Author Archives: John Hunter

Deming Institute Annual Conference: Oct 2007

Posted on August 20, 2007 by John Hunter

Learn how to do your work better, faster, and for less cost, plus find more time to plan your future and develop balance in your life – Attend The W. Edwards Deming Institute Fall Conference. Gain new insights to: * … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Deming, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Comments Off on Deming Institute Annual Conference: Oct 2007

More Bad Customer Service Examples :-(

Posted on August 19, 2007 by John Hunter

It is sad to see so many examples of bad customer service. I wish enough companies would adopt management improvement principles so that at least I could avoid dealing with the others altogether. Here are 2 more bad examples from … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | 2 Comments

Don’t Empower

Posted on August 18, 2007 by John Hunter

I believe I learned this from Peter Scholtes, though maybe I am remembering it wrong or explaining it wrong (so give him the credit and if I mess it up it is my fault). I believe there is a problem … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | 5 Comments

Data Based Blathering

Posted on August 17, 2007 by John Hunter

Ok, this is one of those posts you might want to ignore or you might enjoy. Before blogs there is little chance this would reach you. But I am tired of seeing the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) promoted as … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Google, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 3 Comments

Are Google Management Practices Worth Studying?

Posted on August 16, 2007 by John Hunter

Larry Dignan asks “Is Google reinventing corporate management or just living off the fruits of one big breakthrough?” Well, I believe Google offers a great deal for managers to study – see our posts on Google management practices. But that … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, IT, Management | Comments Off on Are Google Management Practices Worth Studying?

Management Improvement Carnival #17

Posted on August 16, 2007 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. Take your friends to the Gemba with you by Lee Fried – “Over the last six months we have been developing and refining visual systems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Comments Off on Management Improvement Carnival #17

Providing Customer Service – Web Hosting

Posted on August 16, 2007 by John Hunter

Web Hosting how to: Save your server and customer when digg/reddit/slashdot effect hits his/her website One of your customers gets lucky – a huge burst of traffic hits his website. If you don’t do something quickly, your server will go … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Comments Off on Providing Customer Service – Web Hosting

Cool Workspaces

Posted on August 15, 2007 by John Hunter

Beautiful work spaces acknowledge the people that work in those spaces and show a respect for employees as people. Photo by Michael Moore of the VW Phaeton assembly plant in Dresden (more photos of the plant) via: 10 Seeeeeriously Cool … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Respect | 2 Comments

Stop Demotivating Me!

Posted on August 14, 2007 by John Hunter

Esther Derby has the right idea in Stop Demotivating Me!. Some of my previous posts on this topic: Stop Demotivating Employees – Problems Caused by Performance Appraisal – Why Extrinsic Motivation Fails… Esther’s article points out a number of problems … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | 7 Comments

Six Sigma in Software Development

Posted on August 13, 2007 by John Hunter

Six Sigma makes inroads in software development organizations “A lot of big companies are developing their own software engineering variance of Six Sigma training,” said Siviy, “putting software-specific examples into the normal Six Sigma curriculum.” However, she said, it’s early … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, IT, Management, Six sigma, Software Development | Comments Off on Six Sigma in Software Development