What was particularly striking to me as the outside observer was that Pareto Optimality easily could be achieved in these value streams by reallocating the substantial savings gained from improving both processes. The total saving would be much more than adequate to compensate IT for the additional hours and cost incurred in modifying the software quickly. And the substantial savings from the revised financial process were ample for giving the experienced employees, most of whom were near retirement, a generous severance package or transferring them at similar compensation to other jobs opened up by the organization's high turnover. Yet the implicit, unexamined thinking of the improvement teams was that all of the savings (plus the positive customer response to the improved processes) would be captured by the departments at the end of the processes and that everyone else should just get used to this new reality.
