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Purpose – It is important to advance operations management (OM) knowledge while being mindful of the theoretical developments of the discipline. The purpose of this paper is to explore which theoretical perspectives have dominated the OM field. This analysis allows the authors to identify theory trends and gaps in the literature and to identify fruitful areas for future research. A reflection on theory is also practical, given that it guides research toward important questions and enlightens OM practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide an analysis of OM theory developments in the last 30 years. The study encompasses three decades of OM publications across three OM journals and contains an analysis of over 3,000 articles so as to identify which theories, over time, have been adopted by authors in order to understand OM topics. Findings – The authors find that the majority of studies are atheoretical, empirical, and focussed upon theory testing rather than on theory development. Some theories, such as the resource-based view and contingency theory, have an enduring relevance within OM. The authors also identify theories from psychology, economics, sociology, and organizational behavior that may, in the future, have salience to explain burgeoning OM research areas such as servitization and sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The study makes a novel contribution by exploring which main theories have been adopted or developed in OM, doing so by systematically analyzing articles from the three main journals in the field (the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and the International Journal of Operations and Production Management), which encompass three decades of OM publications. In order to focus the study, the authors may have missed important OM articles in other journals. Practical implications – A reflection on theories is important because theories inform how a researcher or practicing manager interprets and solves OM problems. This study allows the authors to reflect on the collective OM journey to date, to spot trends and gaps in the literature, and to identify fruitful areas for future research. Originality/value – As far as the authors are aware, there has not been an assessment of the main theoretical perspectives in OM. The research also identifies which topics are published in OM journals, and which theories are adopted to investigate them. The authors also reflect on whether the most cited papers and those winning best paper awards are theoretical. This gives the authors a richer understanding of the current state of OM research.

PurposeWorldwide, healthcare systems struggle to sustain the delivery of services at a time of increasing demand, limited resources and growing expectations from users, coupled with dealing with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat of other outbreaks. There has never been a more important time to sustain innovation and improvements. Using an illustrative case, the authors assess the application of two existing frameworks to identify the key propositions and dimensions required to deliver sustainable services.Design/methodology/approachThis illustrative case study focuses on a service provided by a chronic disease, multidisciplinary community healthcare team in the UK. Experienced-based interviews were conducted with health professionals, patients and relatives to provide a rich account of a care pathway design. A high-level process map is used to visualise the key touch points.FindingsThe authors identify all seven propositions of the SERVICE framework being present along with additional dimensions relating to sustaining innovation and improvement.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited to a chronic disease care pathway. However, the authors believe the results could be applicable to other medical conditions, which are supported by a similar multi-disciplinary service delivery model.Practical implicationsThe authors provide a sustainable public service operations SERVICES framework for health professionals and managers to consider when (re)designing care pathways.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the emerging discipline of public service operations research by empirically testing for the first time the SERVICE framework within healthcare. The authors have included additional factors associated with innovation and improvement and recommended further development of the framework to include factors, such as economic sustainability, highly relevant to the context of universal healthcare systems.

Purpose - This paper seeks to take a historic perspective on performance measurement and management (PMM) within operations management (OM) across all sectors (manufacturing, service and public) in order to reflect on and undercover relevant lessons and issues about PMM in OM.Design methodology approach - Drawing from a range of documents and experts, three historic phases were identified which reflected changing aspects of PMM in OM from the early twentieth century until today.Findings - The analysis shows that most of PMM within OM derives from work study and productivity measurement within manufacturing during the industrial revolution. The general trend shows a movement away from performance measurement towards performance management. The paper illustrates how views of PMM have moved in three directions: the broadening of the unit of analysis; the deepening of performance measures; and the increasing range of performance measures.Research limitations implications - The paper concludes by presenting four reflections and challenges including the fact that the drive for productivity still exists and there is a need to continue to develop measures across organisations which are also predictive. Finally, that lessons between private and public sectors regarding PMM are shared.Originality value - The paper argues that in order to evaluate the movement in the three directions effectively it is necessary to differentiate between the terms performance measurement, performance reporting and performance management.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present findings relating to how Lean is implemented in English hospitals.Design methodology approach - Lean implementation snapshots in English hospitals were conducted by content analysing all annual reports and web sites over two time periods, giving a thorough analysis of Lean's status in English healthcare.Findings - The article identifies divergent approaches to Lean implementation in English hospitals. These approaches are classified into a typology to facilitate an evaluation of how Lean is implemented. The findings suggest that implementation tends to be isolated rather than system-wide. A second dataset conveys Lean implementation trajectory across the time period. These data signal Lean's increasing use by English hospitals and shows progression towards an increasingly systemic approach.Practical implications - Data were collected using content analysis methods, which relies on how \"Lean\" methods were articulated within the annual report and or on the organisation's web site, which indicates approaches taken by hospital staff implementing Lean.Originality value - This research is the first to examine more closely \"how\" Lean is implemented in English hospitals. The emergent typology could prove relevant to other public sector organizations and service organisations more generally. The research also presents a first step to understanding Lean thinking in the English NHS. This article empirically analyses Lean implementation in English hospitals. It identifies divergent approaches that allow inferences about how far Lean is implemented in an organisation. Data represent a baseline for further analysis so that Lean implementation can be tracked.

