Monthly Archives: March 2006

NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge

Posted on March 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Once again I have created a group on the ESPN NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge for curiouscat basketball fans. To play, sign in to ESPN [I removed the link] and register, if you need to, or sign into your account (using … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Fun | Comments Off

Getting Lean Right

Posted on March 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Getting Lean “Right”: 10 Factors to Understand Before Embarking on Your Lean Transformation by Jamie Flinchbaugh: So how is it that such a low percentage of companies that know about lean can turn it into a success? It’s not because … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management Articles, Quality tools | Comments Off

Boondoggle Rules

Posted on March 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Easy Lean from Got Boondoggle: The lean journey is a long, continuous process of learning, experimentation and improvement. … Most of you are smart enough not to buy into this branding of lean. However, there are some short-sighted executives that … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Comments Off

Mount Rainier National Park Photos

Posted on March 11, 2006 by John Hunter

I have posted, the final destination of my trip last summer to the Pacific Northwest National Parks: Mount Rainier National Park. Curious Cat Travelogues and Travel Photos

Posted in Travel photos | Tagged Travel photos | Comments Off

Toyota in China: Full Speed Ahead

Posted on March 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota in China: Full Speed Ahead [the broken link was removed], Business Week. Yoshimi Inaba, who’s driving the Japanese auto maker’s expansion in the Middle Kingdom, discusses the Chinese market and his goals there. Toyota’s market share is just 3.5% … Continue reading →

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

Lean Management Idea for Health Care

Posted on March 9, 2006 by John Hunter

The Health Factory by Stpehen Spear [the broken link was removed, I wish people would publish useful thoughts on more reliably designed web sites that care about information for the long term], New York Times opinion piece: Today, going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking | Comments Off

Consumer Idealized Design

Posted on March 8, 2006 by John Hunter

Consumer Idealized Design: Involving Consumers in The Product Development Process Interactive Design vs. Reactive “Focus” A consumer design session is characterized by at least three features which distinguish it from a focus group. (1) It requires innovation and interaction from … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, Management, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged Ackoff, Customer focus, Quality tools | Comments Off

NUMMI Plant Model

Posted on March 8, 2006 by John Hunter

NUMMI plant a model for ailing car industry (site broke the link so I removed it) by Tim Simmers: The historic NUMMI joint venture – the first of its kind on U.S. soil between a Japanese and an American carmaker … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking | Tagged lean manufacturing | Comments Off

Warren Buffett’s 2005 Shareholder Letter

Posted on March 6, 2006 by John Hunter

As usually Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter is packed with good investment thoughts along with some management wisdom. Too often, executive compensation in the U.S. is ridiculously out of line with performance. That won’t change, moreover, because the deck … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Investing, Management | 6 Comments

Seth Godin Video

Posted on March 5, 2006 by John Hunter

Seth Godin has a great blog on marketing. To me, his views put marketing within the context of the system (of the whole organization) rather than a disconnected “stovepipe” as it is often treated. This fits with my bias in … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun | Tagged marketing | Comments Off