Dr. Deming has a philosophical saying: quality does not have to be surprising.
William Edwards Deming
http://www.economist.com/node/13805735
The foundation of Dr. Deming's advice:
All business processes are vulnerable to a loss of quality through statistical variation. Management was responsible for 85% of that variation. Reduce the variation; increase the quality, was
The most surprising thing is that Dr. Deming did not do this first in his native America, but in Japan.
After the second world war, in 1947, Deming was involved in early planning for the 1951 Japanese Census. The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and he was asked by the United States Department of the Army to assist with the census.
He stayed on to advise Japanese businessmen how to inject quality into their manufacturing industry. At the time Japan was notorious in the western world for the shabby goods that it produced. By the late 1970s the roles had been reversed: Japan was producing the quality stuff while America's car industry was in crisis.
It gave Americans some solace at the time to discover that behind the Japanese quality miracle had been two Americans that few of them had heard of: Joseph Moses Juran and W. Edwards Deming. Juran, an electrical engineer, had also gone to Japan after the second world war and begun to teach middle managers about quality. Juran focused more on the human-relations aspects of quality, while Deming's approach involved demonstrating that all business processes are vulnerable to a loss of quality through statistical variation. Management, he argued, was responsible for 85% of that variation. Reduce the variation; increase the quality, was the foundation of his advice.
The W. Edwards Deming Institute
W Edwards Deming: Total Quality Management thinker
https://www.bl.uk/people/w-edwards-deming
William Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is widely acknowledged as the leading management thinker in the field of quality. He was a statistician and business consultant whose methods helped hasten Japan’s recovery after the Second World War and beyond. He derived the first philosophy and method that allowed individuals and organisations to plan and continually improve themselves, their relationships, processes, products and services. His philosophy is one of cooperation and continual improvement; it avoids blame and redefines mistakes as opportunities for improvement.
Life and career
Born in Iowa in 1900, Deming’s modest upbringing in an early settler community was to instil habits of thriftiness and a dislike of waste which was to influence his later thinking. His University career started at the University of Wyoming where he achieved an engineering degree in 1921, followed by a Masters in mathematics and physics from the University of Colorado. He completed his studies at Yale University in 1928, where he was awarded a doctorate in mathematical physics. Deming then concentrated on lecturing and writing in mathematics, physics and statistics for the next 10 years.
In the late 1920s Deming became familiar with the work of Walter Shewhart, who was experimenting with the application of statistical techniques to manufacturing processes. Deming became interested in applying Shewhart's techniques to non-manufacturing processes, particularly clerical, administrative and management activities. After joining the US Census Bureau in 1939 he applied statistical process control to their techniques, which contributed to a six-fold improvement in productivity. Around this time, Deming started to run courses for engineers and designers on his - and Shewhart's - evolving methods of statistical process control. At Stanford, Deming taught the Stanford statistic training program to nearly 2,000 people in a couple of years, using the Shewhart Cycle for Learning and Improvement and the PDCA Cycle.
Deming's expertise as a statistician was instrumental in his posting to Japan after the Second World War as an adviser to the Japanese Census. At this time, the USA was the leading economic power, with products much envied by the rest of the world; it saw no need for Deming's new ideas. The Japanese, on the other hand, recognised that their own goods were shoddy by international comparison. Moreover, after the war, they could not afford the wastage of raw materials that post-production inspection processes brought about and were consequently looking for techniques to help them address these problems. Whilst in Japan, Deming became involved with the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) and his career of lecturing to the Japanese on statistical methods and company-wide quality: a combination of techniques now known as Total Quality Management (TQM) had begun.
It was only in the late 1970s that the USA became aware of his achievements in Japan. The 1980s saw a spate of publications explaining his work and influence. In his American seminars during 1980, Deming talked of the need for the total transformation of the Western style of management. In 1986 he published Out of the crisis which documented the thinking and practice that had led to the transformation of Japanese manufacturing industry. Just before he died in 1993 he founded the W. Edwards Deming Institute.
