Adversities are events that we don’t look forward to. They are the disasters that set us back, the incidents which lead to outcomes that we rather not face. Adversity is the unfavourable situation that we run into or that arrives in untimely fashion. Adversities have become more prominent in our daily lives and even ifContinue reading “Adversities versus Miracles”
Tag Archives: adversity
Allocating an Hour a Day For Oneself is a Fantasy
There are those who recommend we set an hour a day to step back from our busy schedules. I would really wish that could be true. We all could use an hour a day to reflect on what we’ve achieved, organise our thoughts, develop ideas, and plan. Experience, however, shows it can’t happen for mostContinue reading “Allocating an Hour a Day For Oneself is a Fantasy”
We Need Better Monitoring Systems
Most executives like performance measures. Otherwise known as metrics, key performance indicators (KPI’s), analytics, or scorecards, enterprises embrace performance measures as a means to assess how their businesses are doing. The point of a performance measure is to check how an individual or team is doing against a target that is set by superiors. (NoContinue reading “We Need Better Monitoring Systems”
Bad Things Happen to Everyone
Asian airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and ANA are known for their excellence in customer service. A lot of people love flying with these airlines. But thanks to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, these same airlines are experiencing their worst business slump in recent memory. No one wants to fly these airlines not becauseContinue reading “Bad Things Happen to Everyone”
Seizing Opportunity and Addressing Adversity via Supply Chain Engineering
We should not focus just on adversity. We should also focus on opportunity. We tend to point to adversity when there’s disruption. But as much as there is adversity behind every disruption, there is also opportunity. This should be common business sense but it can be difficult to accept when there’s a raging disruptionContinue reading “Seizing Opportunity and Addressing Adversity via Supply Chain Engineering”
A Letter to All Industrial Engineers: Time to Rise Up
Dear Industrial Engineer: I come to you as a fellow Industrial Engineer (IE) with a message. It’s time for us to rise up. For years, or should I say decades, Industrial Engineering (IE) has been an un-recognized engineering discipline. Many engineers—e.g. civil, mechanical, chemical, electrical—look at us as fakes. IndustrialContinue reading “A Letter to All Industrial Engineers: Time to Rise Up”
The World Needs Supply Chain Engineers
Not leaders. Not managers. Not business executives. We have plenty of leaders, both real and wannabes. Managers and executives too; we have enough. We need supply chain engineers. The global supply chain is a present-day 21st-century reality. We get much of our goods from all over the world. We buy shoes from Europe to sellContinue reading “The World Needs Supply Chain Engineers”
Where are the Supply Chain Experts?
Supply chain managers are noticeably invisible amid the COVID-19 crisis. There have been no supply chain executives standing beside national leaders as they made speeches and announcements. There have been rarely any interviews with supply chain experts about how to deal with shortages of food and difficulties in transportation. If there were, much of whateverContinue reading “Where are the Supply Chain Experts?”
We Need a Playbook and It’s the Last Thing We Need
Many enterprises and countries around the world have playbooks to deal with pandemics such as COVID-19. These range from ISO standards and those based on the United States’ Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Center of Disease Control & Prevention, and even the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USARMIID). But asContinue reading “We Need a Playbook and It’s the Last Thing We Need”
Ellery's Essays 