Business Fables & Foibles

Business Fables and Foibles is a series of whimsical, satirical stories that highlight many of the foibles in businesses across the world, particularly in manufacturing companies. It is both serious and amusing, using short, fictitious stories to illustrate various principles and lessons. For example, many executives will talk about their people as being their most important asset, but in a downturn will quickly think of them as their biggest expense, and cut them. Would you be quick to eliminate your most important asset? The story of the huntin' dog and the kennel dog illustrates how many executives don't understand the difference between the two, and often place kennel dogs in positions of higher authority, when a good huntin' dog would have been a much better choice for the company's success. The story of the gloves illustrates how senior managers will make seeming small decisions of which they have little knowledge, and that should be made by the shop floor. This lack of understanding of what is actually happening on the shop floor leads to higher costs and lower profitability, and indeed puts the company's business future at risk. If you want to know about the problems with the work, ask the workers. It is hoped that these, and over 30 other stories provided, will help all who read them take away lessons they can apply in their business to make it more successful.
About the Author: Ron Moore is the Managing Partner of The RM Group, Inc., Knoxville, TN. He travels worldwide working with large manufacturing and heavy industrial companies, providing operational excellence seminars and workshops, facilitating change management, and doing benchmarking reviews. His clients are located in North and South America, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the Far East. Prior to starting The RM Group, Ron served for five years as President of CSI, then the market leader in industrial instruments and software for equipment condition monitoring. He also served for eight years as chairman of the Industry Advisory Board at the University of Dayton's Center for Competitive Change. He is the author of Making Common Sense Common Practice: Models for Manufacturing Excellence, now in its 4th edition, of What Tool? When? A Management Guide for Selecting the Right Improvement Tools, now in its 2nd edition; and of Our Transplant Journey: A Caregiver's Story, as well as some 50 journal articles. He holds a BSME, MSME, MBA, PE, and CMRP.