Benefits and Challenges of Lean Much discussion at your organization recently has centered on the notion of lean. In preparation for an upcoming meeting of senior managers, across business functions, you have been asked to prepare an explanatory memo. Your memo should address, at a minimum, the following issues: (1) the definition of lean, (2) strategic value of adopting lean princi- ples for your organization, (3) anticipated costs of moving to lean, (4) implications for cost-system design, and (5) sources for additional information regarding these issues.

Required: Prepare, in good form, a memo for management that addresses the preceding issues. In re- sponding to this assignment, please access and read the following Statement of Management Accounting: Accounting for the Lean Enterprise: Major Changes to the Accounting Paradigm. Montvale, NJ: Institute of Management Accountants, 2006. (Accessible on the Web at the following address: www.imanet.org/pub- lications_statements.asp#C.)