Background
The point under discussion is the fourteenth principle proposed by Dr. Deming that suggests ensuring “top management commitment to action.” On the whole, this principle is a concise summary of all the other points Dr. Deming discusses. As such, it comprises three critical ideas that Dr. Deming targets to translate to the audience. First, he believes that top management should be committed to a particular idea. This idea resides in ensuring continual quality and productivity improvement. Second, Dr. Deming assumes that mere commitment is not sufficient to achieve the expected results.
Therefore, top managers should likewise have a clear vision of how the targeted improvements can be realized. Otherwise stated, he points out that it is particularly critical that top managers do not only encourage their subordinates to improve the quality and productivity but also perform positive change themselves. Third, Dr. Deming puts an emphasis on the fact that in order to implement this principle successfully, it might be essential to restructure the entire managerial system.
According to him, this system is expected to be organized in such a manner that each of its elements is continually updated and improved. Dr. Deming suggests that in order to be effective, this system should rely on all the principles previously discussed. These principles can be used as valuable guidelines for practical improvements. In other words, the implementation of all the previously discussed points will naturally result in the establishment of a new effective managerial system the elements of which show a high commitment to action.
Current Condition
It seems that the discussed principle has not been fully implemented in Costco. The entire nature of management commitment in the company is slightly different from that Dr. Deming discusses. As such, Costco managers seem to be committed to quality and productivity improvement as long as there are some indicators of operation flaws. These indicators might be represented by an increased incidence of complaints from customers or some quantitative variables that turn out to be worse that in the last quarter. In this case, managers show their commitment to improvement and encourage other employees to share their initiative.
It is essential to note, that in such emergent cases, managers prove to be highly effective in raising the quality and productivity. It means they do have an understanding of how the improvements should be realized, but they need some external motivation to use this knowledge. When the top managers are satisfied with the key performance indicators, they drop the idea of improvement until the next incident. Therefore, it might be concluded that managers are generally committed to improvement. In the meantime, their commitment is associated with some occasional changes rather than with continual improvement. As a result, Costco’s progress is inconsistent and not as significant as it could be under different conditions.
Target Condition
It is highly important for Costco to adopt the discussed principle. Its implementation will lead to the reformation of the managerial structure. As a result, it will become more effective from a long-term perspective. When the system is restructured, managers will focus on continual improvement instead of occasional changes and, most importantly, understand how this improvement should be realized. It means that the quality of service and the level of productivity will rise on an ongoing basis. As such, the company’s progress will be much more significant than it currently is.