Professor Seyed Iravani Among Leading Authors in Operations Management

Through a study of over 2000 papers published in four of the top journals in operations management between 2001 and 2015, the authors of “OM Research: Leading Authors and Institutions” found that Industrial Engineering & Management Science (IEMS) Professor Seyed Iravani ranked among the most accomplished researchers worldwide, in terms of both output and reach.  The article, published Decision Sciences in the summer of 2020, examined papers published in the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Management Science over the 15 year period. 

Among the few engineering professors so recognized, Iravani ranked highly in terms of overall output and in terms of his contributions to the field’s growth.  Iravani further ranked highly in terms of key network measures of strong connections to other highly ranked researchers.  This is an indication of scholarly leadership and impact beyond simple paper counts, as the study emphasizes, “An important characteristic that raises the leadership role of an author in networks lies in the author being connected to authors who are highly connected with others.”

The article points to three other Northwestern faculty, all in the Operations Department of the Kellogg School of Management: Achal Bassamboo, Martin Lariviere, and Jan Van Mieghem.  IEMS and Kellogg’s Operations Department have a long history both of excellence and of collaboration in the fields of operations, with Northwestern ranking 11^th according the article’s list of total institutional output. 

Full results can be found in X.A. Koufteros, S. Babbar, R.S. Behara, and M. Baghersad, “OM Research: Leading Authors and Institutions,” Decision Sciences, June 2020.  https://doi.org/10.1111/deci.12452