Often it is superseded by another transformational wave of change, such as the mass use of the computer. Often improvement initiatives lose focus. The author is concerned with that approach as a phase. It is a philosophy that should have underlaid the entire productivity revolution from process monitoring, to process control, to statistical process control over the ten to twenty year harvesting time frame. In industry, an associated change also occurs in the responsibility for metrics and in the level in the organization for performing the measurements including managing their changing nature.
Management typically directs strategic improvement and sets target measures.
As improvements accrue, responsibility moves throughout the organization. Brad is a faculty member at the University of Dayton and Tufts University and an internationally recognized speaker and author on rapid product development.