2026 Junior Scholar Best Paper Competition
The College of Operational Excellence POMS is administering a best-paper competition to recognize Junior Scholar’s outstanding research in the field of operational excellence. This serves as an announcement for this award, with entries due on January 4th, 2026.
General information
The competition recognizes leading Junior Scholar’s research in operational excellence. Appropriate topics encompass a wide range, including, but not limited to, technology-enabled operational improvement, operational excellence programs and paradigms (e.g., Six Sigma, Lean, Continuous Improvement, etc.), organizational change associated with operational excellence, operations strategy, and interfaces between operations and other organizational functions.
The author(s) of the best paper will receive an award diploma and honorarium of $1,000. Honorable Mentions may also be awarded depending on the number of qualified submissions. All finalists will be notified prior to the POMS Annual Meeting in Reno, NV, May 07–11, 2026. The awards will be announced after finalists present their work at the POMS Operational Excellence Mini conference. Note that the entrant CANNOT submit the same paper to ANY other POMS College Best Paper Competition for the 2026 POMS Annual Conference.
Eligibility
- • To be considered for the award, a submission must be a working paper, not published (or accepted for publication) elsewhere at the time of submission.
- • Applicants must submit a 50-word abstract to the Operational Excellence Track at POMS by the POMS submission deadline. Applications submitted to other tracks will be disqualified.
- • The first author must be a Junior Scholar (maximum 6 years since completion of PhD).
- • The Junior Scholar must register at POMS conference 2026. Finalists must agree to present their work at the 2026 POMS OPEX College Mini Conference.