Key theories
Summary
Deming's work and writing constitute not so much a technique, as a philosophy of management, Total Quality Management, that focuses on quality and continuous improvement but which has had - justifiably - a much wider influence.
Here we will consider Deming's interest in variation and his approach to systematic problem solving which led on to his development of the 14 points which have gained widespread recognition and which are central to the quality movement and his philosophy of transformational management. Deming’s seven deadly diseases of management and his use and promotion of the PDCA cycle, known to many as the Deming Wheel, are described below:
Variation and problem solving
The key to Deming's ideas on quality lies in his recognition of the importance of variation. In Out of the crisis he states:
'The central problem in management and in leadership...is failure to understand the information in variation'.
Deming was preoccupied with why things do not behave as predicted. All systems (be they the equipment, the process or the people) have variation, but he argued that it is essential for managers to be able to distinguish between special and common causes of variation. He developed a theory of variation - that special causes of variation are usually easily attributable to quickly recognisable factors such as changes of procedure, change of shift or operator etc, but that common causes will remain when special causes have been eliminated (normally due to design, process or system). These common causes are often recognised by workers, but only managers have the authority to change them to avoid repeated occurrence of the problem. Deming estimated that management was responsible for more than 85% of the causes of variation. This formed his central message to the Japanese.
Deming's 14 points for management
Deming created 14 points which provide a framework to developing knowledge in the workplace and can be used to guide long term business plans and aims. The points constitute not so much an action plan as a philosophical code for management. They have been extensively interpreted by as many commentators on quality, as on other management disciplines.
Deming's 14 points
- Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim of becoming competitive, staying in business and providing jobs.
- Adopt the new philosophy. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities and take on leadership for change.
- Cease dependence on mass inspection. Build quality into the product from the start.
- End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Instead, minimise total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any item, based on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
- Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service to improve quality and reduce waste.
- Institute training and retraining.
- Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to lead and help people to do a better job.
- Drive out fear so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
- Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales and production must work as a team, to foresee and solve problems of production.
- Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce as they do not necessarily achieve their aims.
- Eliminate numerical quotas in order to take account of quality and methods, rather than just numbers.
- Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.
- Institute a vigorous program of education and re-training for both the management and the workforce.
- Take action to accomplish the transformation. Management and workforce must work together.
Deming's seven deadly diseases of management
Here, Deming describes the main barriers faced by management to improving effectiveness and continual improvement. He was referring here to US industry and their management practices.
- Lack of constancy of purpose to plan products and services that will have a market and keep the company afloat.
- An emphasis on short term profits and short term thinking (just the opposite from constancy of purpose to stay in business), fed by fear of unfriendly takeover, and by demand from bankers and owners for dividends.
- Evaluation of performance and annual reviews.
- Mobility of managers and job hopping.
- Management by use only of available data.
- High medical costs.
- High costs of liability.
Deming said that effective management and a commitment to quality were needed to combat these seven deadly diseases. He emphasised the importance of communicating quality messages to all staff and building a belief in total quality management.
The relevance of these principles to a wider general management application has contributed to Deming's status as a founder of the Quality Management movement, not just quality and process control. This is why he interests an audience that is much wider than the quality lobby.
PDCA Cycle (The Deming Wheel)
Walter Shewhart originated the concept of the PDCA cycle and introduced it to Deming. Deming promoted the idea widely in the 1950s and it became known as the Deming Wheel or the Deming cycle.
The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle consists of four steps or stages which must be gone through to get from `problem-faced' to `problem solved.’ Repetition of these steps forms a cycle of continual improvement:
Plan for changes to bring about improvement.
Do changes on a small scale first to trial them.
Check to see if changes are working and to investigate selected processes.
Act to get the greatest benefit from change.
In perspective
Naturally enough, no one as universally acclaimed as Deming will escape without criticism. Some have criticised his approach as being good for improvement, but uninspiring for creativity and innovation. Others say his approach is not effective for generating new products or penetrating new markets.
Others, particularly Joseph Juran, another quality guru, comment on an over-reliance on statistical methods. Deming's US lectures in the 1980s, however, point time and time again to a mistaken preoccupation with the wrong type of statistics. He argued against figures focusing purely on productivity and control and argued for more evidence of quality, a message which Tom Peters adopted in the 1980s and 1990s.
Deming has stirred up wide interest with his denial of Management by Objectives and performance appraisals. Similarly, his attitude towards integrating the workforce has led TQM to be perceived as a caring philosophy. Paradoxically, his focus on cost-reduction has been pointed to as a cause of downsizing.
Although in the 1980s the US paid tribute to Deming - not only for what he did in Japan, but also for his thinking and approach to quality management - few American companies used his methods. One reason for this is perhaps that by the 1980s Deming was selling a system that worked, that he implied that he had discovered the only way to achieve quality, and that he was no longer alert to changes in the problems. In Japan, in the beginning, he had listened to Japanese needs and requirements, showed them respect and developed his thinking with them. With the USA in the early 1980s, he appeared to try to dispense his philosophy rather than adapt it to a different culture.
In 1951, in early recognition of their debt to Deming, the JUSE awarded the Deming prize to Japanese organisations excelling in company-wide quality. It was not until the late 1980s that the US recognised Deming's achievements in Japan and elevated him rapidly to guru status. The 1990s showed Deming's legacy is likely to have both a lasting and significant impact on management theory. Why is this?
The first reason must lie in the nature of his achievement. Deming has been universally acclaimed as one of the Founding Fathers of Total Quality Management, if not the Founding Father. The revolution in Japanese manufacturing management that led to the economic miracle of the 1970s and 1980s has been attributed largely to Deming.
Secondly, if the 14 points make less of an impact today than they did just after the Second World War in Japan, it is probably because many aspects of those points have now been adopted, assimilated and integrated into management practice in the 1990s as well as continuously debated and taught in Business Schools around the world.
The third reason is more complex, and lies in the scope of his legacy. Deming's 14 points add up to a code of management philosophy which spans the two major schools of management thought which have dominated since the early 20th century: scientific (hard) management on the one hand, and human relations (soft) management on the other. Deming succeeds - despite criticisms of overuse of statistical techniques - in marrying them together. Over half of his 14 points focus on people as opposed to systems. Many management thinkers veer towards one school or the other. Deming, like Drucker, melds them together.
The originality and freshness of Deming is that he took his philosophy, not from the world of management, but from the world of mathematics, and wedded it with a human relations approach which did not come from management theory but from observation, and from seeing what people needed from their working environment in order to contribute of their best.
