From yesterday's Washington Post, an opinion column by Jim Womack. Womack counters an assertion by Ford CEO Bill Ford that his company “can compete with Toyota, but we can't compete with Japan.”
It's worth reading the whole piece, click on the link above for the article.
I'm nitpicking, but in his discussion of how many Japanese industrial companies are floundering (they're not all doing well like Toyota), he says Sony is losing out to Microsoft in the video game race, but the data don't agree, Sony has far outsold Microsoft (Playstation 2 vs. Xbox).
Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.