Author Archive for admin
Snake Oil and Science in Employee Research
Most organizations regularly survey their employees to better assess the state of the employer/employee relationship. The intent is to bring some science to bear on the problem of identifying areas of strength and weakness. By identifying what is important and what isn’t, management actions can be based on the best available evidence. This provides a foundation
Effective Use of Employee Survey Research
Most organizations regularly survey employees to better assess and understand the state of the employee/employer relationship. Usually this is done with the specific aim of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the relationship in an effort to improve levels of employee engagement and loyalty. Conducting employee survey research isn’t inexpensive. Given the costs involved from consulting fees to
Implementing Lean and Lean Six Sigma
The most frequent question we are asked by clients these days is how to get started with Lean or Lean Six Sigma. The second most frequent question is some variation of: What is Lean Six Sigma anyway? Let’s answer the second question first and then dive in on how to get started.
The Cult of Statistical Significance
If you see statistical significance or significance testing in your Employee , Customer or Operations Research then in all likelihood you are doing it wrong. Equally important, conclusions drawn and decisions made on the basis of significance tests may very well be doing you more harm than good. This is the basic message of The Cult of Statistical Significance: How
Master of Cycle Time: Little’s Law
In physics, laws are a fundamental part of understanding how systems operate. E=mc2 would have to classify as the most famous example. From these three simple letters, physicists and others have been able to greatly improve their understanding of how the universe works and make predictions about how things will behave under differing circumstances –
Understanding Value using Dr. Kano’s Model
How do you define quality? That’s an important question for those engaged in quality improvement. Defining things can be difficult, doubly so when the definitions concern something as vague as quality. Yet define we must, especially if we want to measure current quality levels, or improvement to quality. After all, if you can’t define something,
