Three Experts on Quality Management

At an age when most people have retired, Philip B. Crosby, W. Edwards Deming, and Joseph M. Juran continue an untiring pace of work-conducting seminars, consulting with clients, and writing new texts. They have devoted their lives to helping organizations improve the quality of their products and services. Their influence is now worldwide and their accomplishments legendary.

W. Edwards Deming, senior of the three, continues a one-man show with his now-famous 4-day seminar aimed at awakening managers to the need for quality improvement At 91, he continues to teach and consult both here and abroad. Joseph Juran, 87, has worked devotedly to establish his own institute, which provides education, training, and consulting in how to manage for quality. Philip B. Crosby, 63, has established a Quality College, which has trained more than 100,000 managers. In 1991 Crosby retired from the firm Philip Crosby Associates (PCA) and started a new company. Career IV, Inc., for the purpose of conducting seminars, writing books, and conducting a limited lecture tour.

CROSBY

Philip B. Crosby is an internationally known quality expert. He is best known for popularizing the "Zero Defects" concept that originated in the United States at the Martin Marietta Corporation where Crosby worked during the 1960s.

Crosby, an engineer, began his career as a junior technician in a quality department, working his way up through that company and several others until eventually he became Director of Quality and Corporate Vice President of ITT Corporation, where he spent 14 years. In 1979, Crosby's book Quality is Free was published and became a best seller in the field of management That same year, he established the consulting firm PCA and, with it, the Quality College. Crosby is also the author of Leading (1990); Let's Talk Quality (1989); The Eternally Successful Organization (1988); Running Things: The Art of Malang Things Happen (1986); Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (1984); and The Art of Getting Your Own Sweet Way (1972). Crosby's books have been translated into 10 languages.

In 1985, PCA went public, and, in 1989, merged with Alexander Proudfoot The company has 330 employees working in 13 countries. It is now the world's largest management consulting and teaching firm.

DEMING

W. Edwards Deming holds a Ph.D. in physics, but is a statistician by experience. He is an educator, lecturer, author, and an internationally renowned consultant, best known for leading Japanese businesses on the course that has made them leaders in quality and productivity throughout the world. He has been called "The Father of the Third Wave of the Industrial Revolution" (If Japan Can... Why Can't We? [NBC White Paper], 1980).

Deming began teaching engineering and physics in the 1920s, at the same time he began studying for his Ph.D. in physics and working summers at the Hawthorne Electric Plant in Chicago. In 1927, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he met Walter Shewhart, who was developing techniques to bring industrial processes under statistical control. Deming studied Shew hart's theories, which became the basis of his own work years later.

Deming is author of Out of the Crisis (1986); Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position (1982); Sample Design in Business Research (1960); Statistical Adjustment of Data (1943 & 1964); and Theory of Sampling (1930) as well as of numerous papers. As mentioned before, he is credited with having a major influence on Japan's economic recovery after the Second World War. In recognition of Deming', the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers established the Deming Prize, given to individuals and organizations who make distinguished contributions to improving the quality of their products or services.

U.S. recognition of Deming's methods of quality improvement came late in 1980, after NBC aired a documentary entitled If Japan Can ... Why Can't We? The program focused national attention on the importance of quality in world competitiveness. This program gave Deming's quality leadership approach a great deal of exposure, and he began to receive calls from corporations across the U.S. that wanted to hire him as a consultant Denting continues as a consultant and also conducts seminars on quality leadership and productivity, and continues to travel to New York weekly to teach at Columbia University and New York University.

Denting is the recipient of many awards, including the Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan and the Sbewhan Medal from the American Society of Quality Control. He has been awarded doctorates honoris causa by several universities.

JURAN

Joseph M. Juran bolds degrees in electrical engineering and law. He has worked as an engineer, industrial executive, government administrator, university professor, labor arbitrator, corporate director, and management consultant. Juran worked at the Hawthorne Electric Plant in Chicago in the 1920s (as did Deming) and also taught at New York University. He is also well known in Japan for his contributions to the practice of total quality control after the Second World War. Jinan's teachings led, in part, to Japan's economic growth and success.

Juran visited Japan in the early 1950s as a lecturer and consultant and taught the Japanese, among other things, about the Pareto principle, which he popularized as the principle of the "vital few and the trivial many.'' Juran is also known for the "Juran trilogy" and the concept of "managerial breakthrough".

Juran's published works and programs have been translated into 16 languages. He is the chief editor of The Quality Control Handbook (1988) and the author of the following books: Juran on Leader ship for Quality (1989); Juran on Planning for Quality (1988); Managerial Breakthrough (1964); Case Studies in Industrial Management (19SS); Management of Inspection and Quality Control (1945); and Bureaucracy: A Challenge to Better Management (1944). In 1979, Juran established the Juran Institute, Inc., in Wilton, Connecticut, where he conducted seminars and produced educational materials on quality. He is currently the Chairman Emeritus of the Juran Institute, serves on the Institute's Board of Directors, and continues to lecture and consult with organizations around the world.

Juran has received over 30 honorary awards and prizes. Among them is the Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan. In recognition of his contributions, the Australian Organization for Quality Control established the Juran Medal in 1975.