Can new knowledge be generated while solving a real company problem? Success factors for action research in operations management

The aim of this special issue is to contribute to the debate around the factors that impact the quality of action research in operations manegement, specifically the criteria of theoretical novelty; research rigour, practical relevance and usefulness; and applicability of the findings in other situations (Eden and Huxham 1996; Gummesson 2000; Coughlan and Coghlan 2002; Mediavilla, Errasti, and Mendibil 2015). In that respect, the scope of this SI goes beyond the description of specific cases in which AR was used and includes a discussion of those factors that can help the OM community when putting AR into practice.