Category Archives: Management

Toyota Execution Not Close to Being Copied

Posted on May 7, 2008 by John Hunter

The Open Secret of Success Toyota’s innovations, by contrast, have [focused] on process rather than on product, on the factory floor rather than on the showroom. That has made those innovations hard to see. But it hasn’t made them any less powerful. At the core of the company’s success is the Toyota Production System, which took shape in the years after the Second World War, when Japan was literally rebuilding itself, and capital and equipment were hard to come by. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Popular, quote, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

I Don’t Know

Posted on May 5, 2008 by John Hunter

Guest post by David Kerridge (originally posted to the Deming Electronic Network): This is part of a series in which I recall striking or thought-provoking things that W. Edwards Deming said, but did not put into his books. I remember taking a manager to his first Deming 4-day seminar. Afterwards my friend said to me “I was very impressed with that man. He said ‘I don’t know.’” Something in our culture makes us ashamed to admit ignorance. We expect quick, … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Deming, Management, Psychology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #34

Posted on May 1, 2008 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. Introduction to Factorial Designs by Jonathan Mendez – “I like the idea of velocity in marketing — test, learn, test, learn, test. Instead of one large test I prefer focusing attention on certain areas or elements to achieve deeper understanding.” MIT’s Message about Lean Enterprise Transformation by Mark Edmondson- “1. Market leaders are good at embracing enterprise change; 2. Enterprise change requires a holistic approach that … Continue reading →

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Management Seminar in Colorado

Posted on April 30, 2008 by John Hunter

The Deming Institute is sponsoring, How to Create Unethical, Ineffective Organizations That Go Out of Business, 12-14 May, 2008 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelly Allan and John Hunter will be presenting the seminar. Please let me know if you sign up. Twenty-seven faulty management and corporate governance practices create most of the problems in any organization. These practices will be identified, and better practices recommended. It will be shown that as better practices are introduced, quality of products and services … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Post Number 1,000

Posted on April 29, 2008 by John Hunter

This is the 1,000th post to the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Here are some highlights: Post number 2: Dangers of Forgetting the Proxy Nature of Data – “We use data to act as a proxy for some results of the system. Often people forget that the desired end result is not for the number to be improved but for the situation to be improved.” Most viewed post: Eliminate Slogans – management by slogan is not an effective management strategy … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Deming, Health care, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

2007 Baldrige National Quality Award

Posted on April 28, 2008 by John Hunter

The Baldrige National Quality Award winners for 2007 are: PRO-TEC Coating, Leipsic, Ohio (small business) Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wisconsin (health care) Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, California (health care) City of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fla. (nonprofit) U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (nonprofit) President Bush met with winners for the first time since 2000, I believe (photo from Coral Springs web site). He did in private this year in the Oval Office. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Public Sector | Tagged | 1 Comment

Toyota Canada CIO on Genchi Genbutsu and Kaizen

Posted on April 24, 2008 by John Hunter

What’s driving Toyota Canada’s success? – CIO reveals all for Hao Tien, chief information officer (CIO) at Toyota Canada Inc. those two Japanese phrases – Genchi Genbutsu (go and see) and Kaizen (continuous improvement) really capture it all. … the innovation wasn’t in the technology, but in the way the various partners were brought together to agree upon processes, which were then consistently executed. CustomerOne is only project of its kind in the Toyota empire. … A computer system links … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Deming and Performance Appraisal

Posted on April 22, 2008 by John Hunter

Guest post by Ron Kingen (originally posted to the Deming Electronic Network) Several weeks ago someone in the DEN list ask what did Dr. Deming recommend about this issue, well I ask that very question of Dr. Deming back in the 80’s when I had the good fortune to work with him. I had expressed my concern to Dr. Deming about several of his fourteen points that I either didn’t understand completely or did not fit with my experience and/or … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Find Joy and Success in Business

