PurposeThis study investigates how cross-border geopolitical risk (GPR) differences between buyers and suppliers reshape dyadic dependence and drive the reallocation of transaction value in global supply chains. Design/methodology/approachWe construct a global panel dataset of cross-border buyer–supplier dyads and measure GPR differences between each dyad's home countries. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with high-dimensional fixed effects at the supplier, customer, and year levels are employed to estimate the effect of cross-border GPR differences on dyadic transaction values. Robustness checks include difference-in-differences (DID), double machine learning, alternative measures, and survival analysis. FindingsLarge cross-border GPR differences significantly increase dyadic transaction values between suppliers and buyers. This effect is amplified for suppliers with stronger relational resources, operational capabilities, and market resources. However, when GPR differences become extreme, the relationship is more likely to break down, revealing a boundary condition for the reallocation effect. Originality/valueThis study introduces the GPR difference as a dyadic-level measure of relative geopolitical exposure, reveals that reallocation favors suppliers with greater resource advantages, and finds a boundary beyond which extreme asymmetry precipitates relationship breakdown. Practically, suppliers can leverage institutional stability and firm-level capabilities to capture reallocated procurement, while buyers can treat relationship deepening with partners in stable environments as a strategic response.
Purpose Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) research recognizes sustainable public procurement (SPP) as a key lever for addressing global sustainability challenges. However, translating these ambitions into procurement decisions frequently create tensions between internal economic efficiency and sustainability objectives. This study investigates how public organizations address these tensions through procurement decision-making. Design/methodology/approach We adopt a multiple case study design involving 10 public organizations, drawing on interviews, archival documents, and field observations, analyzed abductively with the Gioia method. Findings We identify three SPP decision-making approaches – cost-driven, values-driven and ambidextrous – that differ in how internal economic efficiency and sustainability are prioritized. These approaches are underpinned by two decision framings: a rational and a public value-oriented framing. Variation across approaches reflects whether one framing predominates or whether both are concurrently combined. Originality/value This study advances SSCM research by offering a decision framing perspective that complements and extends the institutional logics lens in explaining organizational responses to sustainability-related tensions. It reveals rational and public value–oriented decision framings as generative mechanisms through which distinct SPP decision-making approaches emerge in public organizations. The study also enriches research on ambidexterity in public organizations by showing that it arises from the capability to hold together different decision framings.
Purpose While innovation policies are often assumed to deliver business value and performance improvements to firms, there are growing concerns regarding their unintended environmental consequences. This study explores this phenomenon by examining the environmental effects of pro-blockchain legislation (PBL) on firms. Design/methodology/approach Based on the enactment of PBL across US states, the analysis employs a quasi-natural experiment via a staggered difference-in-differences approach. The study employs a sample of 875 firms with 4,458 observations spanning the period from 2013 to 2022. Findings The study reveals a negative relationship between PBL and corporate environmental performance (CEP), such that firms incorporated in states that enacted PBL experienced a significant decline in CEP relative to firms in states without this legislation. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the study further finds that this negative relationship is stronger for firms with higher levels of institutional ownership. However, firms with top management teams (TMTs) that are long-term-oriented experience a positive effect of PBL on CEP. Originality/value As one of the earliest empirical investigations of the environmental consequences of blockchain legislation, this study provides evidence of the potential negative effects of innovation policies on firms’ CEP. Additionally, this study advances stakeholder theory by offering nuanced insights into the moderating effects of institutional ownership and long-term managerial orientation in achieving environmental objectives in the PBL context.
Purpose This study examines whether operational failures – such as missing supplies, information and equipment shortages – moderate the relationship between process standardization and outcomes that depend on the timely execution of tasks, which in our setting is hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI). Design/methodology/approach We use a previously validated, multi-source dataset that links survey responses from 4,741 nurses (35% of 13,497 eligible) across 63 US hospitals with patient-level clinical audit data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators, encompassing 21,965 patients in 262 nursing units from 56 hospitals, to examine how process standardization and operational failures jointly influence an important clinical outcome – hospital-acquired pressure injuries. Findings We find that process standardization is associated with lower rates of HAPI when operational failures occur frequently, likely because it helps stabilize the timely execution of preventive care routines amid operational disruptions. When operational failures are infrequent, which is indicative of a work environment that enjoys a high level of operational reliability, the marginal benefit of process standardization is smaller. Practical implications Managers should align the degree of process standardization with the prevalence of operational failures, using process standardization to stabilize unreliable environments while recognizing that its marginal benefit may diminish as operational reliability improves. Originality/value This study advances operations management theory by demonstrating that the benefits of process standardization are contingent on operational reliability.
