Category Archives: IT

Corporate Blogging

Posted on August 10, 2007 by John Hunter

Good article on the topic of company blogs and the new thinking needed to manage given the new communication system created by the internet, blogs etc.: Company bloggers can help put out fires [broken link has been removed]: “Our legal people and others were e-mailing and calling and asking me: ‘What are you doing? This is bad. You can’t do that,’ ” Menchaca says of his post on the Direct2Dell blog last August. “But I said: ‘This is what blogs … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Innovation, IT, Management | 4 Comments

Hiring: Silicon Valley Style

Posted on August 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Interviews on how to hire in Silicon Valley. I especially like Guy Kawasaki’s comment – “the key to getting great people to work for you is to have a great product. That is why Google does so well. That is why Apple does so well.” I agree with the concept that a huge part of hiring good people is offering them a place where they feel proud of what they are working on. This is even more true when you … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Google, IT, Management, Software Development, Systems thinking, webcast | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

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 , , ,

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

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

Funding Google Gadget Development

Posted on June 28, 2007 by John Hunter

Google Gadgets are small tools and toys that integrate with iGoogle. Google is funding developers to work on creating gadgets through Google Gadget Ventures. Great idea. They offer: 1. Grants of $5,000 to those who’ve built gadgets we’d like to see developed further. You’re eligible to apply for a grant if you’ve developed a gadget that’s in our Google gadgets directory and gets at least 250,000 weekly page views. To apply, you must submit a one-page proposal detailing how you’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Fun, Google, Innovation, IT, Management, Software Development | 4 Comments

Reduce Computer Waste

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

High-efficiency power supplies for home computers and servers [the broken link was removed] (pdf) by Urs Hoelzle and Bill Weihl – Google: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using an inefficient power supply. It’s difficult to believe that something as basic as a power supply could be responsible for that amount of waste, but it’s true. … The opportunity for savings is immense — we estimate that if deployed … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Lean thinking | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Moving Jobs to Silicon Valley from India

Posted on May 23, 2007 by John Hunter

India grows up [the broken link was removed]: The costs of having two offices, which are twelve time zones apart, is significant. People in both offices frequently had conference calls at 10pm and midnight every night (as a result the office in the US didn’t get started until noon sometimes or people rolled in tired). We were all traveling constantly. Development and communication moved slower due to the distance and teams. However, all of this was worth it so long … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, India, IT, Software Development | 3 Comments

Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story

Posted on May 16, 2007 by John Hunter

Craigslist is a great web site focused largely on local connections and local ads (jobs, housing, classifieds…). It is in top 10 sites for the amount of traffic and a total staff of 24 people. eBay bought 25% of the company a few years ago but Craiglist retains a very pure customer focus. Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story [the broken link was removed]: We don’t even look at what other companies are doing. We’re not setting out to conquer the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Management | Tagged

Keeping Track of Improvement Opportunities

Posted on May 14, 2007 by John Hunter

The Priority Trap [the broken link was removed – long term reliability of the web page links isn’t a priority I guess] by Dan Markovitz makes some good points: But if it’s not important enough to make the short list, then give yourself license to dump it. Maybe it’s something you would do if you had more time, or more energy, or if your mother would notice — but since you don’t have that time, and since you don’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged | 2 Comments

Information Technology and Management

Posted on May 4, 2007 by John Hunter

Dog Eat Dog [the broken link was removed, sadly even MIT can’t manage a website properly and they have broken the link] by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson The CVS experience is a microcosm of a pervasive trend toward using IT to replicate not only digital goods and services but also business processes. This trend encompasses core activities such as customer service and order management, as well as support activities such as accounting and human resources. Once a company embeds … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Find Good Management Improvement Jobs

Posted on May 3, 2007 by John Hunter

Peter Abilla (shmula blog) is hiring a Manager for Process Improvement [the broken link was removed] to work with him at eBay. It is a great opportunity, in my opinion. Here are some highlights of what he is looking for: Experience implementing Lean and Six Sigma in transactional environments (non-manufacturing). Experience with Value-stream Mapping (current- and future-state), Lean Consumption and Lean Provisioning Experience with Lean beyond just book knowledge — I’m looking for hands-on implementation of Lean. You can explain … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Process improvement, Six sigma | Tagged

Google Website Optimizer

Posted on April 7, 2007 by John Hunter

Google’s Website Optimizer allows for multivariate testing of your website. Website Optimizer, Google’s free multivariate testing application, helps online marketers increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction by continually testing different combinations of site content (text and images). Rather than sitting in a room and arguing over what will work better, you can save time and eliminate the guesswork by simply letting your visitors tell you what works best. We’ll guide you through the process of designing and implementing … Continue reading →

Posted in Design of Experiments, Google, IT, Management | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Agile Software Development

Posted on April 4, 2007 by John Hunter

Nice presentation for those interested in software application development: Waterfall Bad, Washing Machine Good. I must admit I think this slide show would be much better with audio adding details… As it stands now it is a nice slide show (though maybe only if you already agree with the idea of agile development practices). The basic idea: reduce the initial planning phase and increase the iterations (similar to turning the PDSA cycle quickly) and interaction with users. The application of … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Software Development | 10 Comments

Metrics and Software Development

Posted on March 27, 2007 by John Hunter

Lean-based Metrics for Agile CM Environments [the broken link was removed] by Brad Appleton, Robert Cowham and Steve Berczuk: Measure Up! Don’t use metrics to measure individuals in a way that compares their performance to others or isolates the value of their contributions from the rest of the team. The last of the seven principles of Lean software development tells us to “Optimize across the whole.” When measuring value or performance, it is often better to measure at the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, IT, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Software Development, Theory of Constraints | Tagged , , | 5 Comments