Further reading
Key works by Deming
Books
Out of the crisis: quality, productivity and competitive position.Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986
The new economics for industry, government and education.(2nd ed.) Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 2000
爱德华兹·戴明_互动百科http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E7%88%E6%98%8E
爱德华兹·戴明（1900~1993）是世界著名的质量管理专家，他因对世界质量管理发展做出的卓越贡献而享誉全球。
人物经历/爱德华兹·戴明 编辑
爱德华兹·戴明图册戴明博士于1900年10月4日生于美国艾奥瓦州(SiouxCity,IA)，戴明父亲经营农场但
收入不多，少时的戴明家算是贫穷，因此他在少年时代可说是一直在打工，有时候在外面点亮街灯、除雪，赚起每天一块两毛的工资或在饭店内打杂、洗床每小时工资美金两毛伍等以补家计。
戴明颇负正义感，曾经参加墨西哥边境一个小战争的志愿兵且已搭车赶赴战场，但是后来被发现只有十四岁，因不符规定才被遣返。幸亏是这样，否则若在战场牺牲，世界上就少了一位伟大的质量管理大师了。戴明博士不但有正义感且深具爱心，在日本指导期间因愤慨一位未善待精神病患的医院院长，而利用他对当时驻日美军的影响力而将此人解聘。
戴明博士于1921年从怀俄明大学(Univ.ofWyoming)毕业后继续前往科罗拉多大学进修，并于1925年修得数学与物理硕士，最后于1928年取得耶鲁大学的物理博士学位。戴明博士在学期间曾经于芝加哥的西电公司霍桑工厂工作时得知当时在贝尔研究所的W．A．休哈特博士，并于1927年见面后就成为亦师亦友的莫逆之交。
戴明博士毕业后婉拒西电公司的工作机会而应聘到华盛顿的美国农业部的固氮研究所工作。
他也曾经利用一年的休假到伦敦大学与R.A.Fisher做有关统计方面的研究。
戴明博士1950年应聘去日本讲学，并将其报酬捐出，而后几乎每年都赴日继续指导，奠定了日本企业界良好的质量管理基础。
重要贡献/爱德华兹·戴明
戴明博士的贡献可分为几个阶段：
《戴明管理四日谈》图册第一个阶段─对美国初期SQC推行的贡献
戴明博士在美国政府服务期间，为了国势人口调查而开发新的抽样法，并证明统计方法不但可应用于工业而商业方面亦有用。
到了第二世界大战期间，他建议军事有关单位的技术者及检验人员等都必须接受统计的质量管理方法，并实际给予教育训练。另外在GE公司开班讲授统计质量管理并与其它专家联合起来在美国各地继续开课计共训练了包括政府机构在内有三万一千多人，可说对美国SQC的基础及推广有莫大的贡献（当时戴明博士已将统计的质量管理应用到工业以外的住宅、营养、农业、水产、员工的雇用方面，其涉及面极为广泛）
第二阶段─对日本的质量管理贡献
戴明博士从1950年到日本指导质量管理后就一直继续长达近四十年，且前二三十年几乎每年都去，可以说日本的质量管理是由戴明博士带动起来都不为过。
戴明博士在日本虽然也教统计方法，但他很快就发觉光教统计质量管理可能会犯了以前美国企业界所犯的错误，因此他修正计划而改向企业的经营着灌输品质经营的理念及重要性，而使日本的早期的经营者几乎都见过戴明博士而受教于他，并实践戴明博士的品质经营理念，奠定了日本TQC或CWQC的基础。戴明博士早期辅导日本企业的质量管理时曾经预言，日本在五年内其产品必将雄霸世界市场，而果然不出其所料，其预言被证明正确，且提早来到，难怪日本企业界对戴明博士怀有最崇高的敬佩而称其为日本质量管理之父了。
第三阶段─对美国及全世界推行TQM的贡献
由于戴明博士对日本指导质量管理的成功，让美国人惊醒原来日本工商经营成功的背后竟然有一位美国人居功最大，故开始对戴明博士另眼看待。而于1980年6月24日全国广播公司(NBC)在电视播放举世闻名的“日本能为什么我们不能”(IfJapanCan,WhyCan'tWe?)，使戴明博士一夜成名。从此以后由于美国企业家重新研究戴明的质量管理经营理念，加上戴明博士继续在美国及各国积极举行讲授他的品质经营经典为期四天的14个管理原则(Deming's14Points)与及实际为美国各大公司如福特或AT&T公司提供品质经营的顾问工作而收到了实质上的效果。事实上戴明博士的品质14点管理原则就是美国在1980年代开始盛行迄今的TQM的基础，所有全面品质经营所包涵的重点，几乎都可以在戴明博士的14点里面找到类似或相同的诠释。目前在美国及英国都已成立有DemingInstitute，其所宣称的基本精神也都是TQM的精神。也就是说戴明博士对TQM的影响是直接的。
由以上可知戴明博士不但具有学问上的成就，对世界各国品质经营的推动更有功不可没的伟大贡献，也称得上质量管理的一代宗师了。
管理思想/爱德华兹·戴明
1、现代管理的七项恶疾（1）缺乏长远的目标（2）目光短浅和只重短期利润（3）存在诸多弊端的考绩制度
《戴明—管理与企业实践》图册（4）不安分的管理层（5）数字化的误区（6）沉重的医疗支出（7）产生巨额的法务费用
2、质量管理十四法（1）确立长远目标（2）转换管理阶层的观念（3）以一次做好代替大量检验（4）持续不断地进行改善（5）废除“价低者得”的做法（6）实施长期连续的岗位培训（7）现代督导方式（8）排除恐惧心理，加强员工沟通（9）摆脱数字配额的限制（10）打破部门间的障碍（11）避免对员工说教（12）让员工以工作为荣（13）培训、与自我改进计划（14）采取行动，完成转型
3.树立改进产品和服务的长久使命和愿景
最高管理层不能仅仅看到短期目标，眼光要转回到长远建设的方向去，也就是把改进产品和服务作为恒久的目的，不断向这个目标努力。?
