Monthly Archives: July 2011

6 New Kiva Loans to Manufacturing Entrepreneurs

Posted on July 28, 2011 by John Hunter

I have been a big fan of Kiva for quite some time, and have written about it previously: Kiva – Giving Entrepreneurs an Opportunity to Succeed, Thanksgiving: Micro-financing Entrepreneurs. I made 6 new loans today to manufacturing entrepreneurs in the USA (and Mexico); Tajikistan; Nicaragua; Armenia; and 2 in El Salvador. The webcast above shows Armen Tsaghikyan in Armenia. It does seem like his process maybe could use a benefit from a bit of application of lean manufacturing ideas. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Manufacturing | Tagged , , ,

Management Improvement Carnival #137

Posted on July 21, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat management blog carnival is published 3 times a month with select recent management blog posts. I also collect management improvement articles through Curious Cat Management Articles, you can subscribe via RSS to new article additions. Photo is the view I see as I post this issue of the carnival. The importance of understanding variation or how to avoid treating all contractors as thieves by Benjamin Mitchell – “The fix for common cause variation (and most variation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged ,

Touring Factories on Vacation When I Was Young

Posted on July 13, 2011 by John Hunter

Growing up, occasionally, a family vacation would include a factory tour related to my Dad’s work. He was providing some management or engineering consulting and took the opportunity to check in on progress and visit the gemba. Here is a photo from one of those tours (in Nigeria, I think). My brother and Mom are visible in the photo. The tours (which were not a very common occurrence) were quite enjoyable and interesting. Though I really didn’t like how noisy … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #136

Posted on July 11, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival highlights recent management blog posts 3 times each month. The posts generally focus on the areas I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Guide since 1996 (Deming, leadership, agile software development, lean manufacturing, continual improvement…). The Purpose of a Business is not Customer Value by Jurgen Appelo – “Every business is a complex adaptive system of stakeholders working together in order to create value for everyone involved… Unfortunately, again and again, management … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #135

Posted on July 5, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival highlights recent management blog posts 3 times each month. The posts generally focus on the areas I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Guide since 1996 (Lean manufacturing, Deming, agile software development, systems thinking, customer focus, six sigma, leadership…). Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect by John Shook – “Go see, ask why, show respect is the way we turn the philosophy of scientific empiricism into actual behavior. We go observe what … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged | 1 Comment