Monthly Archives: July 2007

iPhone + AT&T = Yikes

Posted on July 30, 2007 by John Hunter

What a surprise – lousy customer service from a cell phone company. What a shame that it is no surprise at all. Don’t they have tons of MBAs with 6 figure salaries? They do have a CEO paid over $31 million last year. It is so frustrating that even basic stuff is so poorly done, so often and for so long. iPhone+AT&T Bill=Uh-Oh: It’s a staggeringly, hatefully complex document, designed by some Monty Pythoneseque committee in charge of consumer confusion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Multi-Tasking: Why Projects Take so Long

Posted on July 30, 2007 by John Hunter

From a new, interesting, Theory of Constraint blog by Kevin Fox – Multi-Tasking: Why projects take so long and still go late In many companies the impact of multi-tasking is obscured by the fact that in spite of its prevalence most projects still finish on time. While this reliability is nice, it masks the even more significant opportunity to cut project durations substantially. If projects are being delivered on or close to schedule, and multi-tasking is occurring, it can only … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Theory of Constraints | 3 Comments

TVS Group Director on India – Manufacturing, Economy…

Posted on July 28, 2007 by John Hunter

TVS group companies, based in India, have been awarded 5 Deming Prizes. He discusses Deming and quality a bit. He also discusses their experiences in manufacturing in China and the strengths they have found in each country. And he discusses the Indian economy and manufacturing.

Related: Hopeful About India’s Manufacturing Sector – Toyota Chairman Comments on India and Thailand Continue reading →

Posted in China, Deming, Economics, India, Management, Manufacturing, webcast | Tagged ,

Amazon’s Amazing Achievement

Posted on July 24, 2007 by John Hunter

I have mentioned I like the way Amazon, and Jeff Bezos, have been managing in several posts. Recently Amazon has added very strong financial results to that portfolio of things they do well. Amazon earnings announcement: Net sales increased 35% to $2.89 billion in the second quarter, compared with $2.14 billion in second quarter 2006. Excluding the $46 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 33% compared with second quarter 2006. … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Investing, IT | Tagged , , ,

New York City Travel Photos

Posted on July 23, 2007 by John Hunter

Photos from my trip to New York City last year are now online. Photos include: The Cloisters (part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – though located far uptown) art and architecture of medieval Europe, the remodeled Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building and Flatiron Building. Related: New York City Photo Essays – Paris Travel Photos – Pacific Northwest photos – Curious Cat Travel Photos

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos

Google Exceeded Planned Spending on Personnel

Posted on July 19, 2007 by John Hunter

Often people have trouble understanding Dr. Deming’s disapproval of arbitrary numerical targets. What he was trying to prevent is what many see every day, such as managing to quarterly earnings targets. There are several problems with numerical goals but in here lets focus on one. The change from managing for what is best for the business to managing to hit a target. Google Profit Trails Analyst Estimates; Shares Slide: The company hired more people than expected last quarter, Chief Executive … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Google, Investing, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, quote | 3 Comments

Gary Hamel on Management Innovation

Posted on July 18, 2007 by John Hunter

I have mentioned before that I think Gary Hamel is one of the leading management thinkers on innovation. Here is an interesting interview (via: brisebois blog) with him – Gary Hamel: management innovation Management innovation is innovation in management principles and processes that ultimately changes the practice of what managers do, and how they do it. It is different from operational innovation; which is about how the work of transforming inputs into outputs actually gets done. … The management innovation … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management | 1 Comment

Management by Walking Around

Posted on July 18, 2007 by John Hunter

Management by walking around (MBWA) is based on the concept that a manager needs to actually understand what is really going on – not just view reports in an office. By seeing the actual state of affairs they can better understand what management improvements are actually doing where work is being done. Lean thinking includes a great deal on the importance of going to the gemba to make decisions. Anyone interested in MBWA should look at some of that material … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Management | 4 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #15

Posted on July 16, 2007 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. John Kotter on Change Management by Lauchlan Mackinnon – “Kotter therefore suggests an 8-stage process for managing organisational change that addresses each one of these concerns and turns them around to a key stage in the successful management of change” Six Sigma and Innovation by James Todhunter – “while classical Six Sigma is primarily a statistically driven approach to system performance optimization, there are opportunities at every phase within the methodology … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management

The Joy of Work

Posted on July 15, 2007 by John Hunter

Comic by Joe Sayers, Wanna play work? A good laugh, but also a reminder of an important idea. We spend much of our life at work: we deserve to have pride in what we do and even enjoy it (shocking I know). Read the respect for people posts for some ideas on how to make your workplace better. If you think a new job might be the answer – find management improvement jobs via Curious Cat Career Connections. People are … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Deming, Fun, Management, Psychology, Respect | 5 Comments

Respect for People – Understanding Psychology

Posted on July 13, 2007 by John Hunter

Process improvement tools offer great resources to improve results. Dr. Deming included understanding psychology as one of the 4 areas of his management system. He understood organizations where not machines but systems made up of people. Therefore management needs to reflect that reality. -Lee Fried discusses these ideas in It is All About the People: We may organize and teach around the process, but it is the people that we really need to change if we want to show long-term … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

From Lean Tools to Lean Management

Posted on July 11, 2007 by John Hunter

From lean tools to lean management [the broken link was removed] by Jim Womack: The attraction of tools is that they can be employed at many points within an organization, often by staff improvement teams or external consultants. Even better, they can be applied in isolation without tackling the difficult task of changing the organization and the fundamental approach to management. I often say that managers will try anything easy that doesn’t work before they will try anything hard that … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Tagged , , ,

Dell Providing Computers Without Bloatware

Posted on July 11, 2007 by John Hunter

The Art Of Listening: Dell Converts Customer Requests Into Exclusive Vostro Brand For Small Business Dell today extended its commitment to customers with a new brand of notebook and desktop computers designed for small businesses. The Vostro branded products feature no trialware and simple to use tools that address top-of-mind problems such as data back-up, PC performance and health, and specialized networking support for customers without dedicated IT staff. A good step (if quite late) on this issue we addressed … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, IT, Management

Good Customer Service Example

Posted on July 9, 2007 by John Hunter

IRA Toyota – Milford; Great Service [the broken link was removed] I was pleasantly surprised to find a “Service wizard” available. You create an account, specify the standard details about the car (make, model, year, mileage). If you add the VIN, they will be able to provide and maintain additional details. The slickest part of the wizard was the capability to pick a service and schedule a date. Depending upon what service you picked, the calendar changed. This wasn’t any … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, IT, Management, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

New Articles on Toyota Management

Posted on July 8, 2007 by John Hunter

Harvard Business Review has a new article on Toyota that both the Elegant Solutions blog (by Matthew E. May author of Elegant Solutions: Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation – via: lean blog) and Got Boondoggle, have raved about. Amazing HBR Interview with Toyota President Watanabe on Elegant Solutions: Pick up the latest issue of Harvard Business Review (July/August double issue) for a real treat: a fantastic interview with Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe. This is a ground-breaking piece of journalism and … Continue reading →

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

Health Care the Toyota Way

Posted on July 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Clare Crawford-Mason produced the 1980 NBC news white paper on W. Edwards Deming that sparked a movement to improve management. She produced the Deming library tapes to help reach those taking steps to improve management and looking for more help. Last year she teamed up with Lloyd Dobbins on a new documentary – Good News – How Hospitals Heal Themselves. Better Questions, Wiser Answers by Clare Crawford-Mason For example, doctors and nurses from SSM Health Care, a Midwest system, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS)