There is no substitute for knowledge...
—W. Edwards Deming

The W. Edwards Deming Institute (deming.org) and Purdue University held their 2013 Annual Fall Conference in West Lafayette, Indiana, last week, focusing on Deming’s ideas and their connection to the critical concept of sustainability.

The concept of doing the “right thing” in a business environment, although not new, seems to be gaining recognition and prompting much discussion, as evidenced by events like the institute’s presentation of Deming’s teachings within the framework of sustainability and also Ford Motor Co.’s trend conference in June, which posited that “a company can differentiate itself from the competition by operating in an open, fair, honest, and ecologically sound manner.”

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