EBITDA | Glossary

Manjunath Ingale Leave a comment

Definition:

EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, is a measure of a company’s overall financial performance and is used as an alternative to simple earnings or net income in some circumstances. EBITDA, however, can be misleading because it strips out the cost of capital investments like property, plant, and equipment.

This metric also excludes expenses associated with debt by adding back interest expense and taxes to earnings. Nonetheless, it is a more precise measure of corporate performance since it is able to show earnings before the influence of accounting and financial deductions.

Further Reading:

Book: Flawless Execution by James D. Murphy

Four Types of Problems | Bool Series

Manjunath Ingale Leave a comment

Overview: 

In Four Types of Problems, continuous improvement expert and author Art Smalley shows you how to break the “hammer-and-nail” trap. He demonstrates that most business problems fall into four main categories:

1.Troubleshooting

2. Gap-from-standard

3. Target-state

4. Open-ended and Innovation

“Organizations and individuals at all levels fall into the trap of having one primary or standard way of solving every problem,” writes Smalley, who learned problem solving from Tomoo Harada at Toyota’s historic Kamigo engine plant. Harada led the maintenance activities that created the stability needed for Taiichi Ohno’s innovations in the Toyota Production System.

Each type of problem category requires different thought processes, improvement methods, and management cadences. Each type has its own sub-system and surfacing mechanism, management cadence, timing, and difficulty level, he explained. One size does not fit all situations and just training people in tools or techniques only scratches the surface of problem solving.

Author:  

Art Smalley

Published In:

Art Smalley