Purpose Digital twin (DT) innovation is increasingly integrated into firms' daily operations, yet it is understudied in existing literature. This study adopts a knowledge-based view (KBV) to conceptualize DT innovation as the development of a novel repository of DT-specific knowledge and empirically examines its impact on operational efficiency (OE). Additionally, the study investigates how financial slack and industry dynamism (ID) moderate this relationship, offering a comprehensive perspective on the contextual factors influencing the value of DT innovation. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 4,629 listed firms in China, we identify 278 treatment firms based on their first DT patent applications, which serve as event indicators. We employ staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) estimations, further validated by stacked DiD analysis on matched sample, alternative measurements and placebo test. Findings DT innovation raises OE by 4.9%, with the effect being more pronounced among firms with greater financial slack or those operating in highly dynamic industries. Post-hoc analyses further suggest that the benefits of DT innovation are especially significant for smaller firms or those with higher R&D intensity. Originality/value As an early study investigating how DT innovation impacts firm OE, this research applies KBV in the context of disruptive technologies, and offers guidance for practitioners on mobilizing financial slack and adapting operational strategies to ID in order to better leverage DT innovation for efficiency gains.
PurposePrior research has treated workplace accidents and safety violations detected in OSHA inspections as interchangeable measures without empirical justification. Drawing on organizational learning theory, this study investigates whether and how organizations learn differently from inspections and violations to improve workplace health and safety. Design/methodology/approachWe analyze a five-year panel dataset (2016–2020) comprising 32,943 firm-year observations from 9,004 U.S. manufacturing establishments. We collect secondary data from the OSHA Establishment Specific Injury and Illness Data, OSHA Enforcement Data, and QuantGov. We employ a linear mixed-effects model to examine associations between OSHA inspections, violations found in these inspections, and subsequent accident rates. FindingsAn OSHA inspection by itself is associated with approximately a 2% lower accident rates in the following year, regardless of whether any violations are found, suggesting that inspections function as attention-activating events. However, isolated violations show no significant association with subsequent accident rates. In contrast, repeated OSHA-identified violations over multiple years are associated with higher accident rates, indicating the institutionalization of unsafe practices among persistent offenders. Inspection type matters: referral-based and planned inspections are associated with reduced accidents, while complaint-based inspections are not. Research limitations/implicationsThis study examines associations rather than causal relationships. Findings are limited to U.S. manufacturing over a five-year period and may not be generalizable to other industries or regulatory contexts. Practical implicationsRegulators should differentiate enforcement approaches for occasional versus repeat offenders. Expanding inspection coverage may be more effective than increasing penalty severity. Managers can use internal inspections as learning triggers even without penalties. Originality/valueThis study challenges the assumption that violations and accidents are equivalent safety measures. By applying organizational learning theory, we provide evidence that inspections and violations operate through distinct mechanisms – inspections as attention-directing events, violations as weak signals unless repeated.
Purpose Digital transformation is commonly posited to enhance corporate cognitive capabilities and achieve greater innovation efficiency. However, few studies have examined the impact of misalignment arising from supply chain partners pursuing digital transformation independently on innovation efficiency, particularly for the relatively disadvantaged suppliers within the chain. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how this digital transformation misalignment affects suppliers’ innovation efficiency, as well as the mechanisms underlying this impact. Design/methodology/approach Anchored in the attention-based view, an empirical study was carried out using a sample of 1,288 supplier-customer-year observations from China’s A-share listed companies between 2012 and 2023. Findings Digital transformation misalignment traps executive attention in existing-oriented focus while reducing the long-term strategic attention necessary for innovation, thereby resulting in a loss of supplier innovation efficiency. Market position weakens this negative effect, whereas geographical distance strengthens it. Furthermore, the adverse impact is more pronounced when misalignment occurs in the dimensions of strategic orientation, technology drive and environmental support, and when the supplier’s relative level of digitalization is lower. Both radical and incremental innovation efficiency are impacted. Originality/value This paper contributes to the under-explored research on executive cognition and digital transformation collaboration, providing important implications for advancing digital transformation, corporate innovation efficiency and supply chain management.
