Productivity & Quality in American Industry ABSTRACT This research examined the rela

American competitiveness suffers in comparison to that of several other countries. Primarily, products from Japanand several other countries are perceived to be of higher quality for the same, or lower, cost as American products. The accent on quality was lost in American industry in the postWorld War II era, when the country's firms could sell almost anything that they made, and at a time when the quality level of foreign made products was of no great worry. To be sure, there were advocates of quality control in the United States during that time period, such as Edwards Deming; however, American industrialists were in no mood to listen to them. Unfortunately for American industry, someone else did listen to Demingthe Japanese. The superior quality control procedures of modern Japanese industry were originally developed, in large part, under the guidance and tutelage of Edwards Deming.

This research examines the relationship between productivity and quality in American industry. The general thesis of thi

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ntries, behind, 4 in order of greatest productivity growth, Japan, Britain, France, and Italy ("Special Report: Productivity," 1988; Harber, and Samson, 1989). Additionally, the United States ranks well behind both the European Economic Community and Japan in factory automation growth, and trails in this area, to a lesser extent, the middle industrial countries in Asia. All of the recent American trade gains could be wiped out by any one of several events. Either a fall in the value of the Japanese yen, or an increase in the value of the dollar against European currencies would nullify recent American trade gains. More plant closings, and union concessions will not work in the near future. The United States has also counted on a restructuring of the Japanese and German economies to aid its trade imbalance. A restructuring towards increased consumption by the Germans and Japanese, it is believed, will enhance American export potentials. Such restructuring will not materially benefit American manufacturers, if Japanese and German perceptions of American product quality are low. With few exceptions, American product quality is perceived to be lower than that of Japan and Germany, among the major industrial countries, a
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Deming's Crisis, Cooper Madigan, Shewhart Halberstam, Report Productivity, Reserve Board, Reagan Administration, , Business Week, Community Japan, Deming INTRODUCTION, quality control, american industry, product quality, trade deficit, american trade, business week, american manufacturers, american trade deficit, edwards deming, value dollar, cost reduction, et al 1988, business week 6, superior quality control, lester enrick mottley,
Approximate Word count = 2400
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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