Research groups - Operations and Information Management
The work of our Operations and Information Management group builds upon the cross-fertilisation of operations management and information systems, examining their theory and practice in various organisational contexts. Among the most fruitful of these research topics is the adoption, use and management of e-technologies, particularly in business-to-business settings.
The group has a strong focus on meeting the needs of business and a large amount of industry-based funding has been obtained through involvement with Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and direct sponsorship from organisations such as the National Health Service, the European Commission, Yorkshire Forward, Pilkington plc and Kitagawa (Europe) Ltd.
The main interests of the Operations and Information Management group are operations and information systems, and operations.
Operations and information systems
Contact: Professor Andrew Taylor - W.A.Taylor@bradford.ac.uk
The main areas of research on operations and information systems are:
- the contribution of knowledge management to organisational performance improvement, and the identification and measurement of organisational conditions that facilitate effective knowledge sharing
- the influence of cognitive style on adoption and use of computer-based knowledge management systems
- implementation differences in the adoption of knowledge management in public and private organisations
- the impact of online reverse auctions on supplier-buyer relationships
- longitudinal studies of the adoption of total quality management (TQM) and its impact on sustainable performance improvement
IBM has summarised, as a practitioner white paper on its website, the findings of work by Professor Andrew Taylor, on how end-user meta-data affect the adoption and use of data warehouses in north American organisations.
Professor Andrew Taylor has advised the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland and the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Roads Service Agency for Northern Ireland.
Professor Andrew Taylor and Professor Margaret Taylor edit the International Journal of Operations and Production Management. They won the Emerald 2006 Editor of the Year award for their work on this journal. They are on the board of the European Operations Management Association.
Dr Rana Tassabehji was an invited keynote speaker at the Westminster E-Forum, organised by the UK Government and chaired by Sir George Young and Andrew Miller, MP.
Professor Margaret Taylor has investigated the tensions in suppliers created by the adoption of e-commerce by powerful retailers of fast-moving consumer goods. Dr Tassabehji, Professor Andrew Taylor and Dr Roger Beach have examined similar reactions by suppliers to the adoption of reverse auctions in the packaging sector. Dr Beach has sought to ascertain why smaller manufacturers are failing to adopt internet technology, providing recommendations for manufacturers concerned with developing an e-capability.
Dr James Wallace and Dr Tassabehji have developed a taxonomy to conceptualise e-technology and its impact on organisational form and function. Dr Tassabehji has published one of the first studies to evaluate the use of e-mail by business users, including gender differences in communication patterns and media preferences.
Operations
Contact: Professor Kevin Barber - K.D.Barber@bradford.ac.uk
The main areas of operations research are:
- interfaces between planning systems and supplier-customer satisfaction
- international/global operations (including cross-cultural aspects)
- lean working and the concept of corporate anorexia
- manufacturing/operations strategy (including the information systems/organisational behaviour interfaces)
- modelling applications in production and operations management
- planning and control systems in small and medium-size enterprises
- quality management in services
- subcontracting and outsourcing (including scheduling and links to future organisational forms)
- supply-chain management
- tourism operations management
Professor Kevin Barber has established a practical method for developing a process-based knowledge management system to support continuous improvement and asset management. In a second study, he has shown the use of an intranet to map an organisation's processes as a form of knowledge management system to improve competitiveness. Professor Barber has also directed a project surveying small and medium-size enterprises to investigate the implementation of manufacturing excellence best practices and leading to the development of a knowledge management tool to support the creation of virtual networks to enable small and medium-size firms to manage improvement projects and share the generated knowledge effectively.
Professor Margaret Taylor has examined how to measure the extent of outsourced manufacturing, especially where company assets are largely intangible, and how to establish a virtual manufacturing enterprise.
Dr Liz Breen has specific research interests in the supply chain and logistics in the National Health Service.
Dr Reza Abdi's main research interests are the use of AHP in the design of re-configurable manufacturing systems, and the integration of fuzzy logic into AHP.
Dr James Wallace has research projects in the statistical and mathematical modelling of management systems to support decision making.