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To: J.B.C. who wrote (194996)	10/23/2001 1:51:02 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Good post.

To: J.B.C. who wrote (194996)	10/23/2001 1:54:18 PM
From: willcousa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Ever eat at the Red Door in Donora? I agree with a lot you say. In fact, because of an oligopolistic competitive situation in the steel industry management and the unions teamed up to pass on high wages and inefficiencies in the production of steel on to the public. Real competition from other countries and the jig was up. I remember US Steel people running a road show in the early 70's on how the industry was doomed because it couldn't raise the capital to become competitive. In the end, neither labor or management would team up to make the bold changes that had to be made to sustain the business. The major mills closed and the city became a disaster area. P'burgh today is a great story of overcoming that event and becoming greater than ever.

To: J.B.C. who wrote (194996)	10/23/2001 2:52:25 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

I worked summers in a USSteel iron mine in the 70's. In just my area there were dozens of people who literally had no work to do, all day long, day after day. Through out the plants there there were little "nests" built where night shift workers went to sleep. It didn't take a genius to see this was a company headed for trouble. You have to say management was 100% to blame for that situation.

To: J.B.C. who wrote (194996)	10/23/2001 4:03:35 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

Excellent post Jim, please allow me to add a bit of history.... Dr. Deming taught his 8 day course to nearly 400 Japanese statisticians in June 1950, and each six months thereafter. However, it can be argued that Japanese industry didn't start seeing sustained improvements in quality until American consultant Joseph Juran arrived in 1954. Juran focused on quality being a top down driven process, a process which should be led and managed similar to the way financing is managed. Many now believe it was the combination of Deming teaching statistics at the shop floor level, and Juran teaching quality leadership principles at the management level, which were instrumental in the success of Japan in regard to quality. Additionally, the contributions of Japanese management consultants Ishikawa and Taguchi should not be overlooked. Later in the early 60's, Deming began teaching the need for both approaches as important elements to the building of a quality culture. He then went on to educate and influence American industry toward this combined philosophy. You're right, In his last years of life, Dr. Deming would say "90% of quality problems are due to management, not workers".