Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 8, 2013

By sheer happenstance, I had just gotten a copy of Gemba Walks , a collection of essays by James Womack , a co-author of the automotive classic The Machine That Changed The World and a pioneering importer of Toyota-inspired lean production insights and methodologies to America.

Innovation 8

Innovation Lean Production Disintermediation Automotive 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 29, 2013

Making autos was a craft, and very few people were skilled enough to put one together. Ford shifted the auto industry from craft to mass production, and the Japanese later took it a step further to lean production. The same can be said of other procedures that might lend themselves to mass or lean production.

Health Care 8

Health Care Cost Lean Production Offshoring 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 26, 2016

The initiative sought to improve manufacturing operations — to deliver high-quality products in relatively small batches and on shorter production deadlines. Our research focused not on the success of this initiative, per se , but on the impact of lean production on the workplace.

Lean Manufacturing 9

Lean Manufacturing Supply Chain Apparel Compliance 9

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Developing focused expertise can be a challenge when you’re starting a company: a founder has to do some of everything, but the role of startup CEO is not nearly as transferrable a skill as domain expertise, since your employability strongly depends on your company’s success (in which case, you won’t need the job).

Career 8

Career Company IPO Christensen 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Having utterly failed, GM undertook a medium-tech, $200 million joint venture with Toyota to implement "lean-production" methods relying more heavily on workers' skills — and boosted productivity 40%.

Automotive 10

Automotive Lean Production Marketing Crisis 10

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 17, 2013

They created and maintained a close connection to frontline staff — what Jim Womack , the expert in lean production and thinking, calls “going to gemba ” — Japanese for “the actual place.”. At Mid Staffs, instead of this essential connection, there was a yawning gap.

Crisis 9

Crisis Health Care Quality Welch 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2015

automakers took decades to adopt lean production methods despite the obvious benefits from increased productivity and lower work-in-process inventory. Even General Motors, which had a bird’s eye view of the Toyota Production System from its joint venture with Toyota at New United Motors Manufacturing Inc.

Technology 8

Technology Depreciation Christensen Short-term 8