An associate professor of business administration/human resources management at Pennsylvania College of Technology presented a paper titled "Think Lean for HR of the Future" at the 26th annual Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference.
Robert B. Gudgel's paper focused on ways the human resources function can provide better service and value to its customers through adoption of "lean principles" used by Toyota and other efficient product and service producers. The paper was included in the official proceedings of the conference, which was held Oct. 13-15 in Savannah, Ga.
Gudgel, who received a bachelor's degree in business management from Canisius College and a master's and doctorate in organization development from Kent State University, worked in human resources for 17 years in health care and industry. He served as an organizational-development consultant and trainer for an additional 12 years in industry and health-care settings.
He has been with Penn College since 1999 and, in August 2004, introduced a new human resources concentration to the School of Business and Computer Technologies. Thus far, the program has attracted 30 students and continues to grow.
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