Lean Culture

<p>The hard part of implementing a lean transformation, according to most experts, is dealing with the <i>"soft"</i> issues, such as culture change. Getting employees to live and breathe lean -- actively supporting and buying into lean concepts and philosophy, always searching for ways to eliminate waste, and continuously improving processes and providing greater value for customers -- is the real challenge when building and sustaining a lean culture.</p><p><b><i>Lean Culture: Collected Practices and Cases</i></b> provides a variety of case studies taken from articles previously published in <i>Lean Manufacturer Advisor</i>: the monthly newsletter by Productivity Press. All focus on cultural issues, ranging from the role of top management, to training and development of workers and managers, to building buy-in and to sustaining the culture.</p><h3>Highlights include:</h3><ul> <li>Practical, in-depth descriptions of cultural issues in a lean transformation, written in a conversational, easy-to-read style.</li> <li>Many case studies unavailable from any other single source.</li> <li>Articles categorized by specific area - all desired information is easily located.</li> <li>Real-world information about culture change collected in one handy book.</li> </ul> IntroductionPart I: Building SupportChapter 1: Aggressive Management Builds a New Hartz Mountain CultureChapter 2: The Ways to Win Hearts and MindsChapter 3: Creating a New Culture Is Company's First PriorityChapter 4: Tips for Molding a Kaizen CultureChapter 5: Employees Offer Suggestions When a Process Is in PlaceChapter 6: Approach Is Key in Attempt to Make Union a PartnerChapter 7: The Really Tough Part: Selling Lean to the CEOChapter 8: Semi-Stealth Strategy Turns Top Executives into BelieversPart II: Staff DevelopmentChapter 9: Plan to Increase Your Skills InventoryChapter 10: Acquiring and Building ExpertiseChapter 11: Plan Your Search Carefully to Get the Right Lean LeaderChapter 12: Improving Hiring Processes Saves Both Time and MoneyChapter 13: Ten Critical Areas Where Supervisors Need Your Help with Culture ChangeChapter 14: Structured Program Builds Skills of Team LeadersChapter 15: Want a High-Level Job Here? You Better Learn Lean FirstChapter 16: Plastics Firm's Lean Team Is Its Source of New TalentPart III: Sustaining ChangeChapter 17: An Assessment Tool Tells You Whether Your Culture Is Lean Chapter 18: Nine Steps for Getting TPM Buy-In from Varied GroupsChapter 19: Frequent Feedback Fosters Changes in Company CultureChapter 20: A Good Day of Production Begins with a Good MeetingChapter 21: Compensation Helps Lean Pay OffChapter 22: Incentives Should Be Based on Outcomes, Not ActivitiesChapter 23: Satisfaction Yields Improved ResultsChapter 24: Integrate Your Improvement Methods if You Want Your Initiatives to Last