Lately I've been thinking about change initiatives within an organization, particularly about who owns these initiatives and harnesses them to achieve true value. Whether it’s Lean, Theory of Constraints, Product Lifecycle Management, Business Process Management, Manufacturing Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Resource Consumption Accounting, or even Project Management, someone must champion the initiative from conception to integration. There is, of course, a whole management consulting industry around organizational change, and I think that’s a valid approach for assisting change. However, consultants do not have ownership of the initiative; they can sell and support, but only the owner can derive business value.
