Editor and Publisher Message
Welcome to the Quality and Operational Research (QOR) Newsletter. QOR newsletter is an international peer reviewed publication.
The objective of the QOR Newsletter is to publish current and high-quality articles and cover content of interest to academics, researchers, and professionals in the business, government and non-profit sectors.
The content of QOR Newsletter includes: technical and opinion articles on quality, excellence and operational research; insightful reviews about publications; important events such as conferences, workshops and webinars; success stories about projects; calls for a chapter or paper; introductions to new technology; career opportunities with potential employers and resumes from prospective employees.
The scope of QOR Newsletter includes: Leadership and Management, Excellence Models and Challenges in Digital Era, Industry 4.0 and Quality 4.0, The Future of Quality and Organizational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Quality Management and Innovation, Quality and Risk Management, Customer Satisfaction, Quality Standards, Quality Systems, Supply Chain Quality Management, AI and Quality, Lean Six Sigma, Operational Research and Smart Cities, Project Management, Smart Optimization, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Digital Process Operation, Robotic Process Automation, Supply Chain Management, Optimization Theory and Applications, Climate Change, Cleaner Production, Circular Economy.
Distinguished experts and academics contribute to the newsletter and include:
- Editorial Review Board – Paulo Sampaio, Dawn Ringrose, Luciana Paulise, Jesus Velasquez, Marcio Cardoso Machado, Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber, Alberto Pinto, Nguyen Thanh Hai, Adriana B. Rodriguez, Ernesto D.R. S. Gonzalez, Atanu Chaudhuri, Vikas Kumar, Tatiana Gherman
- Editorial Advisory Board – Selim Ahmed, Surya Prakash, Ayten Yalciner, Alaa Garad, Tony Bendell, Kush Shah, Guilherme Federico, Rameshwar Dubey, Zubair Anwar, Jorge Roman, Greg Hutchins, Christopher Kluse, Rajeev Agrawal, Willy Vandenbrande
- Coordinators – Lien Herliani Kusumah, Jessica Vallecillo, Nithya Ramachandran, Adeshola Kukoyi, Muhammad Irfan, Thobile Dlamini, Chandan Jha, Priyanka Ramnauth
Additional detail on each member of the newsletter team is provided in the section below.
We hope you find value in the newsletter and look forward to your contributions and suggestions.
Editor – Mohammad Hossein Zavvar Sabegh, https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-hossein-z-87b1a6104/
Assistant to Editor, Thobile Dlamini, https://www.linkedin.com/in/thobile-dlamini-mba-coes-pglss-pmi-acp-lssbb-mtech-255744163/
Publisher – Dawn Ringrose, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnringrose/
Communication related to the newsletter should be directed to the Editor, Mohammad Hossein Zavvar Sabegh, at quality20zavvar@gmail.com
Ethics
The QOR Newsletter requires its representatives and contributors to meet the following requirements:
- Act with integrity – be truthful and transparent, be objective and factual, accurately represent qualifications, author documents in area of expertise.
- Demonstrate respect – consider the well being of others, show respect for others, treat others with courtesy, act in a professional and socially responsible manner, respect diversity in opinion.
- Safeguard proprietary information – protect confidential information, avoid conflict of interest, give credit where it is due, do not plagiarize or use the intellectual property without permission, document the permission or reference sources appropriately.
- Contribute to an inclusive atmosphere – remain open to the exchange of ideas regardless of sex, race, color, age, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other legally protected status. Do not participate in harassment, discrimination, retaliation or other forms of misconduct.
Author Guidelines
As a peer-reviewed publication, content submitted by authors is read with care and may be subject to major and minor revision requests. When content is approved, the author receives a confirmation notice and the anticipated date of publication. To assist authors, the following paragraphs share guidelines for a: technical article, opinion article, success story and book announcement.
Technical Article Format
Research based articles that are up to 5 pages in length. Consideration will be given for longer articles if such offer special value.
