There's a Better Way

This week, Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion, university chief wellness officer, and professor and dean of the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University, joins Aravind to discuss prioritizing health and wellness within an organization. Dr. Melnyk is recognized nationally and globally for both her clinical knowledge and her innovated approaches to a wide range of heal...

Jim Womack, father of the lean movement, looks at business processes both vertically and horizontally to help answer the question of how to make lean work. As a founder and current senior advisor of the Lean Enterprise Institute, Womack shares his insights on value creation, innovation, and customer understanding.

It's a common misconception that lean in accounting equates to merely a cost-cutting tool. Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, Jean Cunningham, sits down with Aravind this week to discuss a broader model of lean in accounting. Through improved decision-making and impact on the five different "levers" of financial outcomes, Cunningham discusses the impact of lean accounting on value creation...

At first glance, structured approaches seem incompatible with creative problem-solving approaches. This week, Dr. Elliot Bendoly, distinguished professor of management sciences, sits down to harmonize these two tools and give managers a framework for high-performance problem solving.

Free shipping, one-hour delivery, and pick-up in store, are all phrases consumers are seeing more and more. The field of logistics is changing and providing greater access for consumers, and a larger consumer network for companies. Dr. Terry Esper, associate professor of logistics at The Ohio State University, sat down with Aravind to discuss the recent changes to the field and how it's affecting...

Goodyear’s Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Billy Taylor, sat down with Aravind to discuss cultural intelligence. Billy goes beyond the cliché “culture eats strategy for breakfast” and argues for why culture actually controls strategy, and how converting a company’s “my way” into “our way” leads to operational success.

Katie Anderson, lean consultant, has studied the origin of Lean first-hand while living in Japan. After working in healthcare, Katie started her own consulting firm, striving to help others connect their purpose and process. Katie sat down with Aravind to discuss the differences in Lean across cultures, and how understanding the Lean origins can be beneficial when incorporating process improvement...

Dr. John Toussaint, executive chairman of Catalysis Inc., is passionate about lean transformation in healthcare and has worked over the years to implement operational excellence principles in order to change the way healthcare is delivered. Aravind sat down with Dr. Toussaint to discuss his work with over 221 health systems and the variety of situations he’s come across, and the type of leadership...

Dan Markovitz is an accomplished author, speaker and consultant who focuses on building lean organizations. Dan sat down with Aravind to explain how winning the hearts and minds of people should be the focus when trying to implement change management.

Guru Vasudeva, senior vice president and chief information officer of program and application services at Nationwide Mutual Insurance, sat down with Aravind to discuss how such a large corporation uses a variety of lean tools, including visual management, to create a lean management system.

Spine problems are a costly issue world-wide due to the lack of understanding of the definitive cause of pain for each patient. Bill Marras, executive director and scientific director of the Spine Research Institute sat down with Aravind to discuss how they are using an operational excellence approach to solve this problem. The Spine Research Institute is using objective engineering techniques to...

Bethany Melitz grew up with lean and now serves as the Director of Lean (Continuous Improvement) for the City of Detroit. She sat down with Aravind to share the various initiatives happening in Detroit and how they are getting the community involved with the city's comeback. Bethany and her "lean team" are making a big impact from everything to road conditions to job placement.

How does a package get from an Amazon warehouse to your front step? What processes are in place to keep those packages moving and employees safe? The United States Postal Service (USPS) uses operational excellence strategies to keep this complex orgnization moving forward. Linda Richmond, an MBOE alumna, and Western Area Master Black Belt for the United States Postal Service, sat down with Aravind...

Dr. James Hill, associate professor of management sciences at Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, sat down with Aravind to discuss the challenges faced by minority owned business leaders and how Ohio State is trying to bridge the gap through executive education. The new Minority Business Enterprise Middle Market Executive Education  provides training and development highlighting aspe...

Join us this week as Aravind talks about reshoring with Dr. John Gray, associate professor of operations at Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Reshoring refers to returning the production of goods back to the company's original country and is a hot topic in politics. Dr. Gray’s research has been published in top multi-disciplinary management journals and he's also created an electiv...

Foodbank operations go beyond providing meals to those in need. Matt Habash, president and CEO of Mid-Ohio Foodbank, sits down with Aravind to discuss how foodbanks are transforming, and how providing regular access to fresh food is positively affecting healthcare costs and outcomes. Mid-Ohio Foodbank is changing the way customers talk and think about their services, so more people will access the...

What's the best way to build and manage a team? Dr. Tanya Menon, associate professor at Fisher, sits down with Aravind to discuss team building, micro- vs. macro-managing, office space layouts, brainstorming and more. Dr. Menon conducts research on decision making, influence, culture, teals and networks, and she's been cited in various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe...

Ellis Jones, senior director of global environment, health, safety and sustainability for Goodyear, and MBOE alumnus, sat down with Aravind to discuss strategy deployment and how he's used principles of Operational Excellence within his role.

Why do we struggle with learning and how can we improve? Dr. Bradley Staats, professor of operations at University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, sat down with Aravind to discuss learnings from his book, Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive.

Dr. David Rushlow, chief medical officer at Mayo Health Systems Southwest Wisconsin region and MBOE alumnus, speaks with Aravind about how adding 5-10 minute daily care team huddles has proven to be incredibly effective in improving performance in patient safety, quality and satisfaction.

The Center for Operational Excellence at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business works alongside their members to foster a problem-solving culture that’s grounded in tried-and-true operational excellence tools, and that’s constant and far-reaching. This week Aravind sits down with Kelly Reo, executive director, and Matt Burns, associate director of marketing, to learn more about the m...

This week, Thomas Goldsby, professor of logistics at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, sits down with Aravind to discuss the retail revolution and how retailers aren't able to survive if they're not willing to adapt to new consumer demands.

To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, Aravind sat down with Dr. Susan Moffatt-Bruce, executive director of University Hospital and professor of surgery. Dr. Moffatt-Bruce shares her journey from clinician to senior-level administrator, and her advice to others who are looking to grow as an individual and as a leader. This story covers activity that took place before June 27, 2025, whe...

Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Steffanie Wilk, will join us this week to talk about diversity and inclusion in organizations, and how the lack of diversity may affect your operations. This story covers activity that took place before June 27, 2025, when Ohio Senate Bill 1 took effect. Fisher College of Business has discontinued diversity, equity and inclusion activities in complia...

With tax season upon us, this week we sit down with Dr. Brian Mittendorf, chair for the department of accounting and managerial sciences at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. During our conversation, Dr. Mittendorf will explore the options of gift giving, for companies and individuals, and the differences between cash and non-cash gifts.