Beyond Lean

This book by Peter Béndek presents a strong case against the current practice of
business operations improvement, based
on numerous studies from the business world as well as insights from the most
prestigious authors of the last fifty years. The author contests the applicability and indeed the relevance of the Toyota
Production System and its spin-offs to the Western context, claiming that a
revised approach is much better suited to taking our specific cultural
conditions into account, while also combining increased transparency, speed, and
sustainability of change with a robust value-creating capability. Dr. Béndek
argues that this approach can have a far-reaching impact on corporate cultures
by offering an all-encompassing learning system, one that provides a more
coherent and actionable continuous improvement strategy than conventional
approaches. The book offers an important guide to rethinking operations
management, both in academia and business practice.

Part One.- 1. Whatis wrong with the current continuous improvement (CI) practice?.- 2. Whatis continuous improvement, and what is not.- 3. Strategiesof TPS/Lean implementation.- 4. TheToyota Way.- Part Two.- 5. Buildinga new framework.- 6. Anew framework.- 7. Conclusionand practical benefits.