Category Archives: Management

How Private Equity Strangled Mervyns

Posted on December 12, 2008 by John Hunter

I do not like the actions of many in “private equity.” I am a big fan of capitalism. I just object to those that unjustly take from the other stakeholders involved. It is not the specific facts of this case, that I see as important, but the thinking behind these types of actions. Which specific actions are to blame for this bankruptcy is not my point. I detest that financial gimmicks by “private capital” that ruin companies. Those gimmicks that … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , ,

Management Improvement Carnival #49

Posted on December 10, 2008 by John Hunter

The management carnival provides links to some great recent posts. Also see the management Reddit, which is a social media site for those interested in management. Submit your suggestions for future management carnivals. Lean at ThedaCare, LeanBlog Podcast with Dr. John Toussaint, by Mark Graban – “In this podcast Dr. Toussaint looks back at ThedaCare’s accomplishments, reflects on their journey, and shares his advice for other hospitals.” Survive to Make Money or Make Money to Survive? by John Shook – … Continue reading →

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Google Should Stay True to Their Management Practices

Posted on December 9, 2008 by John Hunter

I believe in Google’s past, present and future. They have shown a great ability to ignore the short term focus that dominates (and kills success) of so many companies today. I am happy to invest in Google for the long term. This current reaction to the economic crisis, is one of many times Google can be seen to be making significant changes to adapt based on market conditions and the results of their experiments and experiences. Google’s management in general … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Japan Airlines CEO on CEO Pay

Posted on December 8, 2008 by John Hunter

Nice webbast of CNN clip on Japan Airlines CEO cutting his pay to less than that of the pilots. He really seems to understand the company does not exist for him to plunder (unlike so many CEOs in the USA). Related: Japan Airlines using Toyota Production System Principles – Under Nishimatsu, Japan Airlines Tries to Rise Above Legacy – Respect for Employees at Southwest Airlines – posts on executive pay – Honda executives not overpaid either

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

Online Management Resources

Posted on December 5, 2008 by John Hunter

Since long before I started this blog I have maintained the Curious Cat Management Improvement web site. In fact, that web site has been online since 1996; the blog started in 2004. I feel the web site has tremendous resources for managers looking to improve the performance of their organization (or course I am a bit biased). The Curious Cat Management Improvement library includes hundreds articles, reports, training guides, blog posts… that I have selected. It is a great resource, … Continue reading →

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Information Technology and Business Process Support

Posted on December 3, 2008 by John Hunter

I moved from management improvement work into information technology work (where I continue to practice management improvement). Many IT practices follow quality management guidelines well (agile software development for one). I have found it far easier to design and provide software solutions than convince people to change their processes directly. I found it funny that as I delivered new IT solutions, in which was embedded a redesign of the process, those changes were often accepted without any significant debate. But … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Embrace Diversity, Erase Uniformity

Posted on December 1, 2008 by John Hunter

Guest Post by Jurgen Appelo, author of the Managing Software Development blog. Five years ago, when I started working for my current employer, the entire organization (about 30 people) consisted only of 20-something white straight single males. The atmosphere was what you would expect from such an environment: conversations on football/soccer, lewd jokes, the smell of beer, and trash in every corner. In short, the perfect place to work, if you were a 20-something white straight single male. Then the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Science, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment

More Management Blog Posts From October 2005

Posted on November 30, 2008 by John Hunter

Performance Without Appraisal – When asked “If we eliminate performance appraisals, as you suggest, what do we do instead?” Dr. Deming’s reply: “Whatever Peter Scholtes says.” Read The Leader’s Handbooks, by Peter Scholtes Ford and Managing the Supplier Relationship – “Until they acknowledge what problems in their management system have caused them to fail to use sensible management practices that have been well know for decades I see no reason to believe their claims that they will behave differently this … Continue reading →

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Family Business Gives $6.6 million in Bonuses to Workers

Posted on November 29, 2008 by John Hunter

The PEER Bearing Company (a manufacturer of bearings based in Illinois) was bought out by a Swedish company this year. The family that had owned the company gave surprise bonuses of $6.6 million to the 230 employees of the company (an average of over $28,000). family thanks employees with surprise bonuses Family members signed two thank-you cards to each employee, one in Spanish and one in English, expressing gratitude for “the loyalty and hard work of our employees over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Respect | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Honda has Never had Layoffs and has been Profitable Every Year

Posted on November 25, 2008 by John Hunter

Engineers Rule, 2006 Longtime auto analyst John Casesa, who now runs a consulting company, says, “There’s not a company on earth that better understands the culture of engineering.” The strategy has worked thus far. Honda has never had an unprofitable year. It has never had to lay off employees. … The lean and compact Fukui, like all of his predecessors, is an engineer who started in R&D and later ran the subsidiary. While other auto chief-executives-to-be were punching keyboards in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Respect | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Eric Schmidt on Management at Google

Posted on November 24, 2008 by John Hunter

Eric Schmidt speaks at the Management Lab Summit on May 29, 2008 in Half Moon Bay, California. Conversation with Professor Gary Hamel. “The culture can be thought of as a ship and iterate culture with transparency for what people are doing. And that model scales pretty well.” “I have two jobs, two roles. The first is to make sure every issue that is important is really debated to find, not the common outcome, but the best decision… second thing is … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Creativity, Google, Management, Popular, Software Development, webcast | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company, 1986

Posted on November 22, 2008 by John Hunter

Invest in New Management Methods Not a Failing Company by William Hunter, 1986 I predict American Motors will stop making cars in Wisconsin in the near future, whether or not the state’s money is used for a temporary propping-up operation. These competitors are beginning to understand how essential it is to take a long-term view of their businesses. Toyota, for example, took its top 40 managers on a two-day retreat to ponder what their corporation will look like in the … Continue reading →

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What’s the Value of a Big Bonus?

Posted on November 21, 2008 by John Hunter

What’s the Value of a Big Bonus? by Dan Ariely To look at this question, three colleagues and I conducted an experiment. We presented 87 participants with an array of tasks that demanded attention, memory, concentration and creativity. We asked them, for instance, to fit pieces of metal puzzle into a plastic frame, to play a memory game that required them to reproduce a string of numbers and to throw tennis balls at a target. We promised them payment if … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , ,

The Manager FAQ

Posted on November 20, 2008 by John Hunter

This is a great set of answers for programmers on the behavior of managers, that can also be of interest to some non-programmers. The Manager FAQ by Peter Seebach The following list is an attempt to cover some of the issues that will invariably come up when hackers without previous experience of the business community first start working in it. Other workers may also find it informative. DISCLAIMER: The author is a hacker. Bias is inevitable. Questions and Answers: Section … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Software Development | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #47

Posted on November 17, 2008 by John Hunter
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Lean and Kanban for Software Developers

Posted on November 15, 2008 by John Hunter

Lean and Kanban for Software Developers by Clinton Keith Time-boxing allows us to employ a very powerful aspect of Kanban. The cards in each column represent capacity for each stage of the value stream. As we see above, each stage can only handle one zone at a time. That is the capacity of each stage, if we have one person working at each stage. Time-boxing is the first step in beginning to find a balanced flow for our value stream … Continue reading →

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