Book Report 3: The Goal

   In the last segment of The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, the protagonist, Alex, realizes that within his plant, production of a good is only a fast as it's slowest process or machine, and that production is not complete until all components of production have been finalized. He discovers this after leading his son's boy scout troop on a hike and observing the group's ability to stay together and moving around boys within the group based on their speed, and eventually distributing the weight of the slowest boy's backpack to alleviate his work load and speed up the whole group. Alex calls the slowest machines that are holding up production in the plant "Herbies" after the slowest boy on the hike. When Alex sent his team searching for Herbie in the plant, the team discovered that the plant actually had two Herbies, and both machines perform very important processes that are necessary for at least eighty percent of all parts that are produced in the plant. Alex calls Jonah, an acquaintance who has been advising him, for advice. 

   Jonah describes what he calls "bottlenecks," which are resources with capacity less than or equal to market demand, and "non-bottlenecks," which are resources with excess capacity. The bottlenecks are essentially the Herbies of the plant. They do not have the capacity to handle the demand placed upon them, and hold up other processes in the plant because of their importance. Essentially, the bottlenecks determine the effective capacity of the plant. Ideally, the flow of products through the bottlenecks should be slightly less than that of market demand, so that in case market demand decreases, the plant does not experience a loss. The group identified the bottlenecks as the heat-treat furnace that all materials run through, and the NCX-10 machine that handles the work that used to take three separate machines. Looking through the plant, the group can find no reasonable alternative to using these two machines, and purchasing more machines would be beyond their means. Jonah visits the plant to help find solutions. 

   One change that Jonah recommends is to move quality control from after heat-treat to before heat-treat. By making this change, defective batches will not waste time and room in the furnace. He also advises to have the bottlenecks working constantly during every available production hour, and that the group should negotiate with the union to find a way to keep the machine running during breaks. Next, Jonah wants to know if processes can be moved to other machines, such as the old machines that were replaced by the NCX-10. Unfortunately, the old machines were sold and no other machines in the plant can do the same job. Jonah discusses outsourcing some batches instead of performing bottleneck tasks in-house. He then tells the group that the bottlenecks should work only on parts that are immediately necessary, rather than working on spare parts. Basically, the plant should only focus on production that will contribute to throughput. Finally, to put an emphasis on how important the bottlenecks are to the plant, Jonah explains that the actual operating cost of a bottleneck is the total expense of all work in progress in the system divided by the operating hours of the bottleneck, because the bottlenecks are vital to almost every product that passes through the plant. 

   Taking Jonah's advice into consideration, the group decides to produce strictly according to overdue orders in order of lateness, making sure that this priority system is carried through to the bottlenecks. Quickly, Alex notices issues with his priority system because the machinists on non-bottleneck machines cannot distinguish important orders from unimportant orders, and were working on orders that didn't need to be run through the bottlenecks. The group then decides to mark orders with red and green tags so that workers in the plant know which orders are necessities. Alex is able to convince the plant's union representative to change the policy on lunch and coffee breaks for workers who are running the bottleneck machines, so that they can keep the machines working without wasting operating hours and slowing down production. The plant is also able to acquire an older piece of equipment for free from another plant that, combined with another piece of equipment the plant already owned, is able to do the work of the NCX-10 machine. Finally, after observing the effects of the changes on the plant, it becomes clear that one team of workers on heat-treat furnace have been significantly more productive than the teams working in other shifts. Alex speaks to the team leader to discover what they had been doing differently to get such stellar results, which involved arranging and mixing batches of materials to be placed in the furnace while the previous batch was being heated. Alex gives the team leader the night off and asks him to come in the following day to explain his strategy to teams working the other shifts. After making these changes, the team celebrates a new plant record of fifty-seven orders shipped in one month, totaling approximately three million dollars, with a twelve percent decline in inventory!

Culture Monsters

After reading the article about Walmart's uniform change, I started thinking about other cultural changes In the Walmart scenario, they were changing the uniform from a smock to a polo shirt and khakis, and we discussed the impression the uniforms had on employees and customers, and how they spoke about Walmart's culture and values. At first I thought of uniform changes at places where I have worked, but then I started thinking outside of just clothing. One thing that I considered was Sesame Street, and changing the Cookie Monster to the Veggie Monster. I don't recall watching the show much when I was little, so I'm not really affected by the change, but I know a lot of people who dislike the change because it's simply not what they grew up with. The change was intended to send a healthier message to kids about eating, and thus trying to shape the culture of American youth. This also made me question whether Sesame Street defines youth culture, or is simply an accent, and the same for Walmart. If youth culture pulls from greater influences than just Sesame Street, the change from Cookie Monster to Veggie Monster could result in a loss of viewer interest because they can no longer relate to the characters. If, on the other hand, Sesame Street has a significant influence in defining youth culture, then perhaps the change can help to encourage healthier eating habits among American youth. In the situation with Walmart, I feel that there is an issue with who defines Walmart's culture between the employees and management. Depending on what cultural influences impact an employee outside of work, each employee may have a different take on the uniform and whether they accept or reject it. Walmart can try to change to a more business-casual uniform, but just because they change the appearance of their employees does not mean that they can make the employees buy in to the core values and culture of the company.

