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Barry Cross

Assistant Dean (Professional Graduate Programs), Adjunct Assistant Professor & Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Operations Strategy

Overview

Barry Cross is an expert and thought leader in innovation, execution and operations strategy. He joined Smith School of Business after nearly 20 years in the automotive and manufacturing sectors with Magna, Autosystems and DuPont, where he led many key strategic initiatives, including nearly 30 program launches in North America, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

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Academic Area

  • Operations Management and Technology
  • Operations Strategy

Interest Topics

Faculty Details

Profile

Full Bio

Barry Cross is an expert and thought leader in innovation, execution and operations strategy.

He joined Smith School of Business after nearly 20 years in the automotive and manufacturing sectors with Magna, Autosystems and DuPont, where he led many key strategic initiatives, including nearly 30 program launches in North America, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Barry speaks and consults widely in the areas of Lean, Innovation, Strategy, Projects and Execution, enabling organizations to create sustainable value for their customers.  He is the bestselling author of three books, including Simple: Killing Complexity for a Lean and Agile Organization, and several Most Read articles.

Academic Degrees

MBA
Queen’s University (1996)

BSc. Hons, Biology and Chemistry
University of Waterloo (1987)

Academic Experience

Assistant Professor, Operations Management and Technology
Smith School of Business, Queen's University (2006 - Present)

Publications

In the Media

Cross, B., (2016), “Thank you for Shopping at Sears”, QSB Insights, February 10, 2016

Cross, B., (2015), “The Perils of Forgetting Your Customer”, QSB Insights, August 10, 2015

Cross, B., (2015), “Fridge on the Fritz? When Lean Goes Wrong”, QSB Insights, March 9, 2015

Cross, B., (2015), “Blacks Was Photography”, QSB Insight, June 15, 2015

Cross, B., (2015), “Lean and the Duct Tape Conundrum”, QSB Insight, January 23, 2015

Cross, B., (2015), “The Power of Yet”, QSB Insight, January 21, 2015

Brohman, K. and Cross, B., (2015), “Effective Project Management Controls”, QSB Insights, January 7, 2015

Cross, B. and Brohman, K., (2014), “3 Signs You Desperately Need Project Leadership”, QSB Insights, November 5, 2014

Cross, B. and Brohman, K., (2014), “Project Leadership: Creating Value With An Adaptive Project Environment”, CRC Press, July 7, 2014

Cross, B. and Paquette, J, (2014), “Service Complexity and the Perils of Productization”, January / February 2014, Ivey Business Journal 

Cross, B. (2013), “Storyboarding for Innovation”, May 2013, QSB Insights

Cross, B. (2013), “Lean Innovation: Getting to Next”, May / June 2013, Ivey Business Journal; Also syndicated by IBM News, June 29, 2013

Cross, B (2012), “Lean Innovation: Understanding What’s Next in Today’s Economy”, CRC Press, book, #1 Bestselling Business book in Globe and Mail (January 2013)

Cross, B. (2011), “Service Complexity”, Chapter in Advances in Service Quality, Innovation and Excellence, pp 381- 387, QUIS 12 Conference Proceedings.  Cornell.

Bonin, J. and Cross, B. (2010), “How To Manage Risk in a Global Supply Chain”, Ivey Business Journal, Nov / Dec 2010

Cross, B. (2010), “Service Complexity; Managing a House of Cards”, Ivey Business Journal, May / June 2010 – MOST READ ARTICLE at IBJ as of January 2014

Cross, B. (2009), “Planning Your Next Crisis”, Ivey Business Journal, Nov/Dec 2009

Cross, B. (1998), “Waiting Again”, Ivey Business Quarterly, Vol 63, Number 1, Autumn 1998

Cross, B. (1997), “Tricks of the Trade”, Ivey Business Quarterly, Winter 1997

Cross, B. and Gordon, J. (1995) “Partnership Strategies for Market Success”, Business Quarterly, Vol 60 Number 1, Fall 1995

Cases and Teaching Materials

“Northern Electronics (A), (B) and (C)” (2008)

  • Project Management, Supply Chain Management, Crisis Management

“309 Commerce Court” (2008)

  • Real Estate Management

“The Tequila Headlamp” (2010)

  • Project Management Case

“CanaPharm: Service Strategy” (2011)

  • Service Strategy, Process Analysis

“Craig Mactavish and the Edmonton Oilers” (2012)

  • Leadership and Execution Case

“Budget Rent-a-Car” (2014)

  • Service Management, Strategy and Innovation Case

“Sports-Ageddon” (2015)

  • Operations Strategy Case

Journal Reviewer

1-2 Journals reviewed each year since 2014 with International Journal of Operations and Production Management and California Management Review

Teaching

Undergraduate, Graduate and Executive-level courses in Operations Management, Service Management, Execution, Change and Project Management

Courses taught include COMM 341 (Operations Management), COMM 343 (Service Management), COMM 309 (Real Estate Management), COMM 495 (Project Management), MGBL 841 (International Operations Management), MBA 873 (Service Management), MBA 890/1, MGBL 901, MBA 807 (Ops Mgt), MBA 844 and EMBA 942 (Project Management), and others

Research

Interests

Research Interests include Operations Strategy, Lean, Innovation, Crisis Management, Project Strategy and Supply Chain Strategy

Presentations

Conferences Attended, Speaker and Chair   

QUIS 12 – International Symposium on Research in Service Excellence

  • Ithaca, NY (June 2011)
  • Paper presentation and Session Chair

Innovit – QSB Summit on Innovation

  • Kingston (April 2011, March 2012, March 2013)
  • Speaker, Moderator and Panelist 

Production and Operations Management Society, Supply Chain Management

  • Washington, DC (May 2015); Paper presentation (Service Strategy)
  • Atlanta, Ga (May 2014); Paper presentation (Project Leadership)
  • Denver, Co (May 2013)
  • Chicago, Ill (May 2012); Paper presentation (Lean Innovation)
  • Vancouver, BC (May 2010)
  • Orland, Florida (April 2009); Paper presentation (Service Ops)
  • Austin, Texas (May 2007)

Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies Symposium

  • Toronto, ON (February 2009); Speaker
  • Toronto, ON (March 2011); Speaker

Association of Innovation Professionals

  • Toronto, 2009, 2010; Speaker

Supply Chain Analytics, Practice and Technology Workshop

  • Cincinnati, Ohio (November 2007)