David A. Marshall
Not long ago many manufacturing companies considered accidents and the resulting costs part of the expense of doing business. Today’s companies are creating better safety programs that benefit the...
Mike Thelen
Mark Graban, consultant and host of www.leanblog.org , and a good lean friend, once posted a web log topic on “lean or lame” (a phrase he coined). That topic drew a variety of comments from his...
Mike Thelen
Mark Graban, consultant and host of www.leanblog.org , and a good lean friend, once posted a web log topic on “lean or lame” (a phrase he coined). That topic drew a variety of comments from his...
Greg Hutchins
This is the first of a new QualityInsider column that will discuss new practices, processes, tools, and lessons learned in what I think is the future of quality—risk management. I’ll feature...
Mike Staver
It’s an election year in the United States, and if there ever was a need for clarity in communication, it’s now. Yet no matter how specific the question or how many times it’s asked, the candidates...
Bill Kalmar
Starbucks’ announcement that it would close for three hours on February 26 to retrain about 135,000 in-store employees sent shudders through the thousands of coffee fanatics in the nation. Would java...
America needs you to get your act together. This isn’t just about jobs, although many people are getting hurt because of your mismanagement of three of the most important name brands in America. You’...
Mike Micklewright
Question:What do you call it when a quality manager is caught cheating on a quality exam?
Answer:Benchmarking
Several months ago, I taught a three-day internal-audit class to about 15 people. On the...
Mike Thelen
As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin...
Akhilesh Gulati
As a manager, one might imagine being a rider atop a horse. You cannot expect to force the horse to win by constantly pulling the reins, neither can you expect to win the race consistently by pushing...
Thomas R. Cutler
Powerful brands can drive success in competitive markets and become the organization’s most valuable assets. Wikipedia suggests that, “Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership: name,...
Thomas R. Cutler
Powerful brands can drive success in competitive markets and become the organization’s most valuable assets. Wikipedia suggests that, “Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership: name,...
Knowledge at Wharton
Accounting techniques such as budgeting, sales projections, and financial reporting are supposed to help prevent business failures by giving managers realistic plans to guide their actions and...
Bill Kalmar
Each year at this time a momentous event is announced in the pages of a prominent magazine. No, I’m not talking about the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, although thoughts of that warm me up on...
Douglas C. Fair
I was hiking in the Smoky Mountains National Park with a colleague, and we happened upon fellow hikers. Being the friendly sorts that we are, we stopped to take a breather and chat with our new...
Thomas R. Cutler
In the first quarter of 2007, my company conducted a complex-manufacturing research survey of 1,473 senior management level executives (CEO, COO, CFO, vice-president of operations). Complex...
Thomas R. Cutler
In the first quarter of 2007, my company conducted a complex-manufacturing research survey of 1,473 senior management level executives (CEO, COO, CFO, vice-president of operations). Complex...
Mike Thelen
As is the case with any lean implementation in a traditional environment, culture change is the most difficult obstacle to success. A company can hire consultants, develop work teams, and begin...
