--- name: msom-workflow description: Use when deciding which msom-* sub-skill to invoke next, or when sequencing manuscript work from topic selection through rebuttal for a Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM) manuscript. Routes — it does not replace — the specialized skills. --- # Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Workflow (msom-workflow) ## Overview This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill; it tells you **which msom-* skill to use right now** for your M&SOM manuscript. Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as M&SOM — the premier operations-management journal, published by INFORMS and sponsored by the MSOM Society, founded 1999 and published quarterly. M&SOM covers the **design, procurement, production, delivery, and recovery of goods and services**. The non-negotiable gate: an **operations decision or problem must be central to the contribution**, executed at top-tier rigor — whether the work is **analytical/stochastic** (optimization, queueing, stochastic models, game theory, revenue management) or **empirical OM / data-driven analytics**. A strong analytics, marketing, or finance-flavored paper is routinely desk-screened if the OM core is not the primary contribution. Submissions are routed by author-chosen **Department** (six of them) and two preferred Department Editors, so "fit" means matching the right department, not a generalist pool. > Editorial team: Georgia Perakis (MIT Sloan) is Editor-in-Chief since January 2021; her final term expires 31 December 2026 and an INFORMS search committee is to name a successor by 1 July 2026. Verify the current masthead and the live editorial-board page before relying on department-editor names. Acceptance rate and impact factor are **待核实** — treat any figure as approximate. ## When to trigger - "What should I do next?" with a half-built M&SOM manuscript - You have a model or dataset but the operations decision is not yet the centerpiece - A reviewer/DE pushes on "where is the operations contribution?" and you are unsure which stage is the bottleneck - You received an M&SOM decision letter (R&R or reject) 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; not sure an operations decision is central or M&SOM-fit | `msom-topic-selection` | | Model/hypotheses lack a crisp operational mechanism or tradeoff | `msom-theory-development` | | Front end reads as a gap; the OM conversation is not engaged | `msom-literature-positioning`| | Method/identification may not match the operations problem | `msom-methods` | | Have proofs/numerics or data; unsure about rigor, replicability | `msom-data-analysis` | | Results exist but the "managerial/operational so-what" is thin | `msom-contribution-framing` | | Exhibits cluttered, off INFORMS style, or not self-explanatory | `msom-tables-figures` | | Prose buries the operations insight; too much notation up front | `msom-writing-style` | | Ready to submit; need the ScholarOne + department-routing preflight | `msom-submission` | | Want to understand double-anonymous review and department routing | `msom-review-process` | | Received an R&R; need to plan and draft the response | `msom-rebuttal` | ## Default order 1. `msom-topic-selection` — lock an operations decision that is central and M&SOM-fit 2. `msom-theory-development` — build the model / operational mechanism and its tradeoff 3. `msom-literature-positioning` — engage the OM conversation and the right department 4. `msom-methods` — match the analytical/empirical method to the operations problem 5. `msom-data-analysis` — proofs, numerical studies, estimation, identification, replicability 6. `msom-contribution-framing` — turn results into an operational/managerial insight 7. `msom-tables-figures` — finalize exhibits in INFORMS house style 8. `msom-writing-style` — front-load the insight; control notation; structured abstract 9. `msom-submission` — ScholarOne preflight, anonymization, department routing 10. `msom-review-process` — set expectations for double-anonymous, department-routed review 11. `msom-rebuttal` — after an R&R, plan revisions then draft the response letter > `msom-tables-figures` and `msom-writing-style` are **late-stage polish**. Do not invoke them while the model or identification is still unsettled. ## Difference vs. other OR/OM and management stacks - **M&SOM**: an operations decision is central; analytical *or* empirical; INFORMS double-anonymous; 32-page typeset cap; ScholarOne at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/msom; author-routed departments. - **Management Science (INFORMS)**: broader OR/management scope and an OM department, but not OM-exclusive; charges a submission fee (M&SOM does not — 待核实). - **Operations Research**: methodological OR contributions where the *method* can be the contribution; M&SOM insists the *operations problem* is. - **POM (Production & Operations Management)**: overlapping OM scope, different society (POMS) and house style. If an operations decision is not the centerpiece, M&SOM is the wrong venue. ## Router output snapshot ``` 【Stage detected】topic / theory / positioning / methods / analysis / framing / exhibits / writing / submission / review / rebuttal 【Operations lever central?】yes / reshape (→ topic-selection) 【Lane】analytical / empirical 【Next skill】msom-... 【Volatile facts to reverify】page cap, departments, masthead → author guidelines ``` ## Anti-patterns - **Do not** skip `msom-topic-selection` — a paper whose OM core is only a backdrop is desk-screened. - **Do not** let `msom-tables-figures` beautify exhibits before the model/identification is settled. - **Do not** let `msom-rebuttal` draft a response before you have actually revised the manuscript. - **Do not** treat `msom-writing-style` as a substitute for a real operations contribution.