Body of Knowledge

  • Stuck in the Middle Of a Lean Leap

    This is Part I of a two part series Robert P. Thames, FACHE, FHFMA, President and CEO, Northern Arizona Healthcare “Everything looks like failure in the middle.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter SUMMARY: All senior leader teams get stuck on their improvement journey. Examination of common stuck points for senior leader teams on their improvement journey…

  • Should Safety Stock Include Demand Forecast Error?

    Yes, I’m broaching a hot topic. This article is deliberately not exhaustive, leaving plenty of room for further discussion. My intent: to encourage constructive, informative conversation among my many LinkedIn supply-chain experts. I have done my best to ensure that I have supported all my assertions with facts, analysis and calculations. Here is my theme: Forecast-to-actual demand variation has no…

  • Turnarounds; Customer experience real unicorn

    We all remember poor customer experience, and we are not afraid to share the poor experiences we have had with others – perhaps even going out of our way to share using social media as the medium for our opinions?  How many times have we read bad reviews on hotels or restaurants as compared to…

  • How GE Exorcised the Ghost of Jack Welch to Become a 124-Year-Old Startup

    General Electric has traded its division of refrigerators and microwave ovens for electric power generators, among other devices. In addition, it has made a significant bet on developing software to connect these devices to the Internet. GE strongly believes that growth opportunities are embedded in what it calls the “Internet of Really Big Things”. With their sights…

  • Who owns the Sun?

    Let the solar wars commence, says Bloomberg Businessweek. With Warren Buffett controlling Nevada’s legacy utility, and Elon Musk behind the solar company (Tesla) that’s upending the market – there’s no telling who will win the bet to eventually own the sun. In addition to the solar powered-battle of the billionaires, erupts the onset of hundreds…

  • Europe’s Banks Face a Frightening Future

    A few noteworthy events have led European banking to reach a proverbial point of no return. It’s no wonder that investors are running out of patience with European bank chieftains. Since the unfortunate fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008, eight of Europe’s biggest banks (including Deutsche Bank) have had to layoff around 100,000 employees, pay billions…