It wasn’t too many years ago when tags reading “Made in India” carried a negative connotation. Quality was not associated with most products that came from this country. Yet, those days are gone and times are changing. Indian businesses are now recognized for the quality of not only their products, but also their business practices. In 2008, Tata Steel Limited, the first integrated steel plant in Asia, was the only company to receive the prestigious Deming Prize, which recognizes companies that make major contributions to the advancement of quality (Click Here).

The Deming Prize is named after Dr. William Deming of the United States, a statistician and an expert in quality control. After several years of consulting in the United States and receiving little recognition for his ideas, he moved to Japan. The Japanese embraced his ideas, particularly his concepts of Statistical Process Control (SPC). He not only worked with senior management on his ideas, but also with all the layers of the companies he consulted in order to integrate SPC fully. He was well recognized in Japan, and in December 1950, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) named the Deming Prize after him. Since then, the Japanese have recognized at least one company each year with the Deming Prize for their advancements in quality. Receiving the award is a prestigious accomplishment and one that is highly difficult to attain. It is the highest achievement in the world of Total Quality Management (TQM).

For the most part, only the Japanese companies or the companies based in Japan have received this award. Typically, these are manufacturing companies. It wasn’t until 2001 that a non-Japanese company was awarded the prestigious Deming Prize. Since then, at least one Indian company has received the prestigious quality award every year, with the exception of 2006. In 2008, Tata Steel was awarded the prize. To put all this into perspective, only one US Company has ever received the Deming Prize since the awards’ inception.

I think that the greatest achievement of Indian companies winning this award so consistently every year is not the actual winning of the award — it’s their drive and constant desire  to improve their products and processes. It indicates their craving to fit in and even be superior to other countries in terms of quality management. It’s obvious that the companies are pushing hard to be competitive in the global economy.

Considering this award is typically given to a manufacturing company, it’s not representative of all types of companies in India. However, it’s definitely a start. Many other companies have set quality standards for their businesses in consonance with the Bureau of Indian Standards, which creates national standards for businesses. Even other companies are following standards that most U.S. companies follow such as ISO 9000.

With all the advancements that India is making in terms of quality and quality management, what does this mean for the United States? The real threat here is how their quality management processes will sustain their companies to be directly competitive with the United States. What can companies in the United States learn from this threat?

For more information on the Deming Prize, please visit the Deming Institute site (Click Here).

- Danielle Steussy