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In 2021, COE curated a lineup of experts to speak (virtually) on topics ranging from supply chain, leadership, and the future of work to diversity, lean transformation, and robotic process automation. As the year draws to a close, we wanted to share a selection of books recommended by several of our speakers.

What is Lean and why is it important? We sat down with Eric Olsen, Director for Central Coast Lean and Professor of Industrial Technology in the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, to discuss the benefits of Lean and his upcoming New to Lean workshop. Check it out here:

The Center for Operational Excellence works alongside our members to foster a problem-solving culture that’s grounded in tried-and-true operational excellence tools, and that’s constant and far-reaching. Through membership, organizations gather actionable insights from industry executives at COE programming, tap into research findings focused on today’s greatest challenges, and connect with Fisher College of Business students poised to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Every business and industry has been impacted by change in the past year and, it is evident that these changes are accelerating. In fact, more change is expected to occur in the next 10 years than in the past 50 years. So, how can businesses keep up? Staying agile in an evolving environment requires a different set of thinking, skills, and capabilities. Below are five strategies your organization can keep up with the ever-increasing pace of change:

In September 2021, I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar on a topic I am passionate about: Leading with Respect. If you missed this webinar, it is available in COE's Members Only Digital Content Archive. If you don't have an account, you can create an account.

This note is the second of two focusing on the design and management of a single, mass vaccine delivery site at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) and examining the contributions of lean thinking and practice to the cycles of design, fulfillment, and use in this one site.

The business world is more diverse than ever. This provides us with unique opportunities as well as challenges. If you're able to understand psychology of implicit bias, you'll be able to connect, communicate, and persuade at a higher level, as well as improve your ability to make high-level, and fair, decisions.

This essay is the first of two focusing on the design and management of a single, mass vaccine delivery site at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) and examining the contributions of lean thinking and practice to the cycles of design, fulfillment, and use in this one site. Look for the second, which will be published on August 16.

The requirements to be an effective, people-centered leader are simple in concept, but more challenging in practice. How do you achieve business results while simultaneously developing people’s capabilities? And what do you need to do to develop yourself to successfully accomplish this?