All Features
Ryan E. Day
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My wife and I purchased a new car this year. The employee handling the closing paperwork gave a compelling presentation concerning the extended warranty, which we also purchased. His presentation included a litany of high-tech components and even higher-tech systems that could…
Ruth P. Stevens
Everyone is looking to do more with less these days. When you compare the cost of postal mail—about a dollar a piece—to the cost of email —about a penny a piece—any B2B marketer is going to prefer using email as the medium for staying in touch with current customers and inquirers. No brainer,…
Peter Robustelli
The largest problems facing businesses isn’t competition, globalization, or access to capital. It is something else, something embedded in the fabric of organizations as their most important asset. Human capital, the people who make organizations work, is one of the largest single issues being…
Henrik Werdelin
In a startup’s early days, innovation is the name of the game. But once companies gain size and recognition, they go into maintenance mode, unwilling to let new approaches take hold. When the CEOs of these larger corporations do seek innovation or change, they expect a seamless execution.
Here’s…
Thomas R. Cutler
Two years ago, the marketing research division of Florida-based TR Cutler Inc. interviewed CEOs of privately held manufacturing operations in North America and reported that their top fear was a lack of communication with employees due to the inability to motivate or inspire the workforce. That…
Lars Fæste, Jim Hemerling
Digital disruption is reaching beyond technology to engulf a variety of industries, including manufacturing, transportation, energy, healthcare, and construction, that constitute a significant portion of the global economy. Manufacturing alone accounts for 12 percent of the U.S. GDP, according to…
Mike Richman
The March 24 episode of QDL offered a potpourri of topics, including news and features from the realms of academia, corporate culture, and politics. Here’s a quick recap:
“Winners Selected for the 2017 InVenture Prize” Colloquially known as “American Idol for Nerds,” the InVenture Prize offered by…
Mike Richman
This week’s episode of QDL took us back to our roots with stories about the nuts and bolts of quality improvement—customer service, management, standards, and the future of the quality profession in the face of increasing automation.
Here’s a look at the stories we covered:
Book review:…
Timothy Lozier
Compliance is a common term that is very broad, and many companies interpret compliance as a host of different items. It can be related to quality, safety, or operations, but it encompasses a long list of areas within the organization, including financial, risk, governance, sustainability, and…
Ryan E. Day
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Brian Vinson may have one of the best jobs in the country. Vinson works as director of engineering with AWE Tuning, an automotive aftermarket company that provides award-winning, handcrafted performance exhausts, track-tested carbon-fiber intakes, and performance intercoolers.
“…
Lynne Oates
Internationally mobile employees play an increasingly important role in a globalized world. As technology develops and businesses expand into new markets, complex employment arrangements are in place to move directors, executives, and employees between different geographical locations. These…
Mike Richman
If there’s one thing that separates those who do things in an average way and those who do those same things in an extraordinary way, it’s passion. This sense of intense interest, excitement, and focus drives the authentic pursuit of excellence, even (or perhaps, especially) in the rather mundane…
Randall Bell
This article is adapted from Me We Do Be: The Four Cornerstones of Success (Leadership Institute Press, 2017).
It’s easy to forget the small things. Often, as people advance in their careers and in the hierarchy of an organization, they get better and better at thinking big and forget to think…
NIST
Providing wireless communications in a factory, plant, or other industrial environment these days means more than just helping employees talk with each other while they work. By eliminating physical connections such as wires and cables from a facility’s communication network, wireless technology…
Young Entrepreneur Council
When successful entrepreneurs speak, it is wise to listen. Here are 11 responses from 11 successful entrepreneurs who were asked, “What one piece of management advice do you rely on most, and why?”
1. Think in terms of the person’s wants. “When managing my team, I use a tactic from Dale Carnegie…
Mike Richman
The U.S. national debt currently stands at approximately $20 trillion. In the time it will take you to read this article, the debt will increase by a couple of million dollars more. Regardless of where one stands on the political spectrum, these facts are stark and shocking.
Thus, it’s no…
Thomas Kochan
Politicians have traditionally paid lip service to the plight of the worker, but with working class struggles at the top of the new administration’s fix-it list, we will likely hear them talking more than usual about the steps they will take to reduce income inequality or end three decades of wage…
Taran March @ Quality Digest
Before my bosses get wind of the artificial intelligence (AI) platform Quill (“perfectly written, meaningful narratives indistinguishable from a human-written one”) and decide its 18-month ROI would be a great exchange for my pay and complaining, I’d like to present this human-centric survey of…
DNV GL
More than a million organizations around the world embrace the ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) standard to guide their businesses and operate in the most efficient manner possible. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has recently updated ISO 9001 from its 2008 version…
Roger Jensen
For several decades, manufacturers have been pursuing lean on their shop floors to reduce costs and improve lead times through waste elimination and process improvement. They have been less successful, however, in reaping lean’s potential benefits in their purchasing, planning, and supply chain…
Christopher Martin
Recently, during one of my many adventures across the internet, I stumbled across a photo that struck me. It depicts an aisle of a U.S. drugstore, where nearly every single product facing has a tag on it announcing a price and a limited-time promotion. The entire row is covered with bright yellow…
Jean-Noel Barrot
Operating a small business, the backbone of the U.S. economy, has always been tough. But small businesses have been disproportionately hurt by the Great Recession, losing 40 percent more jobs than the rest of the private sector combined. Interestingly, as my research with Harvard’s Ramana Nanda…
Catherine Beare
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Although efforts have been made to create policies that support a bias-free workplace, there is still a considerable way to go toward achieving the gender equality that organizations are striving for. Due in part to a lack of clear measurement and transparency, many companies and…
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In case you missed it, last week’s Quality Digest Live contained some great articles and discussion between myself and my co-host, Quality Digest publisher in chief Mike Richman. In the show, we covered:
“Manufacturing Trends to Watch in 2017”
In this run-down of technologies to watch, of…
Daniel Blake, Caterina Moschieri
Pulling out of a country is an expensive proposition for a multinational firm, but it is sometimes required for the corporate bottom line. If the host country changes laws or even expropriates a subsidiary, it is often time to leave or divest.
Divestiture—pulling out assets or closing down part…
