People wear pink shirts, they like pink shirts, but there are really only so many times you can wear a pink shirt in a week. The market for pink shirts is pretty much stable. This is a problem if you sell pink shirts for a living. The solution, run a promotion, 2 for 1, give […]
Fat Fingers and Process Bottlenecks
All processes have a bottleneck, a rate limiting step, something that stops them from going further faster. It is really important to know what the bottle neck is, because unless you open the bottleneck you will never get any better. Let’s take the mobile computer as an example. I am sitting on a train writing […]
Management Targets Result in the World’s Largest Stag Party
The target Since 1978 China has had a One Child Policy. The aim of the policy is to reduce population growth in the country. The theory is that this will curtail demand for natural resources and so enable economic development. Adherence to the target is managed by stringent financial penalties for those parents who’d like […]
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
In The Wall Street Journal cyclist Floyd Landis talks about cheating in the Tour de France. Most remarkable of the litany of allegations is that blood transfusions were performed in buses parked on remote alpine passes, but the list goes on and on. It is amazing the lengths people will go to to win if […]
This is Mine that is Yours
We decide how we spend money in three areas: 1. Purchasing: which materials we buy. 2. Specification: what product or service we offer. 3. Efficiency: how well we convert raw materials into finished goods. These activities are controlled by the Purchasing, Brand Development and Operations departments. They have the ability to make changes that will […]