letters
More on Crosby
Philip Crosby is the only quality professional (?) I have ever heard of
who does not want to be "lumped with Drs. Juran and Deming." [Letters,
June 1995] He disavows their approach (and that of many, many other experts
on quality) by saying, "I have never written the first word about process
improvement or statistics." In Crosby's school, his manager and executive
students "were never exposed to a single drop of process control instruction."
In fact, he equates statistics, process improvement and process control
with "the dark past" of the quality movement!
Incredible, absolutely incredible. I don't suppose we should tell the Japanese
about Mr. Crosby. They might all commit hara-kiri if they realize the worthlessness
of the Deming Prize.
-Tom Cameron
Spokane, Washington
Politics and education
The article titled "Politics Impedes Productivity" [June 1995
News Digest, page 11] suggests that "executives" must have a strategic
plan for managing "politics." My observation is that in more than
a few cases, the executives have been the problem rather than contributing
to the solution. They create a political environment through their poor
leadership styles by setting examples that clearly indicate self-interest
and a search for personal glorification at the expense of the group effort.
Unfortunately, Mr. Lehman also gets an F in his letter titled "School
Story Gets an F" for not understanding that the education process could
be in a state of statistical control (only natural variation present) and
produce 100 percent of students dropping out if the process is not capable
of meeting specs (i.e., students achieving minimum course requirements to
pass the courses).
-A. Weis
Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Bully for the Japanese!
Regarding the June 1995 News Digest article "Japanese Standard Threatens
U.S. Software," when fair trade is the issue, I always seem to hear
someone bring up the Japanese. That may or may not be right; that's just
the way it is. On behalf of the Japanese, every country has the obligation
to preserve itself.
It seems the Japanese are becoming more creative every day. My compliments.
The world continuously needs new creativity in software to increase efficiency
and performance. Software is a technology in itself. If this standard thing
is a means for educational purposes, then the Japanese have found a creative
way to get paid for instead of paying for the learning opportunity. Good
job!
-Derek Robinson
Wisconsin