Purpose This study aims to develop a new typology of crises to illuminate how firms manage different innovation configurations during them. From a paradoxical perspective, we integrate insights from problemistic search logic and threat-rigidity logic to theorize paradoxical innovation configurations within each type of crisis in our typology. Design/methodology/approach Based on time (imminent vs. latent) and space (internal vs. external) dimensions, we develop a typology of crises (i.e. imminent internal crises, latent internal crises, imminent external crises, and latent external crises). Using the configurational theorizing approach and case studies, we develop propositions for paradoxical innovation configurations within each type of crisis. Findings In the time dimension, imminent (latent) crises trigger short-term (long-term) innovation as the primary response, supplemented by long-term (short-term) innovation. In the space dimension, internal (external) crises require knowledge-deepening (knowledge-broadening) innovation as the primary response, supplemented by knowledge-broadening (knowledge-deepening) innovation. Overall, imminent internal crises foster short-term knowledge-deepening innovation as the primary approach, supplemented by long-term knowledge-broadening innovation; while latent external crises foster long-term knowledge-broadening innovation as the primary approach, supplemented by short-term knowledge-deepening innovation. For imminent external crises and latent internal crises, either configuration (short-term knowledge-deepening innovation supplemented by long-term knowledge-broadening innovation, or vice versa) is possible, and the specific choice depends on the slack resources available to firms. Originality/value Our study extends the literature on organizational crises by theorizing the coexistence of negative (i.e. survival threats) and positive (i.e. development opportunities) framing, which shapes firms' paradoxical innovation configurations as a response. In particular, we develop a new typology of crises to offer novel and fine-grained insights into the different innovation configurations under distinct types of crises.
Purpose This study examines how refugee entrepreneurs assemble and adapt supply chains within and beyond refugee camps under conditions of persistent spatial, legal, and institutional constraint. It focuses on how core supply chain mechanisms related to resilience, governance, and orchestration are enacted in environments characterized by chronic disruption rather than episodic shock.Design/methodology/approach The study draws on an in-depth qualitative inquiry involving 64 participants, including refugee entrepreneurs, host community actors, and institutional stakeholders. It was conducted over an 18-month period in the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi, a country recognized as one of the world's most impoverished.Findings The analysis identifies a patterned spatial arc through which refugee supply chains are assembled across authorized, semi-authorized, and unauthorized settings. Within constrained camp infrastructures, supply continuity is sustained through improvisational resilience embedded in everyday operations, including flexible sourcing, infrastructure patching, and resource recombination. As supply chains extend into host community and national circuits, coordination increasingly relies on relational and tactical governance mechanisms, such as reputation-based control, brokered coordination, and reciprocal risk management. At the transnational scale, spatial orchestration becomes increasingly central, as entrepreneurs reconfigure restricted geographies into functional supply networks through intermediaries, proxy mobilities, and digital coordination. Across this arc, exposure, coordination complexity, and ethical trade-offs intensify as supply chains move further from sanctioned spaces.Originality/value This study uses an underexplored context to demonstrate how resilience, governance, and orchestration are reweighted and vary in salience across spatial and regulatory settings under persistent constraint. By foregrounding the spatial and relational conditions under which supply chains operate in displacement contexts, the study contributes to supply chain management theory by clarifying how core mechanisms are enacted when formal legitimacy, mobility, and institutional support are uneven or limited. It shows how entrepreneurial agency is exercised through interorganizational supply chain coordination rather than through individual coping alone.
Purpose This article investigates the institutional logics affecting labour governance upstream in agrifood supply chains. It focuses on the lived experience of farming communities in Pakistan, their agency and the implications for top-down governance of labour exploitation. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach comprising 48 interviews and 10 focus groups, with 73 total respondents, was employed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to understand how governance efforts were understood and experienced. Findings The study identifies the logics at play. Conflicts were found both in the top-down governance and market logics imposed on farming communities and between those logics and factors informing a local “social logic”. The complexity of these conflicts and resistance among farming communities induce what we term a “messy paralysis” of governance. Communities exercised their agency to resist top-down governance efforts, which they see as imposed on them. Research limitations/implications Labour and wider governance efforts that are not co-designed with their subject communities are likely to conflict with local values, reducing their impact and failing to protect workers' well-being and corporate reputation. Originality/value The upstream approach taken, and its link with global labour governance approaches, is rare in the operations and supply chain management literature. The article provides rich insights which both build upon and problematize extant labour governance research.
