It has always been true that great work begins by having the best people then phenomenal work happens. This is true in how the Center for Competitive Change got to where we are today. Our team started with Carol Shaw who saw an opportunity for U.S. manufacturing to learn from the Japanese lean masters. From there, it has been all about performance.

Forethought. Carol Shaw is a full Professor in UD’s School of Engineering. She founded the Center in 1988 and grew it to outstanding levels. She identified the subject matter experts who helped design the course workshops and who became worldwide facilitators, authors and lecturers in lean and reliability. She provided the public venue and the client market for developing the Center’s reputation for leadership in lean learning and application.

Leadership. This attribute is extremely important and Paul Piechota, the new Executive Director of the Center, brings this and other qualities to the team. His career spans many years with NCR and Texas Instruments where he learned and implemented business operations that have helped companies achieve new levels of success. He first came to the University of Dayton Research Institute in support of growing the Center for Leadership & Executive Development at the School of Business Administration. There, Paul helped the Center expand from 12 partners to 18 while instituting many new sales and marketing processes, as well as client retention plans.

Experience, Knowledge. Mr. Cash Powell came to the Center in 1998 after a career in manufacturing and managing his own consulting business. He writes client proposals, manages the lean improvement projects led by our facilitators and writes in Target magazine about successful lean companies.

Relationships, Confidence. In today’s fast-paced world where time is the common measurement, it is impossible to be all things to all people within one organization or on one team. It is critical to have strong and trustful relationships with alliances that can complement our expertise and overall service offerings to our clients. Recognizing this, The Center for Competitive Change staff and facilitators have been working together with our partners for our entire 20 years, building these strong relationships.


Memberships & Affiliations

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