Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 30, Number 4
Fall 1999
A Framework for Examining the Interface between Operations
and Information Systems: Implications for Research in the New
Millennium
Varun Grover
Department of Management Science, Darla Moore School of Business,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, e-mail: vgrover@darla.badm.sc.edu
Manoj K. Malhotra
Department of Management Science, Darla Moore School of Business,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, e-mail: malhotra@darla.badm.sc.edu
ABSTRACT. Even though much research has been published
in operations and information systems, both functional areas
find their roots in other disciplines. While operations management
evolved from operations research in the 1960s, the field of information
systems is of more recent vintage and traces its original roots
to computer science. Both disciplines now naturally have come
closer together as information and process-technology-based changes
force manufacturing firms to become more efficient and customer
focused. Market and technology-driven e-commerce initiatives
that are likely to dominate business strategies in the future
cannot be successfully achieved without a successful integration
of operations and information systems. In this paper, we present
a unifying framework that can be used to better understand the
management of the functional interface between operations and
information systems. We also categorize and highlight the contributions
of the articles that appear in this special research focus issue.
Finally, research directions that emerge from our understanding
of this interface are outlined in an effort to stimulate further
thinking and research that can advance our knowledge of this
interface area.
Subject Areas: Management Information Systems, Operations
Management, Operations Strategy, Process Choice, Product Planning,
Strategic Information Systems, Supply Chain Management, and Technology
Management. |