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During the last several centuries, the economy of the modern world emerged from a contract—unwritten, unspoken, almost unrecognized—between risk-takers who started businesses and the hirelings who did the work to ensure those businesses’ survival and profitability.
Enterprises of the kind that…
According to CX Network’s latest “Annual Global State of CX Report,” showing return on investment (ROI) from customer experience (CX) projects is one of the top challenges troubling CX practitioners.
The report saw nearly 270 responses from the CX community, with each participant providing insight…
(Routledge: New York) -- Workforce readiness is an issue that is of great national and societal importance. For the United States and other countries to thrive in a globally interconnected environment of wide-ranging opportunities and threats, the need to develop and maintain a skilled and…
Outsourcing is historically one of the most misunderstood concepts in quality management system (QMS) implementation and operation. Prior to ISO 9001:2015, the requirement for outsourced processes was limited to a few sentences in the standard’s clause 4.1. This article will present, through a case…
I have been thinking a lot lately about a maxim that Seth Godin likes to use: “What is it for?”
That phrase was mentioned often in his altMBA program I did a couple of years ago, and it can be a good focusing question for any of us.
What does all this mean for leaders? Here are a few areas where…
Often the words “collaboration,” “coordination,” and “cooperation” are used to describe effective teamwork. But they are not the same, and when we use these words interchangeably, we dilute their meaning and diminish the potential for creating powerful, collaborative workplaces.
Collaboration was…
Last February I had the opportunity to observe healthcare providers up close and personal at one the world’s premier hospitals. “Who Cares for the Caregivers?” was written from the perspective of a patient in a cardiac step-down unit, sympathetically watching caregivers as they grappled with many…
Historically, conventional wisdom among business managers was that the higher the quality, the higher the cost. This perception still holds true today among a few business managers. Common sense also tells us the same thing, i.e., to create higher quality products or services, organizations will…
Health and economics are linked in more ways than just health insurance. When we look past the obvious, research shows us how brain scans, the gig economy, or even hospital queues are all part of the expanding domain of health economics.
Recently, professors and researchers from the Sorbonne…
A research team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has created a nanoscale “playground” on a chip that simulates the formation of exotic magnetic particles called monopoles. The study—published recently in Science Advances—could unlock the…
When we think about IT security, we typically think about the large hacks that were reported in the press. When viewed as a whole, we can understand the magnitude of lost data. It’s no surprise that these hacks are what come to mind when we think about information security.
The table below shows…
(ISO: Geneva) -- While some countries have made great progress toward universal health coverage, half the world’s population are still unable to obtain the health services they need. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are working…
In most healthcare settings, workers attend weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings where performances are reported, analyzed, and compared to goals in an effort to identify trends. Reports often consist of month-to-month comparisons with “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” icons in the margins, as well…
Experienced leaders know that failure is not necessarily a negative and can lead to both individual and organizational learning. We try to embrace failure and create a culture where appropriate failure is accepted as long as it’s learned from, giving our team members the space and support to fail.…
(Productivity Press: New York) -- How to Coach for Creativity and Service Excellence: A Lean Coaching Workbook, by Karyn Ross (Productivity Press, 2019), is a self-contained workbook, in which the reader completes 21 days of practical exercises and activities focused on creativity, lean, and…
(CMS: Weatherford, TX) -- The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) announces registration is open for its annual Coordinate Metrology Society Conference (CMSC) held July 22–26, 2019, at Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.
This landmark occasion celebrates the conference that has…
Today I’m looking at the profound phrase of Canadian philosopher and a media theorist Marshall McLuhan, “The medium is the message.”
McLuhan noted that: “Each medium, independent of the content it mediates, has its own intrinsic effects, which are its unique message.... The message of any medium…
In just five short months, two Boeing 737 Max 8 airliners crashed, killing a total of 346 passengers and crew members. Both crashes occurred shortly after takeoff, and the similarities between the two catastrophes raised fundamental questions about the aircraft’s safety. It was grounded by nation…
Born to a Dalit family, Megha was raised in Southwest India and learned English at her convent school. As a child, she aspired to be a fashion designer or a cardiologist, but her parents insisted that she become an IT engineer. After four years of higher education, Megha found a job in the booming…
Born to a Dalit family, Megha was raised in Southwest India and learned English at her convent school. As a child, she aspired to be a fashion designer or a cardiologist, but her parents insisted that she become an IT engineer. After four years of higher education, Megha found a job in the booming…
In a recent interview for my new book, Be Chief: It’s a Choice, Not a Title (Motivational Press, 2018), I was asked to share an embarrassing moment I’d had on stage. My mind instantly flashed back to Beijing and a session I’d had 15 years ago.
It was 2003, and China was celebrating the year of the…
(CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Responsible manufacturing has become an obligation to the environment and to society itself, enforced primarily by customer perspective and governmental regulations on environmental issues. This is mainly driven by the escalating deterioration of the environment, such…
You arrive at work one morning, and there are FDA inspectors sitting in your waiting area. If you are lucky, you may be notified ahead of time that they’re coming, but otherwise, the US. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is fully within its rights to show up unannounced at any time.
Because of…
Within maintenance management, the term MTBF (mean time between failures) is the most important key performance indicator after physical availability.
Unlike MTTF (mean time to failure), which relates directly to available equipment time, MTBF also adds up the time spent inside a repair. That is,…
(Q-Mark: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) -- Q-Mark is now offering precision diamond styli in nearly any standard thread size and configuration. Diamond styli are an excellent choice for demanding applications. Diamond sphere performance is unmatched when measuring hard, abrasive, or very soft surfaces…