Matthias Holweg - Process Theory: The Principles of Operations Management

We started this book project when we were all based at Cambridge, sharing a common observation: what passed as theory in our field was all too often inadequate. In one respect, operations management scholars were bending over backwards to make theories from other fields fit our research problems. In another, questionable assumptions were being used to apply mathematics to operations management problems. Neither proved a good match with what we had observed in practice. Successful operations were managed by considerations that were far more straightforward than much of what was being published in our journals.

So we set out to codify these practical considerations into a set of principles that could be linked to key contributions that have been made to our field over the last century. Identifying principles was simple. Defining a parsimonious set of principles was far from it, however. Writing this book was not the swift, even flow ideal that we advocate for managers. We hence are immensely grateful for the patience and encouragement of our editorial team at Oxford University PressClare Kennedy, David Musson, and Adam Swallowwho stuck with us as the years went past.

As we complete this project, most of us have moved to pastures away from Cambridge. The team of authors now spans three continents. We have benefited, as always, from the numerous insights we have gleaned from operations of all types and from all over the world. All of these experiences have been important in grounding our work in reality. More than anything, these experiences have reaffirmed our original premise: at the heart of operations management stands a set of enduring principles, generic and time-tested.

Matthias Holweg

Jane Davies

Arnoud De Meyer

Benn Lawson

and Roger W. Schmenner