Comparing Deming’s and Juran’s philosophies to the formation of total quality leaders’ world views

Abstract

The importance of total quality management to a firm’s long-term survival, success, and internal harmony has been acknowledged and reinforced in the last decade (Deming, 1985, 1986, 1993; Juran, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993(a), 1993(b), 1995; Feigenbaum, 1991; Madu and Kuei, 1995; Kuei and Madu, 1995). Despite the preponderance of research on quality, there is little discussion on the formation of total quality (TQ) leaders’ views. Yet the demand for TQ leaders is still increasing regardless of the industries. For example, Sager and Shabi (1996) reported that CEOs with a customer-focused approach (i.e., a TQ leader), general managers of Internet-related companies, and CEOs of technology-related startups are in high demand for 1996. The increasing rate in demand for a customer-focused CEO is 133%. If a company hires a new TQ leader, this newcomer will definitely try to shape and change the company to a degree. The degree is dependent on the difference between existing organizational culture and TQ leaders’ world views. The bigger the difference, the bigger the change that will occur. The world view, according to van Gigch (1978), is a person’s ‘conception of what the world is like or the way in which the totality of a problem is viewed.’ The world views of TQ leaders, in a very basic sense, consist of several different layers (see Figure 2.1). The innermost layer is continuous improvement. A true TQ leader views continuous improvement as the essence of any quality management efforts.