Dr. Deming and the Baldrige Award

[EJBeach@aol.com]

Regardless of the changes to the Baldrige model, I am sure Dr. Deming would 
not have approved. He wrote a commentary on this topic for the Harvard 
Business Review - around 1991 or 1992. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate 
my copy but I did have a quote from Dr. Deming published in the Detroit Free 
Press. The article stated: "During a news conference before his speech, 
Deming, whose 14 principles of quality are widely used in the auto industry, 
unleashed harsh words for the  vaunted Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, won 
last year by GM's Cadillac division. "That's a terrible thing the way it's 
administered, trying to 
measure performance," Deming said. Asked if he thought the award was 
meaningless, he replied, "I'm suggesting there's a lot of nonsense in 
it."...."

Although these awards may be done with best intentions and may appear to be 
harmless (or even helpful), the reality is often quite different. Dr. Deming 
was very strong in his objections to ranking or scoring not only of 
individuals but also organizations. He wanted companies to understand what 
their particular corporation needed to improve and use basic theory for this 
improvement. One set of requirements cannot fit all situations.

Eileen J. Beachell
Quality Disciplines
ejbeach@aol.com