Category Archives: Management

Gemba Keiei by Taiichi Ohno

Posted on May 31, 2006 by John Hunter

Jon Miller has been posting thoughts on chapters of Gemba Keiei by Taiichi Ohno for quite some time. His latest post in on chapter 23 (of 37): Producing at the Lowest Possible Cost. The series of posts provide great doses … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

TRIZ – Managing Creativity

Posted on May 31, 2006 by John Hunter

The World According to TRIZ by Reena Jana: TRIZ is the brainchild of late Russian inventor Genrich Altshuller (1926-98), who worked as a patent inspector. In the process of observing invention after invention, Altshuller sought to identify a consistent formula … Continue reading →

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Lean Software Development

Posted on May 30, 2006 by John Hunter

I have posted on the topic of Lean Software Development previously. Lean Software Development: A Field Guide – the first 3 chapters of this new book are available online [the broken link was removed]. Excellent book that I recommended for … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Software Development | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Six Sigma Spells Success in India

Posted on May 28, 2006 by John Hunter

Six Sigma spells success for BPOs by Pradeep Kapur: However, while Six Sigma’s pedigree can indeed be traced to TQM, it is differentiated from these earlier approaches by the bottom-line focus and intensity of its application. Experience has shown that … Continue reading →

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Improving Engineering Education

Posted on May 25, 2006 by John Hunter

On our Science and Engineering blog I just posted on the Olin Engineering Education Experiment. It is a great story of doing things differently. The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering was founded with a donation of over $400 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Management, Science | 5 Comments

Better and Different

Posted on May 24, 2006 by John Hunter

Reaction to Toyota: Better or Different? and Seth Godin’s post. The answer, as I see it, is to be better and different (when necessary). In Seth’s post he talks about challenging people to find not just better solutions but different … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, quote | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Lean forward

Posted on May 22, 2006 by John Hunter

The most substantial success requires building upon the initial efforts. Truly becoming a lean organization is not something that can be done easily or quickly. And it can’t happen unless management stays focused and continues to learn about lean concepts. Continue reading →

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Forget Targets

Posted on May 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Forget about targets – and decide what really matters by Simon Caulkin: The attraction of targets is their simplicity. But it’s a fatal one. As part of the misguided managerial obsession with quantification, they misapply partial, linear measures to a … Continue reading →

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Problems Caused by Performance Appraisal

Posted on May 17, 2006 by John Hunter

People are increasingly challenging the notion that we just have to live with performance appraisal systems. As usually, I will make my suggestion that chapter 9 of the Leader’s Handbook offers great material on performing without appraisal (and the rest of the book is great too). Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Performance Appraisal | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Customer Knows Best?

Posted on May 16, 2006 by John Hunter

The Customer Knows Best? Better Think Again by Anthony W. Ulwick It’s important to listen to customers – but not follow their words without skepticism. Ask them to design your next product and you’re likely to miss the mark, suggests … Continue reading →

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