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It's Time to Rethink Continuous Improvement

Harvard Business Review

Six Sigma , Kaizen , Lean , and other variations on continuous improvement can be hazardous to your organization's health. As Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management suggests, "Japan's consumer electronics industry is facing defeat. Admittedly, continuous improvement once powered Japan's economy.

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How to Successfully Work Across Countries, Languages, and Cultures

Harvard Business Review

The company also aspired to raise the overseas portion of its revenue in response to the projected shrinking of the Japanese GDP as a portion of global GDP ( from 12% in 2006 to 3% in 2050 ) and wanted to expand its global talent pool. Above all, company aspired to become the number one internet services company in the world.

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The Key to Change Is Middle Management

Harvard Business Review

A mid-level manager in this 5,000-employee hospital, she is leading a 70-member group on patient flow as part of a larger organizational effort. Her ability to lead and inspire — to become a change leader from her position as a mid-level manager — is helping her team produce results. I found a few defining characteristics: 1.

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Uniting the Religions of Process Improvement

Harvard Business Review

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). In some of these companies, senior managers were dubious about the claims.

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Companies Are Now Making Innovation Everyone’s Job

Harvard Business Review

Resumes and LinkedIn profiles are scoured for keywords, projects, and descriptions denoting innovative efforts. (I’ve At one popular QSR chain, managers now ask even entry-level applicants if they’d be willing to help test and improve new foods and service offerings. ” Expensive? Influential? That’s the bet.