Kindred Strangers or The Portal to Lean Production

Kindred Strangers: The Uneasy Relationship between Politics and Business in America

Author: David Vogel

Notwithstanding the myriad forms of government assistance to American business, the relationship of business to politics in the United States remains a highly antagonistic one, characterized by substantial mutual distrust. This adversarial relationship is both reflected and reinforced not only in American business ideology, but also in America's unique legalistic and confrontational style of regulation, the political strategies of the public interest movement, the American approach to American industrial policy, and the distinctive way Americans think about the subject of business ethics. This volume brings together more than two decades of scholarship on business and politics by one of the leading authorities on this subject.

These essays also explore a number of critical contemporary issues, including the ongoing debate over the scope and extent of business power in America, the growth of shareholder protests and consumer boycotts, the changing politics of consumer and environmental regulation, and the emergence of both public and business interest in business ethics. In addition, they place the contemporary dynamics of American business-government relations in both an historical and comparative context. Finally these essays demonstrate e the importance of integrating the study of business by political scientists with the study of politics by students of management.

Interesting book: The Radio Broadcasting Industry or Fifty Years of the Deutsche Mark

The Portal to Lean Production: Principles and Practices for Doing More with Less (Series on Resource Management)

Author: John Nicholas

The Portal to Lean Production: Principles and Practices for Doing More with Less describes the steps, difficulties, and rewards of implementing lean production. The book moves beyond concepts to address practical matters. The authors provide enough information for you to begin implementing lean production within your organization. This book applies a model-the Portal to Lean Production-to illustrate principles and practices. The model reappears at the start of every chapter and serves to connect the concepts of each chapter with those in other chapters, and with basic lean production principles. This volume contains short vignettes that appear in every chapter of actual lean production implementations. Following these real-world examples, the text provides expanded coverage of topics to enable you to learn and apply concepts and principles. The authors enable you to see the context, application, and practical issues associated with lean production concepts and methods before learning details. The vignettes, based upon the work experience of co-author Avi Soni, help connect the concepts and tie them to practical examples.

Table of Contents:

1	Portal to lean production	1
2	Beginnings	15
3	First glimpse of a manufacturing cell	31
4	Gaining experience, broadening the concept	47
5	Applying the cell concept plantwide	69
6	Kanban	89
7	Total productive maintenance	113
8	Quick changeover	141
9	Standard work	161
10	Focused factories	177
11	Customer-focused quality	199
12	Employee involvement, workplace organization, kaizen	233
13	Supply-chain partnerships	251
14	The lean enterprise	271
15	Lean culture transformation	291