Ed Deming's The New Economics

During my spring break, I read Edward Deming's book, The New Economics, which contained numerous innovations for Government , Industry, and Education. Edward Deming was a quality specialist, who is known for his revolutionary quality innovations that were embraced by Japan after WW2. The U.S. disregarded his teachings until the 1980s when industry in the country faced quality issues.

There were several concepts that I found interesting. Deming suggested that all companies/organizations view all of their departments and processes as components of a system
He stressed the importance of component is to help the entire system, so it is acceptable for certain components to be operating at a loss if it helps the overall system accomplish its aim. This was of particular interest because most organizations view their IT departments as cost centers but should view IT as a component that is essential for the organization to meet its aims.

Deming stressed the importance of cooperation vs competition including internally within an organization as well as companies within the same industry. From cooperation comes standardization.


Deming stressed the importance of theory, which is the base for knowledge. Theory allows for revision and prediction and allows one to use knowledge to make sense of information that is received.




Deming, E.(1994). The New Economics For Industry, Government, Education. MIT press.

Cambridge.