Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Volume 26, Issue 1

We have reached the 26th volume of IJQRM and did receive over the first 25 years recognition as the outlet for scientific research and practical insights on quality and reliability management. Of course this is mainly due to the efforts and devotion of the founding editor of the journal,Professor Dr Barrie G. Dale. We thank him a lot for putting this journal in place and developing it into an outstanding outlet for academic research. We also want to recognise the support of the Editorial Board, in which so many key experts in the field are involved.

However, without the submission of so many high quality papers and the support of all reviewers, we could never have reached this point. In volume 25 we published 56 papers, in which 121 authors were involved coming from 25 countries all over the world.

IJQRM is a mature journal now and well respected within academic institutions as a preferred outlet for scientific research. Despite the large number of submissions, we have been able to reduce the throughput time of the assessment and review process. The goal is to complete the review process and get a paper published within one year after submission; in many cases we are now successful in reaching this target.

The journal will continue to build its content around quality and reliability management. A broad range of papers have been published in last year’s volume on theory development, development and implementation of tools and techniques, managing improvement processes etcetera. Innovative papers that get attention are often crossing boundaries by integrating and linking quality with other disciplines (for example, human resources management; technology;information systems) or by applying quality and reliability concepts in new areas like the internet.

Still there is a need for more research and publications on themes which are connected to the challenges of management today. One of those themes might be the development of new insights regarding quality and reliability approaches under unpredictable and highly dynamic conditions. Many organizations today have to work in uncertainty, coming from different areas within the global playing field: uncertainties in the financial markets, changes in the labour market,constantly changing consumer behaviour, changing structures (new organizational forms like network organizations) within business-to-business markets etcetera.

The world is changing, and maybe faster then ever. IJQRM would therefore be interested to publish research that is related to the changing world, the shortening of lifecycles and the diminishing production volumes and their effects on quality management, management control, quality assurance,reliability management and quality and reliability improvement approaches. We encourage you to submit manuscripts of original, high quality research on these topics.

Ton van der WieleQuality Editor