Mon, 11/14/2011 - 14:13
It is well-known that negative interactions have a bigger impact than positive ones, and that people tend to remember a person’s unfavorable qualities more vividly than their positive traits. These observations were included in a recent article…
Thu, 11/03/2011 - 11:01
Armed with powerful mobile devices, consumers and employees have become the force behind a wireless wave of change. Whether they are seeking discounted prices or looking to coordinate a sales campaign, these mobile end users are growing impatient…
Wed, 11/02/2011 - 14:39
Innovation is a tough word to define, but most would say they know it when they see it. At a recent Wharton Women in Business conference, participants were asked to discuss their personal definitions of the term and give a concrete example from…
Tue, 07/19/2011 - 11:26
In a recent article in The New York Times, Bryan Burrough, an author, former Wall Street Journal reporter, and now a correspondent for Vanity Fair, takes business writers to task for producing books that are of generally low quality. He gives many…
Tue, 05/24/2011 - 05:30
Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte, has spent his entire 34-year career in one place, climbing the corporate ladder. From his first unsupportive manager at the New York-based professional services firm to the mentors who helped pull him up through…
Mon, 02/22/2010 - 15:09
Toyota’s legendary lean processes didn’t come out of nowhere. They were forged by the fire of urgency in post-World War II Japan when resources were scarce. Toyota innovated—and continued to innovate. Today, the Toyota Production System is the most…
Mon, 02/15/2010 - 12:53
In 2008, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Health Care System faced a challenge: Length of stay per patient at this major nonprofit health system and academic medical center was longer than it needed to be. If administrators could figure out…
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 13:40
Is the manufacturing sector getting more respect?
Although it represents a declining share of the U.S. economy, signs of a manufacturing rebound in the nation and around the world seem to be another indication that the global recession is coming…
Wed, 12/23/2009 - 08:00
The financial services sector has been a laggard in adopting lean tools and practices, perhaps because of their manufacturing origins. But those attitudes are slowly changing. As more banks discover the benefits of lean operations—such as lower…
Mon, 11/30/2009 - 14:05
“Lean” has come to mean an integrated, end-to-end process viewpoint that combines the concepts of waste elimination, just-in-time inventory management, built-in quality, and worker involvement supported by a cultural focus on problem solving. Can…