Objectives and Guidelines for Advancing Research on Inter‐Organizational Operations in the Journal of Operations Management
阐述了《运营管理杂志》跨组织运营部门的使命、范围与投稿要求，强调研究需聚焦跨组织运营的管理问题，兼顾理论贡献与实践洞察，并欢迎多种实证方法。
In today's business environment, firms must manage the intricate interdependencies between their internal operations and a broad network of external entities. Establishing and maintaining robust connections with a diverse array of stakeholders—including suppliers, customers, third-party service providers, regulatory bodies, external research and development (R&D) organizations, and academic institutions such as universities, has become essential. An interorganizational view of operations is fundamental to an accurate understanding of the context in which process development and improvement occurs, and therefore, the potential for operational actions to generate tangible outcomes. By working collaboratively with these external entities, firms can not only optimize operational performance but also foster innovation, adaptability, and sustained competitive advantage. Thus, researching the drivers, processes, and outcomes of interorganizational operations at different levels of organizations is central to the mission of the Journal of Operations Management. While there is no formal definition of inter-organizational operations (IOO) in the operations and supply chain management literature, several related definitions exist. At JOM, we adopt the perspective provided by Oliver (1990), and akin to that of Dyer and Singh (1998), defining inter-organizational relationships as the transactions, flows, and linkages that underlie the relationships between operations in different organizations that collaborate in networks to achieve shared goals. The landscape of interorganizational operations thus includes suppliers, customers, ecosystem partners (e.g., third-party service providers), academic entities, and policy stakeholders that often share key human, physical, and knowledge assets with firms. Such organizations exist both in local and global environments. Furthermore, inter-organizational operations (IOO) encompass not only physical, informational, and financial flows but also the movement of talent (people), ideas and knowledge, and legal rights (e.g., franchises), among other things. These flows often occur outside the conventional supplier-customer relationships, such as those involving universities, consulting firms, and other professional service or knowledge providers. In many instances, relationships among these various entities can be little more than arms-length and transactional, if they formally exist at all (i.e., in some cases, firms merely exist in a shared ecosystem). In contrast, in other instances, highly embedded operational co-dependencies are more emblematic. Indeed, operational dynamics are often shaped by both competitive and coopetitive capabilities. A prominent example of coopetition is the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI—Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, yet the two also compete (e.g., Microsoft Copilot vs. ChatGPT). As a result, key domains of operational activity, including service and production, innovation, technology management, and social and environmental sustainability efforts, can be greatly influenced by interorganizational issues. When they dominate the influence of internal operational dynamics and organizational design, or the broader influence of the competitive market or industrial context (e.g., healthcare or public policy), a robust interorganizational perspective must be drawn upon to understand and predict impact on firm's operations. The Inter-organizational Operations (IOO) Department focuses on the study of transactions, flows, and linkages between operations across distinct organizations that form chains or networks. Accordingly, submissions related to supply chain management, particularly those examining focal firms and their relationships with suppliers and/or customers, are well-suited for this department. At the same time, the department's scope also includes operational networks that differ from traditional supply chain structures. These networks can be observed in sectors such as healthcare, travel, humanitarian and charitable operations, and many other service industries, as well as in creative domains like music and art, and two-sided markets, where information systems facilitate the alignment of unique offerings with specific demands for providers and users. Critically, however, an inter-organizational context alone does not automatically qualify a research study's fit for consideration by the IOO Department. To qualify for consideration, the research questions must clearly relate to the management of inter-organizational operations. In the IOO context, the unit of analysis should involve (explicitly or implicitly) connections between the operations of two or more organizations. These connections may occur at the individual, firm, dyad, or network level. While work can focus on relationships between organizations at various levels, relationships between individuals, such as supply chain executives, that influence inter-organizational dynamics are also relevant to IOO research. Governance mechanisms and power dynamics are also of relevance to IOO. In the context of IOO, power may reside not only in economies of scale, specialized resources, and knowledge of an organization relative to its partners, but also in individuals or professionals possessing specialized skills. Moreover, as firms' connections with external entities continue to expand in both