Author Archives: John Hunter

BBC Radio Program on Deming

Posted on July 4, 2005 by John Hunter

BBC radio has an online podcast of a discussion of W. Edwards Deming‘s ideas. As far as I can tell the program is available for downloading just for the next couple days [link broken, so it was removed. Re-found a working link, who know how long it will work] (I am exploring if we can find a way to make the program available online permanently – if anyone has experience working with BBC and has some helpful info please let … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, UK, webcast | Tagged

National Parks

Posted on July 4, 2005 by John Hunter

I just returned from several weeks visiting National Parks in the Northwest USA: Olympic, Mount Saint Helens, North Cascades, Glacier and Mount Rainer. I will post photos of the parks to the Curious Cat Travels section as I have time. A CNN.com article, from yesterday, discusses the use of National parks and comments on camping declining at the parks. I have always preferred to hike around during the day and then eat good food, sleep in a warm bed and … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Travel photos | Tagged , ,

Targets Distorting the System

Posted on June 13, 2005 by John Hunter

I still remember Dr. Brian Joiner speaking about process improvement and the role of data well over a decade ago. He spoke of 3 ways to improve the figures: distort the data, distort the system and improve the system. Improving the system is the most difficult. There is an interesting article on the effects of distorting the system: Tony Blair says he will ensure NHS targets do not stop people from seeing their GPs when they want to, from BBC … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

From Mechanistic to Social Systemic Thinking

Posted on June 9, 2005 by John Hunter

The Ackoff Center has posted a presentation, From Mechanistic to Social Systemic Thinking (pdf format), given by Russell Ackoff in November 1993 at the Systems Thinking in Action Conference. As usual he presents many great ideas well. And ten years later the ideas presented are still fresh and worth reading. The ideas are more familiar than they were in 1993 but are still powerful. The presentation concluded with Now, I don’t want to take any more of your time, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Dilbert and Deming

Posted on June 5, 2005 by John Hunter

5 June 2005 Dilbert Strip on motivational posters – [update – well the pointy haired bosses running the site removed the page so we removed the link] New update the phb has been overthrown. Here is the strip: The point of that poster is your spirit should soar like an eagle while you continue to do mundane work Dilbert can show the silliness that is common place in many workplaces, as just that – silly. Point 10 of Deming’s 14 … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Marketers Are Embracing Statistical Design of Experiments

Posted on May 27, 2005 by John Hunter

Marketers Are Embracing Statistical Design of Experiments (site broke link so I removed it) by Richard Burnham. Crayola® conducts an e-mail marketing DOE to attract parents and teachers to their new Internet site. The company discovers a combination of factors that makes their new e-mail pitch three-and-a-half times more effective than the control. (Harvard Business Review, October 2001, “Boost Your Marketing ROI with Experimental Design,” Almquist, Wyner.) … Marketers can’t always be certain what triggers buyers to respond. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management Articles, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Lean Walk Through History

Posted on May 27, 2005 by John Hunter

A Lean Walk Through History [link broken, so it was removed] by Jim Womack author of Lean Thinking Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, 2003 and The Machine That Changed the World The Story of Lean Production by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos, 1991. Once you are sensitized to the depth of lean history, along with its many advances and setbacks, it’s easy to begin filling … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged ,

Six Sigma and the Evolution of Statistical Management Methods

Posted on May 23, 2005 by John Hunter

Six-Sigma: the Evolution of 100 Years of Business Improvement Methodology (pointy haired bosses broke the link so I removed it) by Ronald D. Snee. The article includes a nice very quick summary of the development of statistical methods to aid management improvement in the last 100 years. Then the article gives a good overview of Six Sigma. There are four aspects of the Six-Sigma method… First, Six-Sigma places a clear focus on getting bottomline results… Next, Six-Sigma builds on improvement … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles, Six sigma | Tagged

Open Source Management Terms

Posted on May 23, 2005 by John Hunter

Statistical Method Helps Boost Bottom Lines, Batting Averages [the broken link was removed] by Jon Van, Chicago Tribune: Using statistical techniques embraced by quality guru W. Edwards Deming, Holland has worked for a generation guiding enterprises large and small to boost efficiency. … Yet getting management support for an MVT project is vital, Holland said, because experience shows that only 25 percent of ideas intended to improve a process will have a positive effect. The others will either have no … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, Management | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Six Sigma at the Kennedy Space Center

Posted on May 23, 2005 by John Hunter

The Lessons of Six Sigma [broken link was removed]: Management tool helped refocus priorities, by Napoleon Carroll and Christa Casleton : Process ownership is not a recognizable role in the CFO organization; it doesn’t fit anywhere in the standard position descriptions, and there’s no spot for it on the organization chart. After rigorous analysis, it was clear to us that unclear process ownership was one of our major problems.

Posted in Management Articles, Public Sector, Six sigma

Iran Society for Quality – Blog

Posted on May 22, 2005 by John Hunter

Iran Society for Quality – Blog [the broken link was removed]. I can’t read most of the site, but they seem to have a blog.

Posted in Management Articles

China and the Sugar Industry Tax Consumers

Posted on May 22, 2005 by John Hunter

China to Raise Tariffs On Clothing Exports, from the Washington Post: The Chinese action would raise export duties on 74 categories of Chinese clothing from token amounts announced late last year to a range of 12 to 48 cents per garment, starting June 1. If the Chinese government must reduce the amount of the world textile trade that their country is taking, or face retaliation from other countries, this is a very smart move. Essentially China gets to tax the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Roger Hoerl’s Perspective on the Future of Six-Sigma

Posted on May 19, 2005 by John Hunter

One Perspective on the Future of Six-Sigma by Roger Hoerl. Originally published in the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage 2004 – Vol. 1, No.1 pp. 112 – 119. Six-Sigma has maintained momentum for over ten years now, longer than many pundits expected. However, the key question remains: how long will Six-Sigma remain front-page news? The answer is that it will remain front-page news as long as it delivers front-page results. A second, and related question is: how … Continue reading →

Posted in Six sigma | Tagged

Curious Cat Blogs

Posted on May 19, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement We have started a new blog, Curious Cat Management Articles, specifically to highlight management improvement articles on topics like: Lean Manufacturing, Deming, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, Innovation, Customer Focus, SPC and System Thinking. We are still working out the best way we can use blogs effectively. Our current plan has several blogs targeted for slightly different audiences (so you may be interested in one, or several or all). The current Curious Cat Blogs: curiouscat.com Blog (this blog) … Continue reading →

Posted in Management

Why Go Through the Painful Performance Process

Posted on May 19, 2005 by John Hunter

Why Go Through the Painful Performance Process: The performance management blog points to an interesting study by PeopleIQ [the broken link was removed] that says that only 13 percent of employees and managers and 6 percent of CEOs think their organization’s performance appraisal is useful. And 88 percent say their current performance appraisal negatively impacts their opinion of HR. See also the previous Curious Cat posts on Performance Appraisals.

Posted in Management Articles, Performance Appraisal | Tagged

The Pitfalls of Six Sigma

Posted on May 19, 2005 by John Hunter

The Pitfalls of Six Sigma [the broken link was removed]: Six sigma has strong advocates in the manufacturing world for its ability to help factories get lean, but many companies are feeling that their time and financial investment in six sigma has been wasted. Problems with implementation have caused financial and organizational setbacks. Some companies are strongly suggesting, and at times actually demanding their suppliers to adopt six sigma in their operations or run the risk of losing business. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged