The application of design science (DS) in the field of operations management (OM) is believed to be lopsided, with most studies pursuing theory‐to‐practice rather than practice‐to‐theory applications of DS. However, this belief has remained untested at the level of the entire body of DS applications in OM. This paper therefore reviews and synthesises 66 peer‐reviewed DS‐based publications (2003–2024) and presents a novel configurational framework. We analyse the DS applications through the lens of this framework to conclude that most of these applications contribute incrementally to extant theories but make a rather revelatory contribution to practice. This analysis points at four main reasons: DS is still an emerging research methodology, which is not labelled as such in many applications; OM researchers often assume that problem‐solving is the primary purpose of DS, which inhibits the delivery of more theoretical research outcomes; the lack of methodological guidelines to support the transition from specific to generalised knowledge; and the rather fragmented body of knowledge on DS, which is dispersed across multiple sources and different domains. This paper offers a configurational framework for DS to guide OM scholars in their efforts to explore scientific discoveries beyond problem‐solving.

中文翻译：

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运营管理中的设计科学：文献综述和综合


设计科学 （DS） 在运营管理 （OM） 领域的应用被认为是不平衡的，大多数研究追求 DS 的理论到实践而不是实践到理论的应用。然而，这一信念在 OM 的整个 DS 应用程序层面上仍未得到检验。因此，本文回顾和综合了 66 篇同行评审的基于 DS 的出版物 （2003-2024），并提出了一种新的配置框架。我们通过这个框架的镜头分析 DS 应用程序，得出的结论是，这些应用程序中的大多数对现有理论的贡献是渐进的，但对实践做出了相当具有启发性的贡献。该分析指出了四个主要原因：DS 仍然是一种新兴的研究方法，在许多应用中没有被贴上这样的标签;OM 研究人员通常认为解决问题是 DS 的主要目的，这抑制了更多理论研究成果的交付;缺乏支持从具体知识过渡到一般知识的方法论指南;以及 DS 上相当分散的知识体系，分散在多个来源和不同的领域。本文为 DS 提供了一个配置框架，以指导 OM 学者努力探索解决问题之外的科学发现。