Perceived importance of the Internet as an information channel for OM professionals

Previous research, conducted before the Internet was widely accessible, has shown that information sources and channels can influence the initiation, adoption, and implementation of innovations. The field of operations manage ment faces a wide variety of innovations, the eventual diffusion of which m ay depend on changes that are now occurring in information technology. This study uses data collected from two surveys, one conducted postally and one conducted over the Internet, to identify how operations management practit ioners, consultants, academics, and students perceive and use information f rom various sources (books, journals, etc.) and channels (conferences, the Internet, etc.). The results indicate that the Internet is growing in impor tance as an information channel, with more than 40 percent of all responden ts having used information obtained from the Internet during the year prece ding our study. Although most respondents view that information as being le ss important to them professionally than information from other sources and channels, those who use the Internet most frequently have a much higher op inion of the information it provides. Multidimensional preference analysis indicates that the Internet is perceived as being quite different from trad itional sources and channels, but because of that difference it currently m eets the preferences of only a small subset of individuals.