key: cord-1055692-7rzgrmwf
authors: Fosso Wamba, Samuel; Queiroz, Maciel M.; Braganza, Ashley
title: Preface: artificial intelligence in operations management
date: 2021-12-16
journal: Ann Oper Res
DOI: 10.1007/s10479-021-04450-0
sha: f62239fc45fae809af1ae5e15c4d56b814f07f32
doc_id: 1055692
cord_uid: 7rzgrmwf

nan

The recent and exponential growth of adopters of digital technologies, thanks to the information and communications technologies (ICTs) advances, have been changing the field of operations management (OM) drastically (Li, 2020; . In this perspective, although artificial intelligence (AI) has already been discussed for decades , only in recent years, supported by the unprecedented advances in computer processing power, internet diffusion, and social networks sites, it has gained popularization as never before seen.

In this outlook, the organizations started a run to mindset shift to incorporate AI techniques into their operations (Belhadi et al., 2021) . Thus, it can be seen that AI has been used successfully in many operations contexts Yang et al., 2021) . For instance, AI has been employed in different fields such as healthcare operations, humanitarian supply chains, inventory management, and transportation activities.

In that context, the main objective of this special issue is to unlock the potential of AI applications in OM fields. After competitive review rounds, 28 papers were selected for this special issue. The papers provide insightful and most exemplary applications of AI and related technologies in many OM and associated fields. Thus, to provide a good visualization of the papers, Table 1 

In this special issue, the selected papers shed more light on AI usage from different OM perspectives and related fields. As final remarks, we would like to provide some particular directions and avenues that need more reflection and efforts by scholars and practitioners interested in exploring AI techniques/applications to address some huge events that affect the OM globally.

• AI applications in operations and supply chains container demand: due to the COVID-19 crisis and other disruptive events like the blockage in the Suez Canal, these two events combined with minor crises considerably affected world trade. • AI applications to minimize the shortages and delays in OM: the COVID-19 crisis disrupted important supply chains such as the semiconductor chip, food, labour shortages, etc. • AI applications to empower and make tangible the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategies: the pressure for organizations and their networks for more clean and transparent operations can be supported by AI. • AI integrated into smart cities to improve the OM and social good: despite the advances in smart city understanding and actions, there is a huge gap in integrating AI and OM to improve social good. • AI applications to minimize the impacts in OM during disruptive events: although the potential of AI applications in OM, it is unclear how OM can benefit from AI applications in the face of crises before they occur. Also, it is crucial to explore how AI can contribute to re-establishing OM during and after highly disruptive events.

Artificial intelligence-driven innovation for enhancing supply chain resilience and performance under the effect of supply chain dynamism: An empirical investigation

Are we preparing for a good AI society? A bibliometric review and research agenda

Responsible Artificial Intelligence as a Secret Ingredient for Digital Health: Bibliometric Analysis, Insights, and Research Directions

Leading digital transformation: three emerging approaches for managing the transition. International Journal of Operations & Production Management

A structured literature review on the interplay between emerging technologies and COVID-19-insights and directions to operations fields

Dynamic pricing and information disclosure for fresh produce: An artificial intelligence approach

Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

Acknowledgements We want to thank all referees for their careful evaluations and insightful directions given to the authors. We especially thank Professor Endre Boros, Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Operations Research, for his outstanding support and recommendations to concretize this special issue. We would also like to give special thanks to the staff of the Annals of Operations Research journal and Springer. Finally, many thanks to scholars, industry practitioners, and all contributing authors, which this intensive collaboration resulted in this special issue.