Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick [Hardcover]

John Drew (Author), Blair McCallum (Author), Stefan Roggenhofer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1403913072 | ISBN-13: 978-1403913074 | Publication Date: June 12, 2004

In the current climate attention has refocused on lean production. While books have looked at the principles of lean production and techniques, this book from McKinsey & Company, the world's most influential management consultancy, provides a unique approach, which is holistic in nature and argues that lean must be central to the strategy and mindset of the company or organization. It will be the most comprehensive book on the tangible and intangible aspects of lean transformation with a complete overview of how organizations should embark upon this arising from the cutting edge work done by the authors with leading companies worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Journey to Lean is lively, fun and informative, and it might just have an enormous effect on your business" - Lee Hibbert, Professional Engineering

"...a comprehensive and practical book on how to design and implement sustainable operational change." - Quality Today

"Three McKinsey consultants - John Drew, Blair McCallum and Stefan Roggenhofer - have brought [lean research] alive at company level in a new book, Journey to Lean."- The Observer

"...explores some of the challenges faced by the management team, and gives ideas on how to develop solutions and engage the workforce in the new ways of working." - Works Management

"...moves beyond the initial step of using lean tools and techniques to deliver initial quick results, and tackles the thorny question of how to maintain those performance levels." - www.themanufacturer.com

About the Author

John Drew is at McKinsey & Company Manufacturing Practice.

Blair McCallum is the Director of McKinsey & Company Production Systems Design Centre.

Stefan Roggenhofer is Leader of McKinsey & Company Manufacturing Practice, Europe.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (June 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403913072
• ISBN-13: 978-1403913074
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Strategy & Competition
  • #58 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Operations Research
  • #72 in Books > Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Change

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for beginners, October 18, 2008

By 

Nathan (IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick (Hardcover)

As a Japanese management consultant working in the U.S, I was curious how good this book is...and found out that this book contains all the essential elements of lean production and its philosophy. Very good introduction to understand all the basics. It seems many of the concepts and tools were customized so that U.S. people can better understand the concepts...but to be honest, they are a bit different from the original philosophy that Ohno Taichi, the founder of Toyota Production System, had written in his books. I would strongly encourage to read the original books written by Ohno...it is always better to read the original books if you really want to understand the REAL concepts. But again, this book "Journey to Lean" is a very good introcution for begginers.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to lean., January 30, 2007

By 

Rick (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick (Hardcover)

This book take you through the basic consepts of lean. And it does so in an easy and interesting way. The examples in the book are well constructed and told. This is a book written by persons who have practise lean themeselves. It is a great book for an manager who want to learn about lean or a student that would like to get some " real life" understanding of lean compared to other books out there which are to theoretical.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lean command and control?, August 27, 2007

By 

Stephen Parry "Author of Sense and Respond" (Lean Service Transformation Designer London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journey to Lean: Making Operational Change Stick (Hardcover)

A major consulting company demonstrating that lean has become main stream. l enjoyed reading the book, its lucid and very well written.

However, the customer is strangely absent for some reason and it does take a pedestrian, slightly pedantic and bureaucratic approach to organisational change for my taste, But its a journey after all.

I detect a high degree of bias from the application of Lean manufacturing techniques into the world of services which is heavy handed and inappropriate. Having seen the approach outlined in this book implemented I am slightly uneasy about its assumptions about people motivation and control.

All that said, if you are in manufacturing, it was a good read and a good introduction to the lean journey concept, Just ease off the micro-control fixation and it will work much better.