Students in class have reported on how companies are using six sigma to coax more savings from existing business plans. This does not include hiring more employees. Students need to focus on acquiring a specific skill set. What new skills will one acquire in college that will make you stand apart once you graduate?  Simply…

Read this article about how well Fiat is getting along with the Chrysler culture, and vice versa.  In my experience this one article seems to summarize all the merger stories I have ever read -  Recall that Chrysler already went through the same thing with Mercedes which is how they ended up with Fiat, that…

When it rains it pours, in California. Now that GM has axed Pontiac, Toyota cannot go it alone at the NUMMI plant.  While the article does not say we know Toyota is moving the manufacture of the Tacoman pickup to San Antonio. I suspect they will throttle back on gas hog Tundra to better make…

All   I usually do not get into specific class matters on he blog but we are having difficulty with Blackboard this week and we had various issues with the class monday evening. So to recap for youy The textbook site has a great narrated powerpoint on each chapter, See my previous post with screen…

All   I usually do not get into specific class matters on he blog but we are having difficulty with Blackboard this week and we had various issues with the class monday evening. So to recap for youy The textbook site has a great narrated powerpoint on each chapter, See my previous post with screen…

on the tamuk website there are lists of orientation classes for the new Blackboard.  Blackboard bought WEB CT and of course promptly changed everything. This is not what Dr. Deming would suggest in Total Quality Management.  But this is what typically happens, the buying company becomes Conan the Barbarian and wipes out the conquered company…

I have another blog at http://www.professorelam.typepad.com/markets A recent post describes the article on Sears in the latest Barrons.  Barrons is a weekly magazine published on news print by the Dow Jones Corp, the well former owner of the Wall Street Journal. You will recall that Rupert Murdoch bought the WSJ from the family that had…

Terry Box describes the now vacant real estate as 20 DFW car dealerships have closed. Please read the linked article. Suggestions include  apartments office buildings work out centers But wait, vacancy rates in office buildings are still increasing, we do not ned more office buildings. Condos, oh please. And Bally Fitness had to file for…

Fiat will first build the Fiat 500 at the Toluca MX plant. Okay cost classes, why? Margins are thin on compacts so keeping construction costs down helps. And Mexico is clearly a ready market for such a car. Building it their will overcome the high import tariffs.   I have been saying that business will…

Jerry Flint  sizes up tyhe prospect for GM. What with cutting models and dealers he figures GM is down to or will be down to 10% of the market, in a ten million car year that is one million cars and trucks. A few years back they so9ld 3-4 million. GM has cut the debt…