Management at Work

This study will provide a critical evaluation of Mary Walton's Deming Management at Work, according to three criteria. The evaluation will include consideration of the significance of the book in terms of its applicability to the problems of American businesses, the interest of the book for the reader who might be considered a "layman" in his relationship to the world of business, and the style of the author in terms of her ability to use the language effectively in getting her points across and in keeping the interest of the reader.

The book is crucially significant in terms of its applicability to the problems of American businesses, both in terms of clarifying the problems themselves and in terms of presenting clear solutions.

For example, Walton writes in her Foreword of those problems in words and in a style which pinpoint the heart of the matter: "The economic position of the U.S. has been on the decline for three decades. The main cause of this decline is the prevailing system of management---management by fact, ranking people, plants, teams, divisions, companies, suppliers, with reward and punishment. We have been led astray by faith in adversarial competition" (9).

We see here the author's ability to cut through to the essence of the problem, and we also see the clear thought and expression of her style, which allows her work to be interesting to the lay reader both as a "good read" and as a book which sheds much light on an important subject.

a new system, his product. Japanese management and engineers listened and learned, and put into practice what he taught. He also taught cooperation, though cooperation has always been a way of life in Japan" (12). Walton's book may have been just as interesting if she had tried to argue that Deming's management transformation could be easily instituted in American businesses, but it would not have been nearly so important a book had she done so. The fact is --- and she trumpets rather than tries to hide the fact --- is that the implementation of Deming's management ideas will require tremendous effort over an extended period of time. For example, after Deming's ideas became known in the United States, and after the intrinsic problems of American businesses became just as clear, many of those troubled firms went to Deming for help, including Ford and General Motors: "Some would fall by the wayside as the rigors of the task became evident" (13). The significance of the book is emphasized by the author's insistence on honesty about Deming's approach. Even those firms which accept the fact that they need fundamental transformation and commit to that transformation still will not find the going easy. As we read: "On a daily b