This study provides a synoptic review of operations management from practitioners’ perspective. The challenges facing operations managers are discussed around the practice of handling issues, risks, and uncertainties with brief review of academics and practitioners’ insights. The synoptic review reveals that these events whether current (issue), possible (risk) or unpredictable (uncertainty) contribute to factors that often keep operations managers awake at night – mainly because most business decisions are made with incomplete information and in the face of an uncertain future. The graphical deconstruction of operations managers’ perspective and the integration of the concept of spectrum of organisational DNA provide an augmented perspective of operations management. By merging different academic approaches, the study proposes a hybrid concept which includes risk and uncertainty. This hybrid concept portrays the uncodified and implicit way with which operations managers handle the dynamic interplay between risk, uncertainty, and management strategies. This study adds a pragmatic perspective to operations management.
Keywords: Issues, Review, Risk, Uncertainty, operations management
