#92 – THE BIG PICTURE OF MANAGEMENT AND THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS – ANGELA MONTGOMERY

1dba0a5Due to the global success of Dr. Goldratt’s first business novel ‘The Goal’ most people mistakenly think of TOC as just a technique for manufacturing. While TOC does produces fast and radical improvements in manufacturing processes, it is in fact a whole system philosophy and method. The thinking that underlies this theory stems from a worldview of unity where all the parts of an organization are connected and it provides solutions for all aspects of management, from the minutiae of day-to-day disagreements right through to entire supply chain management. Continue reading

#91 – ADVENTURES IN NEGLIGENCE – MALCOLM PEART

Malcom Peart pixHow do we deal with our documentation?  It’s probably the most mundane, controversial and opinionated part of a project, but possibly the most essential part of a project and, more often than not, the most delegated.  However, documentation is an essential part of communication.  Communication, or rather ‘information logistics’, is the art of ensuring that information is in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, and in the right medium.  Information also needs to be stored and now this is can be in the cloud, on a remote server, on disc etc etc…etc.  We tend to be rely on the computer to do this menial work and also rely on information technology to ensure we can retrieve this information rather than the old fashioned ‘filing system’. Continue reading

#88 – HOW CAN WE ENCOURAGE EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT? – KIRON BONDALE

  • kiron-bondale

A recent LinkedIn discussion started with the thought provoking question of what gets more recognition within most companies – issue resolution or risk management?

Are firefighters or those who prevent fires celebrated more?

Academically, no one argues about the criticality of risk management, and yet, if issue management is where all the focus and accolades are, why would people want to spend anything more than a modicum of effort in managing risks? Continue reading

#85 – CAN THIS SHIP BE TURNED AROUND IN SIX MONTHS – T. DAN NELSON

T. Dan NelsonIf ISO 9001:2015 is effectively applied, auditors will no longer use a clause-by-clause approach to auditing QMSs. Dr. Croft of TC 176 addresses this issue directly while answering a question about the difference in audit approach expected of ISO 9001:2015. Continue reading

#84 – 10 SHORTCOMINGS OF SWOT ANALYSIS – DAVID PATRISHKOFF

David PIt you think that your SWOT analysis you use to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats in your business is adequate, beware. It is intended to provide a 360 view of your risks and opportunities but they often fail to fill that requirement due to superficial applications and failure to include interconnected systemic systems risks in the analysis. Continue reading