Category Archives: Public Sector

Engineering Innovation for Manufacturing and the Economy

Editorial: Engineering Innovation, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: They are the invisible heroes in business, the men and women who make innovation possible. They are people like Mary Ann Wright at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, the former chief engineer for the Ford … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Science, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Design of Experiments in Operational Testing

Edwards looks toward future of testing We are fielding a Design of Experiments concept to ensure we conduct the right amount of testing — not too much or too little, but just right. We will field this approach in phases … Continue reading

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management, Public Sector, Quality tools | Comments Off on Design of Experiments in Operational Testing

Early History Of Quality Management Online

I started looking at quality management resources online in 1995 (maybe 1994). At the time I was on the board of the Public Sector Network – what would become the American Society of Quality (ASQ) government division. When we started … Continue reading

Posted in curiouscat.com, IT, Management, Public Sector | 4 Comments

More Bad Customer Service Examples :-(

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

Failure to Address Systemic SWAT Raid Failures

The systemic failure of police raids continues to cause deaths of innocent people. In congressional testimony last month Radley Balko presented more evidence in: Our Militarized Police Departments: Pay particular attention to the red markers on the map. Those are … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Public Sector, Respect | 2 Comments

Jeffrey Pfeffer on Evidence-Based Practices

Jeffrey Pfeffer Testifies to Congress About Evidence-Based Practices [the broken link was removed]: In this short statement, I want to make five points as succinctly as possible, providing references for background and documentation for my arguments. First, organizations in both … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Data, Management, Performance Appraisal, Public Sector, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged , | Comments Off on Jeffrey Pfeffer on Evidence-Based Practices

Six Sigma City Government

A recent report from the Brookings Institution, Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities [the broken link was removed], has some good words on the efforts of Fort Wayne, Indiana: In a short time, the city reduced water main replacement costs by 18 … Continue reading

Posted in Public Sector, Six sigma | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Georgetown Kentucky Way

The Scott County Way [the broken link was removed] by Jillian Ogawa: It seemed only natural that Toyota’s corporate culture would influence the local schools, said Superintendent Dallas Blankenship. He estimated that one in three students in the school district … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Management Articles, Public Sector, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Georgetown Kentucky Way

Transformation and Redesign

Here is an excellent article from 1999: Transformation and Redesign at the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) (pdf link) by March Laree Jacques This article describes an organizational transformation effort undertaken at the White House Communications Agency. It shares the … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Public Sector, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Transformation and Redesign

Newt on Management History

The new Newt thing [the broken link was removed] “I don’t mean to be argumentative,” he says, as he scribbles a chart on the history of management reform, tucking dates alongside names like Motorola and Deming and Ohno, all the … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Public Sector | Tagged | 1 Comment