Books

[Richard Steyn]

General operations management books about improving processes:

Operations management, Slack Chambers Harrison Harland Harrison and Johnstone, 2nd Edition FT Pitman publishing, ISBN 0273-626688-4. (The text that the majority of business students use. Packed with case studies and worked examples).

Factory Physics by Wallace Hopp, Mark Spearman
Hopp presents the concepts of manufacturing processes and controls within a "physics" or "laws of nature" in a factory. There is enough quantitative material for an engineer's course, as well as narrative that is easy to understand and apply. However you have to bear in mind that in service industries we make appointments, i.e. units of time with resources attached and therefore they have no shelf life.

The 80 20 Principle, Richard Koch, The secret of achieving more with less, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 1 st edition 2000, ISBN 1-85788-168-0

Theory of constraints, Eliyahu M Goldratt The Goal, Eliyahu M Goldratt and Jeff Cox, Gower Press, Second Edition 1999 ISBN 0-566-07418–4 (Theory of constraints is an important and significant way of thinking about process bottlenecks in relation to variation in flow. The Goal is a novel that explains it.)

"Three wins..." Simon Dodds ISBN: 1-904235-54-9 Publisher: Kingsham Press, http://www.akdpress.com Simon Dodds is a vascular surgeon at Good Hope Hospital UK who has redesigned outpatient and inpatient services to benefit patients, staff and managers ‘3 wins’. He explains the process for problem solving that prevents the ‘win loose’ scenario’ and how to go about it. This involves helping every one in the service to understand and manage the constraints in the system.

Lean thinking:

Lean thinking is the philosophy by which processes are redesigned to meet the customer demand exactly without the need for ‘stock’, inventory, work in process or waiting lists. This is about looking for the waste in the process that makes or processes stuff that the customer or patient doesn’t want. Useful web page http://www.leanuk.org

Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones, Touchstone Books, ISBN 0-684-81976-7

The Toyota Way Jeffrey K Liker, McGraw Hill, ISBN 007 139 231 -9

Lean Lexicon – Lean Enterprise Institute (defines all the terms used to describe processes in Lean Thinking)

Learning to See – Mike Rother and John Shook. ISBN: 0-9667843-0-8 http://www.lean.org/BookStore/ProductCatalog.cfm This book is a working guide to process mapping, value stream mapping and exposing the waste in processes.

Breaking the constraints to world class performance, H William Dettmer, American Association for Quality, 1 st edition 1998, ISBN 0-87389-437-5

Fourth Generation Management, Brian L Joiner, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-032715-7

Lean Accounting
The major reason why Lean initiatives are blocked is in the current financial processes. These two books explain why and the change required to simplify the financial processes.

"Who's Counting? A Lean Accounting Business Novel
(Winner of the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence)
by Jerrold M. Solomon
This is an easy read but it makes the point.

"Lean Accounting"
Best Practices for Sustainable Integration
by Joe Stenzel
This book goes into detail as to the actual accounting changes required.

Books about systems theory applied to social systems:

The 5th Discipline and The 5th Discipline Field Guide, Peter Senge, Nicholas Brealey publishing, ISBN 1-85788-069-9

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, Abacus, ISBN 0-349-11346-7

Queuing theory:

Queuing Methods for Services and Manufacturing, Randall Hall

Statistical Process Control Books:

"Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos (2nd Edition)", Donald J. Wheeler; SPC Press. ISBN 00-945320-35-3 A good introducion for anyone wanting to understand the basics of performance management and the impact it has on human behaviour.

Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, Walter A. Shewhart, W. Edwards Deming ( the original text)

"Understanding Statistical Process Control", Donald J. Wheeler, David S. Chambers; SPC Press, ISBN 0-945320-13-2 ( the big textbook…)

“Statistical Process Control In The Office”, Mal Owen & John Morgan, Greenfield Publishing, ISBN 0-9523328-4-1

Measuring quality improvement in healthcare: A guide to statistical process control applications (1995), Raymond G Carey PhD and Robert C. Lloyd PhD, ISBN 0-527-76293-8

Statistical process control for healthcare (2002), Marilyn K Hart , Robert K Hart Duxbury Thompson Learning, http://www.Duxbury.com, ISB 0-534-37865-X

Quality Improvement: Practical application for medical group practice second edition. Davis Balustracci Jr MA and Jeanine L Barlow MPH, published by Centre of Research in Ambulatory Healh care Administracion 104 Inverness Terrace east Englewood, Colorado, ISBN 1-56829-015-2

Improving healthcare with control charts: Basic and advanced SPC methods and case studies. (2003)

Raymond G Carey. ASQ Quality Press ISBN 0-87389-562-2

Others:

Leading physicians through change: How to achieve and sustain results (2000)

Silversin J and Kornacki MJ ISBN 0-924674-81-4 ACPE publication

The Balanced Score Card 'Harvard Business Review'

Kaplan & Norton, Ref: 974XBN 1st March 2002 ISBN 0875846513

Getting to Yes - Negotiating agreement without giving in.

Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton. Penguin Books, ISBN 0140157352

[devina]

What is the best online source for accounting studies? I 'd like to know whether you know any good online source for studying and doing research on accounting. I want a website focused on accounting and relevant fields of business for my reference. You may use it most of the time due to your interest or profession. I don't mind it being free or not, just want to know the bests on the net according to your experience.

[simon]

The path I have found into the accounting side of a "lean" organisation is to take the Theory of Constraints (ToC) route - I am not an accountant so I can ask child-like questions. I understand that the single most important output of a commercial company is profit (or rather shareholder dividend) and therefore from the shareholders perspective the company is just a dividend-generating-system. ToC simplifies the compexity inherent in a whole system by taking the view that in any system there must be one constraint that limits the flow of profit from the system - the profit bottleneck so to speak. If follows that focussing attention on finding and managing the constraint is the simplest and most effective way to control profit. So, with this refreshingly obvious simplification it makes the whole issue of measuring and managing the financial aspect of a company a lot easier - too easy for cost accountants perhaps - hence the resistance they offer to the concept. The whole subject is called Throughput Accounting and the most readable book I've found so far is "Throughput Accounting: a guide to constraint management" by Steven M. Bragg (ISBN: 978-0-471-25109-5) - who is a well respected accountant so that is a good sign. Simon Dodds

[Richard Steyn]

Can also recommend:
Data Sanity - a quantum leap to unprecedented results
by Davis Balestracci Jr
Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) publications
ISBN 978-1-56829-295-3

[Richard Steyn]

Another book recently recommended to me is

Practical Lean Accounting: A Proven System for Measuring and Managing the Lean Enterprise
by Brian H. Maskell & Bruce Baggaley
Productivity Press; 1 edition (19 Dec 2003)
ISBN-10: 1563272431
ISBN-13: 978-1563272431