Business901

I had the pleasure of interviewing Anthony Bennet editor of the new book, THE BIG BOOK OF MARKETING released in January 2010 by McGraw-Hill on the Business901 Podcast. the book is based on material developed for one of Georgetown University Business School’s most popular marketing courses, THE BIG BOOK OF MARKETING is a unique and comprehensive guide to essential marketing practices from the world’s best marketers. The 86 companies represented in the book are industry leaders representing a range of goods and services, high-tech and low-tech industries, and industrial and consumer fields. Each chapter offers their real-life lessons and practical takeaways on every topic necessary for marketers to master today.

As Tony said in the podcast it is not a book filled with ideas from PHD’s. It is a book filled with authors that have CEO, V.P after their names and companies from Boeing to Atlas Air and BzzAgent to Ogilvy. What I found interesting in the book is the diversity of the content. I called it a book of short stories! Great reading, Great knowledge of information.

Anthony G. Bennett (Washington, D.C.) has worked in marketing for over 22 years, including as an international marketing research analyst with Union Camp (now International Paper), general manager/vice president for Hunt-Marmillion Public Relations (now Ogilvy), Special Assistant promoting the first Bush administration’s National Energy Strategy, and marketing consultant to small companies and national organizations. He now teaches marketing at Georgetown University.

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Last week the Business901 podcast, featured Karen Martin the co-author of  The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments. Karen shared so much new information that I have split the podcast and this is part 2 of 3. The 3rd part will be the transcription of the podcast unless you can coax Karen into an encore. These podcasts are a wealth of information on Kaizen Events and a great companion to her book.

Karen Martin is a seasoned and highly rated Lean practitioner and educator who specializes in applying Lean and developing continuous improvement cultures in service, government, knowledge work, research, and office settings. She was one of the first operations design experts to focus 100% on applying Lean principles and tools in non-manufacturing environments. Her expertise also includes a keen understanding of customer value, which she honed while serving in sales and marketing roles, and legal and regulatory issues, which she developed while working in highly regulated and litigious environments. She has provided support to organizations in a broad range of industries including: manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, government/military, engineering design, information technology, construction, oil and gas production, insurance, distribution, and publishing.

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This weeks Business901 podcast, featured Karen Martin the co-author of  The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments. Karen shared so much new information that I have split the podcast in 3 parts of 20 minutes each. These podcasts are a wealth of information on Kaizen Events and a great companion to her book. A lot of “How to” was explained.

One of the first questions I asked Karen in the interview:

Joe:  So when you say that they run numerous Kaizen Events or actually, I noticed one thing on your website where you say a typical organization of a hundred people, only have four Kaizen Events a year. So, a Kaizen Event is different than a continuous improvement process or your weekly meeting for continuous improvement process. What is the difference?

Karen:  Yes. Good question. So, Kaizen Events are this formalized, structured approach to making rapid improvement, whereas, what the goal is of any organization is to develop a Kaizen culture. In the Kaizen culture, improvement happens continuously. It happens without the need for those formalized process that involves a tremendous amount of planning, and really, quite a bit of effort. In fact, Kaizen Events can be quite painful for an organization because of the number of people they have to pull off their regular jobs and sequester them for two to five days. They’re really only reserved for the most intense types of improvements that need to be made.

What some organizations do, and one of the criticisms of Kaizen Events, is that they’ll get hooked on Kaizen Events and only make improvement during a formal event. That’s not at all the intention of a Kaizen Event. So, I view them as a good way to indoctrinate an organization into the improvement process and teach the skills.

In fact, you’ll hear Kaizen Events referred to as Kaizen Workshops and Kaizen Blitz. The workshop term reflects the deep learning that occurs in a Kaizen that if it’s well facilitated. So, it is true that there’s a risk that organizations can become dependent on Kaizen Events and use them for all?improvement and never really evolve into that Kaizen culture.

