Lean improvement techniques Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Lean improvement techniques - Case Study Example A business today uses the measuring stick of profitability. There needs to be a shift to the thinking of total utility for the social community in order to weigh business decisions. Opponents would argue that this is a long-term plan that requires too many radical changes in the face of business. Also, there is no way that an industry wide standard can be set since there are too many types of corporations. Plus, companies have different needs and every moral rule is subjective according to the type of business that everyone conducts. Although there are no industry standards that are feasible, it is possible for every company to examine their practices as well as the attitude of their employees. There will be companies that find that they are doing fine with employees that are aware of their moral values. Yet other companies will find that they do have areas that need improvement. It is steps like these that start implementing changes. Once a few companies start to see the benefits of changes, it can help to encourage other companies to follow suit. After all, mistakes in one department can cause the deterioration of an entire corporation. When the costs that are possible are taken into account, the changes required to rectify this are small in comparison. Purpose, People, Planet, Probity (or Purity or Principles): 4 P model This 4 P model is not a process or technique - it's the character or personality of a good ethical manager or leader or organization. The four corner stones of sustainable success in any modern business venture, and is a maxim for today's management and organizational philosophy. Probity means honesty, uprightness - it's from the Latin word probus, meaning good. 'Purpose' is an apt replacement for 'Profit' and thus makes the acronym appropriate for use in not-for-profit organizations. Profit-focused corporations can of course substitute 'Profit' for 'Purpose'. The aim of all good modern organizations is to reconcile the organizational purpose (whether this be profit for shareholders, or cost-effective services delivery, in the case of public services) with the needs and feelings of people (staff, customers, suppliers, local communities, stakeholders, etc) with proper consideration for the planet - the world we live in (in terms of sustainability, environment, wildlife, natural resources, our heritage, 'fair trade', other cultures and societies, etc) and at all times acting with probity - encompassing love, integrity, compassion, honesty, and truth. Probity enables the other potentially conflicting aims to be harmonised so that the mix is sustainable, ethical and successful. Traditional inward-looking management and leadership skills (which historically considered only the purpose - typically profit - and the methods for achieving it) are no longer sufficient for sustainable organizational success. Organizations have a far wider agenda today. Moreover, performance, behaviour and standards are transparent globally - the whole world can see and judge how leaders and organizations behave - and the modern leader must now lead with this global accountability. From a

Professional Accounting Skills For BusinessDecisions Essay

Professional Accounting Skills For BusinessDecisions - Essay Example Through the group works that I was a member, I developed the skills of being able to think deep in my presentations. The group members demanded that everyone has to contribute in the group works which made me to think deeply before making my contribution. This made it possible for me to give relevant contributions that were within the context of the topic. 2. Perceptual skill; perceptual skill is the skill of being able to interpret information presented to you. As a member of the module group, I was expected to interpret the topics that we were undertaking. Through my time in the group I developed the ability to interpret issues brought to me. This helped me in reading the questions to discuss and come out with an explanation on what we are supposed to cover. Thus, I developed the ability to illustrate problems we are supposed to work on from the assignments allocated. 3. Motor skill; motor skill is the ability to move and control muscle. As a group member I benefited in this skill as the group involved a lot of field work. There were assignments that involved getting to the field to learn practical experience covered in our module. Thus, I experienced a lot of movement in collection of information that were needed in compiling field work findings. Through this exercises I gained motor skills in movements and stretching muscles. 4. Perceptual motor skill; perceptual motor skill is the ability of being able to think, interpret and move at the same time. As illustrated above, the group work involved deep thinking in contributions. To be able to think in a relevant angle that is of benefit to the group, one had to be able to interpret the assignment the way it means. The experience I had with the class group exposed to a level of being able to interpret first correctly. This helped me in thinking in the right context of what is expected of us in order to make relevant contribution. Also, the group assignments involved getting to some practical experience in the g round field. Thus, in our field work learning it involved going to different work places to get what is involved in the real work (Healey, 2000). I gained in the skills of being able to move through various stations interpreting what is going on and thinking deeply on what needs to be improved on all at one. This was a great skill development that I gained from my time in professional accounting in decision making group works. To earn these skills, I underwent personal stage developments that shaped how I viewed the module, and follow it in my group work (Stewart and Joines, 1987). The personal stages that I went through are unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence (Lapworth and Sills, 2011). Personal stages; 1. Unconscious incompetence; unconscious incompetence is the stage where a person in a group has no knowledge of what of the problems and how to fix them. During my first encounter with the group I was assigned to, I had a difficult moment understanding the group. At this stage I had the feeling that there is something that something was amiss but I lacked the knowledge on to identify it and how to fix it. This involved problems that I faced involved lack of leadership that caused problems in arranging venue to hold discussion and share tasks. I felt that as a group we were not taking the right decision in