Management Contributions of W. Edwards Deming
Williams Edwards Deming lived for 93 years. He was a renowned American professor, statistician consultant, lecturer and author. He was a trained mathematical physicist, as well. The respected lecturer taught for over half a century. Governments and respected business people around the word used this great consultant to confirm and seek advice on matters of governance and management. Perhaps the most notable strength and contribution of Williams was the inspiring and guiding tactics that he employed to bring Japan back on its feet in 1950. This was after the Second World War that had left the country in the worst economic state. In addition, he engineered the resurrection and profitability of the vehicle production of the United States in 1980.
The eminent scholar has been credited with having revolutionary ideas that have put him on a global comparison with other great minds like Darwin, Copernicus and Darwin. Deming, without a doubt, changed the minds of many on how people perceived quality. Firstly, he made it clear that quality starts with the customer. Quality also ends with the customer. In Japan, the statistician helped shape the companies by helping them adopt to requirements on quality. The eminent figure argued that the quality improvement would help increase productivity and share in the market and also assist in decreasing the expenses. Toyota and Sony were among the companies that benefited from the slogan and advice of the tactician.
Secondly, the contributions of Williams have helped businesses across the globe critically and carefully to analyze the effects of quality on the price and production of prices. The Deming contribution has had a great impact on the way people think about quality. Many businesses in the recent past are focusing on the quality of their products as it is the quality of products that ensure and markets the product to the willing buyers of the product.
Williams contributed to the quality by generating fourteen points. The fourteen points were the benchmark of quality in any organization and were vital in the success of any business. The first point of quality is that the business should establish a steady purpose towards improvement. This means that corporations must be able to project quality of their products in the long term and has to strive to do find ways to better their products. Preparation for future challenges should be a priority and the business should prepare adequately.
The second principle on quality is adoption of a new philosophy. Customers’ requirements should be priority always businesses should have quality visions which they should strive to implement. The third principle is to stop relying on inspections to detect shortcomings or errors. Businesses should focus on building quality from start to finish and inspections should not be relied upon to reveal defects. The fourth point is allocating a single item to a single supplier and, this is bent on the idea that consistency boosts quality and fewer variations on the inputs translate to fewer variations to the output. Constantly improving and forever is the fifth point pioneered by Deming. Systems and processes should be constantly improved, as well as training and development. Point number six emphasized that on-the-job training was essential in building a common pool of knowledge amongst the workers.
Proper leadership is the foundation of quality. Leaders should understand their workers perfectly, and not only supervise them, but also provide support. The eighth pointer provided by Edward was to breakdown limitations between departments and deal with each department independently. Elimination of fear and allowing people to perform their functions expressing their ideas and concerns is the ninth principle of quality. Unclear slogans and goals should be a thing of the past and slogans should be concise. The eleventh pointer is to eradicate management by objectives and measure processes. Removing barriers and eliminating pride, allowing self improvement and education amongst all employees and making change and transformation a job for everyone are the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth points contributed by Deming. Amongst all these points, the most important point is that of constantly and forever improving the systems that foster production and service.
This principle ensures that the firm and business remain relevant, both technologically and in market share as its contributions are greatly appreciated amongst the people. Businesses should be innovative as this is a strong pointer in business leadership.
The Japanese honored this great man due to his contributions to reviving the economy of the state after the Second World War. The nation was one of the most hit nations by the war and was in shackles, as a result, of the fighting. When the technocrat was invited by the engineers and to managers of big corporations in the country to offer in expert and useful information that would help revive the economy of the country, he was not hesitant in giving advice. Through his mentorship and constant quality rules, the man helped in reviving the dying economy and corporations of the country, and he became a force to reckon in the world.
An annual Deming price was instituted in his honor. This price is awarded to people who make notable contributions to product quality improvement and productivity. The Emperor of Japan also bestowed Williams with Medal of the Sacred Treasure in 1960.
References
Mind Tools. (2014, June 4). Deming's 14-Point Philosophy. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from A recipe for Total Quality: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_75.htm
The Deming Institute. (2014, June 4). Deming- The man. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from https://www.deming.org/theman/timeline: https://www.deming.org
