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Peter B. Petersen: Professor of Management and Organization Theory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This article is part of a special symposium issue on an operational code approach to W. Edwards Deming: the man, the context, the savant and the legacy, guest edited by Ronald Stupak.
While W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is often associated with total quality management (TQM), he did not use nor tolerate use of the term "total quality management". When the term was included in comments from members of his audience or visitors, Deming would be quick to emphasize that he was unaware of the term or that he did not understand the question. Then, he would usually ask the speaker to define TQM. As might be expected, the person who referred to TQM would more than likely stumble through a hastily composed definition. Deming would pick apart the definition and reveal its limitations. There was no doubt that Deming had a low regard for both the term "total quality management" and the application of a quality management practice that differed substantially from his own.
In reviewing the TQM movement two major contributors deserve recognition. The first, Joseph M. Juran, like Deming, spent his life's career in the field of quality management. Particularly popular in the field of health care, Juran is famous for the Juran trilogy, the tripol concept, and his overall approach titled, "Continuous quality improvement". Another major contributor to the TQM movement is Philip B. Crosby. As founder of the Quality College, he is famous for conducting extensive training sessions both at his facility in Winter Park, Florida, and on-site for many corporations and other organizations. Known nationally for his work on zero defects, Crosby further developed his quality improvement process when the need and demand for it became evident at the beginning of the 1980s.
Beyond the acronyms and "buzz" words of the past two decades the theories of Deming have not only endured, but they are also as applicable today as they were years ago. In addressing current and future challenges Deming's system of profound knowledge provides a solid theoretical framework that lends itself to practical application. Unlike the failed TQM efforts, Deming's theory and practical approaches remain. Reasons for the life and death of...