We go to hard places and do hard things for the Church and community
A veteran-led West Virginia corporation (501c3) engaged in global action, education, business, medicine, science and technology, and security since 2011
By Mark D. Harris
As small businesses, churches and other small religious organizations strive to be more effective and more efficient in providing goods, services, pastoral care, and social support, process improvement principles such as Lean Six Sigma can help. Such tools are not only for manufacturers.
Continue reading “A Brief Overview of Lean Six Sigma”
How to keep critical information and technology away from those who wish to harm our country, our families, and ourselves.
By Mark D. Harris[1]
The MDHI’s work in Ukraine and the Middle East has stimulated discussion on bringing technology into these countries, which could be considered de facto technology transfers. For example, we have asked if it is permissible to bring new ultrasound machines into Ukraine to take care of patients. The answer that we discovered was a qualified “yes”, if we were willing to cut through thickets of red tape and wade through rivers of regulations. Ultrasound machines are not “prohibited/restricted”, and they are not “dual use” (military and civilian), but they are “high technology” and therefore subject to scrutiny. There have also been questions about robotics parts and 3D printers, both of which can be considered “dual use”
In an era of rapid innovation and global collaboration, the protection of sensitive technology is no longer just a matter of corporate security; it is a critical component of national security and international law. For organizations operating across borders, understanding the intricacies of export controls is essential to avoid severe legal penalties and reputational damage.
Continue reading “Export Controls and Technology Transfers in a Global Economy”
Businesses exist to serve their customers. Self-perpetuation, environmental sustenance, social issues, and even shareholder value maximization are of little importance if the customer is not served. How can companies, and other organizations, give their customers their best?
By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA
The rug dealer at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul carefully poured the Turkish apple chi into a small cup. “Here, my friend,” he said as he handed the cup to me. He sat down close by and asked, “How is your family?” Thus began ten minutes of chit chat before we even mentioned the silk rug that I had admired when I came in. The small talk would have gone on longer, but my American impatience cut it short. By the time we were done, the rug dealer had $500 of my hard-earned dollars, and I walked out with a beautiful rug that probably cost less than half that to make. The dealer may have congratulated himself for fleecing another rich American. I congratulated myself on buying a rug that my wife would like, having a fascinating experience, and helping support a Turkish businessman and the economy of a third world nation. A fair deal, I figure.
Buying and selling across the world
Americans walk into a store, find what they want, check to see if the price is reasonable to them, and if it is, they buy the item. Rarely is there any dickering between buyer and seller over price. My experience in northern and western Europe has been the same.
Continue reading “Maximizing Customer Value and Engagement”
Will automation and robotics replace most workers across the world? Which industries are at the greatest risk? What will societies do with and for people who lose their jobs? What can individuals, families, churches, and communities do to help?
By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA
By the 1920s, the automated production line, new tools, and the principles of “scientific management” had dramatically increased worker productivity in the US. In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that productivity would increase so much that in 100 years, his grandchildren would need to work only 15 hours per week (Bessen, 2020). This has not happened, of course, because of the vaster array of goods and services now produced, the much larger number of people those products are produced for, and the skyrocketing expectations of consumers throughout the world.
More recently, voices in business, labor, and the general population have decried automation and robotics as job-killing. CNBC reported in 2019 that 25% of US jobs, especially the “boring and repetitive ones,” were at risk for vanishing due to automation (Nova, 2019). Such predictions frighten workers and introduce a list of questions and policy problems. Whose jobs are likely to go? How can we retrain these people into jobs through which they and their families can thrive? What degree of safety net do we need to have for these people in the meantime? Will robots and other types of automation decrease the human need to work so much that in the future, Keynes will be right? Will we all be working 15 hours per week, or less?
Continue reading “Task Automation and Jobs”
Global instability is growing, not declining. The world is less capable, not more capable, of handling such instability. What can companies, large and small, do to improve their success and that of all their stakeholders, despite war and instability?
By Mark D, Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA
Business has been international since before the Hebrew King Solomon imported peacocks from India (1 Kings 10:22). The Chinese traded all over East and Central Asia, Arabs bought and sold from western India to southern Africa, and the Vikings plied their wares from the British Isles to the Black Sea. The development of the blue water navy in the 1500s, including reliable time pieces and deep draft sailing vessels, opened the Far East and the New World to European traders. With technological advances in communication, transportation, finance, and production, business has become global at a volume and speed unimaginable to our ancestors (Hout et al., 1982).
All eight billion people on earth are consumers, but they are also producers. Trade used to be primarily local, and the farmers and craftsmen in a village and region provided almost all the goods and services needed. Family, friends, and other neighbors conducted business with each other, and little or nothing that a person possessed came from more than fifty miles away. Pricing could be flexible, with buyers and sellers negotiating on timing and price. During the recent financial crises, businesses and banks that primarily serviced Amish customers were more stable and even profitable than those seeking the highest rates of return. Contrary to the opinion of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, greed is not good.
Continue reading “How to Improve Business Success During War”
Businesses must recall that they do not exist to sell products, no matter how excellent those products are, but to meet customer needs. Their survival depends upon it.
By Mark D, Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA
Coronado Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas hosted a banquet to raise money for Christian ministries in Africa. A church leader spoke of his experience on that continent (personal experience, 2006).
“Tell me about yourself,” an African pastor said to the American.
“Well, I own a manufacturing plant in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. We are expanding into India” the church man answered.
“Not about your work, that is unimportant,” the African pastor replied. “Tell me about your family.”
The American businessman defined himself by his work, while the African pastor defined himself as part of a family, a church, and a community. As is common in individualistic societies, the American focused on his individual contribution. As is common in communal societies, the African focused on his part of the group and their contribution. The businessman and the pastor had to understand what each meant when they asked, “Who am I?” Had they not, they never could have met one another’s needs, and the mission trip would have been a failure.
Continue reading “Marketing Myopia”
