Tag Archives: curiouscat

Management Improvement Flavors

Posted on November 27, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean Manufacturing Visionary Jim Womack On Frontiers Of Lean Thinking [broken link has been removed], webcast and additional questions and answers: Question: For a firm seeking to improve — what comes first? Six Sigma quality or lean implementation? James Womack: … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Six sigma, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Manufacturing and the Economy

Posted on October 30, 2005 by John Hunter

In Global Market, Iowa Manufacturers Fight for Survival: The conventional wisdom has been that expanded trade would result in the United States losing low-pay, low-skilled manufacturing jobs, said David Swenson, an economic scientist at Iowa State University. But “a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Management, Manufacturing, Popular, quote | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Management Training Program

Posted on October 28, 2005 by John Hunter

Fog Creek Software Management Training Program by Joel Spolsky: Finally, when you’re really really good, they let you hang around with Yussef on the ovens. Yussef was about 100 years old and so good at running the ovens it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Measurement and Data Collection

Posted on September 10, 2005 by John Hunter

This is my response to the Deming Electronic Network message (the site is dead, so I removed the link) on measurement. I find it useful to ask what will be done with the results of data collection efforts (in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, quote, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Performance without Appraisal

Posted on April 2, 2005 by John Hunter

re: Managing with Trust post from Coding Horror This interesting post includes the quote: “It seems cheap to dispatch [performance reviews] without suggesting some alternative.” Dr. Deming would mention Peter Scholtes thoughts on why performance appraisals were bad management when … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Who Influences Your Thinking?

Posted on March 10, 2005 by John Hunter

Comments on Who Influences Your Thinking? [broken link removed] – Survey results [broken link removed] > 1. Are people getting most of their information > from other sources? That would be my guess. Similar to the phenomenon of “the long … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, quote | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Statistics for Experimenters – Second Edition

Posted on March 8, 2005 by John Hunter

The classic Statistics for Experimenters has been updated by George Box and Stu Hunter, two of the three original authors. Bill Hunter, who was my father, and the other author, died in 1986. Order online: Statistics for Experimenters: Design, Innovation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Data, Design of Experiments, Innovation, Management, Manufacturing, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Theory of Knowledge

Posted on January 29, 2005 by John Hunter

Deming’s Management System, as expressed in his book: The New Economics has four interdependent parts: Appreciation for a System (systems thinking) Knowledge about Variation (see: variation definition) Theory of Knowledge Psychology (the human element of management systems) Quotes on the … Continue reading →

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

Operational Excellence

Posted on January 15, 2005 by John Hunter

In, the post Is Operational Excellence Dead? the argument is made that operational excellence is dead as a differentiator of companies. “All of the emphasis on outsourcing to low labor cost countries seems to imply that organizations no longer consider … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, quote | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

USA Health Care Costs reach 15.3% of GDP – the highest percentage ever

Posted on January 11, 2005 by John Hunter

re: Health Care Spending In The United States Slows For The First Time In Seven Years The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services) issued a report (the press release … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health care, Popular, quote | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments