Ralph Smith

Ralph Smith is Executive Vice President of Strategic Services for Orion Development Group. In this capacity, he is responsible for facilitating the implementation of strategic plans and strategic measurement systems for clients in all sectors. Smith has personally supervised the performance improvement efforts in more than 100 organizations worldwide. He is the author of the highly rated text Business Process Management and the Balanced Scorecard.

Smith has a master’s degree in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics from the University of Georgia. He is a member for the American Society of Quality.

Client successes that Smith has contributed to include:

• Alcoa Packaging: Improved return on assets from -60% to +40% in 18 months.
• XL Insurance: Transformed from industry neophyte to industry leader less than four years after major acquisitions
• Texas Children’s Hospital: Achieved dramatic gains in efficiency via quality improvement teams

He has also been a major supporter of strategic planning and balanced scorecard initiatives at CAN Insurance, two departments of the State of Michigan, Toshiba America Information Systems, Memorial Blood Center of Minnesota and Delta Dental.

Over the last two decades, Smith has utilized his strategic planning and process improvement experience and expertise for a diverse group of clients, including Cingular Wireless, Fairfax County (VA), Dakota County (MN), Arbitration Forums, FedEx Kinko’s, Johns Hopkins University, BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois and Evangelical Community Hospital. He has designed training solutions, facilitated team activity and served as a consultant to management.

Smith has taught seminars including Process Mapping, Using the Balanced Scorecard, Strategy Maps, Facilitating High-Performance Teams, and Measuring & Improving Processes.

Prior to becoming a consultant, Smith was an internal quality resource for Kawneer Company, a manufacturer of architectural aluminum products. He coordinated the improvement efforts in 23 facilities throughout North America and Europe.