Dell explains how process is critical for organizing large numbers of people in a company, particular if it has grown rapidly. As part of its business development process, the company allows anyone to get involved in improving things they see could be done better. These improvements can be shared easily across the world, says Dell.

Transcript



You know, my experience with this is, when you go from having a small number to a really large number of people, if you don't a process, it becomes real chaos. So in one sense, it's kind of like: how do you have a common language for improvement and progress inside the company? And that's incredibly important. That may be the thing that has the biggest value, because let's say if you have guys in the product development team, and they're using one particular way of doing things, another team is using something completely different, off in another country, somebody's using something different. There's no way to share, there's no way to prepare these, no way to capture any value from the collective whole. And so in that sense, it's incredibly important. And then you probably saw, when you were in our factory, we have this business process improvement, which is where anyone inside the company can get involved in improving something that they see that could be done better. And actually, all of those projects are then shared around the world. So if somebody in our new plant in Sao Paulo comes up with a great idea, which I'm sure they will, that idea can be transferred to Xiamen, China, or to Ireland, or to Malaysia, or to North Carolina very easily.

1. The Origins of Dell, Inc.
2. The Culture and Dynamics of Dell, Inc. During the Early Years
3. Take Caution in Forming Close Friendships in a Company
4. Setting up the Initial Board of Directors for Dell, Inc.
5. Enhancing the Effectiveness of a Board of Directors
6. Overcoming Some of the Early Mistakes of Dell, Inc.
7. The Reasons Behind Dell, Inc. Going Public
8. Critical Changes to the Business Model of Dell, Inc.
9. Self-Disruption at Dell, Inc.
10. Starting a New Company in an Inefficient Industry
11. Implementing Processes in a Fast-Growing Company
12. Creating an Effective Communication Infrastructure
13. The Flawed Model of the Early Computer Industry
14. Revolutionizing the PC and IT Industry
15. Innovation at Dell, Inc.
16. Finding a Common Language for Improvement inside a Company
17. Current Threats to the PC Industry

Michael Dell lectures on Entrepreneurship for Stanford University students, May 1, 2007. Michael Dell is the founder of the computer company Dell, Inc. He created one of the most profitable computer companies in the world with annual sales of up to $50 billion American dollars. Dell has also become one of the wealthiest people in the world with a 4th place listing on the Forbes rich Americans list in 2005 with an estimated worth of $18 billion. In this Stanford lecture, he talks about taking caution in forming close friendships in a company, creating an effective communication infrastructure and starting a new company in an inefficient industry.

Related Links: http://www.dell.com/
                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell

Last Updated: Mon, Jul 16, 2007

Course Details:
- Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit
- Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (ecorner)

Original Course Name: Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit.