Lean thinking: A case for 'rubber band' organisations

• Main Author: Knowledge@SMU
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
• Subjects: Business
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ksmu/335; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1334&context=ksmu
• Institution: Singapore Management University

During bad economic times, the knee-jerk reaction of most organisations is to stay lean. This usually involves cutting financial costs, trimming headcount and renegotiating wages; unfortunately, all short-lived means of trimming the fat. What organisations should do if they want to keep lean is to look within. Many a time, inefficiencies along internal processes chalk up resources that could have gone towards increasing productivity. Organisations that refuse to examine these issues create not only excessive costs, but they also breed a culture where there is no pressure to improve – much like a dangling rubber band, according to John S. Hamalian, a regional director at Dell.