Tag Archives: business

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 new company. Interviews include: David Heinemeier Hansson [the broken link was removed] (who many of our readers may not have heard of but who has recently done a great web development framework [Ruby on Rails] and development philosophy very compatible … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Innovation, IT, Management, Management Articles, Software Development | Tagged , , , ,

Secrets of the World’s Best Companies

Posted on March 23, 2006 by John Hunter

Best-kept secrets of the world’s best companies by Paul Kaihla. Not even the most successful companies in the world are managed by the book. Great management formulas aren’t handed down on stone tablets, or found in the writings or speeches of gurus and consultants. They emerge from years of experimentation, trial and error, regime change, reorganizations, crises, and employee suggestions. I agree that management is much more complex than books or simple theories claim. I think one of the great … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged | 1 Comment

Drucker Opinion Essays from the WSJ

Posted on December 10, 2005 by John Hunter

The Wall Street Journal has posted selected opinion essays by Peter Drucker [the broken link was removed] along with several tributes to Drucker. The Five Deadly Business Sins (article removed so link removed), 1993: the worship of high profit margins and of “premium pricing” mispricing a new product by charging “what the market will bear cost-driven pricing slaughtering tomorrow’s opportunity on the altar of yesterday feeding problems and starving opportunities Is Executive Pay Excessive?, 1977. In 1977, his answer was, … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Excessive Executive Pay

Posted on December 4, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement Via Christian Sarkar [the broken link was removed], Too Many Turkeys, The Economist: Executive compensation in America – already far ahead of the rest of the world, despite the best efforts of overseas managers to catch up – is now rising inexorably again. In fiscal year 2004 the total compensation of the median American company boss rose in every industry… according to a new report by the Conference Board, a research organisation. In the big companies that … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Deming’s Ideas at Markey’s Audio Visual

Posted on October 24, 2005 by John Hunter

Last week at the Deming Institute seminar: How to Create Unethical, Ineffective Organizations That Go Out of Business, Mark Miller, General Manager, Markey’s Audio Visual spoke on Markey’s experience adopting Deming’s ideas. It was a great presentation. He did a great job of explaining what it was like to work at a company focused on applying Deming’s management philosophy. I capture some of the points he talked about below. 1986 Markey’s started providing Audio Visual support to all Deming’s seminars. … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Management | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fast Company Interview: Jeff Immelt

Posted on July 14, 2005 by John Hunter

Fast Company Interview: Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE. What makes a growth leader today, and how does that differ from the sort of leader who was effective at GE in the past? GE has always been a believer in leadership development. When the economy was growing 5% a year, when oil was $14 a barrel, and when the world was at peace, the science of management was all about the how-to. That was the how-to generation. You didn’t have to think … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Process improvement, quote, Six sigma, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments