Rebirth of American Industry:A Study of Lean Management by William H. Waddell and Norman Bodek
If you are into promoting productivity (and who isn't), this book should be required reading. But, reading it will be  an adventure of discovery! For me, getting into this book was more than interesting. I found the stories about the Henry Ford era fascinating. What a history lesson! It is difficult to imagine that several of the lean practices were discovered and in place during the early years of the last century! The early manufacturing pioneers described in this book were ahead of their time. Unfortunately, subsequent generations let many of the lean achievements drift away, but fortunately the rediscovery, aided by books like Rebirth of American Industry, is well on its way.

 

“Rebirth puts American management on the carpet; showing how modern accounting drives American companies to non-lean measures.  It clearly demonstrates why American manufacturers continue to come up short when compared to their lean competitors. If unheeded, it could be the epitaph of a once-great manufacturing powerhouse.”  Bill Kluck, President, The Northwest Lean Networks

 

Foreword written by Dr. Thomas Johnson, author of Relevance Regained, and Relevance Lost, said “In Rebirth of American Industry, William Waddell and Norman Bodek provide a long overdue revision to the standard historical interpretation of the financial control system that DuPont brought to General Motors” which “ has been touted by business gurus such as Peter Drucker and Tom Peters and by leading graduate business schools as the gold standard of good management in American business from the 1950s to the present day.” And, “ Waddell's and Bodek's book helps mark the way by making us more mindful than ever of the pitfalls that lie waiting if we continue to follow the precepts of Sloan-style financial management.”  “Indeed, so long as top managers remain committed to the manage-by-results ‘Sloan culture,’ Waddell and Bodek believe that companies have no hope of adopting the "lean culture" that permeates Toyota's remarkably successful system.”