Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 24, 2015

Middle managers had to go back and forth between firing people and finding new ones with different skills, and few people believed that the yearly planning and budgeting cycle was anything more than a painful exercise, since it was always changing midway through.

Welch 8

Welch Six Sigma Real Estate Trends 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 26, 2015

How do they understand the need to change and create the energy and urgency around it? Accordingly, Jack Welch’s drive to Six Sigma involved an intense focus on controlling costs, quality, and execution on both the infrastructure and behavioral sides (e.g., In the first part of this century, innovation became the priority.

Welch 8

Welch Six Sigma Agility Operations 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 22, 2013

Innovation starts with new and novel ideas. When we surveyed over 300 global executives between 2008 and 2009, one of the primary concerns they expressed was their inability to compete long term without a solid innovation engine that can grow their top line. Let’s say you’re in the energy sector. Find Pivots.

Skills 8

Skills Power Six Sigma Disruptive Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 18, 2013

With these rules in place, 8 cross-functional teams—each composed of middle managers, a consultant guide, and a sponsor from the leadership team—were formed. The result is akin to turning on a light bulb—it releases the energy needed to truly transform the quality and cost of care. Leading Health Care Innovation.

Cost 8

Cost Health Care Six Sigma Insourcing 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 29, 2015

It made a massive investment (more than $1 billion) to build a software “ Center of Excellence ” in San Ramon, California to manage the data explosion created by the increasing intelligence of its industrial machines. A design studio is geared for collaboration and innovation work with customers and partners.

Software 8

Software Six Sigma Insourcing P&L 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 27, 2014

A mid-level manager in this 5,000-employee hospital, she is leading a 70-member group on patient flow as part of a larger organizational effort. Her ability to lead and inspire — to become a change leader from her position as a mid-level manager — is helping her team produce results. I found a few defining characteristics: 1.

Middle Management 14

Middle Management Six Sigma Taylorism Taylor 14

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 23, 2015

The executive team of a consumer healthcare company had concluded that the rise of new competitors meant the company needed to up its innovation game. The company had spent the past two decades focused on implementing Six Sigma processes across the enterprise and it was primed to execute on the best and smartest ideas.

Innovation 8

Innovation Company Six Sigma Constraint 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 1, 2017

Accordingly, business leaders sought to improve efficiency by employing Six Sigma, process reengineering, spans and layers, and other tools. Others reward easy-to-measure improvements in existing processes over less-easily-quantified innovations. But the scales have now tipped in favor of accelerating growth.

ROE 14

ROE Long-term GDP Six Sigma 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 10, 2011

With the $300 House initiative, it's easy to see the potential to spark innovation that, with a single stroke, could ameliorate several quality-of-life-concerns at once: shelter, water purification, alternative energy, cooking fuel and information access. Our team put Six-Sigma thinking to work. We learned quite a bit.

Govindarajan 15

Govindarajan Six Sigma Energy Transportation 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 30, 2012

There's something about the culture of business that tends toward excess — in financial markets, to be sure, but also in the "market" for new ideas and management techniques. That piece of language, that aspiration, is innovation. But that doesn't mean the companies are actually doing any innovating.

Innovation 17

Innovation Airlines Six Sigma Lean Production 17