{"id":1213,"date":"2019-10-11T16:30:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T16:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/?page_id=1213"},"modified":"2020-01-29T17:52:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T17:52:00","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Early in Ollie Wight’s career, he recognized what separated well-managed companies from those out of control. A few leading-edge companies had planning capabilities that continuously reflected what they needed to do and, as well, what they were able to do. Working as a team, everyone contributed to the company-wide plan and its execution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fire-fighting dominated the second group; they were constantly reacting to the latest crisis. Poor customer service and productivity was the price they paid. Also lost in the confusion were performance measurements. Until the plans are realistic, neither managers nor workers can be held accountable. Finger-pointing fills this void with its divisive impact on teamwork.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Closing this gap between outstanding versus underperforming companies became Ollie’s crusade. He formed the Oliver Wight company in 1969\u00a0and asked Walter Goddard to join him in 1970. The company’s single-minded mission was “To help executives manage their business more professionally.”\u00a0Courses<\/a>\u00a0were to describe only proven, practical approaches – \u00a0solutions that generated significant results. The most important measurement of his company\u2019s success was having\u00a0clients achieve Class A results<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Over the years, they led the evolution of MRP into MRP II and expanded Production Planning into\u00a0Sales & Operations Planning<\/a>. From strategy to tactics, these processes integrate sales, marketing, finance, manufacturing, engineering, distribution, purchasing, suppliers, and customers. Everyone is linked to the company’s game plan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Yet, many companies fail to install these processes and tools properly.\u00a0 To avoid the pitfalls, Ollie developed the \u201cProven Path,\u201d a step-by-step roadmap to successful implementation.\u00a0 Its focus is on user understanding, from the CEO to the front-line operators.\u00a0 Only when they say \u2018it’s ours\u2019 have they accepted ownership and accountability for changing how they will do their jobs.\u201d To evaluate their progress, the original Oliver Wight Checklist was created in 1977.\u00a0 By objectively answering the detailed questions in the latest version, the level of proficiency can be determined and categorized as A, B, C, or D.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The right set of tools and processes in the hands of educated users produces substantial improvements. As the word spread, Oliver Wight courses filled quickly. To meet the growing needs, a new entity was created in 1979: Oliver Wight Education Associates, with Walt as president.\u00a0 Eight business executives, each with a Class A track record, were asked to join.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Ollie died in 1983 at the age of 53. \u00a0He lived his dream passionately.\u00a0 Through his courses, presentations, articles, books, and video courses, Ollie educated and inspired thousands of executives.\u00a0 Hundreds of companies benefitted from his enduring insights.\u00a0 He witnessed the changes.\u00a0\u00a0 To keep the crusade alive was Ollie\u2019s greatest wish.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the subsequent years, Oliver Wight Education Associates grew into a global business.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1993, Walt reorganized the business into\u00a0Oliver Wight International<\/a>\u00a0with offices in the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>,\u00a0Australia<\/a>, and the\u00a0United States. \u00a0Oliver Wight International remains committed to helping companies align and integrate their business processes to achieve greater customer satisfaction and financial performance.\u00a0 Continuing Ollie\u2019s requirement that all principals are not only educators, facilitators, and coaches, first they must be successful practitioners.\u00a0 Before joining the firm, all have played key roles in Class A implementations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 1998, Walt switched hats, from chairman of the board to chair emeritus.\u00a0 When asked to pick the best of Ollie\u2019s many insights, Walt chose Ollie\u2019s description of leadership:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cFor a boss, you\u2019ll do what you have to do;
\u00a0For a leader, you\u2019ll do what you can do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Helping you empower your leaders to achieve business excellence remains our mission.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early in Ollie Wight’s career, he recognized what separated well-managed companies from those out of control. A few leading-edge companies had planning capabilities that continuously reflected what they needed to do and, as well, what they were able to do….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2921,"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1213\/revisions\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/design.brafton.com\/oliverwight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}