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Showing blog posts within category Word of the fortnight
Wild ducks
By Editor on 1st Jun 2007Wild ducks is a term coined by IBM founder Thomas Watson and refers to the need for fresh blood within an organisation. The meaning behind the term wild ducks is drawn from a story by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. He concluded that wild ducks can become tamed, resulting in laziness. In business terms if your employees become too comfortable their desire to improve and develop will wane. It is paramount to an organisation's success to maintain an
The term kaizen originated in Japan and means gradual, ordered and continuous improvement. The term kaizen is opposite to the old saying ‘if it isn't broke don't fix it'. On the surface things might appear to be working effectively and efficiently but scratch below the surface and there is always room for improvement. Think like an athlete, continue striving to be better.
stickiness
By Editor on 4th May 2007A measure used to gauge the effectiveness of a website in retaining individual users. Every company wants their website to have a high stickiness factor.
TQM, or total quality management, is a management initiative that emphasises a focus on quality across business activities, implemented through specific techniques and regularly monitored and improved processes. Total quality provides an umbrella under which everyone in the organisation can strive to create customer satisfaction - it is a people-focused management system designed to increase customer satisfaction at continually lower real costs.
quality circle
By Editor on 18th Apr 2007Developed from Japanese work practices, a quality circle is a small group of employees who voluntarily meet at regular intervals to identify, analyse and resolve work-related problems. A quality circle can improve the performance of an organisation but can also motivate and enrich the work life of its employees. Discussions cover workplace improvement and give employees the chance to make presentations to management with their ideas. Typical topics are: -
