Introduction:
There are a number of factors which have led the Japanese to reach their present status as world leaders in manufacturing industry. The Japanese miracle is perhaps to be explained by a strong motivation to succeed, strong leadership, total commitment and belief in continuous improvement.
History of the Japanese work:
Deming’s statement:
The following statement from Deming' highlights his disappointment in not succeeding in selling the idea to management:
'The courses were well-received by engineers, but management paid no attention to them. Management did not understand that they had to get behind improvement of quality and carry out their obligations from the top down. Any instability can help to point out specific times or locations of local problems. Once these local problems are removed, there is a process that will continue until someone changes it. Changing the process is management's responsibility. And we failed to teach them that.'
'A segment of the Western press has come up with the conclusion that the Japanese miracle was not Japanese at all. Instead it was due to two Americans, Deming and Juran, who lectured to the Japanese soon after World War II. Deming will have to speak for himself. As for Juran, I am agreeably flattered but I regard the conclusion as ludicrous. I did indeed lecture in Japan as reported, and I did bring something new to them -a structured approach to quality. I also did the same thing for a great many other countries, yet none of these attained the results achieved by the Japanese. So who performed the miracle?’