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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (53438)	8/29/1999 12:28:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

<<.... organizations need an "Urgency to Change", for without it, they are far more likely to stagnate and remain as they are. The way most Universities are run today dramatically demonstrates this. Try and change a curriculum, or have open non-hiearchical dialogue around any meaningful change amongst the leaders of Universities. Hidden agenda's will immediately surface, as well as many other barriers to change.>> Wow, Michael, can't agree with you about universities (or colleges). College/university education has changed immensely since I first attended college, many years ago, and even since I received my PhD, not quite so many years ago. (At the same time, I can't say that all the change -- or even most of it -- has been for the better.) Most colleges & universities, except for the very few that have huge endowments, are in a constant competitive scramble for students, which of course is a spur to change. Changing a curriculum, of course, is much more difficult and complex than changing a product line, say. Basic philosophy is often involved. One's concern is less with "giving the customer what he wants" than with giving the student what you think he ought to have. The student is still at liberty to select the college/university that suits him best -- assuming, of course, that the institution he selects will accept him. The biggest problem with college/university education today, I would say, is its expense. There was a day when a student -- too "rich" to get a full scholarship, but too "poor" to pay the full tuition -- used to be able to work his way through college. Much harder to do that these days. Joan

To: greenspirit who wrote (53438)	8/29/1999 11:05:00 PM
From: nihil	Respond to of 108807

I recognize your expertise in this area. Deming was certainly an extraordinary man (I studied Sampling under him 39 years ago). But he (like almost everyone else) did not recognize how culture influences behavior. The Japanese were the perfect targets for his collectivist ideas. They have the willingness to subordinate their personal interests to the welfare of the han. Most Americans, however, are hyper individualists who must be bribed by immediate rewards into cooperation and effort. Thus for many years the Japanese could await their turn and stick to the firm, while Americans have to get stock options and watch the stock price every day.