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Based on the combined experiences of operations and supply chain management (O&SCM) scholars and a reflective practitioner, the paper compares, contrasts and reconciles the competences needed to research O&SCM practice and to practice O&SCM research. The purpose of this paper is to locate these competences for young faculty in relation to their ambitions and career choices.

The paper is based upon the contributions made at European Operations Management Association 2014 Young Scholars Workshop (YSW). The theme and programme of the workshop was “Operations management – research and practice”.

The paper outlines first the concept of the YSW, the evolution of themes and the specific focus of the 2014 workshop. It concludes with a reflection on the career development of O&SCM scholars, their potential role, as academics or practitioners, in the development of O&SCM theory and practice, and the role of collaborative research in that development.

This paper shows what it takes for O&SCM researchers to engage with “the world around us” involves and, vice versa, how “doctorate” OM and SCM practitioners may successfully solve practical problems and engage with the O&SCM world surrounding them in doing so.

The paper presents a collection of viewpoints of O&SCM scholars and a reflective practitioner on the competences needed to research OM practice and to practice OM research.

The aim of many publications on the subject of market‐oriented production systems has been first to help practitioners to withstand the increasing pressure on production, and second to encourage academia to investigate empirically the manufacturing strategy concept. Whereas the former aim is gradually being achieved, empirical research into the way companies formulate and implement their manufacturing strategies and the effects of that process on success in the market‐place is relatively scarce. Consequently, although, there are several useful concepts reported in the literature, a validated model that covers all the relevant insights management need to conduct the manufacturing strategy process effectively is still lacking. Aims, through the research, to take a step towards such a model. Presents this model, discusses its background, in particular the prerequisites of a model to be useful for management, assesses its validity using the results of 19 case studies, and indicates directions for further research needed to improve the utility of the model for management.

Defines a new manufacturing paradigm and investigates its adoption and performances, within the assembly industry on a global basis. The definition of the paradigm is based on a set of basic principles to design and manage production systems which discard the traditional way of organizing manufacturing activities, and pool companies which pursue different manufacturing strategies and implement different innovative techniques. The paradigm is characterized by the simultaneous implementation of three principles: strategic multi‐focusedness, integration of business processes across functions, and process ownership. Starting from an operationalization based on fuzzy logic, explores the hypotheses about the adoption and the performance improvements of the multi‐focused manufacturing paradigm using a sample from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) database. The paradigm has been adopted widely across countries and industries involved in the IMSS survey. Shows that process ownership is poorly implemented by most of the companies at the moment, while multi‐focusedness and integration are more on hand. Companies which have adopted the paradigm are improving their performance significantly better and quicker than partial or non‐adopters. Highlights different possible patterns that the companies can follow to reach core adoption of the multi‐focused manufacturing paradigm.