Measurement issues in empirical research: improving measures of operationsstrategy and advanced manufacturing technology

Our objective in this paper is to examine measures used in survey-based res earch in operations management. Specifically, we examine measures commonly used to assess operations strategy and advanced manufacturing technology in survey-based research. Examining two measures provides the ability to exam ine problems common to many of the measures used in operations management r esearch. In addition, the two measures are addressing two different levels of strategic analysis: competitive priorities and a specific structural dec ision that (should) support these priorities. This should give us a broader understanding of the measurement issues we are facing as a field. We argue that while many of the commonly employed measures display many worthwhile properties, further refinement of measures and methods is needed to improve the field as a whole. Suggestions to improve measures and methods used in the field are then offered. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.