Purpose Despite the growing importance of employee insights shared on social media, the literature has largely overlooked their role in supply chain relationships, particularly how employees' forward-looking assessments of firms shape customers' supply chain decisions. Design/methodology/approach Based on 7,722 supplier–customer–year observations spanning 2012–2024, this study empirically examines how employee-generated business outlook ratings on Glassdoor influence supplier–customer relationship stability. To strengthen the relationship, the study employs a difference-in-differences approach, instrumental variable estimation, and a series of robustness tests. Findings Suppliers with more positive employee-generated business outlook ratings are less likely to experience the discontinuation of principal supplier–customer relationships. The results support both information asymmetry reduction and labor risk mitigation mechanisms. Customer bargaining power strengthens this effect, whereas longer-standing partnerships attenuate it. Additional analyses show that the informativeness of employee-generated business outlook ratings aligns with the wisdom-of-crowds phenomenon and varies by reviewer attributes and job functions. Originality/value This study introduces employee-generated business outlook ratings as a low-cost prospective soft-information signal that complements traditional supply chain risk assessment. By showing that employee disclosures inform customer-side supplier evaluation and relationship management decisions, it extends the literature on the broader value of employee disclosures in supply chain contexts. Furthermore, by identifying underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions through which employee-generated business outlook ratings become decision-relevant, this study enhances the understanding of non-traditional information flows in supplier–customer relationships.
Purpose Drawing on signaling theory, this paper investigates how buyers' rhetorical tone manipulation embedded in annual reports distorts suppliers' perceptions and contributes to trade credit misallocation within supply chains. Moreover, it explores which kinds of firms are easier to exploit through such textual manipulation and provides a way for suppliers to mitigate it: greater supply chain transparency (SCT).Design/methodology/approach This study applies secondary data analysis. We obtain the textual analysis metrics from the Chinese Research Data Services (CNRDS) platform. Other data are collected from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database, the Bloomberg database, and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). A two-way fixed effects model is conducted. Instrumental variable estimation and the propensity score matching approach are employed to address potential endogeneity.Findings Using textual analysis of 4,915 Chinese firm-year observations (2007-2022), this study finds that buyers strategically embed the annual reports' optimistic tone, which constitutes a distorted signal. Exploiting suppliers' information disadvantage, buyers drive trade credit misallocation, reflected in inflated days payable outstanding (DPO). This inefficiency is stronger for buyers with reputable legal or technical standing, while the impact of reputation is attenuated as SCT rises.Originality/value This study bridges the gap between operations and finance domains by illustrating how qualitative disclosures distort financial dynamics within supply chains. It further advances tone management research by revealing that manipulative tone in the annual reports of well-reputed buyer firms is more likely to mislead suppliers. Practically, it calls for suppliers to integrate tone analysis into credit evaluations and identifies SCT as an effective instrument for curbing information asymmetry in trade credit decisions.
Purpose Public procurement is increasingly recognised as a tool for governing and shaping supply markets. Yet we still know little about how local authorities engage in market shaping through contracting practices, especially in newly decentralized markets. This study investigates the role of awareness, motivation and capabilities (AMC) in how municipalities influence (or fail to influence) social care markets, and how these dynamics manifest in contracting practice.Design/methodology/approach We combine secondary data with semi-structured interviews conducted with procurement professionals across municipalities, regional consortia, and expert organizations. The case context is Dutch social services procurement, which transitioned to a decentralised market in 2015. The AMC framework is used to classify buyer archetypes and explain variation in market-shaping behaviour across municipalities.Findings Municipalities shape social care markets, although not always intentionally. We identify four buyer archetypes (Disengaged, Aspiring, Short-sighted, Strategic Steward). We further introduce a fifth archetype, the Market Drifter, capturing municipalities that shift contracting approaches reactively.Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on strategic procurement and market governance by showing how local authorities influence markets along a spectrum from unconscious to deliberate shaping. Applying AMC highlights gaps in awareness, motivation and capability and points to activities (e.g. collaboration, capacity building) that can address these weaknesses. The findings offer both theoretical value, linking procurement to market-shaping debates, and practical guidance by stressing contextual fit rather than a one-size-fits-all path to strategic stewardship.
