A sales manager recently spoke about an embarrassing scene that unfolded before an important client meeting. "Two teams from our firm were waiting in the lobby when the client walked in, and the groups didn't recognize each other. What a contradiction of our promise to provide integrated solutions! We looked like the Keystone Kops."

Operating ethically and operating profitably are no longer mutually exclusive concepts. Leading companies are "walking the walk," balancing the goal of achieving profitability with gaining social and environmental advantages.

Factories don't just make things. Viewed properly, they are where the rubber of corporate strategy meets the road of the marketplace. Ideally, then, a factory should operate in alignment with competitive business priorities: in short, it should be focused. When a business tries to group too many different products, markets, and technologies into the same manufacturing facility, performance and productivity suffer.

Change management as it is traditionally applied is outdated. We know, for example, that 70 percent of change programs fail to achieve their goals, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support. We also know that when people are truly invested in change it is 30 percent more likely to stick.

As the pace of business accelerates and competition intensifies, companies in virtually all industries are confronting greater uncertainty and complexity. In the face of such challenges, HR has the potential to be a significant strategic asset by ensuring that companies have the human capital they need to compete and the ability to react fast to changing environments.