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RESOURCES
A healthy heart is a heart that laughs. If we can make you smile, then we have achieved our purposes.
Philosophy/Ideas
- Crosby, Phil
Phil Crosby Associates II, Inc. Phil Crosby popularized many of the ideas developed by people like Deming, Juran, Feigenbaum, and Ishikawa (all of whom are listed below). Crosby coined the phrases, "Quality is free," and "the Zero Defect Movement." His many books and audio tapes are available through this site. He also provides the personal touch of a Question & Answer "room". His executive college in Flordia is internationally known for helping teach the basics of total quality approaches.
- Deming, W. Edwards
Deming developed a set of 14 management principles and 7 deadly diseases which he described as the set of overarching ideas for guiding management. Deming focused on the need to "drive out fear," to stop relying on inspection for insuring quality, and to focus on building cooperation and not competition within an organization. Of all the "quality" writers, we have been most influenced by Deming. Japan's famous Deming Prize is named in honor of him.
- W. Edwards Deming Institute. This site provides an exhaustive resource for exploring Deming's ideas and ongoing conferences discussing Deming.
- Deming's 14 management principles and 7 deadly diseases. This includes discussion questions which we use for exploring Deming's ideas. It typically takes us about eight hours of discussion to make it through the list. We suggest one to two hour sessions, perhaps including lunch.
- Feigenbaum, Armand
General Systems Company. Armand Feigenbaum is one of the early "quality gurus." He coined the concept of "Total Quality Control" emphasizing that quality requires a "total" effort of management and not simply the inspection department. Feigenbaum was also the first person to define the costs of quality as having four key components: (1.) prevention costs including quality planning, (2.) appraisal costs including inspection, (3.) internal failure costs including scrap and rework, and (4.) external failure costs including warranty costs, complaints etc. Feigenbaum has summarized his ideas about Total Quality into ten key concepts listed at this site. Feigenbaum called for a separate Quality Assurance Department to help coordinate the Total Quality effort. This site takes you to the company which Feigenbaum created along with his brother.
- Ishikawa, Kaoru
Biography (provided by the American Society for Quality). Ishikawa was a student of both Deming (listed above) and Juran (listed below) when they taught in Japan during the 1950s. Ishikawa later developed many of the more common tools in use today including Quality Circles, the Cause-and-Effect Diagram (also called Fishbone Graph and Ishikawa Graph), and the Seven Tools of Quality Control which he felt all employees should be taught. Ishikawa also helped organize the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) and its annual award of the Deming Prize as a mechanism for encouraging Japanese organizations to adopt the ideas of Deming and Juran. Ishikawa criticized Phil Crosby (listed above) for putting too much emphasis on worker attitudes as a cause of poor quality. Ishikawa argued that worker attitudes will improve as the systems which are provided by management improve. Ishikawa also argued against having separate Quality Assurance Departments.
- ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
Instead of using quality awards to encourage adoption of total quality management ideas, the European Union instead chose to create a system of documentation which is required of all companies wanting to export to Europe. Many North American companies have consequently become ISO certified.
- 24 Questions about ISO 9000 This website answers 24 common questions about ISO 9000. It is a good starter resource for people looking for the basics about ISO 9000.
- ISO 14000 Info Center . This is a comprehensive site. It is a bit self-serving for the consulting firm which provides it, but it explains well what ISO 14000 is all about.
- Juran, Joseph
Joseph Juran is a prolific writer with many concrete ideas for implementation of Total Quality principles. He like W. Edwards Deming (listed above) was honored by the Japanese with their highest civilian award. Deming once said that people should ask Juran for the details of how to implement TQM.
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Poka Yoke
A Brief Tutorial by John R. Grout, and Brian T. Downs on Mistake-proofing, Poka-Yoke (Shingeo Shingo), and Zero Quality Control. The essence of Poka Yoke is to make it so that it is either impossible to make a mistake, or once a mistake is made, the mistake is so obvious that it can immediately be corrected. An automated spell checker for instance is an example of Poka Yoke.
- Theory of Constraints
Avraham Goldratt first developed the Theory of Constraints in a novel, The Goal which became a sleeper business best seller. It is one of the best learning tools available for learning some basic principles that come out of systems thinking. We recommend Goldratt as a good "next" step once the principles of Total Quality Management have been mastered. Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute
- TQM
Change Processes
- Built To Last by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras. This is a book about "Visionary Companies" which have stood the test of time. Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business (GSB), Collins and
Porras tracked how eighteen exceptional long-lasting companies changed over time. Each company has outperformed the general stock market by a factor of fifteen since 1926. Throughout, the authors asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other companies"
- Joel Barker is a futurist who has spoken widely about paradigm shifts and the miraculous future unfolding before us. This site has Barker's latest summaries of ideas about which he has read. We visit often to stay abreast both of change and Barker's latest thinking.
- Change Process by Ends of the Earth Learning Group . Change never seems to follow a straight linear path. Instead, change follows a pathway closer to the Yellow Brick Road of Oz than anything else. The purpose of this article is to help create realistic expectations about change processes.
Quality Awards
- The Deming Prize was the first quality award given world wide. It was established in 1950 by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). This website provides the contact addresses from JUSE and briefly describes the criteria for the award.
- Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award This is the website which will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the Malcolm Baldrige Award. This is the BEST website we have found describing the details of past winners, stock market studies comparing winners to non-winners, criteria for becoming an examiner. etc. There is also a useful resource for printed materials. If you are looking for criticism of the Baldrige, we recommend looking at the works of Phil Crosby and W. Edwards Deming.
- A listing of all websites for State Quality Awards These awards are based on the Baldrige Criteria. Frequently there are more choices than simply the "Excellence" Award similar to the National Quality Award. Check with your state to see if they have a developmental process that starts with organizational commitment and progresses through several stages of development. Most Baldrige winners starting in 1996 were first state winners. Clearly the state awards are being perceived as the "minor leagues" that help organizations develop their skills.
Thinking Tools
This is a short book by Ends of the Earth Learning Group which teaches the basics of using Statistical Process Control (SPC). It's focus is on non-manufacturing applications.
How to Blame the System and NOT Mean, "I give up!" 14 Principles for Improving Any System This book by Ends of the Earth Learning Group describes the system principles that we have found to work in nearly all work processes. We condsider this to be the most valuable knowledge we teach because once armed with these principles, teams can start improving their systems in fundamental ways.
Teams
This book describes the Ends of the Earth Learning Group approach to growing teams. A model of "growth" is fundamentally different than a model of "building." Included are chapters on facilitator and team leader roles, decision modes and consensus, team charters, team values and ground rules, and common pitfalls that teams encounter.
Professional Associations
- American Society for Quality ASQ was a driving force behind establishment of the National, State, and Local Quality Awards. In its membership are people from health care, manufacturing, education, retail, wholesale, services, government, non-profits, etc. In other words, ASQ caters to all segments of the economy in providing assistance for those people who are interested in focusing on "quality" rather than "quantity."
- Association for Quality and Participation AQP is similar to ASQ in its focus on quality. AQP seems to us to have more of a focus on the people side of "continuous improvement" whereas ASQ tends to focus more on the technical and statistical side. Both organizations have similar goals and purposes.
Websites
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One of the most useful sites on the net for catching up with the latest in management thinking is this listing of authors and their personal websites by Management General. See Authors and Management General for more on the website itself.
Join us in our rebellion against the modern bureaucracy!