The Change Agent's Guide to Radical Improvement


Book Description

What separates excellent organizations from the truly ordinary? What allows some organizations to rapidly change and continually reinvent themselves while others have trouble making even modest improvements? the fundamental ingredient is the presence of change agents. Change agents are individuals who have the knowledge, skills and tools to help organizations create radical improvement. They achieve results through their keen ability to facilitate groups of people through well-defined processes to develop, organize, and sell new ideas. They are the invisible hands that turn vision into action. The Change Agentes Guide to Radical Improvement is a comprehensive how-to book, packed with all of the information and tools necessary to make any improvement project a rousing success. Its unique methods integrate the best practices in organizational development, team building, voice of the customer, reengineering, problem solving, creativity, innovation, and project management. the systematic change agent model introduced in this book will help you: Pick the right improvement projects to work on, by diagnosing the real issues effecting the organization. Organize the project so that it has the best chance to succeed, by uncovering the projectes success criteria, securing management support, and building the right team. Select the best change process to improve customer satisfaction, reengineer a process, solve a problem or develop a plan. Generate innovative out of the box ideas that dramatically impact the bottom line. Navigate the politics of change; ensuring radical ideas become radical improvements.




The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change


Book Description

There are many techniques and a variety of tools available to improve or change an organization, but how do executives and senior management decide which are right for their organizations? The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change is designed to help managers and executives understand the many different approaches to organizational change and improvement. The book explains that there is not one technique that works best for any organization, but rather that the managers and executives need to develop their own strategies with a blending of different methods. The authors share the tools and techniques that they have used to successfully make changes and improvements in their own organizations, which include examples from manufacturing, healthcare, service, government, telecommunications, education, and more. The Executive Guide to Improvement and Change covers a variety of techniques ranging from auditing to teamwork, Six Sigma to Customer Satisfaction, and more. The book will assist executives and managers lead improvement and change initiatives within the organization and the larger business community, as well as educate those who aspire to senior positions of leadership.




The Synergy of One


Book Description

This book argues that the vast majority of errors and system failures are the result of ineffective leadership. Most of the shortcomings of leadership stem from the lack of a unified and structured system that incorporates resources, accountability, culture, understanding, and leadership into one synergistic formula that will help drive consistent success. This synergistic system will help lead to consistency throughout the organization - leader to leader and department to department - which will lead to better communication, greater reliability, and ultimately more success. Author Michael Dreikorn introduces the concept of Integrated Performance Leadership (IPL), which combines various academic theories of management, performance, and leadership into one single stream of thought. Dreikorn cites examples from successful organizations, and provides numerous charts and graphs to help emphasize the points made.




From Quality to Business Excellence


Book Description

As the face of business continues to change, organizations are looking for new ways to remain competitive and profitable. Many businesses have succumb to the "program du jour" management trap, jumping from one management philosophy to the next looking for the ultimate solution. ISO 9000, Baldrige, Six Sigma...which is the best program for your company? From Quality to Business Excellence: A Systems Approach to Management demonstrates how these and other management philosophies compliment each other and form the basis for a new systems approach to management. By better understanding how these approaches all potentially fit together, managers will be able to use these tools more effectively in a much more integrated approach. From Quality to Business Excellence will show how to integrate a management approach using a variety of methods to bring the most out of your business. COMMENTS FROM OTHER CUSTOMERS Average Customer Rating: (5 of 5 based on 2 reviews) "This is a great book! It does a very effective job of integrating quality concepts into the notion of Business Excellence. The book recommends a systems approach to management systems design and covers a broad range relevant topics. The author backs up his recommendations with a fair amount of actual cases. End notes itemize a broad range of references that can be used to gain more in-depth knowledge about the topics. The book is loaded with figures and tables to make the material understandable. This is good reading for business professionals. If you want to get your line managers hooked on quality get them a copy of this book." A reader from New Hampshire" An excellent book for the new direction of quality implementation. Quality is becoming part of business that is responsible for improving its bottom line results rather than policing its activities. I found the book easy to read and very informative." Ahmed Almaziad – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Benefits: Shift from a narrow, compliance-orientation to Quality Management to a high-impact, continuous improvement orientation that drives business resultsliLearn how to apply the right management tools to your situationliCreate your own high performance management system to last for decadesliUse Information Technology More Effectively to Drive Business ResultsliBuild in the capability to absorb new techniques as they emergeliAvoid gut-wrenching (and costly) restarts to accommodate new methods and standards. Contents: Introduction (Historical Backgrounds and Trends, A Vision for the Future), Quality Systems Background (ISO 9000, Baldrige, Compliance vs. Continuous Improvement), Management Approach, Designing Integrated Management Systems Strategic Planning, Alignment, and Metrics Integrated Process Improvement Approach, The Role of Information Technology Other Enablers and Constraints Putting it All Together Keeping the Process Moving Overall Summary (Integrated Systems Approach, Business Systems Engineering)




