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What do great organizations look like today? Do they have the best strategy? Are they the most efficient? Whilst both of these factors are essential, strategy (what we do) has become almost irrelevant and operational excellence (how we do things) is not easy to achieve.

COE’s annual Leading Through Excellence Summit is going to look a little (okay, a lot) different this year, as most events have over the past year. Trust us – we’re going to miss the face-to-face networking, the buzzing Fawcett Center, and yummy lunches, too. But, with virtual conferences on the rise, there’s a myriad of benefits and reasons to attend. If you’re on the fence about attending a virtual conference, here's why you should consider it: Learning and development is as important as ever.

At the Center for Operational Excellence, we work 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. One way we do that is by connecting industry executives, Fisher College of Business faculty, and our consortium of member companies.

At the Center for Operational Excellence, we work 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. One way we do that is by connecting industry executives, Fisher College of Business faculty, and our consortium of member companies.

I recently had a conversation with a veteran operations manager about his new company and its plan to deploy a lean strategy. In fact, I often hear lean thinkers describe lean as a strategy. But is it? Lean thinking and practice certainly is strategic in the sense that it is an all-encompassing approach to running a business.  

I was reading yet another article on leadership responses to the COVID 19 pandemic on the importance of “purpose”.  The “why” most call it.  For example, “Leading with purpose and humanity” was the headline in an article on McKinsey’s interview with Best Buy CEO, Hubert Joly. It got me thinking about “why” we embrace Operational Excellence and “why not” look at it a little differently.

At the Center for Operational Excellence, we work 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. One way we do that is by connecting industry executives, Fisher College of Business faculty, and our consortium of member companies.

At the Center for Operational Excellence, we work 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. One way we do that is by connecting industry executives, Fisher College of Business faculty, and our consortium of member companies.

Our new OpEx Spotlight series highlights members of our OpEx community and allows them to share their experiences and perspectives with continuous improvement, organizational change, operational excellence, supply chain, operations, and any niche they feel passionate about.  We're excited to introduce Giovanni Bernardo, Head of US Continuous Improvement at Agrana Fruit, as the first in our spotlight series.