Deming Assignment.

Introduction

Edward Deming, was one of the most intelligent statistician, who helped different companies to propel themselves to the top, through increasing productivity. He was responsible for the introduction of quality control to mass production. He worked as a lecturer in the United States, before moving to China where he became an economic consultant. While working as a consultant in Japan, he was able to achieve more, through advising most Japanese companies on how to improve their productivity, and work output, while at the same time retaining the prices of the commodities which they produced. Deming was therefore able to change the public’s perception of Japanese production, making Japanese products to become one of the best products all over the world. In order to understand the impact of Deming’s theory, this paper will discuss the reasons as to why Deming moved to the Japan rather than helping manufactures the US, why Japan needed Deming’s help and finally, the paper will discuss Deming’s prize in Japan, and its requirements.    

What made Deming to go to Japan, rather than helping the U.S?

Deming’s movement to Japan was mainly attributed to the potential which the country had, as a newly industrialized company. In the 1950’s, the U.S was one of the world’s best economic hub, a country which had been able to grow its economy (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). The rate at which the economy of the U.S was growing was very high, a move which made most investors to move to the country. This saw the U.S more than doubling the growth of its economy. However, as time went by, the cost of living became very high in the U.S, due to the high demand of goods, and the supply of goods could not match the production of the goods. This is a factor which led to inflation, since manufacturers had raise their prices, thus making the products more expensive, thus leading to slow growth of the economy in the U.S.

As an American, Deming saw Japan as a good economic hub, since the country’s economy was not at its peak. Due to that reason, Deming could be able to offer new methods of improving productivity in Japanese companies (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). This move compelled Deming to make 18 trips to Japan in order to teach businessmen his method of quality control and productivity and through statistical analysis. In addition, Deming understood the way Japanese companies operated, a factor which allowed his method to become successful particularly in Japanese companies. The nature of the Japanese, which is being patient and following the rules, made it easier for Deming to use statistical method, thus being able to improve the productivity of Japanese companies.

According to Deming, the Japanese do not compromise on quality, a factor which makes Japanese employees not to worry about job security. This is however different from the U.S, where most employees are insecure, a factor which makes it hard for them to be able to work at ease thus providing the best services for the company. Furthermore, Deming opted to go to Japan, rather than helping the US, since the US businessmen are not patient, a factor which makes it hard for them to follow a method which may not yield results after a period of one week.  Similarly, U.S managers tend to use outdated statistics and management methods, which makes it hard for most companies in the U.S to grow at a very first rate as compared to those in Japan (Goetsch & Davis, 2001).

Deming’s quality control method became effective, due to the economic effect which it had to the economics of Japan. In the mid 1950’s, Japan’s economic growth rate was at 11%, whereas the economy of the U.S was stagnating (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). This therefore showed how effective Deming’s quality management system was to the Japanese, making most American businessmen, to opt for Deming’s method, other than relying on the past statistical methods.

Why did Japan need help from Deming?

Japan urgently required help from Deming, due to the quality of products which it was producing. Companies in the Japan produced goods which were cheap and of a poor quality. Japanese major companies, did not have a control chart, a factor which made it hard for them to be able to produce high quality products. In the period of 1945-1952, GHQ placed an order of vacuum tubes to Toshiba, where the American officers demanded for control charts, but they did not understand what it really was (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). This therefore led to the need to understand what control charts were, thus forcing Deming to offer Japan with the teachings on how to come up with a control chart. In the process, Japanese companies were able to improve the quality of their products, through the use of quality statistical control method, offered by Deming.  

Deming became the saviour of Japan’s economy, since this was the period after the country had been affected by the Second World War, after losing the battle (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). Deming helped in changing the outlook of Japanese products all over the world, thus making most countries to trade with Japan, due to the quality of products which the country produced. In addition, the Japanese businessmen were eager to learn from Deming, thus enabling him to provide them with unique methods of attracting huge markets to their manufactured products. Similarly, Japan’s economy was at the verge of collapsing, thus a statistician like Deming was desperately needed to improve the economic situation of the country. 

Deming Prize in Japan and its Requirements 

Deming prize in Japan is a national quality award for industries. The award was established in the year 1951, and named after Edwards Deming by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), after he took the statistical quality control method to Japan. Deming prize in Japan is offered to those who have made exceptional contributions to the study of total quality management (Goetsch & Davis, 2001). In Japan, Deming prize is given in two categories, namely: Deming prize for individuals, awarded to individuals, and the Deming application prize, awarded to companies which have achieved distinctive performance improvements. In order to participate for this prize, companies and individuals are required to make unique improvements in quality management.

Conclusion     

The paper has basically discussed the impact of Deming on the economy of japan, after the Second World War. In addition, the paper has also provided the reasons as to why Deming moved to Japan, instead of helping America, where the paper provided that Deming moved to Japan, after seeing the challenges which the country was facing, and the potential which it had. Finally, the paper discussed Deming prize in Japan, and its requirements, where it was evident that in order for companies to win the Deming prize, they had to make outstanding improvements to their total quality management. 

Reference

Goetsch, David L. & Davis, Stanley B. (2001). Understanding and Implementing ISO 9000 and ISO Standards 2nd Ed., Pearson ISBN:  978-0-13041106-8.