1986 MIT Press; 12th Printing 1991
W. Edwards Deming
This was written as THE seminal book on “transformation of the style of American management" and has reached global proportions. Deming outlines, then expands on The 14 Points of Management, which we abbreviate here:
- Create constancy of purpose toward improvement…
- Adopt a new philosophy. …take on leadership for change
- Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. …building quality into the product in the first place.
- End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Move toward … a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
- Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service…
- Institute training on the job.
- Institute leadership (see point 12).
- Drive out fear…
- Break down barriers between departments…
- Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes … belong to the system…
- 11a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
- 11b. Eliminate management by … numbers… Substitute leadership.
- 12a. Eliminate barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship…
- 12b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship.
- 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
- 14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody’s job. These 14 Points hold true today just as much, if not more, than in the times Deming penned them.