Existence and Extent of Operations and Supply Management Departmental Thought Worlds: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Operations and supply chain management (OSM) solutions typically assume that the decision makers in different organizational roles know the key supply chain parameters equally well. Our research questions this assumption by employing two detailed case studies. Study 1 develops the OSM departmental thought worlds (DTW) construct and examines how and why they occur, with reference to supply chain breakdown. Study 2 measures the extent of OSM DTW with reference to total cost of ownership (TCO) of bought parts. We find that organizational roles indeed shape perceptions of the task environment, and these perceptions follow a predictable pattern. An insight into this influence of DTW is essential for OSM tools to work in practice. In particular, model‐based approaches must consider that even if different departments agree on the objective function, the parameter values may differ across departments, leading to divergent solutions.

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