Purpose Digital business model innovation (BMI) is increasingly pivotal for sustaining competitive advantage in the digital economy, yet scholars know little about how traditional manufacturing firms discard obsolete beliefs and routines to seize digital opportunities. Grounded in dynamic capability and institutional theories, this study examines how unlearning enables digital BMI through dynamic capability and how institutional forces condition this mechanism. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a two-wave survey of 207 Chinese manufacturing firms to mitigate common method bias and strengthen causal inference. The model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Our findings reveal that organizational unlearning exerts a positive direct effect on digital BMI. Moreover, dynamic capability mediates this relationship, indicating that unlearning drives digital BMI by renewing firms' capacity to sense and seize digital opportunities. Additionally, institutional forces moderate the unlearning–capability pathway: dysfunctional competition dampens, whereas government financial support amplifies the path. Originality/value Our study advances digital BMI research by pinpointing unlearning as a critical antecedent and by clarifying when its advantages are effective in the digital economy. These insights offer practical guidance for managers to dismantle legacy routines, invest in capability development and leverage public finance to counteract institutional voids. For policymakers, the findings underscore the importance of providing targeted financial support and strengthening intellectual property regimes to foster a positive environment for innovation.
Purpose As stakeholders pay increasing attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling, focusing solely on CSR performance is no longer sufficient. This study examines how government customers influence firms' CSR decoupling. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on multiple databases to construct a secondary data panel of 6,397 firm-year observations for listed companies in China over the 2007–2022 period. Findings The results show that firms with more government customers tend to exhibit a higher level of CSR decoupling. This finding remains robust across multiple robustness checks, including alternative variable measures, alternative model specifications, and multiple tests addressing endogeneity. Moreover, the effect is weaker for state-owned enterprises and in areas subject to stronger environmental regulation, but stronger in more concentrated industries. Research limitations/implications First, this study fills the gap in CSR decoupling antecedent literature by focusing on government customers, a group less explored compared to corporate customers. Second, it reveals a paradox: more major government customers increase CSR decoupling, showing their more complex influence than the previously assumed CSR performance improvement, with enhancements likely from symbolic practices. Third, this study contributes to public procurement research by identifying the boundary conditions under which government purchasing functions more or less effectively. Practical implications Sustainable supply chain managers should watch for CSR decoupling risks in government suppliers, focusing on substantive CSR practices (not just reported performance) during audits to avoid related negative supply chain incidents. Governments, when making procurement decisions, should assess both firms' CSR performance and substantive practices, and refine policies to ensure real CSR implementation. While current policies have improved reported performance, they risk incentivizing decoupling. A renewed focus on substantive actions is crucial for governments to effectively lead by example and promote genuine sustainability. Social implications The article reveals a critical paradox in contemporary governance: models overly reliant on standardized reports and quantitative metrics may inadvertently incentivize performative compliance rather than meaningful change. This underscores the necessity for a fundamental paradigm shift in social governance approaches—moving beyond the pursuit of superficial paper achievements toward genuinely incentivizing substantive innovation. Effective policy design should prioritize robust management processes, stakeholder empowerment, and demonstrable long-term impacts. Governments must evolve into proactive, value-oriented customers by strategically embedding procurement criteria with substantive social values—such as equitable wages, employee well-being, and sustainable community development—to effectively drive equitable and innovative growth. Originality/value These findings extend the current understanding of government procurement and CSR decoupling, while also providing practical implications for firms, corporate customers, and government procurement agencies.
Purpose This study examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics incidents, events in which the development or use of AI technologies violates accepted ethical norms, on publicly listed firms in the US and investigates whether these effects spill over to their customer firms within supply chains.Design/methodology/approach A dataset of 181 AI ethics incidents involving 205 US-listed firms (2018-2024) was analysed. An event study assessed stock market reactions and potential spillovers to customers, considering both intentional/unintentional incidents and six AI ethics dimensions, while fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) explored how deficiencies across six AI ethics dimensions shape negative outcomes.Findings The event study reveals that AI ethics incidents lead to a significant decline in firms' stock returns and provoke adverse spillover effects on customers. The market reactions were found to be heterogeneous: unintentional incidents generated stronger negative reactions than intentional ones. In the case of intentional incidents, the absence of accountability emerged as a core condition in configurations associated with customer-firm losses, whereas for unintentional incidents, concurrent deficiencies in human well-being and privacy were sufficient to explain the declines, as indicated by the fsQCA results.Originality/value This study advances legitimacy theory by extending its application to AI ethics within supply chain contexts through the integration of event study and fsQCA. It provides valuable insights into the financial implications of AI ethics failures and offers practical guidance for firms, investors and policymakers seeking to anticipate, manage and mitigate the repercussions of such incidents.
