Category Archives: Management

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged Amazon, Carnival, management, Six sigma | Comments Off

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. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Public Sector | Tagged airlines, customer service, government, management | 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Management, Psychology, Science | Tagged marketing, Psychology | 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. … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, webcast | Tagged Amazon, Bezos, internet, TED, webcast | Comments Off

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. … Continue reading →

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

A Programmers Take on Agile Software Development

Posted on April 6, 2008 by John Hunter

A Case for Agile: Benefits for a Programmer’s Career by Theodore Nguyen-Cao Through agile development, I’ve been able to deliver working software time and time again. I’ve been exposed to all different aspects of the business. I’ve learn what I … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Software Development | Tagged agile management, Career, programming, Software Development | 3 Comments

10x Productivity Difference in Software Development

Posted on April 2, 2008 by John Hunter

10x Software Development The original study that found huge variations in individual programming productivity was conducted in the late 1960s by Sackman, Erikson, and Grant (1968). They studied professional programmers with an average of 7 years’ experience and found that … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Performance Appraisal, Software Development | Tagged programming | 5 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #32

Posted on April 1, 2008 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. The Skipper & First Mate: A Pattern for Continual Progress by Jamie Dinkelacker – “An organization can only depend on individuals in critical chain processes when … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged blogs, Carnival, management | Comments Off

Tesco Pauses USA Expansion

Posted on March 31, 2008 by John Hunter

Pausing for reath at fresh & easy (Tesco’s USA stores) We’ve opened 31 stores in 66 days so far this year…now we’re pausing for breath… However, after opening our first 50, we planned to have a 3 month break from … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management | Tagged retail, Tesco | 1 Comment

Deming’s 14 Points (for software development)

Posted on March 28, 2008 by John Hunter

Deming’s 14 points (for software development) by Jamie Dinkelacker (Geo/Maps Engineering Program Manager at Google Inc. Focus on lean principles and agile practices for software development): W. Edwards Deming’s work on quality, while widely misinterpreted and misapplied in the USA, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Google, Management, Software Development | Tagged agile management, Deming, Google, IT, Software Development | Comments Off