W. Edwards Deming was one among the various management consultants sent by the Unites States government to ameliorate the production quality standards in the war torn Japanese economy. The Japanese yearned for getting out of their lagged image in the international market where they regretted upon the bad quality front and the obvious cheap prices of their products. Deming applied his statistical approach and assured them to implement the changes recommended so that they could totally turn around their earlier issues within next five years (Deming Institute 1). Adhering to his simple notions and unconventional approach, the Japanese came over with a revived image in the international markets within just next 4 years. However, it is equally true that America being the international market leader neglected his approach and hence, Deming is also referred as the Unheard Prophet of Quality (Deming Institute 1).
Deming’s managerial approach: Its stark contrast with conventional management
Deming came from the era when America was dominated the international markets in terms of mass production concepts from various American giants like the Ford motor company. His prime motif in Japan was to re-establish their managerial principles so that they might adopt method of production and quality control that will add to quality, rather than quantity (Murphicus 1). He demolished the quantifiable approach towards defining the performance standards in terms of numbers and associated the issue of performance lag due to numbers being linked to overall performance. His most striking theory behind changing the managerial outlook was to focus on developing adequate intrinsic motivation in the employees for attaining the desired quality standards. Thus, Deming shifted the managerial focus towards quality maximization from varying the product features to motivating employees to give their maximum dedication.
Deming’s notion of intrinsic motivation
Deming laid sincere stress over developing a managerial system that motivates employees to render their best and utilizes the most innate attributes of workers to strife for the best quality inputs. He explained that individual factors like intrinsic motivation, self esteem, cooperation, yearning from learning, etc. get suppressed in the due course of life (Brant 1). Hence, instead of spending resources for just remodelling the transformation into the current system, nurturing the above-stated values can bring more significant transformation. Therefore, there should be a reward system which can foster the power of intrinsic motivation and usage of cooperation to gain better results. These changes in performance management will lead to recognizable changes in the overall quality standards, better employee satisfaction, and a win-win situation for all (Brant 1).
Deming’s red bead experiment and management lessons from it
Deming devised the Red bead experiment to explain the futility of those employee training programs which tend to associate the non-quantifiable performances attributes with numbers (Mayo Clinic 1). His experiment involved a training environment which kept repetitively judging the trainees over their numerical results attained for an event which was based entirely on chance. There were adequate motivational slogans, rewards and punitive correction program, and multiple instances of instructional training inputs but still a very random pattern of results attained for the group (CITECSolutions 1). Hence, Deming used this experiment to explain that performance and quality driving attributes can never be associated to mere numbers and such a system will lead to disastrous results.
Conclusion
Deming’s stance is extremely reformatory towards redefining the managerial approach towards maximizing productivity norms and adding on to overall quality derivatives in a business (Murphicus 1). Further, although his native nation ignored his ideologies behind quality driving changes in the managerial inputs, he still stands inevitable in his extremely unconventional management theories. Japan is an epitome of Deming’s theories which made it rise from a war torn shattered economy to international market leader in quality and yield standards.
Works Cited
Brant, Steven. "W. Edwards Deming on Intrinsic Motivation ." Online video clip. YouTube, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
CITECSolutions. " Deming's Red Bead Experiment." Online video clip. YouTube, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Deming Institute. "From The Deming Library - Prophet of Quality".Online video clip. YouTube, 20 March. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Mayo Clinic. "Deming's Red Bead Experiment ." Online video clip. YouTube, 10 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Murphicus. "W. Edwards Deming - Part 1". Online video clip. YouTube, 10 March. 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
