Oct 21 2025
From MBO to Hoshin Kanri
In 1995, Peter Drucker conceded that Management By Objectives (MBO) was not “the great cure for management inefficiency” he had believed when he coined the term 41 years earlier. In the meantime, the technique had contributed massively to the decline of American industry by turning managers into metrics gamers.
On 10/7/2025, The Conversation published an article by Aurélien Rouquet, reassuring us that Management by objectives is not a Nazi invention, contrary to what historian Johan Chapoutot claims. Rouquet attributes its paternity to Alfred P. Sloan, the head of General Motors who made it the most powerful company in the world by the end of World War II.
Rouquet’s article also includes a link to another article, dated 9/2/2024, where George Kassar asserts in the title that At 70, management by objectives remains unsurpassed. The most surprising thing, for an article on such a subject, is that it does not cite any company whose performance has been improved by MBO. And the author seems to ignore the existence of an approach that has surpassed MBO for decades, the Hoshin Kanri, which perhaps has the misfortune of coming from Japan.
Dec 22 2025
Three San Francisco Bay Area Writers Have Coffee
When Katie Anderson, Olivier Larue and I met last Thursday, what did we discuss? We started with the pros and cons of self-publishing versus going through established publishing houses. Then we talked about the challenges and opportunities of providing books in various media. We discussed Olivier’s two new books and, finally, our kids. Katie has the youngest ones; I have the oldest.
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By Michel Baudin • News 1 • Tags: Lean, Manufacturing, Publishing, Toyota