Monday, August 13, 2007

Buyer Beward Turns into Voter Beware


The cost of poor quality continues making the front of newspapers worldwide. The stories range from the suicide of the Chinese toy executive over millions of lead contaminated Fisher-Price toys to the revelation that tens of thousands of potentially defective voting machines are now in the U.S. The Phillipine manufacturer "shook the units" as a performance check.

Buyer beware morphed into voter beware in the 2000 Presidential election. Remember those misleading butterfly ballots and hanging chads in Florida? The ballot printing company jettisoned decades of high standards for the profit boosting savings from cheap paper. If U.S. leaders can substitute inadequate paper for the job, why can't China switch paint?

So what's the consumer/voter to do? Demand leaders of government and industry learn something about quality. Dr. Edwards W. Deming targeted his last book, The New Economics, to this segment as well as to educators. Yet, leaders continue to practice their old ways to our country's loss.

"The transformation will come from leadership"-W. Edwards Deming

Still waiting...
P.S. Mattel is recalling 8 million more toys due to lead paint and Nokia 46 million cell phone batteries as they can overheat