management philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous impIn their book ‘The Machine That Changed the World’, published in 1990, Womack, Roos and Jones identified the characteristics of automotive companies that have achieved a sustainable competitive advantage by adopting a different management ‘style’. They described these companies as ‘Lean Organisations’ because they consistently achieve more with fewer resources, and exceed their customer’s expectations.

In 1990, they forecast that Toyota, then ranked seventh in the world, would overtake GM to become the largest global, and most successful, car company within 20 years - highlighting the challenge faced by their competitors in Europe and America. The secret of their success appears to be a management philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous imp

ainable competitive advantage by adopting a different management ‘style’. They described these companies as ‘Lean Organisations’ because they consistently achieve more with fewer resources, and exceed their customer’s expectations.

In 1990, they forecast that Toyota, then ranked seventh in the world, would overtake GM to become the largest global, and most successful, car company within 20 years - highlighting the challenge faced by their competitors in Europe and America. The secret of their success appears to be a management philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous imp

more with fewer resources, and exceed their customer’s expectations.

In 1990, they forecast that Toyota, then ranked seventh in the world, would overtake GM to become the largest global, and most successful, car company within 20 years - highlighting the challenge faced by their competitors in Europe and America. The secret of their success appears to be a management philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous imp

rgest global, and most successful, car company within 20 years - highlighting the challenge faced by their competitors in Europe and America. The secret of their success appears to be a management philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous impmanagement philosophy that recognises and values the contribution of all employees –empowering, and expecting, them to improve the way they work through a process of continuous improvement – identifying and eliminating waste in all areas of the business.

The effect of on every key measure of business performance has been staggering. So for the last 26 years, their competitors have used TOYOTA as a bench mark and have attempted to replicate their results by emulating the Toyota Production System – but in 2007 Toyota will replace GM as world’s largest car company – whilst Ford celebrate as 50% of their US workforce choose redundancy.

So, why do managers steeped in the corporate culture of the USA and Europe find it hard to become Lean? In many organisations the greatest obstacle, is Dyslexic Managers – who attempt to ‘go Lean’ but ‘become mean’ &nd