Nacirema

I found it particularly interesting how Body Rituals Among the Nacirema is set to repulse the average American when, in fact, it describes the daily lifestyle of most Americans. Three facts that the article notes that I found interesting were using hogs-hair brushes to clean their mouths, visiting the holy mouth man who fills teeth with magical potions, and women sticking their heads in ovens. This all sounds somewhat disgusting, mythical, or even dangerous. However, how are these acts different from the practices of most Americans? The hogs-hair brush is a toothbrush. The holy mouth man is a dentist who fills cavities. Women who stick their heads in ovens are just taking a trip to the salon to get their hair done. The article also mentions that the Nacirema place an emphasis on the mouth and its influence over social situations. Most Americans are obsessed with their teeth, since the mouth is a gateway of communication.
The article mentions the daily practices of most Americans, but changes some semantics to make the actions sound bizzarre. I enjoy that the article forces the reader to confront and analyze his or her own habits, and even prejudgements. In part, I think this shows that we tend to frown upon habits that seem different from our own without actually analyzing them. If it sounds strange or different from the way we do something, then it must therefore be horribly weird and impractical, and as such the Nacirema are clearly barbaric.

Socialization at CMJ 2011

After spending the past week in Manhattan and Brooklyn for the CMJ Music Marathon, I feel obligated to relate some of this week's readings to various trends I noticed on my trip. One thing I noticed in particular was the importance of socialization. Initially, I viewed the primary goal of my trip as networking with other radio stations, promotional firms, record labels, and other industry folks. Reflecting now, however, I feel that a large portion of my adventures this week were actually attempts at socialization made by promoters.
For each day of my five-day stay New York, I was basically courted by promotional companies. I have worked with a number of these people over the past two years, but met even more during CMJ. Every day my presence was requested at a number of promoter meetings and showcases, and even offices. A large part of these meetings was getting a general feel for a company (and it is unarguable that each company has developed its own culture) and in finding ways to work efficiently with the group based on feedback on various artists and events.
Since I've been working as a music director for over two years, I have learned a good deal about how to hold my ground when working with promoters, and as a result I am being considered by a few companies for internships and/or employment. Most of the socialization this past week was an attempt to help me adapt to a company's culture, and seeing if I am actually worth hiring. One group in particular was interesting in how they handled the socialization. Within this group, all of the promoters were encouraged to attend the same events of artists they had been/are promoting. This group, while maintaining a level of cohesion in requiring support from all members, was also very open to discussion about the artists. Two other groups tried to develop cohesion through different activities than simply attending showcases together. For one event, I was asked to perform karaoke because the group viewed it as essential "to put oneself out there" despite how uncomfortable it may be, in order to make a solid impression and ease later interactions. This same company also works as a team in several annual 5K charity races to build cohesion outside of the office. As unrelated as some of these activities may seem to promoting musicians and other programming, it is hard to find a stronger or more outgoing team of promoters.
Overall, I think this showed both socialization that encouraged individuality (attending showcases for the group, but encouraging honest positive or negative feedback) and socialization that put little emphasis on individuality and a huge emphasis on group cohesion (numerous team events that are unrelated to record promotion). All of the companies I met with showed how cohesive they were as a whole, and it was interesting to observe how they used different methods of socialization, and how effective those methods were at crafting a stronger group.

