In the early stages of my career, conflict resolution was direct and forceful, often involving blunt criticism and harsh language. However, a key learning experience came when my manager confronted me about a mistake, followed by supportive dialogue, teaching me the value of constructive criticism.

Change management is a process for ensuring that the people affected by change understand the nature of the change and the reasons for it. Successful change management is an all-hands-on-deck activity.

Listen for a preview of an upcoming presentation from Grace Duffy, the president of Management & Performance Systems at The Quality Show. Her two sessions are: The Building Blocks of Organizational Culture and Where Will Quality be in Five Years?

Manufacturers across a range of industries lean on statistical process control (SPC) operations management methods to handle various customers and compliance requirements while keeping yield and quality high.

We are living in a world of constant, accelerating change. Organizations must continually adapt or risk becoming obsolete. 

In management literature you will often encounter the concept of a best practice. However, until recently no method was available to assess a best practice. 

The U.S. manufacturing industry’s skilled labor shortage has been widely reported in the past decade. Millions of jobs became vacant due to the retirement of baby boomers and economic expansion.

As promised, we continue last month’s column with seven more principles for an organization to manage an important asset—their people.

By considering the pattern of all accidents, including those near misses, a predictive model can be created, isolating the cultural root causes of workplace injury and larger scale disasters.

The characteristics of OE: improved quality; capability; shorter lead times; increased service levels; and lower cost—are best achieved when organizations consider five key execution drivers.