Operations & technology

Hoshin Kanri is effective strategy deployment without a bureaucratic air but with a commitment to continuous improvement. Elliott Weiss and Austin English describe the simple construct that increases engagement at all levels, detailing general concepts, basic steps, and keys to successful implementation and iteration.

Process-improvement activities may take many forms. One widespread technique is A3 thinking, a structured and easy to understand method for problem-solving, proposal writing and status reporting. Here, an example of integrating the six-step process into one’s personal life: Losing weight and maintaining the results.

While the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated trends for much of the retail industry, the impact on the grocery world is not so clear-cut. Darden Professor Tim Laseter discusses the state and future of the grocery industry and his “How to Win in Online Grocery” research.

Around 90 percent of the cases of blindness in Ethiopia are avoidable. Restoring and maintaining sight frequently depends on corneal transplants, but those require access, and the global demand is greater than the supply. One partnership created a system to meet 100 percent of the current demand for quality corneal tissue in Ethiopia.

Noncommunicable diseases lead to over 90 percent of all deaths in Ukraine, many of them preventable. With technological advancements and the removal of financial barriers, one public-private partnership is working to deliver essential services to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and medicine to patients at little to no cost.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, hospitals in the hardest-hit areas operate at near capacity. Professor Elliott N. Weiss believes that understanding capacity management and other fundamental concepts in operations can help us make sense of the current crisis and invites us to examine it through the lens of operations.

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has hit global trade and investment with devastating force and speed. Why did the world fail to learn the lessons of SARS, H1N1 or other major disruptions? What’s behind the fragility in supply chains that can derail global trade and transactions when the unexpected strikes? How can we guard against future shocks?

Traditional retail remains in a period of widespread transformation. Many suburban malls have shuttered, or limp along with few tenants. The rapid transformation even has its own doom-and-gloom shorthand: the Retail Apocalypse. Amid the turmoil, there is also transformation and growth. Darden Professor Vidya Mani shares what's next.

Despite its origins in manufacturing, lean thinking has shown the potential to transform other process-oriented industries, including healthcare. According to Darden Professor Elliott N. Weiss, when it comes to process improvement and eliminating waste, lean is as effective in the hospital as it is on the factory floor.

China’s marketing landscape is a different machine than Western companies may be accustomed to. How a country evolves impacts consumer habits — which, in turn, should impact marketing practice. Western multinational firms seeking to expand need to shift their strategies — and might find they can apply some lessons to other markets.