Book Report 2: The Goal

   In the most recent segment of The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, the protagonist, Alex Rogo, struggles to apply Jonah's equation to the issues in his UniCo manufacturing plant. To recap, Jonah is an old acquaintance who is advising Alex on the issues with his failing plant. Alex's plant is in danger of closing within three months if he does not make several serious improvements. The issue is in identifying what needs to be changed to bring about those improvements. Jonah has Alex ponder the goal of a business, which is ultimately to make money. In order to do this, Jonah claims that the plant must increase throughput while simultaneously decreasing both inventories and operational expense. In this equation, throughput is the rate at which the system generates sales, inventories are the money the plant invests to purchase things it plans to sell, and operational expense is the money the company invests to turn inventory into throughput. Now, Alex must determine how to make all three changes occur simultaneously within his plant.
   Alex spends much time brainstorming how he can increase throughput while decreasing inventory and operational expense, but has difficulty at first. One problem he encounters is that in order to make some of those changes occur, he may lower his efficiencies, which would upset his boss, Bill Peach, and further threaten the existence of the plant. To get more advice, Alex flies to New York to discuss the problem with Jonah. Jonah discusses the myth of a balanced plant with Alex, who believes that the plant may need to balance capacity with market demand. However, this would raise inventory and carrying costs through the roof and ultimately lead to bankruptcy. Jonah now describes dependent events and statistical fluctuations, which are events that depend on other events to occur, and variances from one event to the next, respectively.  He leaves Alex to ponder the dependent events and statistical fluctuations within the plant.
   Alex is baffled and doesn't know where to start. It isn't until he is asked to lead his son's boy scout troop on a ten mile hike that he gets ideas. During the hike, large distances constantly appear between the boys. Alex tries to figure out a way to prevent the gaps in the line from occurring, but struggles to do so and decides to observes from the back of the line. During the hike, he realizes that if one boy moves slower, that causes everyone behind him to move slower. If another person moves slower, that hold the rest back as well. Essentially, no one can move faster than the person in front of them. Each hiker's speed is an event dependent on the speed of the hiker in front of him. The speed and any pauses are statistical fluctuations.
  There is one boy in particular, Herbie, who is overweight and out of shape. Herbie moves much slower than the other boys and holds back those ahead of him. He runs to keep up with the boy in front of him. Still, gaps continue to appear. After a while, the boys rearrange themselves to a position that they find optimal. The fastest hiker is in the front, and Herbie is at the end with Alex. At this point, the gaps are even worse. The troop is already behind schedule and Alex must find a way to finish the hike on time. He recognizes that the line is only as fast as it's slowest member because the hike is not complete until it's last member has completed it. He decides to test an idea and moves Herbie to the front of the line to lead to troop. The group realizes that Herbie has a massive backpack and distributes the items in the bag throughout the group to lighten Herbie's load. Herbie is able to move at a brisk pace, and the other boys can keep up with him and stay condensed. They manage to finish their remaining hike in an optimal time after this change.
   Alex is able to take the lesson he learned on the hike and apply it to his plant. He decides that he must find the "Herbies" in his plant, or the machines that are bogged down and holding up work-in-progress. While searching though the plant, Alex and his group find that there are two essential machines that are slowing down progress. While searching for these machines, the group realizes that most of their data on the machines in the plant are very outdated and not useful. They also cannot think of alternatives to the two machines, or how to alleviate and redistribute the workload from those two machines that are so vital to the processes that go on in the plant.
 

Negotiating for Dummies

I royally fail at price negotiation. There's no way around it. I feel uncomfortable making exaggerations, and I'm nervous that if I threaten to walk away, then I'll lose what I want. I set my goals low, accepting early defeat. However, after reading Secrets of Power Negotiating, I think I may be able to turn things around a bit. Roger Dawson offers several pieces of advice. For example, he recommended making extreme offers in the beginning. The offer may seem ridiculous to me since I know a realistic amount to accept, but the person I'm negotiating with may not know that. By setting an extreme price, the person I'm negotiating with may rethink what they know about the product or service, and switch up their offer. Dawson also recommends flinching, which seems very dramatic but can make the other party think that you are genuinely upset by their offer. Dawson also recommends offering concessions to move a split difference in your favor, and to be willing to walk out on a deal. If you aren't willing to walk out, you may as well not even bother negotiating. The key is to remember that both parties want to get something out of it, and if the other person feels more at risk for missing out, they may be more willing to give you the deal you want.

Resolving Disputes

Getting Disputes Resolved discusses three main approaches to resolving conflicts. This includes displays of who has the most power, who has the most right, or resolving in a way that suits everyone's interests. Typically, but not always, focusing on interests is the best way to resolve disputes because it has the lowest costs. When a dispute is resolved based on power, there is more room for disaster later on. One party is bound to feel like they are losing out, which can cause sore feelings and lead to recurrence of the initial dispute. This can also occur with negotiating based on rights, but it yields less dangerous results. However, there are certain situations where it is ideal to resolve issues by focusing on power or rights. One example would be in dealing with cases of civil rights. The article uses the example of Brown v the Board of Education, suggesting that if the issue of an African American child attending an all white school was resolved with a negotiation of interests, then the same result may have been reached for that child, but it would not have made a major impact on minority rights as a whole.

