Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
DEMINGU SHŌ
デミング賞
Deming Prize
The American Public Learns about Deming
In America, however, Deming was still unknown outside a few specialized circles. He published technical papers and enjoyed a prosperous consulting business, but he was by no means a household name.
That changed in 1980, when NBC produced a documentary about the postwar success of Japan’s major industries. The documentary was more than just a casual study of Japanese corporate practices. In 1980, America was mired in recession, and Japanese manufacturers were cleaning up in the American market. A mere thirty-five years after World War II, Japan seemed to have outpaced America as the world’s top manufacturer.
The documentary entitled “If Japan Can…Why Can’t We?” aired on June 24, 1980. Millions of Americans tuned in, including some executives in the ailing U.S. automotive industry. Almost overnight, the eighty-year-old Deming became the most sought-after quality guru in the Western world. The “Japanese-style management” boom of the 1980s was officially underway, and the Deming philosophy was a core component of the new gospel.
Although the term “Japanese-style management” is largely passé today, Deming’s concepts of statistical quality control and worker empowerment have taken root in America and throughout the world. It is difficult to imagine anyone, anywhere holding a job in an industrial sector without learning his name. But Deming is most revered in Japan, where manufacturers first applied his insights in order to lift their nation out of desperate postwar poverty.