It is not a crisis - at least not yet - but numerous Canadian SMEs need to get with the lean program before it's too late. The authors visited 18 firms and though they found that lean practices were wanting, they were able to turn their findings into recommendations that manufacturing managers everywhere can implement to make their operations lean.

Designing services that deliver memorable personal experiences is a science and an art that is poorly understood. Borrowing from the masters of managing performances, the theatre industry, the authors examine the process for staging plays. Based on their study, the authors draw inferences that can help service experience managers create more memorable face-to-face service encounters. Illustrates seven steps managers should follow to ensure service experience success.

The received wisdom--which many practitioners rigidly follow--assumes that competitiveness in a global economy requires companies to focus on core competencies, reduce their number of suppliers, and develop strong partner relationships built on shared information and trust with the remaining suppliers. But interviews with leading practitioners indicate that blind adherence to this three-step approach trivializes the issue and may be bad medicine. We provide a simple guideline for choosing the appropriate relationship for each supplier. An important consideration is whether the supplier relationship aims at cost reduction or value-added benefits for the customer, or both. The appropriate relationship could be one of competitive tension, cooperative partnership, or strategic alliance. In this study, the firms with successful outsourcing strategies began with well-developed and rigorous technological forecasts. Otherwise, strategic outsourcing will be filled with many blind avenues and deeply regretted decisions.

The technical services manager must decide on how to proceed with the development of a new fish head cutting device based on results from a summer study of fish flesh waste. Various alternatives are presented along with projected costs, all with varying degrees of technological and financial risk. (A sequel to this case is available, titled Canadian Fishing Company (B), case 9A88D007.)

The services manager was reviewing the latest progress status of the new fish head cutting device development program. The project was behind schedule and decisions needed to be made on several contingency plans. The technical services manager also wondered how to ensure speedy development of the device without jeopardizing the joint venture relationship. (This case is a sequel to Canadian Fishing Company (A), case 9A88D006.)