Monthly Archives: December 2006

Mason Neck State Park Photos

Posted on December 18, 2006 by John Hunter

Photos of Mason Neck State Park, Virginia National park photos: Grand Canyon, Great Falls, Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton…

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Starbucks: Respect for Workers and Health Care

Posted on December 16, 2006 by John Hunter

Starbucks Corp. CEO Howard Schultz interview on Marketplace [the broken link was removed] I grew up in Brooklyn, New York. I guess it’s been well documented, many times, in federally subsidized housing known as the projects. My dad never made … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Health care, Management, Respect, webcast | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Workplace Management by Taiichi Ohno

Posted on December 14, 2006 by John Hunter

Workplace Management [the broken link was removed] by Taiichi Ohno, translated by Jon Miller. This classic work by the founding father of the Toyota Production System returns to print in a new translation. Ohno delivers timeless lessons on how to … Continue reading →

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How to Improve

Posted on December 12, 2006 by John Hunter

My management philosophy is guided by the idea of seeking methods that will be most effective.* There are many ways to improve. Good management systems are about seeking systemic adoption of the most effective solutions. What this amounts to is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

10 Stocks for 10 Years Update

Posted on December 11, 2006 by John Hunter

In April of 2005 I wrote: 10 stocks for 10 years. At that time I also created a fund through Marketocracy. Thus far the portfolio is up 15.8% annually (versus 15.3% for the S&P 500) – see more below… I … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing | 1 Comment

Weblog Awards: Best Business Blog Finalist

Posted on December 10, 2006 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog is a 2006 Weblog Awards finalist in the Best Business Blog category. 10 blogs from each category are selected as finalists. Voting opened last week and continues through December 15th. For those visiting from … Continue reading →

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Management Improvement Carnival #1

Posted on December 7, 2006 by John Hunter

There have been a number of great post recently about management improvement: Amazon’s Long Public Haul by Kevin Meyer – “Amazon has now been around a while and has a loyal following. Their culture is apparently deep, at least for … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Customer focus, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management | 5 Comments

Ritz Carlton and Home Depot

Posted on December 6, 2006 by John Hunter

Don MacAskill writes of his great service from Ritz-Carlton and horrible service from Home Depot. Neither result is surprising, see related posts below… Ritz-Carlton’s motto is “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” And they actually turn those words into reality… Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Womack on Lean in China

Posted on December 5, 2006 by John Hunter

From the Lean blog another valuable podcast: Lean in China with Jim Womack. He is not impressed with the state of lean in China yet. Lean Enterprise China [the broken link was removed] has been established to aid the adoption … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, Lean thinking, webcast | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Toyota Production System for Sales…

Posted on December 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Corporate profile: the Toyota Production System [the broken link was removed] by Sarah Perrin: Within Toyota itself, non-production personnel support the TPS approach. “We very much value the Toyota way,” says David Betteley, managing director of Toyota Financial Services (UK) … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 1 Comment