Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2017

In research for our book, Time, Talent and Energy, my co-author Michael Mankins and I found that such investments do indeed pay off: The top-quartile companies in our study unlocked 40% more productive power in their workforce through better practices in time, talent and energy management.

Human Capital 14

Human Capital Kaizen Agility Energy 14

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 23, 2011

New process improvement initiatives tend to start with some hype. To show how different it is, we have special words to describe them such as " Master Black Belt ," " DMAIC ," " Kaizen ," " A3 ," and " SIPOC.". Finally: "This may sound like process improvement programs that failed here before, but believe me, this is much better.

Six Sigma 14

Six Sigma TQM Kaizen Balanced Scorecard 14

Harvard Business Review

MAY 23, 2011

Almost all companies organize people in a hierarchy, and then run well known managerial processes (planning, budgeting, staffing, measuring, etc) with it. If you had told an average citizen in the year 1900 what this structure and those sets of processes were accomplishing everywhere today, they would have thought you daft.

Organization 15

Organization Kaizen Budgeting Short-term 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 8, 2012

Six Sigma , Kaizen , Lean , and other variations on continuous improvement can be hazardous to your organization's health. Admittedly, continuous improvement once powered Japan's economy. Question whether processes should be improved, eliminated, or disrupted.

Six Sigma 17

Six Sigma Govindarajan Kaizen Telecommunications 17

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 15, 2011

Though charmingly valuable, Kaizen and suggestion boxes are 20th-century productivity anachronisms. If using a mobile app like Trimit accelerates information throughputs for an analyst processing large volumes of material, then the employee is freed up to find other ways to add value or pursue further automation explorations.

Kaizen 14

Kaizen Bottom-up Efficiency Technology 14

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2015

In other words, feedback compliance — or assurance — becomes integrated into the networked fabric of day-to-day performance and processes. Your calendar and contacts lists can be programmed to alert you to coordinate with the frequency and reliability your boss — or peer group — wants.

Kaizen 8

Kaizen Self-aware Construction Compliance 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 4, 2013

These teams have disciplined processes to get the technology to market, generally with a one- to two-year product horizon. Finally, it has Kaizen events where both salaried and hourly employees gather together for a week, mapping processes in order to solve problems and streamline operations.

Technology 8

Technology Innovation Kaizen Chief Executive Officer 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 7, 2011

When they set out to turn around processes that have become woefully inefficient or ineffective, most companies choose one of four process improvement "religions": Lean , Six Sigma , Business Reengineering or Business Process Management (BPM). You instill process improvement into the corporate DNA.

Six Sigma 14

Six Sigma BPM Process Hammer 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 27, 2014

In those cases, mid-level managers weren’t merely managing incremental change; they were leading it by working levers of power up, across and down in their organizations. With their goals aligned, the department was able to get rid of some of the hitches in the process, such as communication between siloed departments.

Middle Management 13

Middle Management Six Sigma Taylorism Taylor 13

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 21, 2016

Soon what once was a satisfying process becomes a deeply troubling and threatening one (overload): plates start to wobble, and the spinner has to scramble ever faster to keep them all in motion. As the spinner sets more and more plates in motion (growth), he obviously has to keep them in motion. His mission has changed.

Company 9

Company IPO Price Loyalty 9

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 9, 2012

Design a high-impact sales process for communicating and delivering value to customers. Provide data, tools and resources for enhancing sales force insight about customers and supporting the sales process. These sales force effectiveness drivers are the spokes of a wheel that powers the sales force.

Incentives 8

Incentives Kaizen Market Segmentation Efficiency 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 30, 2015

As an MBA, I had become fascinated with Kaizen and other process-improvement techniques. HBR: What was the process for identifying these opportunities? Perhaps the most powerful benefit is that it creates a contagious enthusiasm. Aiming for gold was too daunting. ” The first one was strategy.

Kaizen 8

Kaizen Critical Success Factor Competitive Advantage Brainstorming 8