Format:
- Title: Cambria 12
- Abstract and Main text, Keywords, Affiliation, Email address, References and Appendixes: Calibri 11
- Figures, Footnotes, and Table Captions: Calibri 9
- Table Context: Calibri 9
- Formulas: Cambria Math 10
- Line spacing should be 1.5
- Margins: 1”
Structure:
- Title Page – includes the name(s) of the author(s); a concise and informative title; affiliation(s) of the author(s) (i.e. institution, department, city, state, country); e-mail address of the primary author and telephone number; official photo(s) and short bio(s) for each author (limited to 100 words per author)
- Numbered sections – the abstract is not included in section numbering. The remainder of the article is divided into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, …), 1.2, etc. Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to ‘the text’. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
- Abstract – is concise and factual, the abstract should state briefly: the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
- Keywords – are placed immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, use American spelling and avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, ‘and’, ‘of’). Abbreviations should be used sparingly and limited to those firmly established in the field.
- Introduction – should state the objectives of the work and provide adequate background. A detailed literature survey or a summary of the results should be avoided.
- Material and Methods – should provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized and indicated by a reference. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.
- Results – should be clear and concise.
- Discussion – should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined results and discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
- Conclusion – the main conclusion of the study may be presented in a short conclusion section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion and/or Discussion section.
- References Citation in Text – ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either ‘Unpublished results’ or ‘Personal communication’. Citation of a reference as ‘in press’ implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
- Web References – as a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be provided . Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading or can be included in the reference list.
- References in a Special Issue – ensure the words ‘this issue’ are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.
- Reference Style at the End of Article – there are a number of ways to reference material. The following list provides some examples:
- Reference to a journal publication: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.Sc.2010.00372.
- Reference to a journal publication with an article number: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2018). The art of writing a scientific article. Heliyon, 19, e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00205. R
- Reference to a book: Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter 4).
- Reference to a chapter in an edited book: Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.
- Reference to a website: Cancer Research UK. Cancer statistics reports for the UK. (2003). http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/ Accessed 13 March 2003.
- Reference to a dataset: [dataset] Oguro, M., Imahiro, S., Saito, S., Nakashizuka, T. (2015). Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions. Mendeley Data, v1. https://doi.org/10.17632/ xwj98nb39r.1.
- Reference to a conference paper or poster presentation: Engle, E.K., Cash, T.F., & Jarry, J.L. (2009, November). The Body Image Behaviours Inventory-3: Development and validation of the Body Image Compulsive Actions and Body Image Avoidance Scales. Poster session presentation at the meeting of the Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
- Appendices – if there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly, for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.
Opinion Article Format
Opinion articles are up to 5 pages in length and reflect the author’s viewpoint on a particular subject, technique or recent finding.
Structure:
- Title of Article – provides a succinct description of the content of the article. Each word is carefully chosen to convey the most information in the smallest package possible, with the goal of attaining maximum “findability” in journal article databases and internet search engines. By carefully reading the full title of an article, you can tease out valuable clues as to its content.
- Abstract – a 150 to 250-word paragraph that provides readers with a quick overview of your essay or report and its organization. A concise and factual abstract is required. It should state briefly the purpose of the article, the principal results and major conclusions.
- Keywords – are placed immediately after the abstract, maximum of 6 keywords, American spelling, avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, ‘and’, ‘of”). Use abbreviations sparingly and only those firmly established in the field.
- Description – authors are not required to use special sub-sections for this section but it is important to write coherently so that a wide range of readers can understand the content. Tips include ensuring the content flows smoothly, is logically arranged and connected and remains relevant to the central focus of the essay.
- Conclusion – may be presented in a short conclusion section, which may stand alone, or form a subsection of a Results and/or Discussion section. Tips include: helping the reader understand why the article should matter to them, summarizing the content (research problem, main topics, key points); if applicable, recommending new areas for future research.
- References:
Papers: Authors, publication date, title of paper, Vol.., Issue… , publisher, Website link:
Books: Authors, publication date, title of book, Publisher, Website link:
Web References: as a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading or can be included in the reference list.
