Teaching and learning production and operations management: the journey from identity crisis to a cross-disciplinary approach

This article has its roots in a number of issues concerning the “form” and “content” of what we, professors, teach in the area of Production and Operations Management (POM). First, I will describe the historical evolution of this field. Following, I will discuss the identity crisis that the field is undergoing. In an attempt to provide an answer to this situation, I will present six proposals for the development and consolidation of POM. Finally, I will describe a practical initiative, involving one specific POM discipline, taught to graduate students. This initiative emphasizes the “content dimension” (technical-operational approach to strategic-managerial approach), as well as the “form dimension” (focus on teaching to focus on learning). The success of this ongoing experience confirms that the proposed agenda is coherent and deserves further development.