs on a weekly basis).Originality/value: In this work, we will show an example of a proposal for the practical application of Operations Management tools. Our proposal may be useful to hospital managers and public administrators in the healthcare sector (regional ministries or their equivalents). Each health department, hospital or hospital group will generate the aggregate data that facilitate the calculation of needs as input parameters for the model (available and occupied beds, daily admissions, mean lengths of stay in each healing phase and the percent of patients who evolve from one stage to another in the progression of the disease/healing process) and will be able to analyze how the system responds and evaluate different strategies or mitigating actions. These tools have been shown to be useful and reliable in manufacturing and service contexts that show a strong seasonal demand (both occasional and recurring) requiring a great deal of resources. We believe these situations are analogous to those faced by hospitals and the healthcare system in an epidemic like COVID-19. With them, we could facilitate the aggregate planning of resources for hospital administrators in order to provide them operational support during the COVID-19 contingency plan. However, the array of useful tools for this crisis is not limited to those that we will illustrate. Our intent is to encourage the Operations Management academic community to demonstrate how they contribute to the service of society in this COVID-19 epidemic, providing knowledge that can be extrapolated to other similar situations in the future that we may be unfortunate enough to experience.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak

Marín-García

García-Sabater

Ruiz³

et al. 2020

JIEM

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“…Source: Susman and Evered (1978) Based on Westbrook (1995), Avella and Alfaro (2014) propose an additional stage should be included: dissemination or diffusion of results, which includes academic contributions and practical results, as well as the proposal of new actions for the next phase.…”

Section: Figure 1 the Cyclical Process Of Action Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For cases of AR Projects, these cycles can have different infrastructures or monitoring. From a university point of view, Avella and Alfaro (2014) show the infrastructure denominated "Busines Chair" and they explain that it is defined as an agreement between an university and an external organization (firm, association of firms, public institutions, other kinds of organization) to manage and finance activities usually related to teaching and research. Likewise, another case of AR Project infrastructure could be a doctoral thesis.…”

Section: A Doctoral Thesis As An Example Of Ar Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Action Research Projects: one step ahead in the researcher-practitioner relationships

Mejía-Villa

Alfaro²

2017

Work. pap. oper. manag.

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<p class="Abstract">This study pretends to highlight the usefulness of developing action research (AR) projects as a way to develop a set of integrated studies based on a dual contribution: academic and managerial ones. The concept of AR Project goes one step ahead in terms of AR methodology as an extended case study. We describe an specific AR Project associated to a doctoral theses in the field of innovation intermediation. As main results, we have learned from this experience that (1) the relationship between researchers and practitioners must be collaborative and based on trust and commitment, (2) an AR Project is broader and more complex than a case study, (3) the diffusion of research results must be differentiated for practitioners and academics, and finally, (4) the AR Project is an open and collaborative innovation practice.</p>

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“…These findings enrich the literature in maturity models for manufacturing systems. Also, since few investigations have been conducted from the action-research paradigm, this paper contributes to understanding its usefulness for further operations management research (Avella and Alfaro, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A maturity assessment model for manufacturing systems

Vivares

Sarache

Hurtado³

2018

JMTM

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Purpose Assessment of manufacturing systems provides a baseline for manufacturing strategy (MS) formulation. The purpose of this paper is to develop and propose a maturity assessment model for manufacturing systems (MAMMS). The MAMMS provides a maturity index, in order to establish manufacturing system performance on five possible levels: preinfantile, infantile, industry average, adult, and world class manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach Three main steps were taken: MAMMS design; maturity-level assessment in two companies; and MAMMS validation. Based on an action-research process, several research tools, such as surveys, expert panels, and immersion in two manufacturing companies, were used. Findings By integrating 79 variables into a maturity index, the maturity level for two manufacturing companies was obtained. Considering three main components (competitive priorities, manufacturing levers, and manufacturing’s strategic role), the analyzed companies showed a performance at the average industry level. According to participants, the MAMMS is a valuable tool to support decision making in MS. Practical implications Empirical evidence supports the relevance of the proposed MAMMS and its practical usefulness. In particular, the maturity index identifies strengths and weaknesses in the manufacturing system, providing a baseline from which to deploy MS. Originality/value The literature review shows a lack of contributions regarding maturity models, particularly, the non-existence of maturity assessment models for manufacturing systems. The proposed MAMMS is a valuable tool to support decision making in MS. Also, this paper contributes to understanding the action-research paradigm, for further research in operations management.

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Spanish University Business Chairs used to increase the deployment of Action Research in Operations Management: A case study and analysis

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak

Operations Management at the service of health care management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak

Action Research Projects: one step ahead in the researcher-practitioner relationships

A maturity assessment model for manufacturing systems

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