Make the leap to lean management with resources from the Lean Enterprise Institute
The lean accounting movement seeks a shift from traditional cost accounting practices to methods that accurately measure and motivate companies implementing lean management.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (PRWEB) November 20, 2017
A lecturer at the University of Vermont and a graduate student at Aalborg University in Denmark have won 2017 Excellence in Lean Accounting Awards sponsored by the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI).
Lecturer Joanne Pencak won for incorporating lean principles into courses she teaches on accounting, sustainable entrepreneurship, advanced managerial accounting, and master of business administration classes on financial and cost modeling.
She also is developing a lean model for studying internal controls and working with a local certified public accounting firm on adopting lean audit methodologies.
Henrik Nielsen’s PhD work shows that a greater use of lean principles by finance departments increases departmental performance. He is co-authoring with lean accounting pioneer Professor Larry Grasso of Central Connecticut State University, several research papers being reviewed for publication by accounting and finance journals.
The awards were presented October 25th by LEI Communications Director Chet Marchwinski at the annual Lean Accounting Summit, in Savannah, GA. The award recognizes teachers and students who attended a previous summit then applied what they learned.
Winners are selected by a panel of lean accounting thought leaders. The nonprofit Lean Education Advancement Foundation raises, manages, and distributes scholarship money so professors and students can attend the summit.
Improving Cost Accounting
Jim Huntzinger, president of conference organizer Lean Frontiers, said, “The lean accounting movement seeks a shift from traditional cost accounting practices to methods that accurately measure and motivate companies implementing lean management. The shift is needed because traditional cost accounting does not accurately reflect the performance gains made when companies launch a lean transformation.”
For example, traditional financial statements do not reveal reductions in inventory or cycle times, or new-found capacity in operations produced by the transformation. Traditional accounting practices also motivate the wrong behaviors in companies implementing lean principals. For instance, conventional efficiency metrics can motivate management to create excess inventory.
About the Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, with a mission to make things better through lean thinking and practice. Founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, PhD, LEI conducts research, teaches educational workshops, publishes books and ebooks, runs conferences, and shares practical information about lean thinking and practice. Visit lean.org for more information
About Lean Frontiers
Since 2005 Lean Frontiers has organized tightly focused events aimed at helping organizational silos understand how they can support lean transformations across the organization. The company produces lean events for Accounting, HR, Sales and Marketing, IT, Supply Chain and Logistics, Product Development, and Business Coaching. Learn more at leanfrontiers.com/
