Indeed.
I used to think that the threshold for stagnation in a large business was when it created its own calendar.
On the plus side, I have witnessed some excellent examples of improvement - in mid size businesses. One firm I worked for reduced an electronics assembly cycle time from 24 hours to 6. This was achieved by a bright team leader and the people on the line who applied the continuous improvement tools that everyone in the business had been taught. Similar improvements throughout the factory led to a massive change. From 60-65% complete and on time deliveries, they went to 97%+. By this time, if I was showing customers round the factory I could approach any operator on the shop floor and ask them to explain what they were doing.
