Best Buy Gets It
by Dan Markovitz Best Buy is generally not talked about as an exemplar of lean. (It’s best known for its Results Only Work Environment; read about ROWE here and here.) But yesterday’s WSJ article on Best Buy shows that the…
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Management "Moonshots." Really?
by Dan Markovitz Gary Hamel’s Management 2.0 blog at WSJ.com features his ideas for “Management Moonshots” — 25 ambitious and radical ideas that will significantly improve business management in the future. Frankly, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Some of the ideas…
Toyota Keeps its Eyes on the Customer
by Dan Markovitz In a refreshing change of pace for the auto industry, Akio Toyoda, who was just named as the new president of Toyota, did not ask for government loans. Nor, in his first public statements, did he express…
It’s not the Map that Counts
Congratulations. You’ve mapped out the future state. Now what? | Markovitz Consulting Here’s a post, linked above, from a good friend of the Lean Blog, Dan Markovitz. “After you map the current state, you create a “future state” map that…
This is what $1 billion (and $25 million a year) gets you.
by Dan Markovitz The New York subway system has invested nearly $1 billion investment since the early 1990s — and $25 million per year in maintenance cost — in equipping stations with elevators and escalators. The results have been less-than…
Management Improvement Carnival #29
It’s once again my pleasure to host the Carnival for John Hunter and his Curious Cat blog. Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. Coconuts, Bamboo, and Pedal Power (Mike Wroblewski, Got Boondoggle?)…
Buying a bigger pair of pants will NOT solve your weight problem.
by Dan Markovitz Whew! Just in case you panicked at the thought of not having access to email on your upcoming flight to Slippery Rock, JetBlue has come to the rescue with in-flight internet access. You’ll never again have to…
Maybe a little hansei would be in order.
by Dan Markovitz Without realizing it, James B. Stewart, the SmartMoney columnist for the Wall Street Journal, touched on the value and power of hansei (reflection) in yesterday’s piece (available for free here). Commenting on the recent ouster of Merrill…
Lean Transport: Buses vs. Light Rail
By Dan Markovitz Mark posted yesterday about the relative leanness of light rail vs. buses. He pointed out that a rail line probably has more capacity, but it’s very much a fixed asset, a “monument” if you will. Buses are…
Booz Gets Lean (without knowing it)
by Dan Markovitz The latest issue of Strategy+Business, Booz Allen Hamilton’s business journal, features an article on cost cutting. Ordinarily, simple cost cutting flies in the face of real lean, but in this case, the authors’ recommendations incorporate an important…
What About The Other Car Makers?
by Dan Markovitz This blog has commented (here and here) on the WSJ’s rush to predict the folly of just-in-time manufacturing in the wake of the earthquake last week that crippled Japanese auto production. (“Blame it on kanban, the just-in-time…
The Normalcy Of Waste
By Dan Markovitz Last week the Wall Street Journal interviewed George David, the CEO of United Technologies. Though the conversation didn’t address his views on lean, he decries all forms of waste: You can’t walk through life with a trained…