In response to a recommended diary which suggests that "just-in-time" inventory control is another idea which is toxic, and will lead to a further crisis, I felt the need to leave a rather long comment. That comment is now this diary, and the point, to be brief, is that "just-in-time" is simply a management idea. That idea has some useful applications. But, like any other idea in any other realm, that idea can also have potential dreadful consequences when it is applied indiscriminately or inappropriately. My problem with that diary is that it seeks to make an idea responsible for the results of bad behavior and lack of judgment. It is on a par with blaming the theory of evolution for social changes one rejects.
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The problem with all management "fads" is that what often begins as an interesting idea worth discussion quickly becomes a doctrinaire approach implemented without reflection.
As a result, large corporations have wasted billions over the years creating "teams" where teams were neither required nor productive. They "re-engineered" when systems were working just fine and the new systems were "profitable" not by virtue of the "re-engineering", but because it was accompanied by cutting costs--most notably payrolls--in a fit of "rightsizing". They created unworkable environments by investing massively in ERP systems that provided little or no benefit, but excessive costs.
In all cases, a thoughtful and reflective approach could have identified that the scale, benefits or appropriateness of these initiatives was very much in question. This is not to say there weren't/aren't situations where these might be effective approaches, just that the effectiveness was not the deciding factor. What was? Likelihood to demonstrate by doing "irrational and unproductive things" that some manager/executive was "a can-do manager who makes things happen". What sorts of things? "teamwork exercises,... writing mission statements,... random organizational changes,... micromanagement"
(From Dogbert's Management Handbook, Ch. 1.1)
Lest you think I quote Dogbert in jest, I teach project management, change management, strategy and leadership in various forms, and have worked with many organizations dealing, mostly, with the unintended fallout from these kinds of activities. And, unfortunately, Dogbert actually nails it--most of these are implemented because they are seen to be the contemporary management wisdom. And implementing ideas which are considered wise and modern is what many people in HR, OD and so on, as well as some line managers, believe is how they will succeed and get promoted. The fact is that no plan, process or theory can possibly address the one prerequisite for success which is most often missing: good judgment.
Ultimately, that is what makes "just-in-time" a problem: the mindless application of it as a panacea for corporate waste, without either intelligence or judgment. In many cases, also without the kinds of "values" we'd like to believe we all share. Sometimes the lack of those values is conscious; in many cases, there simply is neither time nor willingness to confront values at all.
So, to be fair, the ideas behind just-in-time are not really to blame. Unlike the financial crisis, which was precipitated primarily by a combination of fraudulent business practices (there's no other way to accurately describe the use of credit default swaps, nor the selling of mortgages to those unable to pay) and human weakness, just-in-time is a potentially useful idea, which has suffered from indiscriminate application to a myriad of situations, with neither seriousness nor real concern.
But everything comes down to a stunning lack of judgment in those who run our institutions, our governments and our corporations. And that lack of judgment at the top is about the only thing that has actually trickled down in the economy over the last 20 years.