The Lean Practitioner's Field Book


Book Description

While there are numerous Lean Certification programs, most companies have their own certification paths whereby they bestow expert status upon employees after they have participated in or led a certain number of kaizen events. Arguing that the number of kaizen events should not determine a person's expert status, The Lean Practitioner's Field Book: Proven, Practical, Profitable and Powerful Techniques for Making Lean Really Work outlines a true learning path for anyone seeking to understand essential Lean principles. The book includes a plethora of examples drawn from the personal experiences of its many well-respected and award-winning contributors. These experts break down Lean concepts to their simplest terms to make everything as clear as possible for Lean practitioners. A refresher for some at times, the text provides thought-provoking questions with examples that will stimulate learning opportunities. Introducing the Lean Practitioner concept, the book details the five distinct Lean Practitioner levels and includes quizzes and criteria for each level. It highlights the differences between the kaizen event approach and the Lean system level approach as well as the difference between station balancing and baton zone. This book takes readers on a journey that begins with an overview of Lean principles and culminates with readers developing professionally through the practice of self-reliance. Providing you with the tools to implement Lean tools in your organization, the book includes discussions and examples that demonstrate how to transition from traditional accounting methods to a Lean accounting system. The book outlines an integrated, structured approach identified by the acronym BASICS (baseline, analyze, suggest solutions, implement, check, and sustain), which is combined with a proven business strategy to help ensure a successful and sustainable transformation of your organization.




Assess and Analyze


Book Description

Lean is about building and improving stable and predictable systems and processes to deliver to customers high-quality products/services on time by engaging everyone in the organization. Combined with this, organizations need to create an environment of respect for people and continuous learning. It’s all about people. People create the product or service, drive innovation, and create systems and processes, and with leadership buy-in and accountability to ensure sustainment with this philosophy, employees will be committed to the organization as they learn and grow personally and professionally. Lean is a term that describes a way of thinking about and managing companies as an enterprise. Becoming Lean requires the following: the continual pursuit to identify and eliminate waste; the establishment of efficient flow of both information and process; and an unwavering top-level commitment. The concept of continuous improvement applies to any process in any industry. Based on the contents of The Lean Practitioner’s Field Book, the purpose of this series is to show, in detail, how any process can be improved by utilizing a combination of tasks and people tools and introduces the BASICS Lean® concept. The books are designed for all levels of Lean practitioners and introduce proven tools for analysis and implementation that go beyond the traditional point kaizen event. Each book can be used as a stand-alone volume or used in combination with other titles based on specific needs. Each book is chock-full of case studies and stories from the authors’ own experiences in training organizations who have started or are continuing their Lean journey of continuous improvement. Contents include valuable lessons learned and each chapter concludes with questions pertaining to the focus of the chapter. Numerous photographs enrich and illustrate specific tools used in Lean methodology. Assess and Analyze: Discovering the Waste Consuming Your Profits explores the tools used to assess and analyze the process. It starts off with Learning to See waste and follows with the three analysis tools: mapping the product flow, documenting the full work of the operator, and implementing SMED or changeover reduction and closes with exploring Lean and change management.




Transformational Leadership


Book Description

Organizations are being called upon to evolve to "Organizations of Meaning", where purpose informs all facets of the organization, people and teams operate with a strong sense of intent and common will, and breakthrough results are achieved. Organizations of Meaning are highly talented in their ability to bring purpose to daily work. Leaders and managers grow the culture such that people are clear about their own life direction and its fit with the organization. Relationships are mature and people operate with a casual mind-set, taking responsibility and accountability for the success of the organization. Results are achieved not through manipulative or coercive management techniques but as a natural, authentic expression of the commitment, clarity and conviction of the total organization. A new kind of leadership is required to create and lead an Organization of Meaning. Delivering on the promises of breakthrough change initiatives requires more than management techniques. The calling is for leadership that honors and appreciates the uniqueness of each individual in the organization, aligning distinctive spirits toward a collective thrust, while at the same time bringing commitment, tenacity and focus to key result areas. With effective transformational leadership bringing forth the new order, amazing results are possible. Not simply theory, but demonstrated in a growing number of organizations around the world. Transformational Leadership: Creating Organizations of Meaning was written specifically to guide leaders, managers and change agents through an organizational transformation delivering breakthrough results. Authors Stephen Hacker and Tammy Roberts draw on their immense experiences with organizational transformation to write a book that will help guide leaders through these important but trying times. Includes a life plan, a transformational leadership assessment survey, and summary lesson plans on each major model in the book.




The Change Agent's Guide


Book Description




The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook, Fourth Edition


Book Description

This handbook is a comprehensive reference source designed to help professionals address organizational issues from the application of the basic principles of management to the development of strategies needed to deal with the technological and societal concerns of the new millennium. The content of this fourth edition has been revised to reflect a more current global perspective and to match the updated Body of Knowledge (BoK) of ASQ’s Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE). In order to provide a broad perspective of quality management, this book has specifically been written to address: • Historical perspectives relating to the evolution of particular aspects of quality management, including recognized experts and their contributions • Key principles, concepts, and terminology relevant in providing quality leadership, and communicating quality needs and results • Benefits associated with the application of key concepts and quality management principles • Best practices describing recognized approaches for good quality management • Barriers to success, including common problems that the quality manager might experience when designing and implementing quality management, and insights as to why some quality initiatives fail • Guidance for preparation to take the CMQ/OE examination. Organized to follow the BoK exactly, throughout each section of this handbook the categorical BoK requirements associated with good quality management practices for that section are shown in a box preceding the pertinent text. These BoK requirements represent the range of content and the cognitive level to which multiple-choice questions can be presented. Although this handbook thoroughly prepares individuals for the ASQ CMQ/OE exam, the real value resides in post-exam usage as a day-to-day reference source for assessing quality applications and methodologies in daily processes. The content is written from the perspective of practitioners, and its relevance extends beyond traditional product quality applications.




Measurement Matters


Book Description

Many organizations still operate with an all-too-familiar polarization between managers and employees. The work of employees is checked, measured, audited, and rechecked. Incentive programs, quotas, and evaluations are doggedly adhered to. And often, as a result, resources are wasted, morale plummets, and defects actually increase. Why exactly does this system continue to run amok? What is an effective alternative? By installing an effective assessment process that successfully measures employee performance without impeding production, the organization can become more efficient and employee satisfaction increases. Measurement Matters builds on the principles of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, as well as the life experiences of both authors, to create a unique, proven approach to effecting positive change in organizations and individuals. This book is full of entertaining, eye-opening examples we can all relate to that combine human psychology with hard data to prove there is a better way. By implementing positive change, and properly measuring and assessing the progress, an organization and its employees can grow and prosper. PRAISE FOR Measurement Matters "Measurement Matters by Carder and Ragan is a book that should be read by practitioners interested in understanding and improving the underlying factors that affect the safety, health and environmental performance of firms." Isadore (Irv) Rosenthal, Senior Fellow Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center Nominated by President Clinton, and confirmed by the Senate, to a five-year position as a member of the National Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board in 1998.