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Tag Archives: organization as a system
People: Team Members or Costs
Inside TPS at Toyota, Georgetown, Kentucky [the broken link was removed] by Ralph Rio: Toyota believes people need to be intimately involved with the process to understand how to improve it. The team member writes the standardized work they use because the person performing the work is the true expert. People are trusted to understand the process and improve it. Automation is used but is seen as a tool for helping people manage the process. This can be contrasted with … Continue reading
Flow
“Flow” and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi [the broken link was removed] by David Farmer: How does it feel to be in “the flow”? 1. Completely involved, focused, concentrating – with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training 2. Sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality 3. Great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going 4. Knowing the activity is doable – that the skills are adequate, and … Continue reading
Lean Thinking and Management
Several interesting posts have been inspired by the Kaizen Priorities post on Got Boondoggle. While it has been mentioned debating these ideas may not be valuable, I believe it can be valuable to explore the reasons behind the different views. Bill Waddel’s post, Lean Manufacturing [the broken link was removed], points to the importance of cycle time reduction (versus the priorities mentioned in the original post). I think that point is valuable. He also talks about the reasons for Six … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools, quote
Tagged Lean thinking, management, organization as a system
Cease Mass Inspection for Quality
Comment in response to, Re-Discovering W. Edwards Deming, a partial quote from that post: Not all of the Deming approach is part of core TPS thinking. In particular, Deming advocated a statistical sampling approach to quality inspection, while Toyota focuses on 100% inspection or eliminating the need for inspection through via the concepts of Poka Yoke and Jidoka. As much as I admire Deming and his philosophy, I agree with the Toyota innovation that it is better to prevent defects … Continue reading
Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools
Tagged Deming, inspection, management, organization as a system, Process improvement
4 Comments
Toyota Special Report: Thinking Production System
Toyota Special Report: Thinking Production System [the broken link was removed]. A very interesting article on Toyota’s web site (www.toyota.co.jp). At the 2003 Automotive Parts System Solution Fair, held in Tokyo, June 18, 2003, Teruyuki Minoura, then-managing director of global purchasing, Toyota Motor Corporation, talked about his experiences with TPS (the Toyota Production System), and what it means for suppliers and for the future of the auto industry. This short article is peppered with many great quotes as section headers: … Continue reading
Superior Customer Experiences
Grow Your Business Through Superior Customer Experiences [the broken link was removed] by D. Randall Brandt and Rodger Stotz: In that study, Oakley found that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, and between customer satisfaction and improved financial performance. Employee satisfaction is a key antecedent to employee engagement. He also found that organizations with engaged employees have customers who use their products more, and increased customer usage leads to higher levels of customer satisfaction. Managing … Continue reading
Posted in Customer focus, Management, Management Articles, Psychology
Tagged Customer focus, organization as a system, Psychology
Managing Innovation
TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma: Due Process Management Programs Discourage Innovation? [the broken link was removed – so many organizations show how unable they are to act with a concern for anything but the very short term] “In the appropriate setting, process management activities can help companies improve efficiency, but the risk is that you misapply these programs, in particular in areas where people are supposed to be innovative,” notes Benner. “Brand new technologies to produce products that don’t exist … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management
Tagged Creativity, Innovation, managing people, organization as a system, process thinking
6 Comments
Marketing in a Lean Company
Where Is Marketing In All of This? [the broken link was removed]: The problem with all of this is that it is based on the idea that sales and manufacturing are distinct entities, with a one way flow between them, rather than hopelessly intertwined elements of the same complicated business. … An essential element of lean manufacturing is a level loading of demand – or at least reasonably level. Toyota uses pricing to accomplish this. … It is becoming more … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking
Tagged marketing, organization as a system, sales
4 Comments
Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations
Forward [the broken link was removed] (by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister) to Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations: measurement is almost always part of an effort to achieve some goal. You can’t always measure all aspects of progress against the goal, so you settle for some surrogate parameter, one that seems to represent the goal closely and is simple enough to measure. So, for example, if the goal is long-term profitability, you may seek to achieve that goal by … Continue reading
Posted in Data, Management
Tagged Data, evidence based management, management, organization as a system
2 Comments
Ford and Managing the Supplier Relationship
There have a been a number of articles (Ford to slash vendors of key parts [the broken link was removed] – Ford Rethinks Supply Strategy and posts (A “Kinder and Gentler” Lean Supply Base? – Ford Adopts Toyota-style Supplier Strategy [the broken link was removed]) about supplier management, many springing from Ford’s announcement [the broken link was removed]. My first thought on reading the stories about the press release was, didn’t Ford already say they were going to do this … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Management, Manufacturing, Systems thinking
Tagged critical thinking, culture, Deming, management, organization as a system, problem solving, suppliers
9 Comments
Performance Without Appraisal
In response to the Alternatives to Stack Ranking? post on the popular Mini-Microsoft blog. I’m also taking some time to contemplate on Deming’s points and assess how Microsoft is doing against them. … What I would deeply appreciate is real-world experience from people living with stack ranking alternatives. I strongly suggest chapter 9 (Performance Without Appraisal) of The Leader’s Handbooks, by Peter Scholtes. You mentioned Deming. When asked “If we eliminate performance appraisals, as you suggest, what do we do … Continue reading
How Toyota Turns Workers Into Problem Solvers
How Toyota Turns Workers Into Problem Solvers [the broken link was removed], Sarah Jane Johnston interview of Steven Spear. It is our conclusion that Toyota has developed a set of principles, Rules-in-Use we’ve called them, that allow organizations to engage in this (self-reflective) design, testing, and improvement so that (nearly) everyone can contribute at or near his or her potential, and when the parts come together the whole is much, much greater than the sum of the parts. The main … Continue reading
Purpose of an Organization
W. Edwards Deming described the purpose of an organization in New Economics, on page 51, as: The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term. Like so much of what Deming said that makes sense to me. It is my sense the “conventional wisdom” would state something more along the lines of the purpose of a company is to make money. I do not … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Management, Popular, quote, Respect, Systems thinking
Tagged Deming, organization as a system, Popular, respect for people, suppliers
23 Comments