The Relevance of Academic Research in OSCM Practice

This paper examines the relevance of academic research for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) professionals. Members of a major metropolitan APICS chapter were surveyed. Consistent with prior research, findings indicate that OSCM practitioners prefer trade journal articles to academic research. Nonetheless, respondents indicate interest in academic research: respondents engaged in consulting indicated the most interest. Further, findings suggest a mismatch exists between topics of interest to practitioners and the more prevalent academic research topics.