“我们很容易埋首于解决今日错综复杂的问题中，面对这些挑战，让自己的效率越来越高”，戴明博士说。但是他强调，如果没有长期的发展战略，公司不可能成为这个行业的长胜者。企业必须克服短期行为，以长远利益为重，这需要在所有领域加以改革和创新。他奉劝那些认真考虑未来的公司，一定要制定出一套长久的计划和实施方案，以使自己在业内站住脚跟。?
4.接受新的理念
现代社会是一个急剧变化的社会，人们的思想和观念都在发生变化，这势必影响到消费习惯。?人的观念对产品和服务的质量有很大的影响，有什么样的观念，就有什么样的产品和服务。因此说，一定要有新的质量观念，时刻对外界的变化做出积极地反映，不能容忍粗劣的原料，有瑕疵的产品和松散的服务，要积极地倾听和了解客户的不满，客户们不会抱怨，只会流失，如果企业能做好这一点，一定会带来很大的经济效益。这对企业来说是生死存亡的关键因素。?
5.质量不能仅依赖于产品的检验
检验不能创造价值，只能将次品挑出来，这是一种事后弥补的办法，浪费已经发生，不能有什么挽回。?
那么，为什么不一开始就制造出高品质的产品来代替大量的检验呢？戴明博士指出：“质量不是来源于检验，而是来源于改进生产过程。”要采用事前预防的方法，从一开始就将质量融入到产品中，以降低次品的发生率。当然，这也不是说就要消除检验，进行一定程度的检验是必要的，他会让我们了解到目前的工作的进展程度，可以及时发现生产中出现的问题，取得控制图表上所需要的数据。但是不能将产品的质量依赖于检验，产品的质量是生产出来的，不是检验出来的。?
6.采购时不能仅依赖于价格
价格本身并无意义，只是相对于质量才有意义。如果质量非常低劣，价格即使便宜点也是不划算的，要立足于总成本的最低。?
低价会导致供应商粗制滥造，买主也会因为质量太差而经常更换供应商，这会增加生产中的不确定性，寻找新供应商的费用加上以后的修理费用，总的成本还是很高的。因此，只有管理当局重新界定原则，采购工作才会改变。公司一定要与供应商建立长远的互动的关系并减少供应商的数目，双向合作，使双方的公产相接，这对企业和供应商来讲都是有好处的。?
7.持续不断地改进产品和服务?
戴明博士说：灭火不等于改进，当发现某些地方失控，采取一定的方法将误差消除，这并不是改进，只不过是将秤砣回到原来的状态。?
改进不是一劳永逸的事情，要持续不断地进行，否则的话就会落后，就会在竞争中被淘汰。在企业生产和服务的每一个过程，公司中的每一个部门、每一个成员、每一活动、都必须降低浪费和提高质量，必须不断地改进，在原有的基础上取得进一步的提高。一个企业应该时刻思考自己是否比前两年有进步了，顾客是否满意，销售的方法是否有成效等，只有这样，才能不断地改进公司的状况。?
