Continuous process improvement can benefit all aspects of life — from personal New Year’s resolutions to complex drug development. In a world where two-thirds of planned improvement initiatives fail, ...

Federal government leaders know that their organizations should always be improving. But today’s multitude of complex and evolving challenges — tighter budgets, shrinking workforces, aging ...

Implementing an effective and sustainable continuous improvement (CI) program is hard work. It typically requires dedicated effort from multiple operations and CI leaders who, let’s face it, start out ...

The Army has employed a variety of techniques for continuous process improvement (CPI) for many years. Some have resulted in projects that saved the Army millions of dollars, while other efforts have ...

In operations, we often talk about inputs and outputs and the classic formula is: Inputs (man, material, machine) + Method = Outcomes (for customers, employees and owners). In our competitive world, ...

Companies that can successfully implement continuous development throughout their organization find dramatic strategic benefits. Agile made its public debut in 2001 with the publication of the ...

The importance of refining healthcare processes has never been more pronounced. In the Physician MBA Program at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, I learned process improvement—among other ...

In the early 2000s, Motorola struggled with product defects and a decline in customer satisfaction. To improve its business processes and regain its competitive edge, Motorola turned to Six Sigma.

Anything that you do well is worth doing better over time. The term "continuous improvement" describes a process practiced by quality engineers but it speaks to something that every conscientious ...

In the parable of the bricklayers, a traveler encounters three workers mortaring rows of bricks onto other bricks. “What are you doing?” inquires the traveler. The first worker answers, “What does it ...

Management practices are seldom subjected to process improvement. This is most likely to be true in small to mid-size companies. The management practices established early in the life of a company ...