Editorial: The next leg for Operations Management Research

Abstract

The first issue of Operations Management Research (OMR) saw the light in 2008. It was a result of the efforts by Jack Meredith and Patrick McMullen. With a specific focus on bringing practice and theory together OMR has managed to position itself well among the operations management journals. OMR has gained a reputation for promoting research that is relevant to both practitioners and researchers. The subtitle of the journal describes this relationship well: “Advancing practice through theory”. We have now accepted the responsibility to carry the OMR torch for the next leg and keep the journal in a competitive mode for the next five years. First, we would like to thank Jack and Patrick for a job well done for creating the journal and establishing OMR as an OM journal with a good reputation. They have done a remarkable job in putting OMR on the map so quickly. They have excelled at the fundamental OM traits that we teach our students: quick response (for authors), quality (of papers), flexibility (in topic area and research methodology), cost efficiency (for operating the journal), and delivery dependability (for new issues). Typically, the last trait may be difficult to live up to for a new journal – at least initially – but the journal has improved its performance in this area as well. Now, after four years, we can definitely state that the journal has established itself on the OM journal arena. Statistics on submissions and response rates for the journal’s first five years are provided in the table at the end of this paper. It is worth pointing out that while the statistics on paper submissions might appear to reflect negatively on the progress the journal has made, in reality the drop off in submissions is actually due to a decline in inappropriate submissions as the scope of the journal has become better understood. It is now our job to take OMR further. We will aim at “editorial ambidexterity” by exploiting the path and directions that Jack and Patrick started as well as exploring new avenues. We subscribe to the aims and scope of the journal, and to the initial editorial statement by Jack and Patrick: “Since operations management is an applied discipline it is the aim of OMR to promote research that advances both the theory and practice of operations management. Hence, each regular paper published in OMR must make a clear contribution to the science and practice of operations management and include discussion of the potential of the research for advancing OM theory as well as its application.” Our vision for OMR is to develop the journal further as a journal that: