Barbara A. Cleary
When W. Edwards Deming urged managers to “institute training on the job” in his Fourteen Points for Managers, he undoubtedly meant far more than simply teaching workers how to use specific...
Barbara A. Cleary
Taking time off for vacation seems to be a diminishing phenomenon among U.S. workers. Each year, Americans fail to use 662 million vacation days, and with those days $236 billion in economic...
Barbara A. Cleary
If you get off the highway and take an alternate route when traffic slows to one lane, you are making a prediction. Likewise, if you decide to invite someone to dinner, that too is a prediction....
Barbara A. Cleary
In a 1995 interview, tech guru Steve Jobs posited that empires could crash and burn if the emphasis is on sales rather than on product. “Companies forget what it means to make great products,” he...
Barbara A. Cleary
Complying to requirements and standards is sufficient to meet the objectives of injury and accident prevention, and ensure the health and safety of all employees—right?
In his article, “We’re...
Barbara A. Cleary
When Frederick Winslow Taylor advanced the principles of “scientific management” in 1909, he was hailed as a master of efficient production. In the context of the new century’s focus on science, his...
Barbara A. Cleary
Statistics has gotten a bad rap. People love to quote Mark Twain (“There are lies, damn lies, and statistics,” alternatively attributed to Benjamin Disraeli), Vin Scully (“Statistics are used much...
Barbara A. Cleary
Among the “10 top business trends that will drive success in 2016,” reported in an end-of-2015 Forbes article by author and consultant Ian Altman, was the point that “Top performing companies will...
Barbara A. Cleary
In a rapidly changing business environment, it’s sometimes hard just to keep up with everyday demands—never mind having time to develop new and better approaches to changing requirements, needs, or...
Barbara A. Cleary
Approaching the end of the school year means focusing on graduation rates, dropout rates, and other data suggesting trends for students. Opportunities for considering statistics abound, but one...
