All Features
Jim Benson
Modern business drowns in overhead it can’t even see. I’ve seen companies spend hours denying an expense request on a $20 book. I’ve seen teams spin for weeks planning projects that change dramatically in the first week due to a simple implementation lesson. I’ve seen people overworked and…
Alexandra Brown
Hospital leaders are feeling increasing pressure to find ways to thrive in our changing healthcare system. A C-suite that is removed from daily hospital operations is a liability in this era of process improvement and hands-on progress.
Here are four characteristics hospital leaders need to move…
Jack Dunigan
When I was last in Africa, I found a book in the library of the home I stayed in about the early days of safari hunting. The industry is tightly regulated these days and was, to a certain degree, even during the early part of the 20th century. The hunters and guides were a hardy and courageous lot…
William A. Levinson
Two recent “Consumer Watchdog” articles in the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Times Leader, as well as reports of General Motors’ ignition switch problem, give the perception that GM’s position on ISO/TS 16949 is “Do as we say, not as we do.” If a major automaker that requires its suppliers to meet…
Thomas R. Cutler
Much has been written about the different styles of management between the genders. Although there are still few women in top leadership, particularly in manufacturing, learning from them, even anecdotally, can provide insight into the current state of leadership and a future where more women are…
Jeffrey Phillips
After posting “Don't rock the boat innovation,” I was asked by a few folks a very interesting question. It was: What does it take to be a good innovator in a corporation?
It’s fairly easy to be an innovator in a small company or as an entrepreneur. In fact, you need to rock the boat in small…
The QA Pharm
At the risk of sounding like a pharmaceutical quality assurance heretic, standard operating procedures (SOPs) often don’t work as intended. In fact, they can do more harm than good by giving a false sense of security: “We must be OK; we have procedures for that.”
Having procedures is certainly…
Bill Kalmar
D uring the last year or so we’ve been subjected to automotive recalls and government mismanagement. There’s a distinct difference in how these incidents are handled. In the corporate world, people who have been responsible for misconduct or malfeasance are, in general, summarily fired. In…
Bill Reilly
I have heard people say that geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) is a black art, and I agree—it can almost seem that way sometimes. My experiences in coordinate metrology throughout the past 20 years demonstrate a widespread lack of understanding, confusion, and even resentment for…
Mary McAtee
In almost everything in quality there are multiple facets of responsibility. The same applies when we talk about cybersecurity and threat assessment.
The last time I spoke about this topic I addressed our responsibility for protecting our own organization’s intellectual property and security.…
Donald J. Wheeler
The first axiom of data analysis is: “No data have meaning apart from their context.” Yet we all encounter measures that have been dreamed up without regard for either context or use. This column gives a couple of the more egregious examples I have encountered over the years.
Kentucky Higher…
Dawn Bailey
I am grateful for the opportunity to work for the Baldrige Program. We’re blessed with an engaged community of Baldrige practitioners—folks who have served as examiners at all levels, across the country. These practitioners not only understand but have often mastered how to use the Baldrige…
Mike Micklewright
Recently, while providing training for new clients, I heard a comment from two different people that went something like this: “That gemba walking stuff is really nothing new; it used to be called ‘management by walking around.’” Admittedly I was caught off guard, especially the first time I was…
Bruno Scibilia
Suppose you have designed a brand-new product with many improved features that well help create a much better customer experience. Now you must ensure that it’s manufactured according to the best quality and reliability standards so that it gets the excellent long-term reputation it deserves from…
Matthew E. May
Over on the Harvard Business Review blogs, there’s a wonderful debate on the subject of strategy between Roger Martin, who wrote “Stop Distinguishing Between Strategy and Execution,” and Don Sull, an MIT scholar who believes there’s a meaningful distinction between strategy and execution.…
Alexandra Brown
A big challenge facing academic medical centers is how to maintain a focus on patient care in an artificially divided environment.
Most academic medical centers were developed in a system with abundant resources, cost-based reimbursement, and a traditional academic departmental structure. This…
Bruce Hamilton
After a one-day observation at a local company, I participated in a wrap-up meeting with the general manager and his team.
“We’ve been at this for five years,” the general manager said to me, proudly referring to his division’s lean implementation. “Our 5S rating is over 85 percent, and every…
Patrick Runkel
Right now I’m enjoying my daily dose of morning joe. As the steam rises off the cup, the dark, rich liquid triggers a powerful enzyme cascade that jump-starts my brain and central nervous system, delivering potent glints of perspicacity into the dark crevices of my still-dormant consciousness.…
Annette Franz
In November 2014, I participated in the Hooked On Customers Summit, a webinar series hosted by Bob Thompson of CustomerThink. I joined Thompson, along with Jeanne Bliss, in the first webinar, “Creating Actionable Insight from a Customer Listening Engine.” Bliss talked about the role of the chief…
Christopher A. Brown
One of the primary objectives of surface metrology research, functional correlation refers to the relationships between surfaces and the phenomena that influence or are influenced by their topography. Surface topography is also called texture, particularly in mechanical and manufacturing…
Jesse Lyn Stoner
One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is moving from vision to execution as though it’s a linear process. The widely held assumption is they are two ends of a spectrum, and that vision is about planning, while execution is about action.
The truth is that vision requires action to be clarified…
Kelly Graves
As a consultant and trainer specializing in the field of organizational psychology, I’ve come to realize that certain psychological conditions that affect individuals also apply to companies as a whole. That makes sense because, after all, a company is nothing but a collection of people.
In this…
Jennifer V. Miller
What role does trust play in employee engagement? It’s a fairly large one, according to this Towers Watson research.
The study cites leaders’ ability to “earn the trust and confidence” of employees as one of the top drivers of employee engagement. There is also compelling evidence that…
Christine Schaefer
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. has long demonstrated an organizational culture based on strong customer service. It received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice. And it has also earned hotel industry recognition for top customer satisfaction. So when an organization wants to learn how to…
jeffdewar
One could argue that quality programs today share a common skeleton, with prototypes stretching back to the medieval guilds of 13th century Europe. The ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS), the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, the Deming Prize, Six Sigma, the European EFQM, the FDA’s…
