Yearly Archives: 2005

The Quick Fix

Posted on October 10, 2005 by John Hunter

The Fall 2005 issue of the Deming Institute newsletter (I removed the broken link) includes a copy of a letter Dr. Deming sent to Time magazine in 1981. Dear Sir, Your article about Japan in TIME for 30 March 1981 … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Innovation in Organizations

Posted on October 10, 2005 by John Hunter

Assessing Your Organization’s Innovation Capabilities [the broken link was removed] by Clayton M. Christensen: Three classes of factors affect what an organization can and cannot do: its resources, its processes, and its values. When asking what sorts of innovations their … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Management, quote | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Rates

Posted on October 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Fairly frequently I am asked, by friends, for investing advice. One topic I am asked about frequently is mortgages (locking in rates, etc.). Often they are concerned about what a Federal Reserve decision to raise or lower rates will effect … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Investing | 1 Comment

Education Improvement

Posted on October 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Pattillo Tutors Granville School on Teaching Method [unfortunately the newspaper broke the link so I removed it] by Natalie Jordan, Rocky Mount Telegram (North Carolina, USA): The model uses a PDSA – plan, do, study and act – component. “Plan” … Continue reading →

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Management Improvement in Healthcare

Posted on October 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Thinking out-of-the-box Helps Alexandra Hospital Reduce Patient Waiting Time, Singapore News, via Panta Rei. Another example of lean principles being used by government: When looking for solutions to cut patients’ waiting time, Alexandra Hospital took an out-of-the-box approach and looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations

Posted on October 8, 2005 by John Hunter

Forward [the broken link was removed] (by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister) to Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations: measurement is almost always part of an effort to achieve some goal. You can’t always measure all aspects of progress against … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

More Lean Government

Posted on October 7, 2005 by John Hunter

Lean thinking ideas are about eliminating waste. Some who believe the government should just be smaller, talk about a lean government, but that is not the same thing as a government that applies the concepts of lean thinking. Toyota is … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society

Posted on October 6, 2005 by John Hunter

Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society by Joseph A. Maciariello: Drucker’s concern that the institutions of society function for the common good has led him to be critical of business practice from time to time and to take on … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Comments Off on Peter F. Drucker on a Functioning Society

The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Posted on October 6, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement The Toyota Way Fieldbook – a Practical Guide to implementing Toyota’s 4Ps by Jeffrey Liker has just been released. For this book he is joined by David Meier, and they delve into applying the concepts from his … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Comments Off on The Toyota Way Fieldbook

Toyota and the Art of Continuous Improvement

Posted on October 6, 2005 by John Hunter

Oh, What A Company! by by Gary S. Vasilash TPS is not for those who are looking for the fast solution. While implementing any single element of TPS will undoubtedly bring some rather startling results in comparatively short order, it … Continue reading →

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