Monthly Archives: February 2009

Warren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders 2009

Posted on February 28, 2009 by John Hunter

Warren Buffett published his letter to shareholders yesterday. As usual, it is of great interest to anyone interested in the economic, investing and management ideas. In 1995, MidAmerican became the major provider of electricity in Iowa. By judicious planning and a zeal for efficiency, the company has kept electric prices unchanged since our purchase and has promised to hold them steady through 2013. MidAmerican has maintained this extraordinary price stability while making Iowa number one among all states in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Investing, Management, Respect | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

NUMMI, and GM’s Failure to Manage Effectively

Posted on February 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Gipsie Ranney recently sent me an article on her thoughts on NUMMI and the current problems with the Big Three car makers to post to the Curious Cat Management Improvement Library. NUMMI is the plant that Toyota and General Motors run together as a joint venture. The article is excellent. The answer to a question asked by someone else on the tour was stunning to me. The person asked what kind of computerized inventory system they had at NUMMI. The … Continue reading →

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

What Managers can Learn From Open Source Project Management

Posted on February 23, 2009 by John Hunter

What managers can learn from Open Source by Murray Cumming Motivation: People work on open source projects because they enjoy it. These happy developers are productive developers. Managers of open source projects must ensure that the developers feel valued and fulfilled. They must minimise the tedious aspects of the work to ensure that development remains interesting. Otherwise, projects fail. Although money can provide some incentive it does not provide as much. Managers who say that money is the greatest motivator … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, IT, Management, Respect, Software Development | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #55

Posted on February 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Submit suggestions for the management improvement carnival. visit the Curious Cat Management Library for online management improvement articles. Cut Customer Service? You’ll Lose Customers by Scott D. Anthony – “Companies might think that innovation and survival are discrete choices. They are not. Companies that stop innovating are sowing the seeds of their own destruction.” End Game at Wiremold by Kevin Meyer – “The Wiremold story shows how lean thinking can completely transform a company into a competitive powerhouse… and how … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged

Applying Disruptive Thinking to the Healthcare Crisis

Posted on February 19, 2009 by John Hunter

Update: Sadly MIT delete the video. It is a shame educational institutions lose interest in knowledge just a couple years later. Thankfully we didn’t have to rely on the people deleting web content at universities to keep all the historical content we have in books from hundreds of years ago. I think it is a huge lose to what the mission of these schools should be but that attitude doesn’t seem to be shared by the schools. The Innovator’s Prescription: … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Innovation, Management, Management Articles, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Zara Thrives by Ignoring Conventional Wisdom

Posted on February 18, 2009 by John Hunter

Zara Thrives by Breaking All the Rules Many U.S. apparel retailers are choking on slow-moving inventories as consumers hold back on spending. But Spain’s Inditex, whose Zara chain pioneered cheap chic, is zipping ahead. The $13.8 billion company, which is closing in on Gap (GPS) for the title of world’s biggest clothing retailer, has nearly quadrupled sales, profits, and locations since 2000 … Wages are higher at Inditex—its factory workers in Spain make an average of $1,650 a month, vs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , ,

$60 Million Bonus – For all Staff

Posted on February 15, 2009 by John Hunter

This is similar to a story I posted last November: Family Business Gives $6.6 million in Bonuses to Workers. I both cases long time owners sold their company to a foreign buyer and then gave a significant amount of the proceeds to long time employees. Miami banker gives $60 million of his own to employees After selling a majority stake in Miami-based City National Bancshares last November, all he did was take $60 million of the proceeds — $60 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Respect | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Helping Employees Improve

Posted on February 12, 2009 by John Hunter

One aspect of managing people is to provide positive feedback and show appreciation. Doing so is important. People benefit from encouragement and reinforcement. In addition to just telling them, take action to show your appreciation. The Dilbert workplace is alive and well. And even in above average management systems there is plenty of resistance faced by those looking to improve systems. For those employees that are making the attempt to improve the organization go beyond saying thanks: actually demonstrate your … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Fun, Management Articles, Popular, Respect, Software Development, Statistics, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #54

Posted on February 10, 2009 by John Hunter

In the webcast, Corey Ladas discusses lean thinking in software development, Deming and quality, customer pull vs Kano model and gemba. 7 Practical Ways to Respect People by Ron Pereira – “Some think that to be respectful you can never disagree. This is ridiculous. My old boss at Nokia used to tell his management team that if all 8 of us agreed he had 7 too many people in the room. So true.” Is Brainstorming a Waste of Time? by … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged , ,

Lean Thinking in Minnesota Government

Posted on February 8, 2009 by John Hunter

The Office of Governor Pawlenty issued a press release on Minnesota’s Drive to Excellence effort: Increased Quality via Lean Continuous Improvement Reform – The State has adopted “Lean Thinking” as its preferred process improvement tool. So far, 18 agencies are actively involved, with 302 staff members participating in 38 Kaizen improvement events. These events have yielded significant improvements in the delivery of state government services, from issuing duplicate birth certificates to processing State Soldiers Assistance requests. … The Drive to … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Public Sector | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Hire People You Can Trust to Do Their Job

Posted on February 5, 2009 by John Hunter

How great companies turn crisis into opportunity The right people don’t need to be managed. The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The right people don’t think they have a job: They have responsibilities. If I’m a climber, my job is not [just] to belay. My responsibility is that if we get in trouble, I don’t let my partner down. The right people do what they say they will do, which means … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Failure: Honda’s Secret to Success

Posted on February 3, 2009 by John Hunter

Related: Honda has Never had Layoffs and has been Profitable Every Year – Inside Honda’s Brain – Curious Cat Engineering Blog

Posted in Creativity, webcast | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #53

Posted on February 1, 2009 by John Hunter

Shaun Sayers is hosting the Management Improvement Carnival #53 on the Capable blog, highlights include: The correct sequence for doing 5-S? – by Jon Miller. “Why would people alter the order and still call it 5-S instead of my version of 5-S?” Cost of Changes vs. Risk and Uncertainty by Darth Sidious. “… as the project matures, cost of changes sky rocket, and stakeholder influence drops off quickly” Quality – the Men-Tai approach by Shaun Sayers. It’s quality – with … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged