Operations strategy

Zhang Ruimin's leadership of the renowned Haier Group began before the Chinese company even carried that name. More than 20 years ago, Zhang was appointed...

Like all good revolutions, just-in-time manufacturing is producing revolutionaries who don’t know when to stop. It is also producing over reactions from people determined to make them stop. Consider the curiously vexed debate about how to get materials to, and work in process through, the shop floor. Pick up virtually any manufacturing magazine these days […]

CEOs, take note.

Start by having a clear sense of its goals.

It's against human nature to react favorably to the disruption of process change. Continuous improvement means continuous change, and change takes people...

In recent years a growing number of companies have expended considerable amounts of time and money to develop strategic planning skills in their profit centers and at higher organizational levels. We applaud this effort, but as we stand back and observe large and small companies alike apply this new talent and expertise, we are struck […]

Delivered-cost analytics can tell you how much those supply chain services you're offering are really costing you.

Drawing on a rich set of company examples, Thomas H. Davenport, a professor at the University of Texas's Graduate School of Business, provides a fresh,...

Companies are using big data for pricing, maintenance, and more.

Employees are constantly in motion—making sales calls or taking service trips; visiting an international office for a few days or relocating there for a few years; soaring across oceans in the corporate jet or heading across town in the company car. Typically, these activities are administered by an assortment of departments and vendors. But we […]

Just five years ago, salespeople at Whirlpool were in the habit of referring to their supply chain organization as the "sales disablers." Now the company...

Success begins with defining a clear purpose.

An approach employing machine learning and optimization algorithms.

Most executives, rightly, regard strategy creation and achieving operational effectiveness as two very different animals. Strategy, they believe, is about...

The management at Trail Manufacturing was so excited about installing new flexible machining equipment in their factory that they neglected to guage the...

Companies need to make their networks more resilient. Here’s how.

When it comes to improving business performance, managers have no shortage of tools and techniques from which to choose. But what really works? What's...

There are benefits for operations, efficiency, and the brand.

The pandemic has cast a spotlight on a historically undervalued asset.

It's not only a job for the CEO.