Operations Management

Journal of Operations Management 20 (2002) 419–433

Effective case research in operations management: a process perspective
I. Stuart∗ , D. McCutcheon, R. Handfield, R. McLachlin, D. Samson
Faculty of Business, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 2Y2
Received 8 August 2001; received in revised form 26 October 2001; accepted 11 March 2002

Abstract
Despite many calls for case-based operations management research, the successful publication rate of such articles in top-tier journals has been less than stellar. A five step case-based research and dissemination process is presented. Guidance is given to future researchers for each step in the process. In addition, areas of weakness are examined and discussed in detail. Future potential research questions in operations management considered to be appropriate for the case-based method are highlighted.
© 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Case study research; Measurement and methodology

1. Introduction
Despite numerous calls over the years for case research (Meredith et al., 1989; Ebert, 1991;
McCutcheon and Meredith, 1993; Samson and
Terziovski, 1999; Meredith and Samson, 2001), few case studies appear to be getting published in the primary operations management (OM) research journals. For example, Wacker (1998) assessed and classified the predominant research methodology of over 2000 OM articles published over the previous
5-year-period; only 8% of them were case-based studies. A principal criticism from reviewers and associate editors is the papers’ lack of rigor in the case research process. Typically, a paper reports on a few interactions with field sites and then sums up the observations and impressions, much as a consulting report might summarize a team’s findings in a client
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].
E-mail address: [e-mail] (I. Stuart).

firm. Notably missing from the paper

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