Efficiency

The Job and Responsibility of CEOs and Managers

In any organization, it is the CEO and managers who own the processes used to provide the goods and services.  Processes must be identified, ownership established, and key indicators monitored to determine how much variation and waste exists.  I often hear that processes are slow, problems occur daily and  employees are frustrated because systems are not well defined, not documented, or are...

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Providing Value in the Office

According to many authors there is as much as 80 – 90% waste to be realized from non-factory, transactional processes.  There are many reasons to improve non-factory processes:  improve quality, reduce cost, and shorten lead times are just a few.  In today’s competitive market, a company that’s inefficient and has wasteful processes just isn’t going to survive. Value is defined as...

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A Pleasant Experience

During my last visit to China, I came down with a sinus infection in the first week of my two week visit.  After using up everything in my travel bag, and things weren’t getting better, I decided it was time to go see a doctor. My Chinese host knew I wasn’t feeling well and after explaining the situation to him, he made arrangements to take me to the emergency room at the local...

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