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Reopening roadblocks: How your equipment can bridge the gap

Rachel Herren Food & Beverage

For leaders in the food industry, it seems, the steady return to normalcy is simply a transition to a new state of uncertainty. As you prepare for widespread reopening, you're likely wondering how to tackle these new challenges while staying focused on recovering revenue and keeping up with demand. A big part of the answer lies in what you're keeping behind the counter.

Balancing compassion and performance in a pandemic world

Courtney Lynch Business Management, Services & Risk Management

When I served in the Marines, we had a saying: Mission first, people always. Everything about leading Marines came down to achieving results in times of challenge, chaos, and uncertainty while taking care of your people. Now, as an executive coach, as I’ve helped my clients navigate pandemic times, often I’ve been guiding them in demonstrating service-based leadership. Leading with service is about acting selflessly on behalf of others to ensure their success. It’s about the simple actions you take to support others so they can thrive. The great news for leaders is that service can be demonstrated in the simplest ways.

Pandemic-created challenges become corporate responsibility opportunities

Peggy Smedley Distribution & Warehousing

Uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has plagued businesses around the globe — particularly those in the supply chain community — accentuating weaknesses never seen before. However, if considered from a different perspective, it has given rise to opportunities for these same companies to shine like beacons in the night. When the pandemic first hit, supply chains were disrupted — so much so that an everyday consumer quickly understood what the supply chain was and how it might impact being able to access goods in a timely manner.

Infographic: How to set work boundaries to avoid burnout

Pia De Los Reyes Mental Healthcare

With remote work being the new professional normal, it can be especially challenging to stay productive and separate job stress from our personal lives. When stress is high and maintained over a period of time, it can lead to burnout or a type of work-related stress that can have a myriad of negative effects on your health and productivity. Those experiencing burnout can suffer from fatigue and mental exhaustion, and it can also lower work performance and cause job dissatisfaction. Over time, burnout can increase your vulnerability to disease and even potentially cost you lost income because of unpaid sick leave or a missed promotion.

Supply chain disruptions are causing havoc in the auto industry

Bambi Majumdar Manufacturing

The global semiconductor chip shortage has sent the auto world into a frenzy. The pandemic and stay-at-home lifestyles have created soaring demand for electronic devices, which has increased the demand for semiconductor chips. Semiconductors form the core of an increasing number of electronic devices, large and small. They help power large machines like space shuttles and automobiles as well as everyday devices like cameras, smartphones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. Automobiles have relied heavily on semiconductors since the 1970s.

What’s the BIG Idea? Episode 2: Steve Jurash on leading through crisis

Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

In this video, Hank Boyer visits with Steve Jurash, president of the 5,000-plus member Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia (MAP). MAP represents several hundred thousand manufacturing employees. In March 2020, Jurash led MAP through an incredibly challenging period of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, an event that brought manufacturing everywhere to a sudden halt. With several hundred thousand employees' lives affected by his decision-making, Jurash faced one of his most challenging periods of leadership. He shares more than 20 best practices effective leaders use to navigate during periods of crisis.

COVID-19 accelerated change. How do you stay ahead moving forward?

Philip Burns and William Putsis Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst that accelerated change in almost every industry. What used to take some companies five years to accomplish remarkably took them only five months during the pandemic. From at-home grocery retailing to working at home virtually, companies digitized their businesses and changed how they delivered services at unprecedented rates. While some companies were better positioned to deal with the challenges the pandemic presented, others struggled. Given this, consider three relevant questions for all business leaders in the context of their own organization and industry.

The importance of communicating with retail store associates about your…

Katie McCarron Retail

When it comes to growing sales through retail stores, manufacturers have countless avenues to invest time and resources — execute awareness-building campaigns, develop exciting point of sale, or increase promotional frequency and depth, to name a few. When executed well, any of these programs can have a valuable effect on sales, but it is important to never overlook the importance of partnering with retail store associates to ensure they are fully educated about your product, its use cases and typical customer questions. Here are four reasons that you should be investing time and resources in educating retail store associates.

What’s the BIG Idea? Episode 1: Sydney Guerrero on business development…

Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

In this episode of What’s the BIG Idea? we visit with Sydney Guerrero, Vice President of Busines Development for Orion Innovation, an $850 million global IT leader in digital transformation and product development services.

Infographic: Why you need diversity in the supply chain

Brian Wallace Distribution & Warehousing

Why does the supply chain need to be diverse, you ask? There are underserved populations and businesses that are minority-owned who are not getting a seat at the table. According to Avinandan Mukherjee, dean of the Lewis College of Business at Marshall University: "Small companies are at the mercy of larger retail buyers and suppliers sometimes, and they get less focus and attention, especially when production is lower at the other end. So bargaining power definitely creates some risk for smaller companies." Also, large corporations are often missing the mark for their minority suppliers. Diversity needs to be less talk and more action.

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