نظریه مرزهای عملکرد

This paper seeks to illustrate how the basic theory of performance frontiers proposed by Schmenner and Swink [Schmenner, R.L., and Swink, M.L., 1998. On theory in operations management. Journal of Operations Management, 17, 97–113] can be extended to apply to a broader range of operations management issues. It extends the scope of the proposed theory to include a “between-firm” level analysis which can be useful in assessing a firm's competitive position and for strategic decision making. In addition, this paper provides a link between the resource-based view of organizations that has gained some prominence in the strategy literature and the proposed theory of performance frontiers. This paper argues that the operating frontiers of organizations represent unique resources and they are more important than the asset frontiers in achieving a competitive advantage because these unique resources are valuable, rare and specific to a given firm, and they are difficult to replicate. Future research directions and research methods focusing on the internal resources of competitive advantage are also discussed.

I found the paper “On Theory in Operations Management” by Schmenner and Swink (1998)to be very interesting, refreshing and thought-provoking. In my reading, their paper is much more than just an intelligent collection of arguments about the finer points of theory development; the paper is about the direction of a profession that, to a varying degree, we all shape and control. I agree with the authors on the dangers of being inflicted with “theory envy”. The picture they paint, quoting Kaplan (p. 100), seems to be valid for operations management researchers as well: “There are…scientists who, in desperate search for scientific status, give the impression that they don't much care what they do if only they do it right: substance gives way to form. The work of the…scientist might well become methodologically sounder if only he did not try so hard to be so scientific”. I share their fear that operations management driven by “theory envy” will be more and more fixated on methodology and on attempting to be scientific and not on adding to the improvement and betterment (using the term coined by Schmenner and Swink) of the profession.

Recently, Samson and Whybark (1998)argued for focusing more operations management research on “soft issue management”. As they wrote (p. 4), “…ask yourself which would do more to improve things there [in a run-of-the-mill manufacturing plant], a new CNC machine or everybody truly being given and accepting responsibility for performance in a disciplined way (with the old equipment)”. In my reading, their call for focusing on soft issues is the recognition that these soft issues and resources may serve the hardest barriers to entry for other firms. In this paper, I argued that (1) the operating frontiers of organizations represent unique resources; (2) the operating frontiers, in general, are more important than the asset frontiers in achieving a sustained competitive advantage because these soft resources are valuable, rare and specific to a given firm, and consequently they are difficult to replicate. It also follows from the very nature of these soft resources that survey-based methods in themselves are not well-suited to explore and determine the infrastructure-based sources of competitive advantage of a firm.