DEMING interview
CONTROL DE LECTURA
LECTURA 3
The Roots of Quality Control in Japan
An Interview with W. Edwards Deming6
Dr. Deming, you said it will take about thirty years for the United States to catch up with Japan. This is a somewhat pessimistic view of the United States. Would you elaborate on this point?
I don’t really know how long it will take. I think hit will take thirty years; it should take all of thirty years. I don’t think America will catch up with Japan because, so far as I can see, the Japanese system has the advantage over the American system. For example, consider the principle of constancy of purpose, which is absolutely vital and is number one in my Fourteen Points. It refers to planning for the future with constancy of purpose. (See Table 14-3 for Dr. Deming’s fourteen points) Now in America some companies certainly do have constancy of purpose, but most do not. Most have a president who was brought in to improve the quarterly dividend. That’s his job, you can’t blame him for doing it. He’ll be there a while, then go on to some other place to raise the quarterly dividend there. For instance, someone told me that there were five candidates for president of one of the biggest and most famous of America’s companies. When one of them was selected, the other four resigned from the company .Such a thing could not happen in Japan. So you see, the American system is so set up that it cannot use the talents of its people. That’s very serious.
People cannot work for the company. They only get out their quota. You can’t blame a person for doing the job that is cut out for him since he has to pay his rent and take care of his family. You can’ blame him. but you can blame management for a situation in which people cannot work for the company. An employee cannot remain un the job to find out for sure what the job is. The foreman does not have time to help him. As a matter of fact, the foreman may decide a particular person cannot do the job at all and perhaps should be let
LECTURA 3
The Roots of Quality Control in Japan
An Interview with W. Edwards Deming6
Dr. Deming, you said it will take about thirty years for the United States to catch up with Japan. This is a somewhat pessimistic view of the United States. Would you elaborate on this point?
I don’t really know how long it will take. I think hit will take thirty years; it should take all of thirty years. I don’t think America will catch up with Japan because, so far as I can see, the Japanese system has the advantage over the American system. For example, consider the principle of constancy of purpose, which is absolutely vital and is number one in my Fourteen Points. It refers to planning for the future with constancy of purpose. (See Table 14-3 for Dr. Deming’s fourteen points) Now in America some companies certainly do have constancy of purpose, but most do not. Most have a president who was brought in to improve the quarterly dividend. That’s his job, you can’t blame him for doing it. He’ll be there a while, then go on to some other place to raise the quarterly dividend there. For instance, someone told me that there were five candidates for president of one of the biggest and most famous of America’s companies. When one of them was selected, the other four resigned from the company .Such a thing could not happen in Japan. So you see, the American system is so set up that it cannot use the talents of its people. That’s very serious.
People cannot work for the company. They only get out their quota. You can’t blame a person for doing the job that is cut out for him since he has to pay his rent and take care of his family. You can’ blame him. but you can blame management for a situation in which people cannot work for the company. An employee cannot remain un the job to find out for sure what the job is. The foreman does not have time to help him. As a matter of fact, the foreman may decide a particular person cannot do the job at all and perhaps should be let