Project Profitability

Preface

I’d like to propose that companies unknowingly waste and lose billions of dollars annually on improvement projects such as IT solutions, Six-Sigma, lean, process improvement, and equipment-based improvements. It’s not to suggest these projects aren’t important or valuable, they just do not deliver on the promised savings. Consider the following.

Let’s say someone makes the following offer: invest $100 thousand on an improvement project for your organization, and the solution will yield $1 million in savings. The promise may be made by an outside consultant, or even someone who works for your organization—a manager trying to improve her department, for example, or a team of individuals looking to make a difference for the firm. The suggestion ...