Purpose Supply chain disruptions from sources such as natural disasters, labor shocks and geopolitical conflicts create severe coordination challenges and threaten supply chain continuity. During the COVID-19 pandemic – an extreme case of such disruptions – an intriguing phenomenon emerged: While many supplier contracts were canceled or invalidated, some suppliers exerted extraordinary efforts to fill their customers' orders at their own substantial sacrifice (e.g. the loss of millions of dollars). This paper examines the enablers of such efforts and proposes the supply chain citizenship behavior (SCCB) concept to capture these discretionary behaviors that emerged during the crisis. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a multimethod sequential research design, consisting of a multiple-case study of customer–supplier dyads followed by a scenario-based role-playing experiment using managers as respondents. Findings This paper revealed how suppliers engaged in unprecedented collaborative efforts during the crisis, transforming citizenship behaviors from operational niceties to strategic imperatives for supply chain resilience. The results demonstrated that affective commitment served as a stronger motivational force than economic dependence in driving these extraordinary behaviors during the crisis. Originality/value This paper contributes to the supply chain collaboration literature by conceptualizing SCCB, which extends organizational citizenship behavior theory to supply chain relationships. This study advances our understanding of how established relationship factors function under extreme conditions and provides guidance for building crisis-responsive supply chain partnerships, which is especially valuable in a world facing supply chain uncertainty and volatility.
PurposeFront-line managers act as co-designers of their work, but empirical evidence regarding how this bottom-up influence impacts operations remains limited. The purpose of this paper is to expand the knowledge of front-line managers’ work in production and how they respond to and influence their work design. Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative multi-case design including 4 production plants in northern Europe, this study is based on in-depth interviews with 15 front-line managers and 12 senior managers. FindingsFindings show that front-line managers in production actively engage in job crafting practices not out of personal initiative alone but as a response to misalignment between prescribed and perceived work characteristics. We introduce the compensatory job crafting model, which conceptualises these practices not as self-enrichment but as a necessary mechanism to counterbalance work design deficits. Practical implicationsFor bottom-up redesign to become proactive and align with organisational strategies, it is essential to ensure a sustainable work design in production where job crafting can evolve from compensatory mechanisms to learning and future-oriented practices. Originality/valueThe model contributes to the operations management literature by nuancing the prevailing view that work design in production is a top-down endeavour. It depicts work design as a co-constructed yet unequal process and reveals how compensatory job crafting creates unmanaged variation in front-line manager practices that sustains operations but challenges standardisation principles.
PurposeAnalytical decision-support methods hold significant promise for enhancing planning and control in complex service organizations. Yet, many of these technically sophisticated solutions struggle to gain traction in practice. We study the planning and scheduling of operating rooms (ORs), central to the management of operations in hospitals. Using research methodology and theoretical lenses in operations management (OM), we study the gap between technical theory on OR scheduling and the complex realities of healthcare practice. Design/methodology/approachWe construct the theoretical perspective from a synthesis of the scheduling literature in Management Science and Operations Research (MS/OR), identifying its core premises. The practical perspective is obtained from an elaborate case study in nine hospitals. We find six key discrepancies between scheduling theory and healthcare practice, which we subsequently interpret through the lenses of the Theory of Swift and Even Flow and related OM theory. FindingsThe basic problem structure assumed in the scheduling literature was validated in practice. However, the complex and ambiguous goal structure, dynamic operating conditions and underdefined constraints complicate the optimization logic and ex ante planning approaches predominant in the scheduling literature. We develop propositions to strengthen alignment between scheduling theory and practice, grounded in OM perspectives on coordination and flow, continuous improvement, satisficing and flexibility in complex service systems. Originality/valueOur study offers an empirically grounded, OM-centered analysis of the conditions and design principles under which algorithmic scheduling approaches may be effectively deployed. In doing so, we connect OM and MS/OR, two related fields studying healthcare operations from distinct angles.
