Bullwhips and Beer: Why Supply Chain Management is so Difficult « Forio Business Simulations This article was originally published in 2006. The simulation referenced runs on an older version of Forio’s platform, which is no longer actively supported. Play the Near Beer Game The basic concept behind supply chain management is simple: customers order products from you; you keep track of what you’re selling, and you order enough raw materials from your suppliers to meet your customers’ demand. The problem turns out to be one of coordination. This lack of coordination coupled with the ability to influence while being influenced by others leads to what Stanford’s Hau Lee refers to as the Bullwhip Effect. The bullwhip effect is illustrated by a story Prof. Cisco faced a similar problem last year that resulted in a $2.2 billion inventory write-down. Delays Wreak Havoc But coordination isn’t just about communication. Thousands have felt the frustration of supply chain management in a simulation developed at MIT’s Sloan School of Management called the beer game. Sounds easy right?
What agile means to me [Update: in response to some of the comments here and on HN, I thought it might be worth updating with a note on my personal experience with Agile, which appears at the bottom of the post.] Agile (with a big 'A') has become so mainstream now that it has started to become the problem. An alarming number of people who espouse the virtues of Agile, and who quote the Agile Manifesto believe that Agile is a project management methodology, and that Agile really means SCRUM, XP, Kanban, and that it is embodied in the daily stand-up, whiteboards or writing requirements on post-it notes. I was once told by an Agile Trainer (LOL) that the correct way to phrase the requirement "we need advertising placeholders on the site, and some way to manage which ads appear where" was "As a User, I wish to be marketed to." Needless to say his company lost a $m project on the back of such BS. So, a few lessons I've learned along the (hard) way: A few things that help this happen on a practical level:
Northeast States Cut Heating Aid To Poor - From the Wires The 31-year-old Marine, who was originally accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent dereliction of duty for leading the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005 during raids after a roadside bomb exploded, killing a fellow Marine and wounding two others. Wuterich, who was indicted in 19 of the 24 deaths, now faces no more than three months in confinement. It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. Military judge Lt. Legal experts said the case was fraught with errors made by investigators and the prosecution that let it drag on for years. In addition, Wuterich was seen as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat veterans, analysts said. “If it’s a gray area, fog-of-war, you can’t put yourself in a Marine’s situation where he’s legitimately trying to do the best he can,” said Rooney, who represented Lt. Marine Corps spokesman Lt.
3ff347f4-88ff-11e3-9997-12313d2f5560-original What’s the Cost of Voices Unheard? – Part II of II « Know Experience Necessary [This is Part II in a two-part series.] In my last post, I “came out of the closet” about my childhood stuttering. It’s not like it was a big secret. But most of the people who know me today may not realize I stuttered terribly as a child. Over time, I came to realize the impact that stuttering had on my life in business, as a manager, a leader, a facilitator, a mentor, a teacher. On Which Side of the Table Are You? I’d like to share an experience with you that changed the way I see group interaction. introverted person at the other end. No Surprise, There Were Surprises Once we settled into our positions at the table, we all stood there and looked around the room. At the opposite and “introvert” end of the table stood our Purchasing Manager, a loyal, quiet, and diligent leader who is content to observe, plan and execute her responsibilities with the least possible fanfare. I stood smack-dab at the half-way point, with the extroverts to my left and the introverts to my right. Like this:
Superstar Leadership: Workplace Culture Damage Control Meghan M. Biro On April 25, 2011 I’ve written lately about various aspects of workplace culture…People are always the number one consideration in my opinion. This topic always directly relates to recruitment and employee retention. It’s inescapable. Every workplace culture/organization (and employee) has good and bad days. In the first example, if management fails to communicate its trials, distrust will flower and thrive. Communication and trust are the underpinnings of healthy workplace culture. When trust goes, so also goes culture, that valuable mix of the personality of the workplace and its brand and the collective experience of what it means to work in the organization. A simple measure of damage to a company’s culture is employee turnover. The managers’ reaction? Once you’ve pulled your jaw off the floor, let me assure you this example is real. First, assess what’s really happened: Make a list of those who left and when. IMAGE via Flickr
Identifying RFID's Biggest Threats Longstanding principles regarding the design of RFID chips are currently under attack, and could undermine all of the hard work put into RFID standards to date, as well as the future rapid adoption of radio frequency identification. I'm talking about practices that defy the concept that the Unique Item Identifier (UII) or Electronic Product Code (EPC) must be monomorphic—that is, having a single form or structural pattern—and be assigned by the tag's manufacturer or end user only as a birth record, then locked into tag memory location (Memory Bank 1; the UII memory bank), as specified by the EPC Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C standards for passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags. If my warning sounds ominous, well… it just might be, since communication and misunderstanding are at the root of the problem. Let me build the case slowly, and solve the communication-of-terms issue first. Now imagine you are in the Alps and you try the famous mountain echo.
