I met the Prophet

I MET THE PROPHET!

It was at Birmingham in April 1992. The venue was the famous Motor Cycle Museum. In a huge meeting hall, more than 300 high profile business managers, executives, CEOs and management teachers and students were gathering to learn at the feet of the Master, Dr.W.Edwards Deming. I was the only one from India, which made me rather nervous. I was wondering why was I there? Why my company sent me there at such a cost? Yet, I was deliriously happy, as for decades, I was waiting to see the great man, termed as the Prophet of the New Economic Age in flesh and blood. It was too much to believe that one day I would be face to face with him.  I was indeed very fortunate, because a short while later he passed away, while asleep at home in 1993.

The American President in 1988, while honouring, described this man as the “Father of the 3^rd. Industrial Revolution”, responsible for resurrecting Japan from the debris of the World War II.  I quote below a commentary from the famed video film, “Deming of America” aired by the PBS in the USA in 1991:

“In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan acting on behalf of Emperor Hirohito awarded Dr. Deming Japan's Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure. The citation on the medal attributes Japan's rebirth and worldwide success to Dr. W. Edwards Deming. No honour among Businessmen and Industrialists in Japan is more coveted”.

In passing it may be necessary to refresh the minds of the readers that while 1^st. Industrial Revolution began with the invention of the Steam Engine nearly 300 years ago in Britain, the 2^nd. Industrial Revolution occurred when Henry Ford I, employed the conveyor belt method of mass production of automobiles in the early part of the 20^th. Century.

Dr.W.E.Deming, an American was invited by the Japanese business and industrial leaders and he came there in mid 1950, with an aim to help the devastated nation to rebuild themselves in a unique way which no other industrial nation ever thought of trying. The Japanese people, industries and the Government listened to him, took his words seriously, undertook massive training under him in an unprecedented manner, as the need for survival, applied his teachings in practice in total sincerity. The rest, as they say, is history.

Dr. W.Edwards Deming held a PhD degree in Mathematical Physics and later on also took short-term course in Statistics guided by the great Professor Fisher in London.

In the mid 1960s, as a student in London, for the first time I realised the massive impact of this Japanese miracle. Well-known British and European motor cycles, cars, cameras, watches were quickly disappearing. More and more “Made in Japan” stuffs were filling up the stores and burning the roads. The quiet invasion

was a big success. The story was same in the USA, and many other industrial markets in the world. The so-called champions of free trade were now shouting hoarse against the Japanese invasion and cried out for Governmental protection. The markets, worldwide though were in the buying spree of goods ‘Made in Japan’ for high quality at lower cost and easy availability.

The economies of the USA and the Western European nations began showing steady decline since 1968; but then they failed to realise its consequences. If you now looked back how the World War II (1939-1945) impacted upon the nations, these observations over the past 50 years could be clearly seen. Victors turned victims. A careful study will also reveal, just like the Japanese lost the World War II, the victorious Western world also began losing in the market place due to only their self-inflicted injuries. Even now, they are suffering and time is running out. The worse is we in India too are not seeing this picture clearly and still imitating the West. The present euphoria of Indian economy showing good signs should be discouraged and ways and means to make it flourish further should be studied, learnt and considered for sustainability. Otherwise, we too may soon face the same situation as they are finding themselves in the West.pulin.dutta@gmail.com