Business

Brief Summary Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts describes a business system for the twenty-first century that supersedes the mass production system of Ford, the financial control system of Sloan, and the strategic system of Welch and GE. It is based on the Toyota (lean) model, which combines operational excellence with value-based strategies to produce steady growth through a wide range of economic conditions. In contrast with the crash-and-burn performance of companies trumpeted by business gurus in the 1990s, the firms profiled in Lean Thinking -- from tiny Lantech to midsized Wiremold to niche producer Porsche to gigantic Pratt & Whitney -- have kept on keeping on, largely unnoticed, along a steady upward path through the market turbulence and crushed dreams of the early twenty-first century. Meanwhile, the leader in lean thinking -- Toyota -- has set its sights on leadership of the global motor vehicle industry in this decade. Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. (It's often not at all what existing organizations and assets would suggest.) The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pullof the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples. Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates that these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry in any country. But most managers need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of more than fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world. Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating an extended lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links value-creating activities from raw materials to customer. In Part IV, an epilogue to the original edition, the story of lean thinking is brought up-to-date with an enhanced action plan based on the experiences of a range of lean firms since the original publication of Lean Thinking. Lean Thinking does not provide a new management "program" for the one-minute manager. Instead, it offers a new method of thinking, of being, and, above all, of doing for the serious long-term manager -- a method that is changing the world. ISBN:9780743249270 Author:James P Womack and Daniel T Jones

A comprehensive interpretation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War combines the original classic's advice on leadership, strategy, organization, competition, and cooperation with the ideas of contemporary business philosophers.  

In this provocative and entertaining book, Robert Shemin, a multimillionaire and successful entrepreneur and motivational speaker, has a secret for you: rich people are not that smart. In fact, they're Idiots, and if you want the wealth and fulfilment you've always desired, you need to be an Idiot, too. In HOW COME THAT IDIOT'S RICH AND I'M NOT?, Shemin shows how the average 'smart' person's tendency to over-think can be financially crippling, and reveals simple principles for getting and keeping spectacular wealth. Follow the 'Path of the Idiot' with Shemin and realize the mistakes that smart people invariably make: they take small steps, effectively paralysed by fear of failure, instead of acting decisively; their vanity prevents them from admitting ignorance, instead of finding the right person to help them achieve their dreams. By following Shemin's step-by-step programme, you'll be setting big goals, leaving your comfort zone, embracing the knowledge learned from failure - and reaping big rewards.