The categories, examination items, and framework of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria present the underlying relationships between the various quality management constructs and between quality management and organization performance. This research uses data from the Arizona Governor's Quality Award, which is based on the MBNQA, to study the strength of these relationships using path analysis. The results of our analysis confirm the validity of the MBNQA framework. The results from this research indicate that leadership significantly directly or indirectly affects all of the systems constructs, except for strategic quality planning and information management, which was not tested in the model. The results also indicate that information management, human resources management and customer focus have a significant effect on customer satisfaction and business results. A strong focus on customers and employees, in addition to effective leadership and information management is clearly shown to be essential for organization success.

The issue of operations management (OM) research agendas was first advanced in the literature in 1980 with updates and additions in 1981, 1987, and 1989. We believe that the time is ripe for an analysis of the OM research agenda in the decade of the 90's. In this study, we examine operations management research methodologies and output during the period 1992–1997. Amoako‐Gyampah and Meredith [Amoako‐Gyampah, K., Meredith, J.R., 1989. Journal of Operations Management 8, 250‐262] published a study in which they examined operations management research output from 1982 through 1987. Our objectives are to examine the state of operations management research in the 1990s from the standpoint of topics and methodologies to look for trends, and to determine implications for future research. We assessed the state of research in operations management by examining the research topics addressed and the methodologies used in a subset of seven academic journals that are representative of publications in operations management research. We also surveyed pipeline research in the operations management area by analyzing the topics discussed in national conferences attended by operations management academicians and researchers. Our findings show some significant changes in the kind of research being performed in the 1990s vs. the 1980s. Greater interest in strategy and quality are now apparent in the literature. OM research in the 1990s is also more integrative in nature. We were surprised to find no apparent shift away from modeling solution methods nor any significant shift toward empirical methodologies.

Problem: COVID-19 created new research, clinical, educational, and personal challenges, while simultaneously separating work teams who were under workfrom-home restrictions. Addressing these challenges required new forms of collaborative groups. Approach: To support the department community and the rapid sharing of new research, educational, clinical, and personal efforts, a Core Team from the Department of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan developed a meeting series called the COVID Conversations. This Experience Report shares the organizational structure of the COVID Conversations, proposes a comparison to traditional Learning Communities, and reports the results of a questionnaire that gathered details about department members' COVID-related activities.Outcomes: We identify and describe salient similarities and differences between the COVID Conversations and the characteristics of Learning Communities. We also developed and piloted a taxonomy for characterizing LHS research projects that may be further developed for use in Learning Community planning, in conjunction with other maturity grids and ontologies. We propose the term "Meta-Learning Community" to describe the structure and function of the COVID Conversations.Next Steps: In academic medicine, remote work, telemedicine, and virtual learning may be here to stay. The COVID Conversations constitute a distinct and innovative form of collaborative work in which separate teams addressing distinct goals, yet sharing a common passion to tackle the issues brought by the pandemic, are able to share experiences and learn from one other. The challenges of COVID-19 have made evident the need for multiple forms of organizing teamwork, and our study contributes the notion of a "Meta"-Learning Community as a new form of collaborative work.

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