Newswise — CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — 16 December 2014 — In a world in which organizations must constantly battle to save money and generate revenues, how can they target the best methods to free up resources and run more effectively?

The Lean Anthology: A Practical Primer in Continual Improvement (CRC Press), by University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Elliott N. Weiss and Rebecca Goldberg (MBA '03), Darden alumna and management consultant at Goldberg Strategic Inc., is a new resource that leverages familiar, everyday stories to illustrate the concepts supporting a lean transformation. The book is a resource for those with undergraduate and graduate business educations and supports corporate learning and lean initiatives. The book is useful not only in manufacturing, but also in settings not traditionally associated with lean.

Why This Book Is Different

The book gives practical, actionable guidance for efficient work/life balance. So often, students of lean — whether in a corporate or an academic setting — get lost in the esoteric, “theoretical lean” side of things. This prevents or delays success. The Lean Anthology uses practical examples that readers can intuitively understand and apply — bridging the gap between lean theory and true lean implementation. Students and employees are engaged when they understand the benefits of change and are able to generalize lean concepts in a holistic way.

Some examples from the book of lean in action: Two people discuss their approaches to car care — which helps to explain predictive, preventive and reactive maintenance. A hard-working executive changes his daily routine to accomplish the same amount of work, yet preserves more time for family. A busy mother designs a “critical path” to shepherd her children to the school bus each day without any “defects.” The stories in The Lean Anthology walk participants through a strategic path toward a lean conversion, represented as the 5-Cs of Customer, Capability, Control, Coordination, and Context & Culture. The best investment an organization can make in successful change is to support true understanding and engagement; the book makes that investment tangible and accessible to organizations implementing lean thinking.

The Lean Anthology:

• Illustrates lean and operations management concepts through real-world case studies• Provides an intuitive understanding of lean concepts to those without an operations management background• Covers many of the concepts in a typical graduate-level operations management course• Contains only two equations• Shows ways to use “The 5-Cs” to become more effective, both personally and professionally

Bringing lessons from the book to the classroom, Weiss co-teaches the upcoming Darden Executive Education program Management Essentials for Developing Leaders from 7 to 12 June 2015. This general-management program includes marketing, accounting, leadership and lean implementation streams.

About the Darden School of BusinessThe University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world’s best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. Darden’s top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville,Virginia.

Press ContactMatt CharlesDirector of Media RelationsDarden School of BusinessUniversity of Virginia[email protected]+1-434-924-7502

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