Month: October 2014
By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Dr. Deming explained the dangers of copying from other organizations: “To copy is to invite disaster.” (page 10 of The New Economics). The proper course of action depends on the system. This, like so much of Deming’s advice, relates to understanding the […]
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By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. The 21st Annual International Deming Research Seminar will be held in Washington DC, 23 and 24 March 2015. The first 20 seminars were held at Fordham University in New York City, before the move to Georgetown University for 2015. The W. Edwards Deming Institute is seeking research papers from […]
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Which brings us to response time targets. Putting aside the arguments that numerical targets are arbitrary and prone to causing dysfunctional behaviour*, a critical further point is that targets do not provide a method. Neither do they provide additional capacity for achieving the improvements sought. Therefore, setting an arbitrary numerical target for response times (or anything else), simply does not change anything about those systems conditions that dictate predictable levels of performance. The system will produce what it’s capable of producing, whether the target is there or not.
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By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) has announced the 2014 Deming Prize winners. The companies awarded the Deming Prize this year are: GC America (USA) Sekiso Corporation (Japan) Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Mahindra Powerol Business (India) An organization based in USA received a Deming Prize for only […]
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By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Bob Browne is the former CEO of the Great Plains Coca Cola Bottling Company and soon to be author of a new book, The Sys-Tao Way, that outlines his application of the Deming Philosophy. In the most recent Deming Institute podcast, Bob […]
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By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. The following quote was provided by Eric Budd During the meeting, our division president asked Dr. Deming, “Is there hope for GM?” Dr. Deming’s reply: “Sometimes you have to wait for people to die. Eric Budd‘s comment In attempting to understand why he might say something like this, I […]
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