The Deming Management Method

by Mary Walton, W. Edwards Deming (Foreword)

Traces the life of the influential American consultant, outlines his management philosophy, and stresses the importance of quality control and productivity, and describes the cases of businsses which have applied Deming's techniques

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Reference, Leadership, Programming, Economics

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that better explains the Out of Crisis book that Deming wrote. Perhaps this is the best book to begin to understand the concepts.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that's turned up, and been useful, again and again since I first encountered it in a Total Quality Leadership (TQL) program, the military version of Total Quality Management (TQM), back in the 90s while on active duty as a Marine officer, then again in a public health job a decade later. Dr. Deming was the innovator who tried to share what he'd learned about managing processes to the U.S. auto industry, then went to Japan when Detroit ignored him, with the results visible in the products of Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Isuzu, Mitsubishi... this approach is suited to any system in which processes are defined and repetitive; though it wasn't a good fit for the less structured role of the combat arms specialties in the military, it worked well for supply and data systems there.

[Cedric Chin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written before Deming reorganised his ideas into the System of Profound Knowledge, but is a better, gentler introduction to Deming’s approach than his primary books.

All this is to say I’m still working my way up to Deming’s own writing.

[Michail Almyros · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book!!! It’s always great to see that other people in this world have the same ideas and frustrations as you.

[Yamato · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed reading the book, it was not as practical as I was going for.

The 14 management methods and 7 deadly diseases were outlined very briefly and the rest of the book were case studies of general holistic applications of Deming’s teachings. I believe it would have been more practical to have case study of each of the 14 methods and 7 diseases.

I really enjoyed reading chapter 4, Parable of the red beads. It outlined some of the mental traps we get into when trying to solve a production problem.

Overall, it did intrigue my to self learn more about statistical quality control.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has carry over in any business. I incorporated this style in healthcare management and parenting!! It's a great story on a can do business model. A must read. (it might seem out dated, but I believe .. The essence of good leadership is in there)

[Daniel Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a simple introduction to Dr. Deming's "Method" of Management, an overview of his life and examples of practical applications this book is simply the best. It is the launch pad for life long learning of quality and everything associated to it. I just cannot praise this book enough.

[Chuck Russo · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent book about W. Edwards Deming's business principles

[Brendan Drury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this perhaps 20 years ago. I have re-read it and referred to the book over the years. Deming was a statistician involved in process management in Japanese companies post-WWII. His thesis of manufacturing, on the process line, stressed proper procedures and employee training, and studying goods that needed to be reworked to meet standard or be waste.
I wasn't into the math of it, with his 14 points for management to improve quality and productivity. To me, this is corporate office verbiage and of little use to real line workers. The stuff of seminars with tasty lunches. Oh, I know this is necessary. Deming provided a structure and a starting point on which to base his system.
The author, Mary Walton, does an excellent job of detailing and applying Deming's work to modern corporations. She includes examples.
For me, the takeaways were: give employees the tools and staff to do the job; to make a perfect product the first time, with no waste and reworks; to 'grow the pie' of the business, not just try to take market share from a competitor.
The author produced a fine work that managers should study.

[Mamoru Takasuga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sparked my strong interest in Dr. Deming. The best part of the book is Deming's conversation with the audience after the red beads experiment.

Deming's ingenious plot leads the participants to learn about how KAIZEN should be from the red bead experiment, and then to deepen their learning in the conversation with Deming after the experiment. I assume that this scene involves the “Theory of knowledge” and “ Knowledge of psychology” in the “System of Profound Knowledge” that Deming claims.

The author of this book, Mary Walton, focused on this learning facilitation technique. Kaoru Ishikawa, a quality control expert who supervised the Japanese translation of this book, also praises Mary. With a high degree of insight, she discerned value in the red bead experiment and the essence of learning.

This is not the only insight she offers. For goodreads users who want to grasp the essence of learning, “THE DEMING MANAGEMENT METHOD” is an indispensable book.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped when I got to the second part because the Toyota Lean Method and Six Sigma in production did a much more fleshed out version of his method. In essence, he laid the groundwork or the foundation and others built the skyscraper on top. The massive building we have today has him to thank for the early development but the clarity didn't come from him, it came from Toyota and other Japanese thinkers. Still good to see the roots of process improvement and systems redesign and PDCA and to read some of the early influence that he had in Japan as well as his late reintroduction in the United States.
Interesting read but I wouldn't invest too much study time into it. There are better books for that.

[Jim Laughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential Deming Reading

Illustrated with case studies, highlighting the challenges of adopting Deming’s Management Method. Years later, Deming feels just as relevant, perhaps more so!

[Ron Me]

The management method is good, and still worth reading. Unfortunately, the America to which this could be applied no longer exists.

I was sad to see that of Deming's 14 points, 13 are done exactly the opposite in today's world.

N.B.: I read an earlier edition of this book.

[David Calloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

remember it as a very good read

[Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book and read it in the early years of starting Qualifirst, my first company. Deming was a bit of a business hero to me at that time and I was pretty excited to be able to talk to someone that had read & given some thought on "The Parable of the Red Beads" which is early in the book, dealing with work systems and processes outside of a worker's control.

I read it and used what I could but the concept of total quality reinforced my determination that a business that was not inherently quality-oriented in all aspects was losing ground. All products should either be high quality or on their way to being high quality.

This book also meticulously detailed the enduring advantage Japan obtained by embracing the "Deming Method". A great book that is in my office that with pleasure I dip into a chapter.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally really enjoyed many of the principles raised in the book and wonder how they apply to today, since much of this was written awhile ago and many of the examples provided (I stopped reading somewhere around past the story involving Ford and the Taurus) just don't seem to as appropriate given more recent history. Nevertheless, I'm sure many of the concepts really do apply to many companies (or agencies in the work scenarios I deal with) and could be readily applied if leadership were willing to... which I *highly* doubt.

[Jonathan Trost · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about his methods and Mr Demming. however most of this books was the same stories with different companies repeated again and again...american companies ignored quality, foreign competition came in and stole market share, american companies adopted Demmings methods after culture/org changes, and became more competitive.

If you are looking for a book to learn about the statistical methods Demming used, this is not the book for you.

[Michael Carbonari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Business based on long term relationships serving mutual needs of business and suppliers. Deming was an American. It is his philosophy the Japanese put into practice when they started competing against us and beating us.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good fundamental reference for business philosophy. The Deming Management Method brought quality back to the U.S. Surprising that so many organizations still fail to implement these leadership practices which should, by now, be commonplace.

[Brian]

Suggested by Mark Graban from leanblog.org when asked about good book about Dr. Demming.

[Amy Holbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paperback 1 Copy

[Bridget]

This is the correct publisher but a soft cover edition. I own five copies.

[Bridget]

This is the paperback edition of the hardcover shown above. Cannot find the exact edition. I have four copies of this book. (One swapped so far)

[Goodreadsscannertesting]

Should be zero star rating now

[Sharon]

My deceased husband's book.

[Erneilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was my introduction to Dr. Deming - as a manager I have heard his name and his work mentioned over and over again so I figured it was time to get to know him better.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic review of statistics and statistical quality control explaining workers' success or non success in a system.

[Jair Jimenez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante hasta la mitad del libro. Presenta conceptos muy válidos y los lleva a la luz de una manera sencilla. Después se tornó un poco desordenado.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helped propel my career into the stratosphere.