Success Story Format
Success stories are up to 5 pages in length and describe a project (activity) that was undertaken and the results achieved.
Structure:
- Title – captures the overall message of the story, includes an action verb, capture the reader’s attention.
- Problem Overview – describes the problem being addressed and why it’s important, uses data to frame the problem including costs (e.g. time, cost, social, economic, environmental), specifies the affected population(s).
- Program Description – identifies who was involved including partners, describes the program (activity) that was undertaken including where and when it took place and how it addressed the problem, identifies the target audience, describes how the program was evaluated, states how the organization (and partners) contributed to the program.
- Program Outcomes – identifies the short-term or intermediate outcomes that demonstrate how the program addressed the problem (e.g. efficiency, effectiveness, reputation, market share), provides a conclusion that describes objective evidence such as the measurement results.
- Additional Information – should include the following:
- Name of the Organization
- Name and credentials of program contact
- Address, e-mail address, and telephone numbers
- Organization’s Web site address (if available)
- Any other supporting materials such as: testimonials, quotes from partners or participants, samples of materials produced, press releases, promotional materials, project photos, video or audio clips, measurement tools and results etc.
Book Announcement
A book announcement should be up to 2 pages in length and include the following information:
- Book Title
- Author Full Name and Affiliation
- Abstract (200- 230 words)
- Audience for the Book (role, industry sector)
- Keywords (up to 4 words)
- Table of Contents
- Features (up to 7 features)
- Product Details (publisher, language, ISBN)
- Link to Purchase
- Cover Page Image (PNG file)
- Short Bio for Author (up to 100 words)
- Photo for Author (PNG file)
Timing
The following table provides a description of each item that may be submitted to the newsletter and important notes:
Row | Item | Important Notes |
---|---|---|
1 | Success story about an organization, Announcement about a new product, service or organization | Submitted by Leader or Manager. Timing from submission to decision will be 15 to 25 days |
2 | Announcement about a large event (e.g. conference) | Submitted by Conference Chair. Timing from submission to decision will be 10 to 20 days |
3 | Announcement about a small event (e.g. webinar, workshop, training course) | Submitted by Event Organizer. Timing from submission to decision will be 10 to 20 days |
4 | Call for paper in a journal or chapter in a book | Submitted by Editor of Journal or Book. Timing from submission to decision will be 10 to 20 days |
5 | Announcement related to career opportunity (e.g. position description, employee profile) | Submitted by Prospective Employee or Employer. Timing from submission to decision will be 5 to 10 days |
6 | Article authored by a researcher or professional | Submitted by Author. Timing from submission to decision will be 45 to 60 days |
Additional Notes:
- Peer Review – content is reviewed by experts before publishing to ensure conformance with the scope, ethics and guidelines of the QOR Newsletter. The review may include minor and major revisions within a specified time frame. Content accepted for publication will be confirmed with the relevant party along with the approximate date of publication.
- Timing – is the best estimate of the publication date and may be subject to change.
- Fees – there are no fees for content submitted for consideration.
