Books and globalization / Lean production / Iraq

It is still raining and I am not cycling to work. I am still reather sissy. But not cycling has some benefits: I have more time to read (in the metro and bus) and I have time and possibility to go to Rytmi and have some coffee and see other people than those hacking away (sic!) in our office.

Check your phobias. I suffer from thaasophobia and something else which I do not reveal here in public.

Check my initial travel-pages.

Books and globalization

I received a new book "Globalisation - making sense of an integrating world" by the Economist. (btw: I got it for free since I answered a survey...). It is a collection of articles and surveys previously published in the magazine. I do not have time to read it now, but it would be really interesting to read the books and other books on globalization I have at the same time and try to make up my mind about the issues. I have at least "Globalization and its discontents" by Stiglitz, "False Dawn" by Grey, "Up the down escalator" by I-do-not-remember-who and lots of NGO material and I have even read most of them!

Lean production

Anyway, understanding globalisation is also a key issue, if one tries to improve large scale product development (as I do). So, I may well read the book next year. I have been reading about lean production lately and I think one of the problems in most industries is that while adopting the basic lean production in manufacturing is rather straightforward (well, it has been done several times, requires mostly honesty and hard work), adopting lean development/research is much harder. However, I am sure that by adopting and further developing lean development and research would cut development cost (measured by time, calendar time, number of employees) at least to half, maybe even to one fourth. The company/country that first succeeds in this, will have quite an advantage over the others. If I were the leader of Sitra or Tekes, trying to develop lean development is what I would finance. But since it is hard and one cannot do it in few years, it may well be too hard for those offices and in current short-sighted company management even for companies. Let's see if I can do something at it in MIT next year.

Iraq

Tony Blair has spoken. I do disagree on the fact that world is a better place without Saddam. At least Iraq seems not to be a better place. I just read from International Herald Tribune that Hepatitis spreads in 2 Iraqi districts. It is really worrying. I do not support any dictators, but I think that getting rid of a dictator and creating a mess (and killing tens of thousands of civilians in the process) is not worth it. Or if it is, then it would be even more worth it to make sure that there would not be any new dictators on the rise. Since this is not happening, I do disagree with Mr. Blair on this issue. About his domestics politics I have not so much to say - I have not been following British politics lately - anyway his politics are not so much "labour party" anymore, but I do not mind.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs from September to October 2004".