Management literature is filled with powerful management advice.
Some advice published in the Harvard Business Review asks
business owners to focus on three issues in their
organizations—internal operations, customer intimacy and
innovation. Business consultants refer to these as value
disciplines. The idea is to be as good as your competition in two
out of the three value disciplines and be superior in one. The one
you choose to be best at is the one that gives you the most
competitive advantage.
Let's consider your company's internal operations. You've
probably been pushed to improve internal operations through quality
initiatives. Customers have demanded improvements, and you probably
have made similar demands on your suppliers. The question is
whether you have done enough. The first things to examine are how
to improve specific tasks, minimize costs, and eliminate redundancy
or intermediate steps. But there are other ways to improve
operational excellence.
For example, I know an insulation contracting company that
reduced insurance costs by implementing processes that led to
reduced workplace accidents. The company cut its accident incident
rate from 14.5 to 2.5 per 100 manyears (2,000 hours equal one
manyear) in just six years. How...
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