Newsletter Team
Editorial Review Board
The members of the Editorial Review Board include the following professionals:
Editorial Advisory Board
The members of the Editorial Advisory Board include the following professionals:
![]() ![]() | Tony Bendell Lead Trainer at The Anti-Fragility Academy & MD at Services Limited, Southwell, England, UK Professor Tony Bendell is a strategic thought leader, respected academic and international expert speaker, consultant, and trainer, who is the former Rolls-Royce PLC funded Professor of Quality & Reliability Management at the University of Leicester UK. He is a well-known invited keynote speaker at Conferences and Events worldwide. |
![]() ![]() | Alaa Garad Associate Professor at University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom Award-winning, course creator, dynamic and multi-talented academic and practitioner with extensive expertise in academic programmes accreditation, course development, consultancy, executive education, and business development with 24+ years of experience in designing, leading, implementing, and managing projects in various industries/sectors. Successful in creating, implementing and refining long-term strategy, focused on collaborative partnerships, performance management, future foresight, and investing in people. Acknowledged for programmes and processes developed to improve efficiency, profitability, competitive positioning across all organizational levels. Areas of expertise include: |
![]() ![]() | Selim Ahmed Head of World School of Business at World University of Bangladesh (WUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr. Selim Ahmed is the Head of School Business, World University of Bangladesh. Previously he worked at International University of Agadir (Universiapolis), Morocco as an Assistant Professor. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration and Master of Management degree from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). His PhD research topic was “Lean Six Sigma and its Effect on Quality Performance in Malaysian Hospitals”. He has published many peer reviewed journals and editorial advisory board member for several international journals. He is the reviewer more than 40 Scopus & Web of Science indexed journals. In 2018, he received “Top Reviewer Award” from Publons. In 2015, he received “Best Paper” award from 12th Academy for Global Business Advancement (AGBA) Conference, Kuantan, Malaysia. He was the “Secretary” for 12th International Symposium on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (ISAHP, 2013). His research interest areas are quality management, behavioural science, organizational behavior, healthcare management and etc. |
![]() ![]() | Surya Prakash Assistant Professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India Dr. Surya Prakash did his Ph.D. from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India in Supply Chain Network Design and Modelling. He has Master of Engineering in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-Pilani) (India) that are top rated technical university of India. He has over eight years of experience of teaching and academics. He is prolific researchers with 20+ quality research articles, 5+ Book Chapters, 10+ Conference papers and filed 2 Indian patents. He is handling many consultancy projects for industries in QMS and Oil and Gas domain. He was awarded twice by BMU for best all-round performance, and best research paper award. His areas of research interest are Industry 4.0, supply chain management, risk management, logistics, network optimization, artificial intelligence and operations management. |
![]() ![]() | Ayten Yalciner Assistant Professor at Industrial Engineering Department, Sakarya University, Turkey Her expertise area is manufacturing and service information systems. Studies also includes digitalization, industry 4.0, decision-making systems and supply chain & logistics. Artificial intelligence, technology and innovation management fields are also her interested fields. |
![]() ![]() | Kush Shah Senior Manager, Operational Excellence at General Motors, Greater Detroit Area, USA Kush Shah is globally recognized for his expertise, professionalism and outstanding contributions to the field of quality. He has a proven track record for solving tough quality problems. He has demonstrated his unwavering dedication in advancement of organizational excellence by introducing quality concepts for many organizations and individuals that resulted in significant improvement in organizational performance and customer experience. |
![]() | Rameshwar Dubey Reader (Operations Management) at Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University Dr. Rameshwar is also Adjunct Professor (Supply Chain Management) at Montpellier Business School (France) and Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (India). |
![]() | Guilherme F. Frederico Professor of Operations, Supply Chain and Project Management at Federal University of Paraná, School of Management, Curitiba, Brazil. Also a Professor and Researcher at Information Management MSc and PhD programs at this same university, he holds a PhD (Industrial Engineering) from Federal University of São Carlos and a B.Eng (Civil Engineering) and MSc (Industrial Engineering) from São Paulo State University. |
