4. LEAN

Fifteen percent of organizations surveyed by HDI use LEAN today, with an additional 8 percent planning to use the business process going forward.

LEAN is focused on teaching employees how to reduce waste and improve efficiencies in their organization. The process allows products and services to be made with less human effort, less time, less space, less capital and lower costs with much fewer defects than a traditional business system.

LEAN thinking causes management to focus more on optimizing the flow of products and services across technologies, assets and departments to customers.

LEAN is derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS), which focused on reducing seven types of waste to improve customer value. Toyota's growth from a small company to the world's largest automaker popularized this management philosophy.