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In 1970, Tom James was just 27 when his father, Bob James, handed him the reins of Raymond James, the St. Petersburg-based investment services firm the elder James had founded [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last year Steve Matyas, president of Staples Canada, had big ideas for 2008 and 2009. The plan was to open 20 stores during 2008 and another 15 during [...]

Common themes recur when a corporation moves to harvest the untapped potential of its supply chain. Witness the case of Office Depot (global supplier of office products and services, with […]

Conducting employee surveys can be a good way to create a more engaged and productive workforce, but only if the employees receive feedback on their answers and see their comments [...]

Rick Tillotson is a student of best-practice telecommunications. He has to be. As telecom manager for the nonprofit Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), his hands are full keeping TASB […]

IN CHINA, CULTURE COUNTS. AND FOR U.S. manufacturers seeking success in this 26th year of China's experiment with modern capitalism, no aspect of culture counts more than guanxi, the ages-old […]

Visit Michael Critelli, the chief executive of Pitney Bowes, in his office and ,you'll learn a lot about the man and the company. For starters, Pitney's six-story headquarters in Stamford, […]

These six leaders stepped into their top jobs at a time of enormous challenge: worried workers, scarce resources, demanding customers. Here's what each of them has to say about their [...]

Imagine for a moment that you are the CEO of a mature, worldwide producer of high-tech products or services. You have developed a clear vision of the future for the [...]

The total quality management (TQM) process undertaken by Xerox Corp played a vital role in making the company a leader in the manufacture of copying machines. The TQM process undertaken by Xerox takes into consideration three strategic aspects, namely customer focus, total involvement and process improvement. From its initial implementation during the early part of 1970s, the company's TQM process has transformed from a special emphasis to a fundamental business principle.

The Print Engine Development Unit of Xerox Corp's Production Systems Group carried out a concurrent engineering program to enhance product quality and promote faster development. Leadership team members carried out a quality function deployment scheme to facilitate interactions and communications among teams. The firm's designers also utilized CAD tools to evaluate various check factors related to interference fits and mechanical parameters.

Building products that are consumed by the mass public can be a nerve-wracking endeavor. Tastes can change. New models are constantly needed to keep consumer interest. To top it off, […]

There's been a lot of people watching this little company. Now C-Phone has to show it can turn profits as well as heads. Tina Jacobs could barely contain herself. Fifteen [...]

Self-management teams are entities that take responsibility for their own work, monitor their own performance, and alter their performance strategies whenever conditions warrant it. However, some self-managing teams fail to boost organization performance and adaptability. To find out whether either high-quality coaching or high-quality team design makes a self-management team effective, the design features and daily actions of team leaders of 43 self-managing teams at Xerox Corp. were examined. Results showed that the quality of a team's design, more than coaching, had a larger effect on the team's level of self-management. Seven features were seen as common factors among superb teams, including clear, engaging direction; a real team task; rewards for team excellence; authority to manage the work; basic material resources; team goals; and team norms that promote strategic thinking., Which has the greater impact on team performance, team design or effective coaching? The answer may surprise you. Self-managing teams are fast becoming the management practice of choice for organizations [...]

Tarrant Interiors, a specialist in store fixtures, has broken into the home office furniture business. Its 'The OFFICE,' a fully equipped and self-contained workstation in a cabinet, was successfully launched at the NeoCon96 World's Trade Fair. Pres Bob McCarthy established the company in 1983 with a $3,000 loan from his father and has steered it into a $25 million corporation employing 220 in 1997. 'The OFFICE,' especially its flagship models CEO and Professional, is made of hardwood and veneer with a superior quality finish.

Frank Pacetta is getting bored with the puffball questions he's been asking a prospective sales manager for Danka copiers. So he leans forward in his chair and starts asking some […]

The functional silos of yore and the old style of management they imposed have struck a number of companies as "logically inconsistent" with the demands of business today. Here's how […]

Once a small Canadian-based moulding manufacturer, today Geiger Brickel is shooting to increase its sales of office furniture by over 150 percent. Imagine engineers from the Ford Motor Company having [...]

Japan's giant Canon Inc. is turning out digital office machines that can be linked together and plugged into the information superhighway. The CEO of Canon U. S.A. is racing a […]

Capital Copiers is the biggest independent office equipment dealer in Scotland. It has been selling and servicing business machines for over 15 years and is well established in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Galashiels and Glenrothes. It is currently taking care of 5,000 copiers and 7,000 other office machines, including personal computers, Canofiles and fax machines. The company carries top quality brand names, such as Canon, Sharp and Nefax, but it still inspects every new machine from its suppliers to ensure that it passes Capital Copiers' own quality standards. The office equipment firm is careful about the kind of equipment it sells because it wants to preserve its outstanding reputation for quality. A recent agreement with James Findlay Leasing is expected to help Capital Copiers attract more professional practices in need of business machines.

IBM Corp's new Senior VP and CFO Jerry York has been tasked to effect a radical turnaround for the company, which suffered more than $7.8 billion in losses for 1991 and 1992. IBM CEO Louis Gerstner hired York after being impressed by the future CFO's proposed plan for effecting an IBM tunaround. York is well-known for engineering two turnarounds for his former company, Chrysler Corp, and is admired for his sharp analytical skills and calm attitude.

After six years of keeping up with changes and innovations in the office industry, there's one thing the 160 employees of The Office Place have learned: There's no such thing [...]

If you barcode your outgoing mail, or have it done for you by a presort house, you will be affected by a sweeping U.S. Postal Service initiative. Known as the [...]

COPYCATS Once obscure, 'benchmarking' is fast becoming the buzzword of the year. In high school it would have landed you in the principal's office, maybe even in detention hall for [...]

Forging close bonds with suppliers can provide a competitive edge, Reflecting on the 'old days' all of five or six years ago-a Chicago-area supplier to a major U. S. corporation [...]

Xerox CEO Rick Thoman was fired in May 2000 because the company's earnings for 2000 will be less than 1999 results. Earnings for 2nd half 2000 are expected to be greater than those for the 1st half, and revenues are expected to climb more in 2001. Thoman was replaced by Chmn Paul Allaire after his firing. Management changes are recommended.

Companies should consider several factors when selecting an office supply dealer. These include customer service, delivery schedules and minimum order requirements. Firms should also examine billing terms and the competitiveness of prices., Buying office supplies on price alone could be costing you a bundle. Here's how to determine your real costs. You may be surprised. Bill Ross is president of an advertising [...]

Steelcase Inc (Grand Rapids, MI) began April 1999 trading at just 10 times consensus earnings of $1.44/share for the fiscal year ending in Feb 2000, but the firm has a strong balance sheet, is the leading supplier of office furniture, and managed a 10% return on assets during a difficult year for the industry. Steelcase's Pathways modular furniture system features movable walls that make it easily reconfigurable, and the firm has sold about $80 million of Pathways products without any advertising. Steelcase CEO Jim Hackett is another important asset.

There he was, on the cover of the final edition of Office Depot Inc.'s internal newsletter, The Merger Minute Eyes wide, eyebrows raised, mouth open, feigning surprise. 'Never mind!' David [...]

Combination of containers, carousels, bulk storage, and conveyors improves parts handling systems for Brother International. The Brother International Corporation Parts Distribution Center in Bartlett, Tenn. implemented several advanced systems recently, [...]

Five years ago the Filofax personal organizer was in danger of becoming an anachronism of the '80s, taking its place alongside other 'Whatever happened to ... ?' subjects like Boy [...]

Xerox Corp requires suppliers to document their quality control procedures and respond to a quality survey based on ISO 9000, the international standard. Suppliers must also take training to maintain quality including cost, delivery and service. Rudy Patton, Xerox senior engineer, describes the procedures used to select such suppliers as Acadia Polymers, which received a rating of 95% on the certification testing., Xerox bases its supplier qualification process on the ISO 9000 international quality standard. But it doesn't stop here: Documenting its quality process according to ISO tenets is merely the minimum [...]

Paul Aliaire is prodding Xerox back into the fast lane of technology commercialization. GLINT OF EXCITEMENT FLASHES IN Paul A. Allaire's eyes as he discusses two new business ventures that […]

Why Danka is reaching new heights with low-margin copiers Daniel M. Doyle, the numbers-driven president and chief executive officer of Danka Industries, answers questions quietly until he's asked about the [...]

Byline: Sean Sposito NCR Corp. announced Monday that it has sold 125,000 SelfServ intelligent-deposit automated teller machines. The Duluth, Ga., ATM and kiosk maker, which rolled out the product in [...]