Quality management

Financial incentives don’t reduce errors. Employees must be passionate about eliminating mistakes.

Many companies are now good at managing costs and wringing out manufacturing efficiencies. The TQM movement and the disciplines of Six Sigma have seen...

Prompted by the success of Japanese products in the United States, American companies are seeking to upgrade quality and productivity by adopting quality...

After working at his family's coat manufacturing company for a few years, the author realized that high-end coats made in Canada could become a luxury...

If sales and service organizations are to improve, they must learn to measure and manage the quality of the employee-customer encounter. Quality improvement...

In 1971, when Alice Waters founded Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, chefs at even the highest-end restaurants were still using frozen meat and produce....

Robert Chavez, CEO of Hermes US, explains why employee engagement and an online presence are key.

Competitive success depends on learning, but most people, including professionals in leadership positions, are not very good at it. Learning is a function...

In recent years, health care organizations have made sizable investments in information technology. They've used their IT systems to replace paper records...

Many managers have grasped the power of individual lean techniques--such as just-in-time deliveries and kaizen, or continuous improvement--pioneered by...

Measuring the value of intangible assets such as company culture, knowledge management systems, and employees' skills is the holy grail of accounting....

Toyota has become one of the world's greatest companies only because it developed the Toyota Production System, right? Wrong, say Takeuchi, Osono, and...

Almost 20 years ago, two reports changed the game.

Many companies know they should benchmark their business practices against those of companies outside their own industry. But how to begin? Here's a practical...

The “Toyota” principles can also be effective in operations involving judgment and expertise

Western manufacturers have long believed that standardized work in a hierarchical environment alienates employees, poisons labor relations, stifles initiative,...

Develop your career by honing a skill that complements one of your existing strengths.

An estimated 1.2 million patients are harmed each year by preventable mistakes.

A six-step process helped them engage staff and sustain change.

Companies that invest heavily in R&D are often torn between emerging technologies, wondering which will win in the marketplace and is therefore the one...