8.建立现代的岗位培训方法?
我们经常听说，员工很多都是从其他同事身上学习或者是从工作手册上研究的，这是不对的。?工作人员的技能直接影响着产品的质量，如技能不好，产品的质量就得不到很好的保障。因此，作为管理者，要对员工进行岗位培训。培训必须是有计划的，且必须是建立于可接受的工作标准上，必须使用统计方法来衡量培训工作是否奏效。戴明认为，只要成效的表现尚未进入统计控制的范围内，就有进步的空间，就应该继续培训。?
9.改善领导方式?
领导是管理阶层的工作。工人工作做得不好时，很多领导都抱怨说员工的素质低，其实很多时候应该找领导自己的原因。?
很多领导不但不能帮助下属把事情做好，反而还阻碍他们做事。这样不但提高不了质量，还会把事情弄得更糟糕。戴明博士认为，员工做不好工作，大多都是由于领导安排不好，管理不好的原因。领导人的职责就是帮助员工做好工作，他要为员工的未来的成败负责。领导者要把下属的成功看作是自己的成功，积极为下属的工作创造良好的条件。当员工没有做好事情时，不是他们才识不够，而是被放错了位置。?
10.驱走恐惧心理
这一点的宗旨是使得每一位员工都能够在有安全感的环境中更有效率地工作。?
恐惧所造成的损失是很惊人的。许多员工害怕拿主意或者提问，即使在他们不清楚自己的职责或不明白对错的时候。他们害怕的原因，一方面是因为公司的利益，另一方面是因为自己的前途。员工们不应该害怕设备受损，请求进一步的指示，或者是提醒上司注意各种干扰质量的问题。所有同事必须有胆量去发问，提出问题，或表达意见。当管理层不断改进自己的工作，建立解决问题的机制时，员工对管理层建立了信心，这个问题就解决了。?
11.打破部门之间的壁垒?
不论是研发、销售、生产，各个部门都应该通力合作，共同思考产品在使用中可能发生的问题，并防患于未然。当各个部门都很好时，并不代表整体最优。设计人员常常设计出令工程人员头疼的产品，而工程人员往往被生产线上视为不受欢迎的人。销售部为了提高销售量，不断的签订订单，而这些订单，生产部未必能够很好地生产。很多人都在自己的部门表现得很好，但如果部门目标不合，就会有损整个公司的利益。整体的最优需要各个部门的合作，每一部门都不应只顾独善其身，而需要发挥团队精神，以解决在生产和服务中遇到的问题，跨部门的质量圈活动有助于改善设计，服务，质量及成本。?
12.取消对员工发出口号和目标?
有的公司口号很有想象力，如“零缺陷”、“第一次就把工作做对”等，这些口号听起来很好，但是并不一定就能达到。?
这并不是员工自己的原因，他们也愿意做好工作，但是原材料不好，生产设备不合适等原因无法让他们做好，这只会降低他们的士气。因此说激发员工提高生产率的指标、口号必须废除，这只会带来员工的反感，对于提高生产率却没多大的用处。许多品质的不好是制度或者是设备造成的，员工并无法左右。应该为员工多提供实现目标的方法和手段，有时候很多的问题都在于系统，一般员工是解决不了这个问题的，但公司本身却要有这样的目标：永不间歇地改进。?
13.取消工作标准及数量化的定额?
定额把焦点放在数量上，而非质量上，人们为了完成定额指标，可能会不顾质量地进行粗制滥造，这样定额的目标虽然实现了，但对公司确实没有一点好处。?
