Editor’s overview

Abstract

Welcome to the final issue of the Quality Management Journal for 2022. We have seemingly gotten through the Covid pandemic and have returned to a sense of normalcy. The QMJ is stronger than ever and we have many excellent submissions that are being reviewed. We are quick to get articles under review and I also provide immediate feedback if your paper is not going to make it into the journal. In this issue, we have four excellent articles. The first article is “The evolution of supply chain management as measured with the Baldrige excellence framework” by Heng Xie (College of Business, The University of Texas Permian Basin), Xinyu Wei (College of Business, California State University, Chico), Xianghui Peng (Black School of Business, Penn State Behrend), and Victor Prybutok (G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas. According to the authors, “supply chain management (SCM) and quality management (QM) overlap in literature because their domains and practices intersect and reinforce each other. This research embedded the SCM construct within the Baldrige excellence framework to understand the evolving influence of SCM on the Baldrige framework over time. Survey data from different samples were collected across three different time periods, the middle 1990s, early 2000s, and middle 2010s, and this time dispersed data collection enabled an evaluation and comparison of the restructured model. The resulting empirical evidence demonstrates the roles of leadership, SCM, and information system-oriented constructs in QM and provides researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of the interconnections and interwoven effects on business results.” The second paper is “Bridging organizational performance gaps using the EFQM excellence model” by Milad Haerizadeh (Allameh Tabatabai University, Department of Industrial Management) and Vijaya Sunder M (Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India). According to the authors, “An assessment by the EFQM excellence model is carried out in Isfahan Regional Electric Company (IREC) with an aim to evaluate how managers perceive their company and individual departments. The study objectives also include identifying strengths and areas requiring improvement and stimulating a quality culture. The research findings at the outset indicate that Employees Management, Society and Customer Results, Key Performance Results, and Partnership and Resources have a significant gap with the desired situation then improvement strategies are subsequently presented to remove these weak points and thereby close the existing gap. The third paper is “An organizational framework for sustainable supply chain management: An integrated theoretical perspective” by Xianghui Peng (Black School of Business, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College), Xinyu Wei (Department of Business Information Systems, College of Business, California State University Chico), Lu Xu (Department of Management and Marketing, Mike Cottrell College of Business, University of North Georgia), Ying Cao (Black School of Business, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College), and Victor Prybutok (Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas). According to the authors, “this study reviews the existing approaches and frameworks on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Drawing upon theory, an organizational framework for SSCM is developed with an integrated theoretical perspective. Based on the developed framework and supporting theories, testable research models are proposed for future testing and theory building. The proposed organizational framework integrates a quality management framework and SSCM practices within the umbrella of the organizational profile emphasizing instrumental motives, relational motives, and moral motives. The final article is “Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winners: A quantitative analysis between strategic planning and human resource variables:” by Patricia A. Lapoint (McMurry University, Walter F. and Virginia School of Business). “The specific focus of the research study is to determine the extent of alignment amongst the strategic planning and human resources variables and to determine the strength of the alignments. Alignment is a core value of the MBNQA process; as such, it is expected that organizations that win the MBNQA have strong alignment within their systems. Within the strategy and human resources categories, 34 variables are identified from the research literature as important variables for MBNQA winners.” We are grateful for these authors and encourage readers to cite these articles in their own research.