COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL'S DEMING CENTER AWARDS 2023 DEMING CUP TO MICHELE BUCK AND BRIAN CORNELL
Annual award for operational excellence recognizes executives Buck, of The Hershey Company, and Cornell, of Target
NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Business School's W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness announced that Michele Buck, chair, president and CEO of The Hershey Company, and Brian Cornell, chair and CEO of Target, will receive its 2023 Deming Cup for Operational Excellence at a ceremony at Columbia University's Low Library Rotunda on October 24, 2023. Awarded annually since 2010, the Deming Cup recognizes leaders for operational excellence and for fostering a culture of continuous improvement within their organizations.
"The Deming Cup is a special annual event where we recognize excellence and leadership," said Columbia Business School Dean and David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business, Costis Maglaras. "I have seen how it has broadened its scope and its impact over the years. Deming Cup awardees have been global leaders, innovators and disrupters, representing both public and private sectors. They have gone on to engage with our students, our alumni and our faculty, ensuring that innovative practice and research are shaping our own education and how we train our students."
The co-chairs for the award's 46-member judging committee, comprising eminent figures in industry and academia, are Terry Lundgren, founder and CEO of TJL Advisors and retired chairman and CEO of Macy's, Inc., and Sam Palmisano, chairman of the Center for Global Enterprise and former chairman, president, and CEO of IBM.
"The Deming Center commends Michele Buck and Brian Cornell for their strategic and operational leadership, transformative business growth, and investment in their people and culture," said Columbia Business School Professor Nelson Fraiman, director of the W. Edwards Deming Center. "Driven by the ethos of continuous improvement, these organizations reinforce our strong belief that operational excellence is a key cornerstone of long-term success. By honoring Michele and Brian, we not only pay homage to the life and work of W. Edwards Deming, but we also celebrate his legacy with our students, the next generation of industry leaders."
As CEO of The Hershey Company since 2017, Buck has focused on transforming the iconic confectionery giant into a Leading Snacking Powerhouse, seizing disruption to create more "moments of goodness" for consumers. Buck spearheaded this transformation by strengthening and evolving its core U.S. and international confection business and expanding the company's product portfolio into salty snacking. Buck has a relentless focus on balanced top-line and bottom-line growth. Buck also elevated Hershey's purpose and leadership behaviors, resulting in a more entrepreneurial culture that motivates teams and unleashes people's strengths to deliver today and co-create in the future.
"By accepting this honor, I represent more than 20,000 Hershey employees and their dedication to our purpose," said Michele Buck, chair, president and CEO of The Hershey Company. "The Deming Cup acknowledges our shared success as we push Hershey forward into our next 100 years, seizing opportunities to drive strong performance and evolve our business and culture from an iconic confectionery giant into a Leading Snacking Powerhouse."
As CEO of Target since 2014, Cornell quickly established a strategic direction that built on the company's strengths as a multicategory mass merchandiser with an excellent reputation for its shopping experience, design expertise, brand curation and brand development. Cornell and Target's leadership team made major investments in digital, data and supply chain capabilities, placing the company's fleet of stores at the center both of physical shopping and digital fulfillment. This "stores-as-hubs" strategy, along with the 2017 acquisition of Shipt, catapulted Target into a leadership position in same-day, store-based fulfillment services. Cornell helped drive Target's strongest-ever growth and built a culture of continuous improvement – from sourcing to the speed and accuracy with which guests receive orders – that will guide growth and competitive differentiation for years to come. Cornell also spearheaded vast investments in wages, benefits, team training and development, diverse and equitable representation, and a corporate culture that helps all team members care, grow and win together.
"In today's dynamic environment, especially in the fast-evolving world of retail, continuous improvement and operational excellence are essential ingredients for successful, sustainable growth," said Brian Cornell, chair and CEO of Target. "Every day, that's what drives Target's more than 400,000 passionate, caring and innovative team members, as they serve millions of families across America. I'm honored to accept the Deming Cup on their behalf."
Founded in 1993 at Columbia Business School, The W. Edwards Deming Center promotes operational excellence in academia and business by sponsoring applied research and curriculum creation, disseminating best practices, and providing professional development opportunities for practitioners.
Previous winners of the Deming Cup include*: David Abney, chairman and CEO of UPS; Juan Ramón Alaix, CEO of Zoetis; Douglas Baker, chairman and CEO of Ecolab; Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors; David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell; Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express Company; Toby Cosgrove, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic; Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the State of New York; Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health; Ken Frazier, executive chairman of Merck; Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE; Brent James, chief quality officer of Intermountain Healthcare; H. Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson & Son, Inc.; Hubert Joly, executive chairman of Best Buy; Ellen Kullman, chairman and CEO of DuPont; Terry Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Macy's, Inc.; Sergio Marchionne, chairman and CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo; Samuel Palmisano, chairman and CEO of IBM; Paolo Rocca, chairman and CEO of Tenaris S.A.; Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International; Kevin Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System; Tim Steiner, CEO and co-founder of Ocado Group; Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons; Craig Thompson, president and CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Kathy Warden, chair, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman; and Stef Wertheimer, founder of ISCAR, Ltd.
*Titles of awardees are for the year they won the Deming Cup.
About Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the only world-class, Ivy League business school that delivers a learning experience where academic excellence meets with real-time exposure to the pulse of global business. The thought leadership of the School's faculty and staff members, combined with the accomplishments of its distinguished alumni and position in the center of global business, underscores the fact that the School's efforts have an immediate, measurable impact on the forces shaping business every day. To learn more about Columbia Business School's position at the very center of business, please visit business.columbia.edu.
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SOURCE Columbia Business School
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