Company Examples

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Lockheed Martin - Skunk Works
from Lockheed Martin Skunk Works


 * 1) The Skunk Works® manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.
 * 2) Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.
 * 3) The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).
 * 4) A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.
 * 5) There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.
 * 6) There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program. Don't have the books ninety days late and don't surprise the customer with sudden overruns.
 * 7) The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.
 * 8) The inspection system as currently used by the Skunk Works®, which has been approved by both the Air Force and Navy, meets the intent of existing military requirements and should be used on new projects. Push more basic inspection responsibility back to subcontractors and vendors. Don't duplicate so much inspection.
 * 9) The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight. He can and must test it in the initial stages. If he doesn't, he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.
 * 10) The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works® practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.
 * 11) Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn't have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.
 * 12) There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor with very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.
 * 13) Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.
 * 14) Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.

Google
from New York Times: GOOGLE engineers are encouraged to take 20 percent of their time to work on something company-related that interests them personally. This means that if you have a great idea, you always have time to run with it.

Bharat Mediratta taking part in a “grouplet” meeting at Google, reflecting its emphasis on allowing employees time for independent projects. It sounds obvious, but people work better when they’re involved in something they’re passionate about, and many cool technologies have their origins in 20 percent time, including Gmail, Google News and even the Google shuttle buses that bring people to work at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

If your 20 percent idea is a new product, it’s usually pretty easy to just find a few like-minded people and start coding away. But when the thing you really want to work on is to make a broad change across the whole organization, you need something new — you need a “grouplet.”

Toyota
from Wikipedia Article The 14 Principles of the Toyota Way is Toyota's management philosophy as described by external observers of Toyota. The main ideas are to base management decisions on a "philosophical sense of purpose", to think long term, to have a process for solving problems, to add value to the organization by developing its people, and to recognize that continuously solving root problems drives organizational learning.

The Toyota Way has been called "a system designed to provide the tools for people to continually improve their work" The 14 principles of The Toyota Way are organized in four sections: I) Long-Term Philosophy, II) The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results, III) Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People, and IV) Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning. The principles are set out and briefly described below:

Section I — Long-Term Philosophy
Principle 1 People need purpose to find motivation and establish goals.
 * Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.

Section II — The Right Process Will Produce the Right Results
Principle 2
 * Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.

Work processes are redesigned to eliminate waste (muda) through the process of continuous improvement — kaizen. The seven types of muda are:
 * 1) Overproduction
 * 2) Waiting (time on hand)
 * 3) Unnecessary transport or conveyance
 * 4) Overprocessing or incorrect processing
 * 5) Excess inventory
 * 6) Motion
 * 7) Defects

Principle 3
 * Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction.

A method where a process signals its predecessor that more material is needed. The pull system produces only the required material after the subsequent operation signals a need for it. This process is necessary to reduce overproduction.

Principle 4
 * Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like the tortoise, not the hare).

This helps achieve the goal of minimizing waste (muda), not overburdening people or the equipment (muri), and not creating uneven production levels (mura).

Principle 5
 * Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Quality takes precedence (Jidoka). Any employee in the Toyota Production System has the authority to stop the process to signal a quality issue.

Principle 6
 * Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.

Although Toyota has a bureaucratic system, the way that it is implemented allows for continuous improvement (kaizen) from the people affected by that system. It empowers the employee to aid in the growth and improvement of the company.

Principle 7
 * Use visual control so no problems are hidden.

Included in this principle is the 5S Program - steps that are used to make all work spaces efficient and productive, help people share work stations, reduce time looking for needed tools and improve the work environment.


 * Sort: Sort out unneeded items
 * Straighten: Have a place for everything
 * Shine: Keep the area clean
 * Standardize: Create rules and standard operating procedures
 * Sustain: Maintain the system and continue to improve it

Principle 8
 * Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes.

Technology is pulled by manufacturing, not pushed to manufacturing.

Section III — Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People
Principle 9
 * Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.

Without constant attention, the principles will fade. The principles have to be ingrained, it must be the way one thinks. Employees must be educated and trained: they have to maintain a learning organization.

Principle 10
 * Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy.

Teams should consist of 4-5 people and numerous management tiers. Success is based on the team, not the individual.

Principle 11
 * Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.

Toyota treats suppliers much like they treat their employees, challenging them to do better and helping them to achieve it. Toyota provides cross functional teams to help suppliers discover and fix problems so that they can become a stronger, better supplier.

Section IV: Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning
Principle 12
 * Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu).

Toyota managers are expected to "go-and-see" operations. Without experiencing the situation firsthand, managers will not have an understanding of how it can be improved. Furthermore, managers use Tadashi Yamashima's (President, Toyota Technical Center (TTC)) ten management principles as a guideline:


 * 1) Always keep the final target in mind.
 * 2) Clearly assign tasks to yourself and others.
 * 3) Think and speak on verified, proven information and data.
 * 4) Take full advantage of the wisdom and experiences of others to send, gather or discuss information.
 * 5) Share information with others in a timely fashion.
 * 6) Always report, inform and consult in a timely manner.
 * 7) Analyze and understand shortcomings in your capabilities in a measurable way.
 * 8) Relentlessly strive to conduct kaizen activities.
 * 9) Think "outside the box," or beyond common sense and standard rules.
 * 10) Always be mindful of protecting your safety and health.

Principle 13
 * Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly (nemawashi).

The following are decision parameters:
 * 1) Find what is really going on (go-and-see) to test
 * 2) Determine the underlying cause
 * 3) Consider a broad range of alternatives
 * 4) Build consensus on the resolution
 * 5) Use efficient communication tools

Principle 14
 * Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen).

The process of becoming a learning organization involves criticizing every aspect of what one does. The general problem solving technique to determine the root cause of a problem includes:
 * 1) Initial problem perception
 * 2) Clarify the problem
 * 3) Locate area/point of cause
 * 4) Investigate root cause (5 whys)
 * 5) Countermeasure
 * 6) Evaluate
 * 7) Standardize