Tag Archives: targets

Out of Touch Executives Damage Companies: Go to the Gemba

Posted on August 20, 2014 by John Hunter

When your customer service organization is universally recognized as horrible adding sales requirements to customer service representatives jobs is a really bad practice. Sadly it isn’t at all surprising to learn of management doing just that at our largest companies. Within a system where cash and corruption buys freedom from market forces (see below for more details) such practices can continue. Such customer hostile practices shouldn’t continue. They shouldn’t be allowed to continue. And even though the company’s cash has … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Data, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pay Attention to the Results that Matter

Posted on June 27, 2012 by John Hunter

Play pumps is a great sounding idea. Most people reading this blog have clean tap water a few steps away. Over a billion people today still struggle to get water every day. A common method to get water is using pumps to bring up water from deep in the ground. Some energy is needed to bring up the water and that often mean people (at time wind energy is used). Most sites that are providing water to villagers don’t have … Continue reading →

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

Managing to Test Result Instead of Customer Value

Posted on October 19, 2009 by John Hunter

Computer hardware and software creators use benchmarks as one tool to compare the performance of alternative products. At times this can be very useful. You can learn what software of hardware is faster and that may be a very valuable factor. However, any measure is determined by the operational definitions used in collecting the measure. And if people have incentives to improve the measured number they often will do just that (improving the measure) rather than improving the system (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, IT, Management, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Why Setting Goals can Backfire

Posted on April 27, 2009 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming long ago stated in his 14 obligations of management: “Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives.” I think he was right then, and is right now. A goal can help set the scope of the effort. If you are aiming for 2% improvement different strategies may make sense than if you are aiming at 50% improvement. But that type of use is rare. The problem with goals is what actually happens in organizations. They create serious … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Goodbye Quarterly Targets?

Posted on March 31, 2007 by John Hunter

Goodbye Quarterly Targets? [the broken link was removed], Business Week: For about a decade, companies have tried to goose their stocks-or manage the market’s expectations-by putting out quarterly earnings projections. Now the practice has come under fire as business leaders fret that the focus on short-term targets undermines long-term growth. On March 14 the Commission on the Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century, a project of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged executives to stop issuing their … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Toyota Targets 50% Reduction in Maintenance Waste

Posted on August 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Inside the Toyota Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent by Paul V. Arnold (sadly the site broke the link, so I removed it): First, it is Maintenance Reduction 50 Percent, not Cost Reduction 50 Percent or Employee Reduction 50 Percent. “The goal is to reduce maintenance activities and the maintenance that you perform on a machine by 50 percent. That goal covers every machine and every activity,” says TMMK facilities control manager David Absher. This is not about arbitrarily chopping budgets or … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Process improvement, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Innovation at Toyota

Posted on February 24, 2006 by John Hunter

The Birth of the Prius by Alex Taylor III: By the end of 1993 the development team had determined that higher oil prices and a growing middle class around the world would require the new car to be both roomy and fuel-efficient. Other than that, they were given no guidance. “I was trying to come up with the future direction of the company,” says Watanabe, who headed corporate planning at the time. “I didn’t have a very specific idea about … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

SEC chief quotes Deming

Posted on May 16, 2005 by John Hunter

Security and Exchange Chairman William H. Donaldson Speaks At Chartered Financial Analysts Institute Annual Conference [broken link removed]: This approach will, ultimately, better serve investors, and it will also gradually temper the pressures on some corporate executives to fudge the numbers. It would behoove us all to remember the words of W. Edwards Deming: “People with targets, and jobs dependent on meeting them, will probably meet the targets – even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it.”

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