Lee Schwartz of Schwartz Profitability Group uses a four-legged stool to illustrate the importance of cross-departmental communication: “If one of those legs is wobbly, the whole organization wobbles,” he says in the latest episode of MDM’s monthly Executive Briefing. Operations needs to communicate with sales and marketing, finance and others to be effective, and those departments need to interact with operations.

But distributors continue to be reluctant to invest or add more resources that could improve that relationship and the effectiveness of operations within the organization. “The one word that can explain that is cautiousness,” Schwartz says.

Distributors leaned operations during the recession, and adding back an employee takes more consideration than it used to. Distributors are also more cautious about investing in more shelving, material handling equipment and other tools, especially given the ups and downs we’ve experienced in more recent years.

Listen to the full interview with Schwartz and learn about corporate culture’s role in operational effectiveness, how to define success when improving operations and where to start.

Also in this episode, MDM Associate Editor Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier speaks with Ted Stark, president of janitorial supplies distributor Dalco Enterprises, for our 7 Minutes With … segment about growing competition from outside of his sector, why Dalco offers a private label and Stark's outlook for 2014.

Watch part one of my interview with Schwartz in the clip below, or go to www.mdm.com/executivebriefing to download or watch the full program.