按件计酬的工作就很不好，因此说，定额不可能从根本上改进工作。在有些公司，员工因为生产的产品有瑕疵常会被扣钱。但是这怎能完全责怪员工呢？企业的规章制度也是造成这种现象的一个很大的原因。理想的工作标准应该是什么样的质量可以被接受，什么样的质量不可以被接受。取消定额后员工可以自愿地积极地工作，管理者的能力也要不断地提高，这才更有利于组织的发展。?
14.消除影响员工工作畅顺的因素?
大多数人都希望把工作做好，都为做好工作感到光荣，管理者不应该剥夺他们的这种权力。有的员工抱怨，工作标准经常改变让他们无法适从，生产工具不方便而没有人对他们理会。在工作中，很多管理人员从来不给基层的员工任何权限，不依据他们的建议行事，这是不对的。这些有碍于员工顺畅工作的障碍都应该消除。管理者要充分地尊重员工的意见，提高他们的积极性。任何导致员工失去工作积极性的因素都必须消除。?
15.建立严谨的教育及培训计划?
把人才招聘到企业里来是第一步，这些人才还要不断地吸收新的知识和技术，不断地进行自我改善。随着社会的发展，质量和生产力的改善，会导致部分工作岗位数目的改变，工作所需要的人数会减少，例如，检验员可能会减少。因此所有员工都要不断接受再培训，以使他们获得新的知识和技能，让他们承担新的工作。管理者要让员工明白，没有人会因为生产力的提高而失去工作。一切训练都应包括基本统计技巧的运用。这个同第6点的区别在于，这一点是对员工的综合知识和素质的培训。这样员工的工作才会更加安心。?
16.动起来，不断地改进
公司的所有成员，无论是总经理还是普通员工，都应该参与到质量改进中。管理阶层应该形成一个团队，不断地推进前面的13点的实施。
戴明的质量管理法概述
http://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E6%88%B4%E6%9895
戴明（William Edwards Deming）博士是世界著名的质量管理专家，他对世界质量管理发展做出的卓越贡献享誉全球。以戴明命名的“戴明品质奖”，至今仍是日本品质管理的最高荣誉。作为质量管理的先驱者，戴明学说对国际质量管理理论和方法始终产生着异常重要的影响。
戴明学说简洁易明，其主要观点“十四要点”成为本世纪全面质量管理（TQM）的重要理论基础。
戴明的“十四要点（Deming’s 14 Points）”[1]
1．创造产品与服务改善的恒久目的
最高管理层必须从短期目标的迷途中归返，转回到长远建设的正确方向。也就是把改进产品和服务作为恒久的目的，坚持经营，这需要在所有领域加以改革和创新。
2．采纳新的哲学
必须绝对不容忍粗劣的原料，不良的操作，有瑕疵的产品和松散的服务。
3．停止依靠大批量的检验来达到质量标准
检验其实是等于准备有次品，检验出来已经是太迟，且成本高而效益低。正确的做法，是改良生产过程。
4．废除“价低者得”的做法
价格本身并无意义，只是相对于质量才有意义。因此，只有管理当局重新界定原则，采购工作才会改变。公司一定要与供应商建立长远的关系，并减少供应商的数目。采购部门必须采用统计工具来判断供应商及其产品的质量。
5．不断地及永不间断地改进生产及服务系统
在每一活动中，必须降低浪费和提高质量，无论是采购、运输、工程、方法、维修、销售、分销、会计、人事、顾客服务及生产制造。
6．建立现代的岗位培训方法
培训必须是有计划的，且必须是建立于可接受的工作标准上。必须使用统计方法来衡量培训工作是否奏效。
7．建立现代的督导方法
督导人员必须要让高层管理知道需要改善的地方。当知道之后，管理当局必须采取行动。
8．驱走恐惧心理
所有同事必须有胆量去发问，提出问题，或表达意见。
9．打破部门之间的围墙
