Freedom from Command and Control Rethinking Management for Lean Service [Hardcover]

An adherent of the Toyota Production System, John Seddon explains how traditional top-down decision making within service organizations leads to managers who are detached from employees and remote from operations. He demonstrates that decision-making based on purpose-related measures (such as putting customers first and improving services) can help managers reconnect with operations, see waste, and exploit opportunities for improvement. Through extensive case material, he differentiates between command and control and systems thinking and illustrates how the latter leads to improved service, revenues, and staff morale. He also posits that the service industry is fundamentally different from manufacturing, and shows how Toyota production principles must be transformed for application in service organizations.Introduction: There Is a Better Way
Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time in Manufacturing
Chapter 2: The Customer Service Center as a System
Chapter 3: Redefining the Purpose, Measures, and Method of Work
Chapter 4: Better Measures, Better Thinking
Chapter 5: The 'Break-Fix' Archetype
Chapter 6: Learning to See, Learning to Lead
Chapter 7: Customers - People Who Can Pull You Away from the Competition
Chapter 8: Do These Hold Water?
Chapter 9: Watch Out for the Toolheads
Conclusion: Revisiting Taylorism
Appendix: The Better Way to Improve Public Services
Notes
Further Reading
Index
About the Author