Purpose - This paper evaluates the transfer of a Lean approach developed by a global manufacturing and logistics company into a large UK Government department. The purpose of this paper is to examine which tools and techniques are transferred and implemented into the government department together with their impact as viewed by the staff within the department in order to bring about both technical and culture change.Design methodology approach - The research takes a case study approach based visiting ten sites within one organisation interviewing over 250 people throughout the organisation.Findings - This paper reflects on the introduction or transfer of a Lean approach into a large government department in order to understand which tools are relevant and have had an impact. The findings indicate that the tools mostly focused on the principle of Lean related to reduction of waste and that some of the concepts such as standard work may not be appropriate for public services. On reflecting on the findings, the paper presents two frameworks - one for clarifying the purpose of the tools in terms of assessment, improvement and monitoring and another, the House of Lean, as a framework for not only for the tools but also the factors to support the implementation of the tools.Research limitations implications - The research is limited to one organisation one approach to Lean. However, the size of the organisation and the establishment of the approach mean that the limitations are small with the findings - particularly the development of the frameworks relevant to the majority of public service organisations.Originality value - To date the development and implementation of business improvement methodologies such as Lean are still under researched within public services. The majority of papers to date focus on presenting case studies of what happened. This paper attempts to go beyond that in order to present framework to help in understanding, developing and challenging the concept of Lean in public services.

Value and how it is produced/created in public service organizations (PSOs) represents a current and significant issue for those researching and working in public sector management as well as public service users. Recently it has been suggested that value in PSOs is created rather than co-produced through a relationship between the service user and the service provider based on the service user’s wider life experience. Importantly, this definition shifts the emphasis from the PSO (the focus of value co-production) to the PSO service user and their wider life experience. This is by no means an agreed conceptualization; there are many and varied definitions of value and its creation process. In this article, we develop a philosophical foundation for the value creation process in PSOs, something we argue is fundamentally missing from current conceptualizations. To do this, we draw on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, repositioning the basis of value co-creation from a service logic to a logic of assemblage. We then apply this framework to a practical example of public service use to show how it can be used to make sense of reality.

Purpose Globally, healthcare managers continue to struggle with increasing demands for their services being delivered with limited or shrinking resources. It is, therefore, clear that systems, processes and practices need to change to meet these challenges. The purpose of this paper is to assess how integrating two improvement technologies, Lean and integrated care pathways (ICP) might help. Design/methodology/approach Lean and ICP in healthcare provide a platform to develop conceptual frameworks for integrating two approaches. Findings A conceptual integrated framework is provided to assist care pathway designers and implementers to consider the synergistic benefits of combining approaches to improvement. Research limitations/implications The authors provide a conceptual framework that requires empirically testing. Practical implications This research provides a conceptual framework to aid practitioners to improve healthcare design and delivery. Originality/value For the first time, the authors bring together two approaches to improving patient care pathway design and consider how these are linked in relation to improving healthcare delivery.

Purpose - The importance of networks in effecting the outcomes of change processes is well-established in the literature. Whilst extant literature focuses predominantly on the structural properties of networks, our purpose is to explore the dynamics of network emergence that give rise to the outcomes of process improvement interventions. Through the use of actor-network theory (ANT), the purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics in the implementation of a process improvement methodology in the complex organisational setting of a UK National Health Service Trust. The paper illustrates the utility of ANT in articulating the dynamic nature of networks underpinning socio-technical change, and our analysis provides insights for the management process change initiatives.Design methodology approach - This is a rich qualitative study in the Pathology Unit of a UK National Health Service Trust, using ANT as the theoretical lens for tracking the emergence and transformation of networks of individuals over the course of a management intervention to promote \"Lean thinking\" for process performance improvements.Findings - ANT is useful for explicitly tracking how organisational players shift their positions and network allegiances over time, and for identifying objects and actions that are effective in engaging individuals in networks which enable transition to a Lean process. It is important to attend to the dynamics of the process of change and devise appropriate timely interventions enabling actors to shift their own positions towards a desired outcome.Research limitations implications - The paper makes the case for using theoretical frameworks developed outside the operations management to develop insights for designing process interventions.Originality value - By understanding the role of shifting networks managers can use timely interventions during the process implementation to facilitate the transition to Lean processes, e.g. using demonstrable senior leadership commitment and visual communication.

Purpose - This paper attempts to seek answers to four questions. Two of these questions have been borrowed (but adapted) from the work of Defee et al.: RQ1. To what extent is theory used in purchasing and supply chain management (P&SCM) research? RQ2. What are the prevalent theories to be found in P&SCM research? Following on from these questions an additional question is posed: RQ3. Are theory-based papers more highly cited than papers with no theoretical foundation? Finally, drawing on the work of Harland et al., the authors have added a fourth question: RQ4. To what extent does P&SCM meet the tests of coherence, breadth and depth, and quality necessary to make it a scientific discipline?Design methodology approach - A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the model outlined by Tranfield et al. for three journals within the field of \"purchasing and supply chain management\". In total 1,113 articles were reviewed. In addition a citation analysis was completed covering 806 articles in total.Findings - The headline features from the results suggest that nearly a decade-and-a-half on from its development, the field still lacks coherence. There is the absence of theory in much of the work and although theory-based articles achieved on average a higher number of citations than non-theoretical papers, there is no obvious contender as an emergent paradigm for the discipline. Furthermore, it is evident that P&SCM does not meet Fabian's test necessary to make it a scientific discipline and is still some way from being a normal science.Research limitations implications - This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals, however the analysis of 1,113 articles from three leading journals in the field of P&SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. In addition, a further significant line of enquiry to follow is the rigour vs relevance debate.Practical implications - This article is of interest to both an academic and practitioner audience as it highlights the use theories in P&SCM. Furthermore, this article raises a number of important questions. Should research in this area draw more heavily on theory and if so which theories are appropriate?Social implications - The broader social implications relate to the discussion of how a scientific discipline develops and builds on the work of Fabian and Amundson.Originality value - The data set for this study is significant and builds on a number of previous literature reviews. This review is both greater in scope than previous reviews and is broader in its subject focus. In addition, the citation analysis (not previously conducted in any of the reviews) and statistical test highlights that theory-based articles are more highly cited than non-theoretically based papers. This could indicate that researchers are attempting to build on one another's work.