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Joan Holtz

Harnswell
Phase One: Which of Deming’s 14 points of management are most lacking in the Harnswell Sewing Machine Company?
Most lacking are Points 1. 2. 5. 7. 13. 14: Point 13 refers to self-improvement and training. It is critical that employees improve themselves, which will give new impulses to the improvement of the processes. All other points mainly deal with change, and for all organizations, being able to change is crucial to their survival. In this particular case, the owner’s behavior indicates that he is unwilling or unable to see this. Specifically, there are several hints in the text that show the lacking of the points on Deming’s list as shown above:
Point in Deming’s List Clue from Text
1. Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service
The company doesn’t have a formal quality process. Parts are 100% inspected at the time of shipping. That means although “bad” parts can be identified, there is no investigation in the root causes for the quality issue, and thus no improvement.
2. Adopt the new philosophy
In his conversation with Natalie, Mr. Harnswell mentions that everything had been fine since he had started the company. He is proud of what he built up with his own hands and thinks that he should continue with his way of doing things. This clearly shows that he is not willing to be proactive and look for changes before a major crisis occurs.
5. Improve constantly every process for planning, production, and service
Mr. Harnswell says “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. In his mind, his success in the past proves him right. He is not interested in improvement as long as there is nothing going wrong in his opinion.
7. Adopt and institute leadership
When Natalie realizes that there seems to be a quality issue in the production of certain parts, she proactively goes to the bookstore, buys books about quality and improvement, and reads them in her free time. Then she decides to take on responsibility for analysis and...