Construction and engineering

Challenged by world-class competitors, manufacturing companies in the United States have greatly improved their product development efforts as well as...

Colossal County Hospital was coming apart at the seams. With dozens of newly hired doctors, nurses, and technicians, millions of dollars of equipment on the road, and patient appointments backed up for months, the new facility was impossible to use. For one thing, construction wasn’t finished, and much of what was complete was faulty. Worse […]

Anecdotal evidence is at odds with the data.

After days of meetings, J.F. Winchester, president of MDC Industries, felt no closer to a decision about whether MDC should exercise its option to buy a new and safer wallboard technology. Sitting down at his desk, he noticed the file marked “Goerner Wallboard Press Coverage,” which the media relations director had dropped off last week. […]

Engineering is all about improvement, and so it is a science of comparatives. “New, improved” products are ubiquitous, advertised as making teeth whiter, wash fluffier, and meals faster. Larger engineered systems are also promoted for their comparative edge: the taller building with more affordable office space, the longer bridge with a lighter-weight roadway, the slimmer […]

The CFO of a global construction company disagrees with his CEO (and good friend) about the advantages of self-managed teams--particularly because lack...

New research throws a wrench into the Wall Street “brain drain” debate.

Innovative technologies become commercial products in two ways: reduction to practice of scientific knowledge and incremental improvement governed by...

Social impact bonds encourage skeptical investors.

The most popular offshore sites for service functions are overheating. Now is the time for companies to explore a world of opportunity beyond those hot spots and to base investment decisions not just on costs but also on talent, markets, strategic aims, and appetite for risk.

Architecture and the Corporation: The Creative Intersection, Thomas Walton (New York: Macmillan, 1988) 218 pages, $29.95. City: Rediscovering the Center, William H. Whyte (New York: Doubleday, 1988) 386 pages $24.95. Winston Churchill understood why architecture is our most social art. “We shape our buildings,” he observed, “and afterwards our buildings shape us.” But not all […]

Four strategies to find your voice.

It will ensure complex projects have transparency and good record keeping.

Smart businesses are using datagraphs to reveal unique solutions to customer problems.

Daily frustrations add up.

A substantial body of experience and a set of tested standards have made “green” a realistic choice for most building projects. Here are ten practical design and construction rules that will help you conserve the Earth’s resources and your budget.

Off-site manufacturing consistently fails to live up to its promise. Can firms figure out how to scale it?

Frank Gehry is, at 82, America’s most celebrated living architect. His designs, including the Guggenheim Bilbao and Disney Hall in Los Angeles, are all technically challenging and unmistakably his. Gehry’s creative process famously borrows from artists; less well known is his fierce commitment to budgeting and the architect’s role as project manager. Interviewed by Katherine […]

Lessons from Owens Corning.