Monthly Archives: June 2007

Bad Management Results in Layoffs

Posted on June 3, 2007 by John Hunter

In response to Is Laying People off Really Anti-Lean? [the broken link was removed]: Let’s say you, a Lean enthusiast, are named CEO of a mid sized manufacturing company. Let’s also assume your market has turned down and the constraint is clearly the market. Let’s also assume you need to improve operating income above all else. The final assumption is the company you inherited is not even good at mass production. They just stink at everything. If you come into … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #12

Posted on June 1, 2007 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Employee Driven Improvement at Southwest by Mark Graban – “It’s not called Lean, nor does it reference Toyota, but it sounds like Lean. It’s always nice to see management taking that approach with employees, since most of the airline industry seems to treat employees like a cost, rather than an asset (or real human beings).” SPESA Trip Report by Kathleen Fasanella – “I keep saying over and over till I’m blue … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management

Six Sigma Outdated? No.

Posted on June 1, 2007 by John Hunter

Here is another of those articles that promotes the idea that oversimplifies six sigma and then declares that mindset is outdated because innovation is needed nowadays – Six Sigma: So Yesterday? [the link Business Week broke was removed]. The discipline was developed as a systematic way to improve quality, but the reason it caught fire was its effectiveness in cutting costs and improving profitability. That makes it a powerful tool—if those are a company’s goals. But as innovation becomes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Six sigma | Tagged | 1 Comment