scope and diversity, the IOO domain increasingly intersects with various research topics and departments within the Journal of Operations Management. For example, sustainable supply chain management—including closed-loop supply chains—is a representative area of overlap. In the healthcare sector, material expenses have become the second-largest cost component and may soon surpass labor costs, underscoring the growing strategic importance of healthcare supply chain management, an IOO topic that is also central to the healthcare operations department. Additionally, care coordination between healthcare entities serves as another significant example of inter-organizational operations that can meaningfully affect patient outcomes. Finally, while the development and implementation of technology in supply chains is typically viewed as a technology management issue, its role in connecting entities across the supply chain also places it within the scope of inter-organizational operations. Here, IOO emphasizes the mechanisms and implications for coordination across organizational boundaries on a focal organization's processes or systems, and consequent outcomes. What is not IOO? With specific regard to topics that may not fit IOO department, studies focusing on relationships between supply chain entities (individuals, teams, or units) and actors (e.g., individual consumers) that do not directly affect OM decisions of the organization, or settings where the individuals are not decision-makers for the organization, would fall outside the scope of the IOO department. Similarly, regarding the technologies that link organizations, research focused solely on the development and implementation of a supply chain or inter-organizational technology is generally not within the scope of IOO. However, studies that examine the process changes and governance mechanisms that enable the effective use of such technology across organizational boundaries would be considered relevant to IOO. With respect to inter-entity collaboration or coordination in the healthcare sector, if such collaboration is primarily driven by clinical decision-making, it may be more appropriately addressed within the healthcare operations management department. However, studies that investigate the operational or non-clinical coordination mechanisms and processes aimed at improving the efficiency and throughput of inter-provider flows (e.g., patient transfers) would fall within the IOO scope. Submissions to the IOO department will be evaluated in terms of the manuscript's fit, and the manuscript's theoretical contribution, and practical managerial insights in line with editorial policies advanced by the journal. Manuscripts submitted to the IOO department are assigned to one of the IOO Department Co-Editors, who will perform an initial assessment of the assigned manuscript for its fit with the IOO department. The evaluation involves assessing the topical fit as well as methodological appropriateness. If the handling Department Editor (DE) determines that the manuscript aligns with the scope of the IOO department and meets the threshold of rigor, relevance, and contribution, the DE will initiate the review process by selecting two to three reviewers and an Associate Editor. This selection is based on the reviewers' expertise relative to the manuscript's content. We also encourage authors to suggest potential reviewers who are well-positioned to evaluate the manuscript. Suggested reviewers should have relevant expertise aligned with the research topic and/or methodology and should not have a potential conflict of interest with the author team. While we give these suggestions serious consideration, we cannot guarantee that any or all will be selected. In some cases, manuscripts may undergo methodological review by the JOM Empirical Research Method department before entering the full review process or may be returned to the authors for revision. Further, all authors should closely attend to the standing policy on AI-usage restrictions articulated by multiple journals, including JOM (available at www.jom-hub.com/submissions/ai-policies). Regarding the topical fit, authors should refer to earlier discussions presented in this editorial for the IOO department's mission, scope, and example contexts of inquiry, as well as recent editorials such as that of Bendoly and Oliva (2024) and Browning (2020). In all instances, we encourage authors to attend to departmental and journal mission statements in crafting cover letters that clearly outline why the manuscript best fits the IOO department. Regarding methodological fit, as stated in the JOM mission statement, submissions should primarily employ empirical methodologies, with no inherent preference for any particular empirical approach. We interpret “empirical methods” broadly to include case studies, observational research, laboratory or field experiments, intervention-based studies, and studies based on secondary data (from publicly available databases or internal data provided by for-profit or non-profit organizations), as well as primary data collection methods. The IOO Department Editors' perspective on research using primary data, such as case studies and surveys, is consistent with that of other departments (e.g., see Heim et al. 2021). We continue to welcome submissions using case-based or survey methods; however, the standard for publishing such research has become more stringent (e.g., Guide and Ketokivi 2015). In many cases, survey-based data must be complemented with additional sources to address potential concerns related to endogeneity (e.g., Peng et al. 2023). The IOO department also welcomes theory development grounded in analytical modeling, provided the focus is on empirically testing the resulting propositions. Abductive discussions based on observed phenomena play a valuable role in advancing the understanding of inter-organizational operations (Bendoly and Oliva 2025). They contribute to sensemaking by offering frameworks, perspectives, or insights that clarify complex inter-organizational phenomena. These articles can set the stage for future theory-driven empirical research. As such, well-developed abductive work that advances theoretical understanding and motivates empirical inquiry is welcomed by the IOO department. As already noted, first and foremost, manuscripts submitted to the IOO department should investigate an operations management problem. We refer readers to Holding North: Recognizing identity and advancing contribution in operations management (Bendoly and Oliva 2024) for a detailed coverage of what constitutes an OM problem. Research published in the IOO department of JOM should demonstrate both academic rigor and practical relevance, while also addressing “a novel aspect to a topic of contemporary concern,” as stated in the JOM mission statement (available at https://www.jom-hub.com/home). While the department is open to manuscripts motivated by gaps in the existing literature, it is essential that addressing such gaps is both theoretically meaningful and practically significant. A gap in the literature alone does not justify publication if it lacks relevance to theory development or managerial practice. The IOO department particularly values research that is grounded in real-world problems. Specifically, the authors should take the empirical context seriously, they should consider how their findings can offer insights that go beyond the immediate empirical setting. Successful submissions should aim to extract generalizable implications that contribute to broader inter-organizational operations theory and practice. We also expect IOO research to make a fundamental theoretical contribution. The emergence of digitization, sustainability, and extended enterprise prompts OM scholars to push the boundaries and move beyond pre-existing theories adopted to study IOO. For example, merely citing general theories such as transaction cost economics (TCE) would be insufficient in positioning and motivating a contribution to IOO. Rather, we would expect to see unique theoretical contributions that identify and push against boundary conditions of such extant theory, capturing the importance of emerging challenges and capitalizing on these in specific arguments. Lumineau et al. (2020), for instance, examine the role of blockchain governance and its implications for collaboration in IOO relationships. They argue that the adoption of digital technologies can reshape traditional and overly broad applications of TCE and other frameworks. Similar dynamics are likely to apply to other IoT-based digital technologies. Additionally, with the growing emphasis on social responsibility in IOO operations, there is potential to develop novel theory/theoretical arguments recognizing limitations to existing perspectives. Testing theory-guided interventions can be an excellent means of highlighting the value that contextually rich sensemaking can provide. Moreover, we expect that even traditional deductive approaches capitalize on posteriori theoretical considerations in their discussion sections (again see Bendoly and Oliva 2025 for further discussion). According to the JOM mission statement, a strong manuscript should strike a balance between rigor and relevance. In line with this, we expect submitted manuscripts to provide meaningful managerial insights. This does not mean that every paper must include direct recommendations or prescriptive advice for managers. Rather, it means that the research should reveal something novel about how inter-organizational operations are practiced in the real world. These insights might come from uncovering hidden challenges, identifying previously overlooked patterns, or clarifying how certain processes unfold across organizational boundaries. Manuscripts that are purely driven by academic literature, while potentially rigorous, may fall short if they fail to engage with the practical realities that managers and organizations face. Ultimately, strong IOO submissions should contribute not only to theory but also to a richer understanding of how operations function across organizational lines. We hope this editorial can serve as a useful resource for authors by outlining clear expectations for publication consideration in terms of topic fit and contributions. Reviewers and Associate Editors can also benefit from this editorial as these expectations can guide their assessment of the manuscript submitted to the IOO department. Given the breadth of relevant topics and the diversity of acceptable methodological approaches in IOO research, we encourage authors to be intentional and thoughtful in framing the contribution of their work to the IOO department. We recognize that not every scenario can be fully addressed in a single editorial, and we invite authors who encounter unique cases to contact the IOO department editors for further guidance. Our role is to support authors in positioning their research and guiding the progress of their research throughout the review process for a meaningful impact and contribution. The authors are grateful for the guidance and support from Elliot Bendoly and Rogelio Oliva in developing this editorial.