每一部门都不应只顾独善其身，而需要发挥团队精神。跨部门的质量圈活动有助于改善设计，服务，质量及成本。
10．取消对员工发出计量化的目标
激发员工提高生产率的指标、口号、图像、海报都必须废除。很多配合的改变往往是在一般员工控制范围之外，因此这些宣传品只会导致反感。虽然无须为员工订下可计量的目标，但公司本身却要有这样的一个目标：永不间歇地改进。
11．取消工作标准及数量化的定额
定额把焦点放在数量，而非质量。计件工作制更不好，因为它鼓励制造次品。
12．消除妨碍基员工工作畅顺的因素
任何导致员工失去工作尊严的因素必须消除，包括不明何为好的工作表现。
13．建立严谨的教育及培训计划
由于质量和生产力的改善会导致部分工作岗位数目的改变，因此所有员工都要不断接受训练及再培训。一切训练都应包括基本统计技巧的运用。
14．创造一个每天都推动以上13项的高层管理结构
PDCA循环
戴明博土最早提出了PDCA循环的概念，所以又称其为“戴明环”。PDCA循环是能使任何一项活动有效进行的一种合乎逻辑的工作程序，特别是在质量管理中得到了广泛的应用。P、D、C、A四个英文字母所代表的意义如下：
① P（Plan）——计划。包括方针和目标的确定以及活动计划的制定；
② D（DO）——执行。执行就是具体运作，实现计划中的内容；
③ C（Check）——检查。就是要总结执行计划的结果，分清哪些对了，哪些错了，明确效果，找出问题；
④A（Action）——行动（或处理）。对总结检查的结果进行处理，成功的经验加以肯定，并予以标准化，或制定作业指导书，便于以后工作时遵循；对于失败的教训也要总结，以免重现。对于没有解决的问题，应提给下一个PDCA循环中去解决。
PDCA循环有以下四个明显特点：
1．周而复始
PDCA循环的四个过程不是运行一次就完结，而是周而复始地进行。一个循环结束了，解决了一部分问题，可能还有问题没有解决，或者又出现了新的问题，再进行下一个PDCA循环，依此类推。
2．大环带小环
类似行星轮系，一个公司或组织的整体运行体系与其内部各子体系的关系，是大环带动小环的有机逻辑组合体。
3．阶梯式上升PDCA循环不是停留在一个水平上的循环，不断解决问题的过程就是水平逐步上升的过程。
4．统计的工具
PDCA循环应用了科学的统计观念和处理方法。作为推动工作、发现问题和解决问题的有效工具，典型的模式被称为“四个阶段”、“八个步骤”和“七种工具”。四个阶段就是P、D、C、A ，八个步骤是：
①分析现状，发现问题；
②分析质量问题中各种影响因素；
③分析影响质量问题的主要原因；
④针对主要原因，采取解决的措施；
———为什么要制定这个措施？
———达到什么目标？
———在何处执行？
———由谁负责完成？
———什么时间完成？
———怎样执行？
⑤执行，按措施计划的要求去做；
⑥检查，把执行结果与要求达到的目标进行对比；
⑦标准化，把成功的经验总结出来，制定相应的标准；
⑧把没有解决或新出现的问题转入下一个PDCA循环中去解决。
通常，七种工具是指在质量管理中广泛应用的直方图、控制图、因果图、排列图、相关图、分层法和统计分析表等。
戴明学说反映了全面质量管理的全面性，说明了质量管理与改善并不是个别部门的事，而是需要由最高管理层领导和推动才可奏效。戴明学说的核心可以概括为：
1.高层管理的决心及参与； 2.群策群力的团队精神； 3.通过教育来提高质量意识； 4.质量改良的技术训练; 5.制定衡量质量的尺度标准; 6.对质量成本的分析及认识; 7.不断改进活动; 8.各级员工的参与。
戴明博士有一句颇富哲理的名言：“质量无须惊人之举。”他平实的见解和骄人的成就之所以受到企业界的重视和尊重，是因为若能有系统地、持久地将这些观念付诸行动，几乎可以肯定在全面质量管理上就能够取得突破。
