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Preface -- Introduction -- The science of the art -- Incomplete pictures -- Coping with haystacks -- Best practices in visual design -- Sustaining collective sensemaking in teams : five patterns of interaction -- Processing data for visual network analysis -- Applied cases -- Visualizing a real-world sales pipeline process -- Framing wicked problems using co-design and a hybrid design toolset -- Visual support for complex repair operations in a global aerospace company -- Point-of-care electronic health record-based visualization tools -- Optimization, visualization and data mapping for HVAC product distribution -- The long way to intuitive visual analysis of air traffic control data -- Data visualization in history -- An energy information system to conserve electricity in campus buildings -- Index

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how training specific to a given operational task, and subsequent experiential learning, can heighten skill and hence shift the level of workload at which individuals are most productively motivated.Design/methodology/approachTo analyze these effects, a laboratory experiment was used involving a vehicle routing application and 156 managers exposed to a 2 × 3 complete treatment design. Both multi‐period objective in‐task data and subjective self reports are collected to tap into skill levels, actions and behavioral variables of interest.FindingsIn the absence of additional workload challenges, the paper finds that increases in skill may in fact significantly limit and in some cases actually degrade overall motivation, as well as objective performance.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations potentially stem from specific operationalizations of the factors studied as well as selectivity of the subject pool and the context (vehicle routing task).Practical implicationsThe implications of the skill‐challenge‐motivation dynamics observed have direct repercussions for existing management models in which training and experience are viewed as having strictly monotonic benefits to performance. The implications also go far to promote more informed models of worker behavior in operations modeling that otherwise view performance as static or monotonically increasing based on experience.Originality/valueThis is believed to be the first study that has explicitly studied the inverted‐U dynamics stemming from the interplay of both skill and workload on motivation and performance, over a multi‐period framework of analysis.

ABSTRACTAs research continues to evolve, it is important to look back with a critical eye on its impact on practice and what is guiding its trajectory into the future. In this work we discuss some of the key behavioral drivers that taken as a whole have made for a less than ideal relationship between research, model development, and use/reliance in practice. From a general public‐good perspective, there is an obvious need for academics to take on a greater role of responsibility when it comes to both research and curriculum in an effort to avoid some of the failings that our past work has inevitably encouraged to date.

PurposeThe purpose of this work is to empirically demonstrate the synergistic implications of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and emerging intra‐organizational technologies.Design/methodology/approachUsing established operational theory as a foundation, the article analyzes the history of ERP use and its impact on gains from business‐to‐business (B2B) purchasing technologies.FindingsThe findings reveal that the extent to which firms witness maintenance‐repair‐operating (MRO) savings through such procurement is dependent not only on the presence of an ERP system, but also on the length of time systems have been in use.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough limited to the analysis of B2B "success" cases, the results provide strong implications for the importance of ERP as a key infrastructure for B2B activities.Practical implicationsManagers seeking to benefit from B2B economies, should ensure that they possess an adequate IT infrastructure (e.g. ERP) to realize all such potential gains.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first works to demonstrate the link between ERP and B2B benefits solely through the use of objective secondary data.

The selection of an appropriate enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution remains a complicated task. Since the fundamental role of an ERP solution is to support corporate operations, a key consideration is its alignment with the process requirements of the firm. This work is an investigation into the impact that this alignment has on perceived operational performance. Data are collected using a survey administered to representatives of the machine manufacturing industry. The findings suggest that the alignment of ERP solutions with operational needs is crucial to perceived ability to deliver orders on time and to general satisfaction with the ERP solution.

AbstractThe presence of service‐level‐dependent demand has been empirically observed in industry and is well‐documented in the literature. How does the implicit contractual existence of such service dependency impact the ordering decisions of upstream suppliers? We conduct three controlled laboratory experiments to study the impact a service‐reward mechanism may have on the upstream ordering decisions of those charged with inventory ordering decisions. The multistudy approach provides representations of decision dynamics across a variety of scenarios, from one‐shot buys to long‐term supply‐chain relationships. Our combined empirical results consistently suggest that the service‐reward mechanism significantly and systematically elevates order levels and order variability in a manner that increases departure from optimal ordering. This effect is observed even when decision‐makers have incentives to maintain a steady ordering pattern with their suppliers. Our findings shed much‐needed light on individual ordering responses to, and the associated risks of, service‐reward mechanisms.

ABSTRACTThis study proposes an analytical approach combined with a behavioral experiment for a joint examination of the competitive and cooperative (i.e., coopetitive) relationship between a buyer and a supplier. Specifically, the article considers the scenario in which the buyer and the supplier invest in strategic capabilities to increase their relative bargaining power. The article examines how dynamic investments in strategic assets are influenced by the locus of bargaining power and by the underlying context (synergistic vs. adversarial) of the interfirm relationship. The dynamic evolution of bargaining power is also examined. A dynamic game model is considered to examine the evolution of investment strategies in critical resources and to investigate the issues of bargaining power in a buyer–supplier dyad. Equilibrium expressions for the investment strategies of the buyer and the supplier are presented and their implications for buyer–supplier relationships are examined. The behavioral experiment complements the analytical model and examines the correspondence between optimal behavior suggested by the analytical model and the boundedly rational behavior of decision makers in an experimental context. The results from the model and behavioral experiments suggest that the strategies are a function of the risk‐adjusted returns obtained from investments. The experiment shows that, in a synergistic relational context when the buyer maintains bargaining power, the investment shifts of the buyer and the supplier accord well with theoretical predictions. In an adversarial relational context, the results of the experimental study do not correspond well with that predicted by the theoretical model. The implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are presented.

ABSTRACTSuccessful projects represent the effective culmination of management skills, planning, and individual project member strengths. In operations management, such strengths are often viewed predominantly from the perspective of skill base. However, it has become increasingly evident that behavioral traits associated with individuals play a very significant, if not ultimately dominating, role in the effectiveness of certain group projects. Our aim in this study is to look into how certain individual attributes viewed as relevant to these project contexts may lead to social networking decisions that have impacts spanning multiple levels of analysis. Such insights are likely to prove valuable to decision makers managing project teams as well. We employ a controlled 4‐month investigation of multiple projects, for which we are able to consider both objective, and subjective pre‐, in situ, and postproject data. Our results demonstrate that the issues of perceived control, confidence, and conscientiousness are relevant not only in driving individual perceptions of the value of within‐group interactions, and hence the development of associated ties, but are also ultimately relevant in helping to drive higher levels of group performance.

ABSTRACTFor many firms, radio frequency identification (RFID) suggests not only a new alternative to existing tracking methods but also a means to a range of previously cost‐prohibitive internal control and supply chain coordination innovations. In any event, and even in light of possible external pressures to adopt, the full potential of RFID for an individual firm must ultimately be viewed in consideration with the infrastructural capabilities of that firm. Furthermore, because adoption decisions are fundamentally based on managerial perceptions, it is critical to consider how certain forms of infrastructure provide the necessary transparency into other infrastructural characteristics to augment such decisions. We use multisource survey data in this work to consider several elements that contribute to this infrastructure and subsequently to perceptions of RFID benefit and actual commitment to adoption. Results demonstrate that the complementary effects of these infrastructural capabilities significantly impact both perceptions of and commitments to RFID.