(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- In 1982, W. Edwards Deming wrote Out of the Crisis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982). At that time, the United States was enduring a crisis of low quality and high costs. Its previous dominance in the provision of goods and services was being challenged primarily by the Japanese. U.S. consumers were becoming choosier in their product choices and when given two products of equal price, they were choosing the product with the higher quality levels, regardless of where it was built. So where does the United States stand today? Has it settled into an acknowledged competitive position, 28 years later? Have we remembered Deming’s words and his 14 Points for Management, or have we forgotten all he taught so little time ago?

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