Monthly Archives: July 2006

Usability Failures

Posted on July 15, 2006 by John Hunter

‘Smart’ phones, stupid punters? A survey* of 15,000 “faulty” devices by mobile data provider WDSGlobal found 63 per cent of the one in seven new phones which are returned have nothing wrong with them. I believe one in seven is … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Future for Investors

Posted on July 15, 2006 by John Hunter

I completed The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and the True Triumph Over the Bold and the New by Jeremy Siegel today. It provides a great deal of analysis of what historical stock market returns for various strategies have … Continue reading →

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New Rules for Management? No!

Posted on July 14, 2006 by John Hunter

Fortune recently published an article talking about the “new rules” for management using Jack Welch (GE six sigma) as the focus of the old rules. It seems to me there is nothing new here (once again). “New” rule: “Agile is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Popular, Six sigma | 8 Comments

Customer Focus at the Ritz

Posted on July 13, 2006 by John Hunter

How to Turn Customer Satisfaction into Profits and Growth [the broken link was removed] by Vincent Grimaldi: Against all odds, the company has broken the old vicious circle of low salary and high turnover by wrapping all its processes – … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Management Articles | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Exciting Life of Industrial Statisticians

Posted on July 13, 2006 by John Hunter

Never a Dull Day: The Life of an Industrial Statistician by Gerry Hahn. Gerry Hahn was one of the great applied statisticians of the last 50 years, working at GE for over 45 years. Six sigma has many variants, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Data, Management, Statistics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Long Tail

Posted on July 12, 2006 by John Hunter

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson is now available. This books explores the huge market for goods outside of the mass market. The few popular items that dominate the media … Continue reading →

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Reducing Waste

Posted on July 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd – achieving zero waste to landfill [the broken link was removed] Toyota developed its Environmental Management System to stay on top of its environmental objectives and ensure that all processes are dealt with in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Innovation, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Supplier Development Article

Posted on July 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Supplier development in a lean age [the broken link was removed] by Rich Weissman “We need to keep in mind why we are doing supplier development and relationship management, and profit needs to be the focus of our efforts. Profitable … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Origins of the Toyota Production System

Posted on July 10, 2006 by John Hunter

Brief Investigation into the Origins of the Toyota Production System [the broken link was removed] by Art Smalley. Another excellent article by Art Smalley. Loaded with great historical information. I find these articles interesting on at least two levels. First … Continue reading →

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How Google Works

Posted on July 9, 2006 by John Hunter

How Google Works [the broken link was removed] by David F. Carr An interesting look at the technology system behind Google. “But this is the start of the story,” he adds, part of an approach that says “don’t necessarily do … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged | 4 Comments