Leadership Deming

Then along came Total Quality Leadership (TQL), a management improvement program developed by W. Edwards Deming. You will recall that Japanese automobile manufacturers used TQL principles to transform their inferior products into the worldwide leading products that remain today. TQL was unique because it used statistical analysis to study problem processes. As scientists, we found that approach appealing. 

Constancy of purpose. The goal is to create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs. Adopt the new philosophy. He believed that we are now in a new economic age. To compete, Deming taught that Western management must awaken to the challenge, learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change. 

Without a guiding theory or set of principles, it is difficult to design and refine procedures to stay on course. This was the theme of Deming s four-day workshops on Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position. Covey (1989,1990) emphasizes the same point in his popular books The Seven Habits cf Highly Effective People, Principle-Centered Leadership and First Things First co-authored by Merrill and Merrill (1994). 

Educating management is no less important. In particular, this includes education in areas that Deming called profound knowledge variation, psychology, and the theory of systems. These areas of knowledge are critical to the effective leadership of process improvement. 

This chapter described what Deming called profound knowledge, essentially the particular branches of scientific knowledge applicable to leadership and management. The four branches are ... 

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