How To Scale a Development Team As hackers, we’re familiar with the need to scale web servers, databases, and other software systems. An equally important challenge in a growing business is scaling your development team. Most technology companies hit a wall with dev team scalability somewhere around ten developers. Having navigated this process fairly successfully over the last few years at Heroku, this post will present what I see as the stages of life in a development team, and the problems and potential solutions at each stage. Stage 1: Homebrewing In the beginning, your company is 2 - 4 guys/gals working in someone’s living room, a cafe, or a coworking space. At this stage, you’re trying to create and vet your minimum viable product, which is a fancy way of saying that you’re trying to figure out what you’re even doing here. Stage 2: The first hires Resist the urge to introduce too much structure and process at this point. Focus at this stage is key. Crisis on the brink of Stage 3 Stage 3: Breaking into teams Cohesion
Change Is Hardest in the Middle - Rosabeth Moss Kanter by Rosabeth Moss Kanter | 5:13 PM August 12, 2009 It’s no surprise that moods are sagging in mid-2009. The capital markets are stalling, the banks are barely lending, the federal government stimulus is not stimulating enough, and job losses are mounting. Incumbent politicians promise that things are getting better, but not in your city, where the powers-that-be are shutting down the zoo and raising public transportation fares, making subway rides so expensive that cars still clog the roads. Even optimists feel anxiety. Welcome to the miserable middles of change. I hit upon this law of management (and life) after observing hundreds of major changes slide into lethargy following the pep rallies and press conferences, as grand promises gave way to the tough challenges of implementation. All new initiatives – big new government directions, business turnarounds, new venture start-ups, new products, or internal process changes – can run into trouble before reaching fruition.
Google’s 8-Point Plan to Help Managers Improve IN early 2009, statisticians inside the Googleplex here embarked on a plan code-named Project Oxygen. Their mission was to devise something far more important to the future of Google Inc. than its next search algorithm or app. They wanted to build better bosses. So, as only a data-mining giant like Google can do, it began analyzing performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards. Later that year, the “people analytics” teams at the company produced what might be called the Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers. Now, brace yourself. “Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.” “Help your employees with career development.” “Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented.” The list goes on, reading like a whiteboard gag from an episode of “The Office.” “My first reaction was, that’s it?” But then, Mr. For much of its 13-year history, particularly the early years, Google has taken a pretty simple approach to management: Leave people alone. D.
Apple details supply chain in responsibility report Apple's supply chain is one of the more closely guarded secrets in the tech world; even simply confirming you have the Cupertino company in your order book has been enough to see some companies lose contracts. However Apple itself has spilled the beans on the rolodex it flips through when it needs a new iPhone screen or iPad radio, detailing the firms [pdf link] which together account for 97-percent of procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing and assembly of products worldwide. The disclosure is part of Apple's annual Supplier Responsibility Program, with the company releasing today its progress report for 2011. "We uncovered some violations" Apple says, "and worked with our suppliers to correct the issues." Meanwhile, Apple found no underage workers, at its final assembly suppliers at least, and has apparently enrolled over 60,000 workers in business and entrepreneurship classes, lessons to improve computer skills, or to learn English. [via Chronic]
Engineering Management From late 2006 to early 2009, I was privileged to hold a variety of management positions in Facebook Engineering, ranging from manager of various teams to director of engineering. During that time, the engineering department grew from about 30 to around 200 engineers. It was an era that roughly spanned the launch of News Feed, Facebook Platform (the first F8 conference), the launch of our self-serve advertising system (now a major contributor to our positive cash-flow), internationalization of the site, and Facebook Connect. We went from being a niche college social network with less than 10M users in 2006 to a global phenomenon with over 250M users by early 2009. It was a period of time during which the company grew from being a small startup (under 100 employees) to a medium-sized company (800+ employees). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Over the next five days, I'll write a post about each one of these, elaborating what I mean by them and why I think each is important.