Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

July 1, 2014

Workplace Safety

A culture, not a program

A slow and steady shift started in 1970, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created: The cause of workplace deaths and injuries began changing.Until OSHA’s birth, unsafe workplaces were mainly to blame for […] Read More

May 1, 2014

The Consultant Dilemma

It might pay to hire an outside expert—unless you can do it yourself.  

A few years ago, Klein Steel Service Inc. needed to train its staff on lean production methodology, but internal resources were limited and the training would involve 25% of Klein’s team members. It was time to […] Read More

January 1, 2014

Succession Planning

The often-knotty problems of family businesses trying to stay that way

Bill Hickey is the third-generation head of Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp., a family-owned business based in Bedford Park, Illinois. With four family members—including children and himself—working at the 500-employee firm, next-generation leadership is the obvious next […] Read More

November 1, 2013

Hunting Black Swans

Strategic planning and risk assessment are key to handling uncertainty. Why are they not done more effectively?

 When the financial crisis hit hard in late 2008, senior executives instinctively reached for their companies’ long-term plans and risk mitigation strategies—the ones senior staff developed in allegedly rigorous, if soporific, annual forecasting and budgeting […] Read More

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