The Department of Operations Management (OM) is a large and diverse department conducting research and providing courses in the central processes and economy of production and service enterprises. The year 2005 was characterised by intensified internationalisation in terms of publication and organisation of important conferences. External funding of the Department research is substantial, and the Department offers a wide range of courses at all levels. The MSc. programme in Management Control and OM's postgraduate HD programmes, in particular, were subject to academic development in 2005.

Highlights of 2005

1. Internationalisation

· High international publication rate

· Organisation of product development and supply chain management conferences

· Organisation of performance auditing workshop.

2. Partnership with the business community

· External research funding of approximately DKK 8.5 mill., of which the main part is partnership funded

· Various after-hours meetings organised by CVL

· Industry conference on "effective marketing"

· Awarding of the industrial research prize of the Danish Society for the Advancement of Business Education.

3. The learning university

· Systematic business economics courses that are predictable (no cancellations for years), educationally innovative and respected by students, while arousing great commitment

· Development of postgraduate HD programmes and MSc. programmes in Management Control with strengthened profile and content.

In general, OM conducts research into the processes and production conditions of enterprises, innovation, supply chains and working relations between enterprises and financial management in private and public enterprises. These research themes are interrelated, and most of the Department's research activities concern several of them. The Department's academic profile thus concerns the central processes of enterprises and the related management information. Examples are production, development, coordination, delegation as well as procurement and supply processes and financial management, quality assurance, production management and knowledge management tools. The Department has a heterogeneous theoretical profile typically based on various types of economic theory, organisation theory and sociological theory.

Research strategy

The Department's academic strategy is pursued within all its subjects, but the strategic ambitions are found in the coupling of subjects, often with particular emphasis on innovation, inter-organisational relations and performance management.

This strategy implies explicit incorporation of the management aspects of the central corporate processes in the Department's research. The purpose of the research is to enhance the Department's position as an important player in the field of operations management, supply chain management, financial management and business economics. This is achieved by creating relations between the four academic disciplines to ensure that the research projects are typically relevant to more than one discipline.

Research results

The figure below shows the development in the Department's research production.

The figure shows a steady increase in the number of international publications with characteristic variations every two years. The year 2005 was an exceptionally good year. The publication rate of Nordic-language journals was stable, which means that the increase in international publications did not happen at the expense of local publications. The Department's strategy does not imply a focus on working papers and proceedings, but in the long run there is bound to be a connection between the number of proceedings and the number of international research publications with a certain time lag - however uncertain it may be.

Research relations to practice

The number of Nordic-language – including Danish – publications is stable, thus keeping up local research communication. The Department has many project relations to enterprises. The Center for Business Development and Management Technology (CVL) is affiliated to the Department as a business research unit. Its activities are primarily financed by business enterprises and organisations. It appears from the figure below that the Department has a high, stable level of external funding, now amounting to approximately 125% of the basic funds. Of this, partnership funding accounts for the largest share.

Furthermore, the Department's research is closely related to its study programmes. There is a direct link to a large number of programmes at BSc. and MSc. level. In the initial-stage business economics courses are more indirect, however. The Department's candidates are thus provided with the latest knowledge within the relevant disciplines and research areas.