Book Report 1: The Goal

   "The Goal" is a business novel by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and co-authored by Jeff Cox. The story follows the protagonist Alex Rogo, the manager of a UniCo manufacturing plant as he struggles to save his factory from being shut down. We enter the story as Al's boss, Bill Peach, storms into the plant one morning and demands to know the status of a specific order that has yet to be delivered. Bill demands that the plant workers drop their current projects and finish the order immediately. As a result, he angers a union worker who winds up quitting, but only after accidentally damaging a special machine needed to produce the required part for the order. What is the cause for this upset? UniCo is hemorrhaging money, orders are being shipped weeks or months behinds schedule, and quite frankly, the company is failing. Bill gives Al three months to turn his plant around or else it will be shut down.
   Just two weeks before, all is well in Al's mind. He is en route to Houston to speak at a conference about the benefits of robotics in his manufacturing plant. The chairman of the board, Mr. Granby, even wants to stop by the plant to take pictures with the new robots. While waiting to catch his flight, Al has a chance meeting with Jonah, a physicist under whom Al studied mathematical models as a student. Al tries to start a conversation, mentioning the success of the new robots in his plant. They increased productivity by thirty-six percent! Jonah is unimpressed, though. He asks Al if the new robots caused the plant to make thirty-six percent more money. They do not; the productivity increase was just in one department. He asks if the plant was able to ship more orders, decrease employees, or decrease inventories. The robots failed to do any of that, so Jonah infers that the robots have not actually increased productivity, and that Al's plant is always late with orders and has inventory through the roof. Al is amazed that Jonah could deduce so much from what little information he was given, and asks Jonah for advice. Jonah informs Al that in every business, there is only one goal, and asks Al to think it through.
   When Al is faced with the challenge of saving his plant, he recalls his discussion with Jonah and ponders what the goal really is. Is it to produce more? Is it to maximize the market share, increase quality or purchase more efficiently? No, it's much simpler. The goal of any business is to make money. How can he tell if UniCo is making money, though? Al brings his inquiry to Lou, an accountant for UniCo, and they decide that in order to make money, they would need to increase net profit, while simultaneously increasing return on investment, and simultaneously increasing cash flow. Al may be able to get an explanation from the accountants as to what that means, but if he were to confront workers on the plant floor about increasing return on investment or cash flow or net profit, they could not see the direct correlation to their job. Al spends a late night trying to get in touch with Jonah again to get his opinion on the matter.
   Jonah explains making money using measurements that he names throughput, inventory and operational expense. He defines throughput as the rate at which the system generates money through sales, inventory as all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it plans to sell, and operational expense as the money that the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput. In order to increase productivity, Al's plant needs to increase throughput while decreasing inventory and operational expense.
   After analyzing the addition of the robots to the plant according to Jonah's measurements of productivity, Al realizes that the robots have actually hurt the plant rather than helped it. Since the company acquired the robots, there was no increase whatsoever in sales, and thus there was no increased throughput. In order to keep up efficiencies on the robots, they were set to work producing more and more parts. As a result, inventories sky-rocketed. The parts that were produced were not immediately needed, and as such the business had to store them, which increased operational expenses.
   In terms of working with groups, Al's greatest challenge thus far has been communicating the plant's goal with the factory workers. On one unexpected trip through the plant, he encounters three workers just standing around reading a newspaper. He informs their superior that he needs to get them working or he will move them to another area. Soon enough the workers are set to task, moving materials from one part of the plant to another. Is that really necessary, though? Sure, they may be working, but they are not being put to work that is actually productive.
   Al has not appeared to encounter many issues with maintaining the hierarchy within the plant, but does appear to have some issues with his superiors. While he stressed about dealing with his plant's failure, he decided that the meeting he had with Bill Peach and managers of other UniCo plants was pointless. He would gain no new insight by examining the efficiencies of the failing company. Instead, he fled the meeting during a break to reflect on his own. Al may have reached a better conclusion by dealing with the issue on his own, but was disrespectful to his superiors and co-workers in the process. As a result, Al had to deal with some very angry calls from Bill Peach. Communication from Bill to Al digressed to little more than shouting matches, which proved to be fairly inefficient for working with the superiors within UniCo.
   Outside of the factory, Al also faces a number of issues with his family. He is preoccupied with saving the factory and disregards his wife and children. His wife, Julie, does not like the area that they moved to for Al's job and is unhappy as a result. Al promises to take Julie out on the town, but something comes up. He promises to reschedule for the next night, and he forgets about that commitment as well. He is so preoccupied that he forgets to call home until ten at night to say that he will not be home for dinner. He struggles to communicate effectively with Julie, and she is often upset with him because of his absence and empty promises. Julie fails to understand why Al is upset about the potential loss of his plant, and possibly his job. While he is upset, she looks at it as a way out of the town she dislikes so much. Al clearly needs to communicate better with his family, and work on fulfilling his duties as a husband and father in order to resolve issues with Julie.