They Just Don't Get It!

leaders stand in the gap, bring transparency to the table, and help teams believe they can win. Operation Compete In the late 1990s, RR Donnelley faced massive disruption. Digital technologies, the internet, and declining catalog and magazine volumes were eroding demand, but the urgency hadn't fully reached the shop floor. New CEO Bill Davis stepped into a company where executives felt the financial pressure but couldn't see the operational realities, plant managers knew their facilities but lacked market context, and front-line employees had valuable ideas no one had ever asked for. The challenge was twofold—connect strategy with execution and reduce costs across the network. Davis brought in McKinsey & Company to deploy their Total Operational Performance Systems (TOPS) methodology—designed not only to cut costs but to break down the organizational walls that kept good ideas buried. The process was deliberately provocative (some said, "ridiculous"): each plant had to identify 40% of its compressible costs, forcing leaders to think well beyond incremental

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