Posted on April 21, 2008 by John Hunter

David Heinemeier Hansson Talk [the broken link has been removed] at Startup School 2008 (Paul Graham‘s Y-combinator school). It is helpful to appreciate the importance of some simple ideas. Working on web focused businesses people often get carried away with the huge potential and sometimes lose touch with reality. While the ideas are more obvious when looking at web related business their is plenty here for many companies (the second half might be more helpful for many). In this talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Fun, Innovation, IT, Management, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Defect Black Market

Posted on April 18, 2008 by John Hunter

The Defect Black Market It all started a week before, when the CTO of Damon’s midsize warehousing and transportation company in Northern California announced an innovative program to motivate employees and boost the quality of their logistics software. For every bug found by a tester and fixed by a programmer, both would get $10. Well, this doesn’t sound very well thought out. Bonuses often distort behavior. Dr. Deming was not against such targets and bonuses because he thought they would … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, IT, Management, quote, Respect, Software Development | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Gary Convis is the New CEO of Dana

Posted on April 17, 2008 by John Hunter

Another former Toyota USA leader is talking a leading role at another company. Gary Convis from Toyota retired last year. Related: articles by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Speech by Gary Convis – Toyota Management Develops the New Camry – Quality Conversation with Gary Convis – Jim Press, Toyota N. American President, Moves to Chrysler Dana Holding Corporation Names Gary L. Convis Chief Executive Officer Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE: DAN) emerged from bankruptcy recently and today announced that it has … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #33

Posted on April 15, 2008 by John Hunter

Shaun Sayers is hosting Management Improvement Carnival #33 on the Capable blog, some of the highlights include Lean and six sigma at Amazon (by Peter Abilla) a tiny peek inside the quality philosophy of this highly successful but intensely secretive corporate beast Thinking outside the wooden pallet (by Mark Wroblewski) a critical examination of the role traditional materials management methods on efficiency and work flow Lean six sigma for health care (by Sue Kozlowski) a short and timely guide to … Continue reading →

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Confusing Customer Focus

Posted on April 10, 2008 by John Hunter

Misuse of the “Customer” Concept “We are told that the airlines are our customers,” FAA inspector Charlambe “Bobby” Boutris said. “But we have a more important customer, the taxpayers” who want government to ensure a safe aviation system. That’s crazy. The FAA is supposed to be serving and protecting the passengers, not the airlines. This is like a supervisor in a workplace treating their employee as a customer… even in a “servant leadership” environment, that’s not right. “Customer focus” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Public Sector | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Packaging Improvement

Posted on April 9, 2008 by John Hunter

McDonald’s Branding Makes Food Tastier for Tots Researchers at Stanford University have found that children tend to rate food that is wrapped up in McDonald’s-branded paper as tasting better than the same food wrapped in plain paper — a finding that suggests that even the youngest consumers are heavily influenced by advertising. The new study was released Monday in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. The study had 63 children, aged 3 to 5 years old, tasting five pairs … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Management, Psychology, Science | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Bezos on Internet Boom

Posted on April 8, 2008 by John Hunter

The webcast shows Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO, speaking at TED on the internet boom. He compares the boom to the gold rush highlighting the similarities. But then he compares the internet to the development of industry around electricity. I think he is exactly right on the internet: “there’s more innovation ahead of us than behind us.” Related: Bezos on Lean Thinking – Amazon Innovation – Amazon’s Amazing Achievement – Innovation Thinking with Christensen – management webcasts

Posted in Innovation, Management, webcast | Tagged , , , ,

Management Seminar in May

Posted on April 7, 2008 by John Hunter

The Deming Institute is sponsoring, How to Create Unethical, Ineffective Organizations That Go Out of Business, 12-14 May, 2008 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelly Allan and I will be presenting the seminar. Please let me know if you sign up. Twenty-seven faulty management and corporate governance practices create most of the problems in any organization. These practices will be identified, and better practices recommended. It will be shown that as better practices are introduced, quality of products and services increases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, curiouscat.com, Deming, Education, Management | Tagged , , | 1 Comment