![]() | Zubair Anwar Thought Leader at BIETS Centre of Excellence Global, he is a senior management professional, with more than 21 years of experience in leading and providing business solutions. He is an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence, Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt. He holds a BS Degree in Electrical Engineering and MS in Engineering Management and has completed postgrad courses from universities in the United States. |
![]() | Jorge Román Currently an international consultant in business excellence and benchmarking at Dubai Police Headquarters. Dr. Román has a PhD in Management from Lleida University (Spain) and is a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA from Northeastern State University in Tulsa, Oklahoma (United States). His areas of expertise focus on the application of quality improvement to business in service and products such as benchmarking for best practices, lean management and business excellence frameworks as well as serving as an author and keynote speaker. |
![]() | Greg Hutchins An author of many books, Greg coined the phrase – Future of Quality: Risk®. Greg Hutchins is the Founder of QualityPlusEngineering.com, 800Compete.com, WorkingIt.com and |
![]() ![]() | Christopher Kluse Assistant Professor of Quality Systems, Department of Engineering Technologies, Bowling Green State University Dr. Christopher Kluse is the program coordinator and an assistant professor of the ABET accredited Quality Systems program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Prior to his appointment at the university, Christopher was employed for over two decades in the automotive industry as a Quality Manager, Quality Engineer, and Operations Manager. While employed in industry, he was an adjunct instructor of Quality Management at Eastern Michigan University and an adjunct instructor and subject matter expert at Southern New Hampshire University. Christopher holds a PhD in Technology Management with a concentration in Quality Management. |
![]() ![]() | Rajeev Agrawal Fellow of The Institution of Engineer’s in India. Dr. Rajeev Agrawal holds a Ph.D. degree in Engineering (BIT, Mesra, India), a Master degree (MNNIT, Allahabad, India) and Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering (GEC, Jabalpur, India). |
![]() ![]() | Willy Vandenbrande Founder of QS Consult located in Belgium As the founder of QS Consult, a European consulting agency that assists organizations with Quality Management, Willy Vandenbrande has been active within quality management for over 30 years. His academic qualifications include: Master degree in Civil Engineering Metallurgy, Master degree in Total Quality Management, Six Sigma Black Belt Certification (ASQ). |
Coordinators
Coordinating members include the following professionals:
Published Issues
Volume 4 / Issue 2 - September / October 2024
Issue includes:
- Stress and Cognitive Function: The impact on Quality in Manufacturing Environments
- Enterprise-Wide Optimization Systems Case: Oil & Gas Artificial Brains and Pipelines Optimization
- OES Webinars are Diving Deeper into the Data!
QOR Newsletter—Volume 4, Issue 2 - September - October 2024
Volume 4 / Issue 1 - March / April 2024
Issue includes:
- An Innovative Approach to Face-to-Face Service Improvement
- Update to Global Assessment on the Current State of Organizational Excellence
- Role of Blockchain Technology in Building Supply Chain Resilience
- O Canada! Performance is Slipping and What We Can Do About It
QOR Newsletter—Volume 4, Issue 1 - March - April 2024
Volume 3 / Issue 2&3 - August and September 2022
Issue includes:
- Augmented Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Hypothalamus & Artificial Hippocampus
- Learnings & Challenges for Building Successful Business Relationship Collaborations
- WE CULTURE book, published by Quality Press
Volume 3 / Issue 1 - June 2022
Issue includes:
- DGEP – DUBAI, We Learn 5th Cycle
- OEA Report Launch
- IMC Quality Award Overview
Volume 2 / Issue 2&3 - August/September 2021
Issue includes:
- Failure of Public Sector Improvements: ISO 18404
- Update to Global Assessment on the Current State of Organizational Excellence
- Human Side of Leadership
Volume 2 / Issue 1 - March 2021
Issue includes:
- (Artificial) Hypothalamus Project
- ISO 9001 Certification is Losing Its Relevance
- What helps in difficult times—while staff is being laid off
Volume 1 / Issue 4 - December 2020
Issue includes:
- What Should We Learn from the Pandemic?
- Ethics in Leadership
- Ready to Carry Out a Successful Vaccination Campaign?
Important notice regarding copyright. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11593.98406 has been assigned to the December 2020 issue. Please cite as follows:
Author/Authors name, Title of Article, Quality and Operational Research (QOR) Newsletter, December issue, 2020, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11593.98406 ” , Published by Organizational Excellence Specialists, Canada
Volume 1 / Issue 3 - August 2020
Issue includes:
- Where is the Value in Assessment?
- The 30-minutes meeting challenge – Leaders spend more than 70% of their time in meetings
Volume 1 / Issue 2 - July 2020
Issue includes:
- Transition to Quality 4.0
- What is the Global OE Index?
- How to Leverage Lean for a Scaling Healthcare Transformation
Volume 1 / Issue 1 - June 2020
Issue includes:
- Mathematical Programming 4.0 & The Hypothalamus of the Enterprise
- Why Is Organizational Excellence So Powerful?
- Sustaining Quality Culture While Working Remotely