
Episode 059: Bridging Lean Thinking, Leadership, and the DBA with Stacy Falconer
From DBA Chronicles by Dr. Kelly Burich and Dr. Valrie Grant
June 4, 2026 · 39 min
About this episode
Stacy Falconer discusses her journey and insights on bridging practitioner expertise with academic research in operational excellence.
Most organizations don't suffer from a lack of smart people. They suffer from too many handoffs, too many silos, too much duplication, and too many processes that nobody has stopped to question. In this episode of DBA Chronicles, hosts Dr. Kelly Burich andDr. Valrie Grant sat down with DBA candidate Stacy Falconer, Vice President of Healthcare and Commercial Strategy at Premium Label and Packaging Solutions and Founder & CEO of Jump Strategy. Stacy shares her journey from working inher family’s bakery at age 14 to leading strategy in highly regulated manufacturing environments and pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration. She offers a candid look at what it means to bridge thegap between practitioner expertise and academic research. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in manufacturing, operations, and strategic leadership, she discusses how her doctoral research could help organizations uncover inefficiencies, improve collaboration, and create sustainable operational improvements. The conversation explores the realities of operationalexcellence, the hidden costs of organizational silos, and why successful transformation requires more than bringing in outside…
People in this episode
Hosts: Dr. Kelly Burich, Dr. Valrie Grant
Guest: Stacy Falconer
Topics covered
- Lean Thinking
- Leadership
- DBA
- Operational Excellence
- Collaboration
- Continuous Improvement
Keywords
- Lean Thinking
- Leadership
- DBA
- Operational Excellence
- Collaboration
- Manufacturing
- Continuous Improvement
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Premium Label and Packaging Solutions, Jump Strategy
More episodes of DBA Chronicles
- Episode 058: Mental Health, Trust & Leadership: Moving Beyond Performative with Dr. Steve Winkle · May 21, 2026 · 53 min
- Episode 057: The Pracademic Mindset with Dr. Larry Clay Jr. · April 23, 2026 · 53 min
- Episode 056: Mental Health, Research, and the Courage to Be Seen at Work with Dr. Steve Winkel · April 9, 2026 · 46 min
- Episode 055: Global Doctoral Leadership: The GEM DBA, Multicultural Networks & The Practitioner-Scholar Journey · March 26, 2026 · 40 min
- Episode 054: From Practice to Scholarship: Doing Timely, High-Impact Research Through the DBA with Kimberly Bright · March 12, 2026 · 40 min
- Episode 053: Reinventing Purpose: Energy Transition, Academic Rigor & the Freedom to Learn with Dr. Helen Croskell · February 19, 2026 · 45 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the DBA Chronicles podcast page.