Abstract
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa is regarded as one of the world’s adored frontrunners in total quality control. He is recognized for his prodigious and exceptional contribution to total quality management (TQM) that has shaped quality management up-to-date. Ishikawa used his educational background, philosophies, and ideas to help companies and the overall management industry in producing quality products and services at reduced costs. His work has been highly awarded through prestigious prices and recognition from industrial and educational related organizations. This work focuses on Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa’s biography especially his life, work, philosophy, significant accomplishments, and his contribution and influence in total quality management.
Key Words: Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Total Quality Control, and Biography
Background
Born in Tokyo, Japan, 1915, Ishikawa was the eighth son to Ichiro Ishikawa. He earned his engineering degree in practical chemistry at the University of Tokyo in 1939. After graduation, Ishikawa worked as a naval technical officer between 1939 and 1941. However, his career began in 1947 when he became an associate professor at the University of Tokyo and afterwards in 1978 assumed the top leadership position at Musashi Institute of Technology. Earlier in 1949, Ishikawa had joined Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineering (JUSE) quality control study group. During these times, Japan was focused on transforming its industrial sector in terms of high quality products for international and local markets. Ishikawa’s exceptional and effective skill was of organizing large groups towards a shared goal, which was mainly accountable for the country’s quality progression initiatives. He came to be referred to as the father of quality revolution among the Japanese population. Ishikawa’s concepts were based on Joseph Juran and Edwards Deming’s management concepts that he translated, combined, and expanded into the Japanese industry system.
In 1960, he became a full professor in the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Tokyo, and two years later would introduce the model of quality circles with the help of JUSE. The model was an experimentation to understand the effects of the lading hand on quality. It was based on the normal extension of these systems of training to all stages of an organization (Beckford, 2012). The models were tested in Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company, but soon became extremely popular among other company’s in their total quality management systems. Ishikawa would later write two books on the concept of quality circles namely How Operate QC Circle activities, and The Guide to Quality Control.
Primary Work and Accomplishments
Kaoru Ishikawa’s philosophy was based on improving the quality by changing how people think. According to him, quality development is an unceasing progression and can always advance further. Ishikawa advised managers to avoid becoming satisfied with simply improving product quality, but take the quality control a step further (Ishikawa, 1985). Ishikawa believed in a company-wide quality control approach that required constant customer service. This concept meant that a customer would continually receive services after purchasing the product. According to Ishikawa (1985), the service was also intended to expand across the company itself in all stages of management to even beyond the organization to the daily lives of the involved. Ishikawa’s was focused on accomplishing the highest quality through company-wide participation from all top and low level employees in a cost efficient manner.
In his book QC circle Koryo, Ishikawa introduces the model of quality circles that encouraged company employees to develop and improve the organization’s potential. Additionally, the concept also taught on how on respecting human relations and developing a happy workspace supporting job satisfaction (Ishikawa, 1986). In the other book, Guide to Quality Control, he shares his ideas on what managers should focus on in terms of improving quality. In his book, What is Total Quality Control: The Japanese Way, Ishikawa shares his revolutionary concepts and philosophies that he applied to change the Japanese industry through effective quality control management (Ishikawa, 1985).
Ishikawa was a man of many ideas, concepts and approaches. His first key ideas and concepts were based on the quality circles. These are a group of volunteer employees in the same workspace who meet regularly to find ways of improving and developing the company’s quality through developing human relations and potentials (Ishikawa, 1986). His message technique was also a brilliant concept to the quality management industry for most companies. Ishikawa emphasized on making technical statistical methods applied in quality accomplishment accessible to most industries. The idea emphasizes of appropriate data collection and presentation, use of cause-and effect diagrams and the application of Pareto Diagrams to prioritize quality development (Ishikawa, 1986). The cause and effect diagrams are meant to help quality circles.
Ishikawa’s efforts resulted in a revolution in total quality management, in most industries dealing with products. He earned himself fame and recognition from numerous societies and institutions. In 1972, he was awarded the American Society for Quality’s Eugene L. Grant Award. In 1977, he won the blue ribbon Medal awarded by the Japanese government among other prestigious awards. His influence on total quality management include; shared vision for organizations, user friendly quality management, implementation of quality circles, and emphasizing on the internal customer (Beckford, 2012).
In conclusion, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa will be remembered for his revolutionary contribution in total quality management. His concepts, philosophies, and approaches have shaped how quality management works and helped many companies achieve high products at reduced costs. His biography is inspiring and offers a deeper understanding of his key ideas, influence in quality management, and implications of his ideas for the future of quality.
References
Ishikawa, K. (1985). What is Total Quality Control. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall Inc.
Ishikawa, K. (1986). Guide to quality control. Tokyo, Asian Productivity Organization.
Beckford, J. (2012). Quality: A Critical Introduction. New York, Routledge.
