Corporations have been implementing improvement programs as far back as I can remember, at least since my first job at Motorola in 1981. I’ve noticed that more and more organizations—whether it’s Motorola, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Delphi or smaller, privately-held companies—measure the success of their improvement inititatives in terms of adverse effects, be it on headcount or space reduction. The intent of their quality-improvement programs is reactive. Should quality-improvement programs be reactive or proactive? When should a company start its improvement program? What should be the purpose of the improvement program? Should it even be a program? Should we implement improvement programs or processes to remedy problems?

After I reviewed the state of our industrial output, the following points came to mind:

• The automotive industry is shrinking.

• Electronics manufacturing is practically outsourced to China in its entirety.

• Software is somewhat outsourced to India.

• Health care hasn’t hit bottom yet. It’s still on its way to being outsourced and still costs too much.

• Airbus and the Boeing Co. are splitting the market.

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