Naveen Khajanchi
Adam Grant, a professor of psychology at Wharton, admitted how wrong he was to pass up on the opportunity to invest in an online startup selling glasses. Because the company didn’t have a...
Bruno Scibilia
In yesterday’s column, I discussed how a DOE was chosen to optimize a chemical-mechanical polishing process in the microelectronics industry. This important process improved the plant’s final...
Bruno Scibilia
Ionce worked in the manufacturing industry. Some processes were so complex that even a very experienced and competent engineer would not necessarily know how to identify the best settings for the...
Steven D. Goldstein
A leader’s ability to communicate is fundamental to building trust and forming a cohesive team. Transparency has become a necessary element of team support. It may be scary to share everything, but...
Amy Williams
My first exposure to manufacturing was nearly 21 years ago. My on-the-job training was brief and mainly consisted of general safety, machine operating, and maintenance instructions with little...
Tim Lozier
When we look at business dynamics, regardless of industry, we see an increasing rate of change in products, processes, and regulations. One process affects the next, and with a growing focus on...
Michelle LaBrosse
Most people begin with the great intentions to eat well, exercise, do their best at work, and get along with co-workers. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t always impel us to actually do what we...
Quy Huy
Although it’s bad to ignore a crisis, more serious problems for leaders arise when they try to rouse the collective will to address or prevent organizational emergencies. Heads nod around...
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Traditionally, career paths have been based on the idea of “moving up the ladder.” Success is measured by how high you get. A lateral move is usually not seen as a smart career move. Even when...
Ken Levine
One poorly understood concept in lean Six Sigma is how much to “stretch” when setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. These letters are defined as S—specific; M—measureable; A—assignable, attainable, or...
Manfred Kets de Vries
T
wenty-five years ago, corporations and business schools were preoccupied with models of the rational economic man, not realizing that executives are anything but rational decision makers. The...
Joby George
Driven by market expansion, financial pressures, and the need to accelerate innovation, today’s manufacturers have expanded their global operations and supply partners. This evolution has only...
GBMP
Hub Pen Co., located in Braintree, Massachusetts, imports specialty writing instruments and imprints them with company logos and other customized inscriptions. In 2013, the company received a...
Davis Balestracci
In honor of baseball season, I’m going to apply some simple statistical thinking to my favorite sport in a two-part series today and tomorrow. I want anyone to be able to enjoy this, so I’ll mark...
Giles Hutchins
Globalization, disruptive technologies, pressure on finite resources, increasing social disparity, and demand for business transparency: Enter the age of uncertainty. These transformative times are...
Lillian Erickson
The updated version of ISO 9001, published in September 2015, generated much anxiety among companies fearing a bumpy transition to the updated and significantly changed international standard....
Tonianne DeMaria
I recognize that the title of this column might stir up some controversy, especially among fellow coffee enthusiasts. Not to mention it puts me at risk of getting exiled from my beloved adopted...
Niranjan Deodhar
Previously in this series, we looked at applying the principles of process improvement (PI) to itself. We identified metrics that help define effective and efficient PI, and then analyzed some work...
Knowledge at Wharton
A trained mechanical engineer, Mark Chang found himself “totally uncertain and unprepared” the first time he was called on to hire someone else.
“I didn’t even know why I was hired in the first...
Gallup
Increasingly dynamic workplaces have made organizational change an everyday reality. Demands for workforce agility require a step up from those commanding—particularly in ongoing measurement and...
