Operations & technology

Design Thinking, Agile and Lean are ways of innovating that focus on building products and services that create customer value and take the risk out of development and delivery processes. But each method has a specific focus and combination of tools, as well as suitability for different projects.

David Touve, senior director at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Batten Institute, recently answered five questions on Section 230, the controversial law that many say helped create the internet as we know it.

One of the most complicated mass mobilizations and product distribution launches the world has ever attempted, the COVID19 vaccine is the most effective tool to getting the world out of this pandemic. Professor Vivian Riefberg addresses 4 challenges of the vaccine rollout.

The Post-Information Age means it’s time to take stock of what it means for you personally and professionally. The definition of success of digital products has changed significantly. Here are three recommendations for managers who understand they need to do more with digital.

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.