Pom workflow

Production and Operations Management Workflow (pom-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill; it tells you which pom- skill to use right now* for your POM manuscript.

Default assumption: unless told otherwise, the target is Production and Operations Management (POM) — the flagship journal of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS), published by SAGE since January 2024 (previously Wiley-Blackwell), ISSN 1059-1478, twelve issues per year, founded and edited by Kalyan Singhal (University of Baltimore). POM accepts the full breadth of operations management — analytical/mathematical modeling, empirical OM, behavioral/experimental OM, and operations data science — and routes every paper to one of many named Departments (Behavioral Operations, Supply Chain Management, Healthcare Operations, Sustainable Operations, Operations Management Data Analytics, plus interface departments). The non-negotiable bar: the work must be of significant interest to practicing operations managers and make a substantial contribution to knowledge and practice, executed rigorously by whatever method fits.

Editors (verified 2026-06-22 via POMS / SAGE): Kalyan Singhal is founder & Editor-in-Chief and Subodha Kumar is Co-Editor-in-Chief; the department roster and Department Editors rotate. Verify the live masthead and departments at poms.org/journal. POM is hybrid open access on SAGE; the optional Sage Choice/open-access APC and any data-deposit mandate are 待核实 — see resources/official-source-map.md.

When to trigger

• "What should I do next?" with a half-built POM manuscript
• You have a model or dataset but no clear managerial insight
• You are unsure which Department your paper belongs to
• You received a POM decision letter and need to switch into response mode
• You keep bouncing between model, analysis, and writing without a plan

Routing table

Current symptom	Next skill
Idea is vague; unclear if it is OM and POM-fit; no target Department	pom-topic-selection
Model/hypotheses lack a clear mechanism, assumptions, or propositions	pom-theory-development
Front end reads as gap-spotting; wrong department's literature engaged	pom-literature-positioning
Method may not match the question (model vs data vs experiment)	pom-methods
Have proofs/data; unsure about numerics, identification, robustness	pom-data-analysis
Results exist but the "so what for the operations manager" is thin	pom-contribution-framing
Exhibits cluttered, not self-explanatory, or off house style	pom-tables-figures
Prose buries the argument; over the 32-page cap	pom-writing-style
Ready to submit; need the ScholarOne + department preflight	pom-submission
Want to understand POM department review before/after submit	pom-review-process
Received an R&R; need to plan and draft the response	pom-rebuttal

Default order

1. pom-topic-selection — lock an OM question, POM fit, and target Department
2. pom-theory-development — build the model/mechanism; derive propositions or hypotheses
3. pom-literature-positioning — engage the right department's prior OM work
4. pom-methods — match method (optimization/stochastic/game-theory/empirical/behavioral/ML)
5. pom-data-analysis — execute proofs and numerics, or identification, estimation, robustness
6. pom-contribution-framing — turn results into a managerial-and-knowledge contribution
7. pom-tables-figures — finalize exhibits (result tables, comparative-statics plots, schematics)
8. pom-writing-style — full-manuscript polish; enforce 32-page cap and e-companion split
9. pom-submission — ScholarOne preflight (department routing, double-blind, same-data disclosure)
10. pom-review-process — set expectations; understand the no-resubmission rule
11. pom-rebuttal — after an R&R, revise then draft the point-by-point response

pom-tables-figures and pom-writing-style are late-stage polish. Do not invoke them while the model, identification, or managerial insight is still unsettled.

Decision shortcuts

• "I have an elegant model but no managerial takeaway" → pom-topic-selection then pom-contribution-framing
• "Which department do I submit to?" → pom-topic-selection
• "My intro says 'no one has modeled X'" (gap-spotting) → pom-literature-positioning
• "Reviewer says insight is not relevant to practice" → pom-contribution-framing
• "I am 6 pages over the 32-page cap" → pom-writing-style (move proofs to the e-companion)
• "I was rejected — can I resubmit to another department?" → pom-review-process (almost never)

Routing snapshot template

Fill this snapshot at every planning checkpoint; it makes the current stage, the department route, and the hard constraints visible before you invoke the next skill.

POM MANUSCRIPT ROUTING SNAPSHOT — fill in before invoking the next pom-* skill
==============================================================================
Working title ...........: <concise, descriptive, <= 25 words>
Method track ............: [ ] analytical/mathematical model   [ ] empirical OM
                           [ ] behavioral/experimental         [ ] operations data science
Target Department .......: <e.g., Supply Chain Management / Behavioral Operations /
                            Healthcare Operations / Sustainable Operations /
                            Operations Management Data Analytics / interface dept.>
                            (verify live roster at poms.org/journal before submitting)
Operations decision .....: <who decides what, under which constraints>
Managerial lever ........: <what a practicing operations manager does differently>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE GATES — mark exactly one CURRENT; earlier gates must be DONE
  1. [ ] Question, POM fit, department locked .......... pom-topic-selection
  2. [ ] Mechanism / propositions or hypotheses built ... pom-theory-development
  3. [ ] Department's prior OM literature engaged ....... pom-literature-positioning
  4. [ ] Method matched to the question ................. pom-methods
  5. [ ] Proofs/numerics or identification/robustness ... pom-data-analysis
  6. [ ] Knowledge + practice contribution framed ....... pom-contribution-framing
  7. [ ] Exhibits finalized ............................. pom-tables-figures
  8. [ ] Prose polished; page cap enforced .............. pom-writing-style
  9. [ ] ScholarOne preflight cleared ................... pom-submission
 10. [ ] Decision letter interpreted .................... pom-review-process
 11. [ ] R&R response drafted after revising ............ pom-rebuttal
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARD CONSTRAINTS — all must hold before gate 9
 [ ] Main document within 32 pages incl. abstract, exhibits, appendices, refs
 [ ] Overflow (proofs, derivations, extended robustness) -> e-companion file
 [ ] Double-blind: identity scrubbed from files, metadata, self-citations
 [ ] Same-data / related prior work listed for the cover-letter disclosure
 [ ] Not a barred resubmission (no prior POM rejection without invitation)
 Portal: ScholarOne — mc.manuscriptcentral.com/poms
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRACTICE GATE — POM's non-negotiable bar
 Significant interest to practicing operations managers ....: yes / not yet
 Substantial contribution to knowledge AND practice ........: yes / not yet
 If either reads "not yet", route to pom-contribution-framing before polish.

Difference vs. M&SOM / Management Science / JOM stacks

• POM: POMS/SAGE flagship; department-routed; rigor and practicing-manager relevance weighted together; 32-page cap with an unlimited online e-companion.
• M&SOM / Management Science (INFORMS): different limits and norms; not department-letter-routed the same way.
• JOM / IJOPM: often more empirical/process-oriented; different publishers and formats.

Anti-patterns

• Do not submit without choosing a Department — misrouting wastes a cycle.
• Do not let pom-tables-figures beautify exhibits before the model is settled.
• Do not treat polish as a substitute for managerial relevance — POM's practice gate cannot be styled away.
• Do not plan a resubmission of a rejected paper to another department; it is barred unless explicitly invited.