2/14/2006
When I think of pioneers in management history that set the bar for good managers Dr. W. Edwards Deming is the first person that comes to mind. It is difficult to limit his 14 points of quality management down to 5, but for the assignment's sake I will choose 5 of my favorite. Maybe I am biased towards his management obligations because he is an Iowa native, but Deming's quality teachings used in Japan after 1950, while the country was rebuilding after World War II projected them into worldwide prominence as the leader in producing quality products. The first point is to create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs . Deming emphasized quality as the number one importance for a successful economy, which starts at each individual business. If a business institutes an emphasis on quality services and products then the business is built on a strong foundation because corners have not been cut to save costs. Competition is tough among businesses and usually corners have been cut to keep earnings up and compete for market share, but if you build quality products they will create a demand for themselves that will create profits. Honda is a great example of a company who created a constancy of purpose toward improvement of quality of their product. Honda was a giant in the growing Japanese car market already but now have nearly became a leader in a tough industry to enter into, the American automobile sector, in a about a decade. Honda is known for their efficiency and great quality products as their cars are known to run flawlessly for hundreds of thousands of miles. Another point made was to provide jobs. Deming believed in taking "taking care of your own", and outsourcing is devastating to many Americans because of the availability to cut costs. Outsourcing is a good way of cutting costs but ethically wrong.