Category Archives: Innovation

Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation

Posted on August 26, 2006 by John Hunter

How intellectual property influences innovation and growth in the economy depends on the application of intellectual property law. No intellectual property (IP) rights would hinder innovation. Complicated application of confusing and overreaching IP rights also hinders innovation. Now I see … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Innovation | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Ackoff, Idealized Design and Bell Labs

Posted on August 20, 2006 by John Hunter

Excerpt from Idealized Design: How to Dissolve Tomorrow’s Crisis…Today by Russell L. Ackoff, Jason Magidson and Herbert J. Addison: How Bell Labs Imagined — and Created — the Telephone System of the Future in the 1950s. Great stuff and another … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Patent Review Innovation

Posted on August 16, 2006 by John Hunter

Michael Crichton wrote an essay critical of the current patent law: This Essay Breaks the Law. I believe the US is making significant mistakes in how we are proceeding with the patent system, see: The Patent System Needs to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Economics, Innovation, IT, Management, Process improvement | 2 Comments

Google Management

Posted on August 15, 2006 by John Hunter

Management a la Google [the broken link, wsj.com, was removed] by Gary Hamel This short article makes some interesting points, definitely worth a read. Google has invested heavily in building a highly transparent organization that makes it easy to share … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, Management, Management Articles | 1 Comment

Interviews with Innovators

Posted on August 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica Livingston is an interesting looking book to be published in a few months. The book consists of interviews with founders of technology companies exploring the initial efforts to create a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Innovation, IT, Management, Management Articles, Software Development | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Interviews with Innovators

Reducing Waste

Posted on July 12, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd – achieving zero waste to landfill [the broken link was removed] Toyota developed its Environmental Management System to stay on top of its environmental objectives and ensure that all processes are dealt with in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Innovation, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

How Google Works

Posted on July 9, 2006 by John Hunter

How Google Works [the broken link was removed] by David F. Carr An interesting look at the technology system behind Google. “But this is the start of the story,” he adds, part of an approach that says “don’t necessarily do … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged | 4 Comments

More on Non-Auto Toyota

Posted on July 7, 2006 by John Hunter

Toyota: Way, Way Off-Road [the broken link was removed] by Ian Rowley. Business Week has an article exploring the non-automotive Toyota, as we have mentioned previously: Toyota Robots – Toyota as Homebuilder – Toyota Engineers a New Plant: the Living … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged | 2 Comments

Quality and Innovation

Posted on July 4, 2006 by John Hunter

I think the The Quality Movement Vs. The Innovation Movement by Bruce Nussbaum makes a mistake in calling the innovation movement separate from the quality movement. Wow. It makes sense. The father of quality, of course, was Dr. W. Edwards … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Popular, quote | 5 Comments

Toyota Homes

Posted on July 4, 2006 by John Hunter

Live in your next Toyota [the broken link was removed]: Housing makes up less than 1% of Toyota’s $183 billion annual sales. But company officials say technology acquired from years of making cars is central to homebuilding Toyota style. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged | 1 Comment