But, I do believe that it’s a very good first step. Often, for many, many years, I think, non?manufacturing organizations, in particular, can benefit from Kaizen Events. This is to get the culture embedded into the DNA of the organization, this whole concept of continuous improvement.

Related Blog Posts:

A Kaizen Event is one of the most popular ways to rapidly improve a process and make the gains stick. Or is it?

A Preview to Kaizen Week

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A recognized senior executive leader and business consultant, Roy Osing knows what it takes for businesses to survive in today s chaotic times and achieve extraordinary levels of performance. With over 30 years experience creating and building businesses, he possesses an in-depth knowledge of what it takes to immunize organizations from failure and catapult their performance to extraordinary levels. Osing is an accomplished speaker and presenter. He presents his ideas in a compelling and entertaining style that captivates and motivates audiences.

How is your book different than other business books?

There are three aspects of my work that I think make it unique in the highly competitive business book market.

First, it is a practical ‘how to’ book not just a theoretical approach. My book shows the reader how to implement the concepts that I advocate in very simple terms. It is a book at “playing field” level, not at the 50,000 foot level. From my observation, most other business improvement literature discusses the theoretical appeal of taking a particular course of action but doesn’t really give the reader a specific roadmap to follow to successfully implement them in their organization.

Second, the ideas I present to the reader have been ‘road tested’ in the real world. I have successfully implemented them in businesses varying in size and complexity. As experience shows there is a big different between an idea that conceptually should work in an organization and an approach that actually does work in the human dynamics that pervade every human enterprise. My readers can be confident that if they choose to go down the BE DiFFERENT path success awaits!

Third, my book is different from others in that the BE DiFFERENT ideas I advocate include all of the critical functions of an organization. I offer ideas to thrive and survive in the areas of business strategy development, marketing, sales and customer service. Most books that I have seen focus on a specific area of expertise, like marketing for example, and give the reader a vertical slice of high level guidance. My book, on the other hand, provides in handbook fashion detailed guidance in each of the critical functions of an organization; possible only because of my broad background as a successful business executive.

I hope you enjoy the Business901 podcast.

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Be Different or Be Dead Author Roy Osing Interviewed

Have you Achieved Expert Status?

The Book: Be Different or Be Dead, Your Business Survival Guide

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Dr. Sami Bahri was my guest this week on the Business901 Podcast. In 1996, Dr. Bahri read “Lean Thinking” by James Womack and Daniel Jones, and started implementing Lean Management principles in his dental office. He is the first dentist known to utilize Lean Management techniques to continuously improve the delivery of quality dental care. Dr Bahri has been called “The Leanest Dentist on the Planet.” This implementation has benefited patients, employees, dental laboratories, suppliers, etc. In 2006, Bahri Dental Group provided the same amount of dental treatments as 2005, but needed 40 percent less resources, thanks to the application of “Lean Dental Management.”

In March of 2009, Dr Bahri wrote Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture, published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. He lectures nationally and internationally to share his experience on implementing lean management in the dental practice.

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Dave Irwin of the Center for Lean Learning and co-author of a soon to be released book titled “The Perry Story”.

An excerpt from the podcast: “I really come at it from a perspective of alignment and focus first. On one hand, you’re helping leaders learn a different model of leadership so that they can understand how to engage the people on their teams, empowering them. That is usually a pretty foreign thought, but as we work with the leaders, they begin to understand that and use it. On the other hand, we need to look at if you’re empowering a person, I always feel strongly about the fact that that person needs to have some understanding of where the company is going. What is the expectation?”

Dave brings a wealth of experience and expertise to The Center as well. The focus of his consultancy is on the human factor. His emphasis includes leadership coaching, team development, leading change, Lean leadership, creating a continuous improvement culture and strategic planning. Dave’s passion comes from a belief that a successful Lean implementation centers on a leader’s ability to achieve a clear vision and direction for his/her organization, then bring it to life through a process that insures each level of the company has the opportunity to understand, then restate the vision and direction as it relates to their area of responsibility, creating alignment throughout the organization. This process creates an understanding of what needs to be done and will empower your people to accomplish it.

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Gwendolyn D. Galsworth, Ph.D., is an educator, implementer, and a researcher with more than 25 years in the field of Workplace Visuality. Considered by many a leading visual expert, Dr. Galsworth is the author of a number of books on organizational improvement and workplace visuality, including Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking, recipient of the Shingo Prize for Research.

Galsworth established Quality Methods International (QMI) in 1991 as a consulting, training and research firm, specializing in the Visual Workplace. For the next 15 years, she worked with companies to create and proof a series of methods and formulate them into a single, sustainable framework that have come to be known as the Technologies of the Visual Workplace.

A Shingo Prize and Malcolm Baldrige Examiner, Galsworth has helped companies all over the world to accelerate their rates of transformation, strengthen cultural alignments and achieve long-term, sustainable bottom-line outcomes. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies around the world.

This Business901 podcast; Be Productive, Be Visual is the second of a two part series.

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Gwendolyn D. Galsworth, Ph.D., is an educator, implementer, and a researcher with more than 25 years in the field of Workplace Visuality. Considered by many a leading visual expert, Dr. Galsworth is the author of a number of books on organizational improvement and workplace visuality, including Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking, recipient of the Shingo Prize for Research.

Galsworth established Quality Methods International (QMI) in 1991 as a consulting, training and research firm, specializing in the Visual Workplace. For the next 15 years, she worked with companies to create and proof a series of methods and formulate them into a single, sustainable framework that have come to be known as the Technologies of the Visual Workplace.

A Shingo Prize and Malcolm Baldrige Examiner, Galsworth has helped companies all over the world to accelerate their rates of transformation, strengthen cultural alignments and achieve long-term, sustainable bottom-line outcomes. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies around the world.

This Business901 podcast; Be Productive, Be Visual is the first of a two parts.

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Mike Osterling of Osterling Consulting was my guest on the Business901 Podcast. We had the opportunity to discuss White Collar Kaizen and the differences between executing Kaizen events in production versus office environments.  Mike specializes in Lean Operations implementation and training. As Lean Manufacturing Manager for Square D Company, he led their transition from traditional production to an operation focused on aggressive continuous improvement. Plant-wide improvements included: 65% reduction in DPMs, 52% reduction in customer complaints, 79% reduction in accident rate, 59% improvement in productivity, 530% improvement in WIP turns, lead time reduction from three days to 15 minutes, 80% scrap reduction and a 93% increase in space utilization.

Mike is also the co-author of The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments. a practical, how-to guide for planning, executing, and sustaining rapid improvements in office, service, and technical environments. Geared to continuous improvement professionals and leadership teams, this book provides the methodology and practical tools for generating measurable results, while building a motivated workforce and creating a culture with an integrated focus on customer value, quality, cost, and service. Mike is an expert facilitator for a Kaizen event, contact him through his website www.mosterling.com

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Drew was my guest on the Business901 Podcast. Our talked centered around Drew’s use of the Lean tool, Value Stream Mapping. I think you may be surprised by a few of his answers.

Drew is currently Managing Director for Change Management Associates. CMA provides Lean Enterprise Consulting and Organizational Development services to industrial and service organizations representing a wide variety of industries including: Healthcare, Transportation, Distribution, Education, Financial Services and Manufacturing. Drew first became involved in the development and delivery of innovative Business Improvement programs while working for General Electric in the 1980s. In 1990, Drew left GE to form CMA. Since then, he has utilized his diverse experience to help develop creative solutions for the companies with whom CMA works, in order to improve their business performance.

In 2004, Drew co-authored a book titled, “The Complete Lean Enterprise: Value Stream Mapping for Administrative and Office Processes ”. The book won a 2005 Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence in Manufacturing Research. In 2008 he published a book titled, “Value Stream Mapping for Lean Development: A How-To Guide for Streamlining Time to Market ”. This book demonstrates the application of Lean Thinking to the third primary value stream, “problem solving”.

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