Table Of ContentBuilding Lean
a
Service Enterprise
Reflections of a Lean
Management Practitioner
Building Lean
a
Service Enterprise
Reflections of a Lean
Management Practitioner
Debashis Sarkar
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
A PRODUCTIVITY PRESS BOOK
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Names: Sarkar, Debashis, author.
Title: Building a lean service enterprise : reflections of a lean management
practitioner / Debashis Sarkar.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2017. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016025996 | ISBN 9781498779593 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Service industries--Management. | Organizational
effectiveness. | Cost control. | Quality control. | Industrial management.
Classification: LCC HD9980.65 .S268 2017 | DDC 658.4/013--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016025996
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Contents
List of Figures .....................................................................................xiii
List of Tables .......................................................................................xvii
Preface ..................................................................................................xxi
Notes to Readers ...............................................................................xxiii
Author .................................................................................................xxv
Chapter 1 How Engaged Is Your CEO and Top Management? ........1
Chapter 2 Spend the First 90 Days to Understand the Needs
of the Company ..................................................................5
Chapter 3 Should You Board the Ship? ..............................................9
Chapter 4 Before Embarking on a Lean Effort, Pause
to Understand the Type of Problem That You
Are Trying to Solve ..........................................................13
Chapter 5 Just Knowing Tools Does Not Make You a Lean
Change Leader ..................................................................17
Chapter 6 Know the Building Blocks ...............................................21
Building Blocks ...........................................................................21
Key Facets ....................................................................................21
Chapter 7 “Influence”: Least Discussed Yet the Most Important
Quality of a Seasoned Lean Change Leader ...................23
Capability .....................................................................................24
Character .....................................................................................27
Chapter 8 Engagement: Where to Begin? ........................................29
v
vi • Contents
Chapter 9 To Whom Does the Lean Change Leader Report? .........33
Chapter 10 Trigger Signs of Upcoming Change by Embedding
New “Ways of Working” for the Leadership Team ........37
Chapter 11 Do You Know What Constitutes a Great Lean Team? ...41
Lean Change Leader ...................................................................41
Lean Maven/Lean Expert .........................................................43
Lean Capability Leader .............................................................43
Lean Infrastructure Leader ......................................................43
Lean Navigator ...........................................................................44
Lean Change Agent ...................................................................44
Chapter 12 A Person Keen to Be Popular Should Not Become
Involved in Lean Efforts ..................................................45
Chapter 13 It Makes Sense to Define Lean Differently ....................49
Chapter 14 How Aligned Is the Top Management
on Organizational Outcomes? .........................................53
Chapter 15 Do You Know the Building Blocks of a Holistic
Lean Transformation? ......................................................57
Chapter 16 Do Not Forget the 15Cs of Lean Transformation ..........63
Chapter 17 Let Us Not Think of Lean as a Cost-Cutting Endeavor ...65
Chapter 18 It Helps to Adopt a Quiver Approach in a Lean
Transformation.................................................................69
Lean Is Just a Means to an End .................................................69
Institutionalize the Quiver Approach .....................................70
Contents • vii
Chapter 19 Let a Road Map Guide Your Deployment .......................73
Chapter 20 Observe, Observe, and Observe ......................................77
Chapter 21 Lean Need Not Necessarily Be Called Lean ...................83
Chapter 22 Service Guarantee Can Be a Good Aspiration
to Have in a Lean Transformation Journey ....................85
Chapter 23 Getting Top Management Commitment Is
Necessary but Not Sufficient ...........................................89
Chapter 24 Creating a Sense of Urgency Is a Prerequisite
for Successful Lean Deployment .....................................91
Chapter 25 Do Not Forget to Include Those Below Top
Management .....................................................................95
Chapter 26 Is Lean Applicable in Your Organization? .....................99
Chapter 27 Service Processes Are Quite Different from Those
That One Sees in Manufacturing ..................................103
Service Processes May Not Be Visible ...................................103
Service Processes Are Manpower Intensive ..........................104
Service Processes May Not Have Metrics .............................104
Identifying Waste May Not Be Easy ......................................104
Output of Customer-Facing Processes Cannot Be
Corrected ...................................................................................105
Layout Design Objectives in Manufacturing
and Service Setup Are Quite Different ..................................105
Chapter 28 Do People Know Why the Organization Is
Embarking on a Lean Journey? .....................................107
viii • Contents
Chapter 29 Why a Common Understanding of Service Is
a Must in Lean for Service ..............................................111
Chapter 30 Who Are the Custodians of Your Process? ..................115
Chapter 31 Just Not Larger Projects .................................................119
Chapter 32 White Spaces: A Great Lean Opportunity....................123
White Spaces in Processes .......................................................125
Strategic Ownership Matrix ....................................................125
Chapter 33 Does Your Organization Have a Standard Approach
to Solve Problems? ..........................................................127
Chapter 34 Shun Verbosity and Long Presentations: Adopt A3
Thinking .........................................................................131
Chapter 35 What Metrics Should You Have?...................................137
Scoring Pattern .........................................................................138
Interpretation ............................................................................140
Chapter 36 Is Employee Attrition a Problem in Your Company? ...141
Chapter 37 Inventory in a Services Organization Can Be
of Various Hues ..............................................................145
Chapter 38 The Functional Crevices Provide a Great Lean
Opportunity....................................................................149
Leaning Efforts That Do Not Add Value ...............................149
Step 1 ......................................................................................149
Departmental Overview Listing ...................................149
Contents • ix
Step 2 ......................................................................................150
Value Contribution of Listed Activities
in a Function or Department ........................................150
Value-Added Activity .....................................................150
Business Value-Added Activity .....................................151
Leaning of Role Duplication ...................................................152
Step 1 ......................................................................................152
List All the Activities Done in a Department
or Function.......................................................................152
Step 2 ......................................................................................152
Inventory All the Activities in the Template ...............152
Leaning Duplicate Functions ..................................................155
Chapter 39 MIS Reports, MIS Reports, and More MIS Reports ....157
Chapter 40 The Role of the Lean Team Should Change over Time ...161
Chapter 41 Make Customers Service Themselves ...........................165
Chapter 42 Encourage Team Members to Report Problems ...........169
Chapter 43 Processes Should Positively Affect the Key
Stakeholder .....................................................................171
Chapter 44 Do Not Forget to Ascertain the Health of Lean
Adoption .........................................................................173
Chapter 45 Embed a Regime of Reflection ......................................175
Chapter 46 As You Negotiate the Lean Journey, Do Not Forget
Those Who Could Derail the Efforts ............................179
Chapter 47 Not Only Visual Tools but Also a Holistic Visual
Management System ......................................................183
