1994 Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder 473

is currently embraced by many firms in the United States and around the
world (Hodgson, 1987); its widespread popularity appears to stem from
numerous case studies attributing organizational turnaround to the influ-
ence of the Deming management method (e.g., Baker & Artinian, 1985;
Hodgson, 1987; Scherkenbach, 1986b; Walton, 1986: 121-238).
Despite the apparent effect that the Deming management method has
had on the practice of management around the world, there is little em-
pirical research support for its effectiveness beyond anecdotal evidence.
This is in part because no theory describing, explaining, and predicting
the impact of the Deming management method has been presented to
guide the progress of the empirical researcher; neither its theoretical con-
tribution nor its theoretical base has yet to be articulated. Academic at-
tention on the Deming management method has, in fact, been surpris-
ingly sparse (Gartner & Naughton, 1988); the role that this method has
played in the formalization and advancement of management theory re-
mains a relatively unexplored issue.
Deming's energies related to implementation of the 14 points, like-
wise, have not been expended to espouse or to verify theories. The pur-
pose of the Deming management method has been and continues to be
the transformation and improvement of the practice of management, more
specifically, the practice of quality management (Deming, 1986: 18). This
purpose has served to propel practice ahead of formalized theory. We
believe that the formalization of the theoretical context of the effective-
ness of the Deming management method is essential for improved imple-
mentation of these 14 points and, more generally, to the advancement of
the field of quality management.
The primary objective of our article is to propose and articulate a
theory of quality management underlying the Deming management
method, leaving verification of the proposed theory for later. The pro-
posed theory is based upon conceptual synthesis of Deming's writings,
available literature on the Deming management method, observations of
practice, and, more specifically, on the results of a Delphi study on the
Deming management method. As will be presented, our analysis leads to
the conclusion that the theoretical essence of the Deming management
method concerns the creation of an organizational system that fosters
cooperation and learning for facilitating the implementation of process
management practices, which, in turn, leads to continuous improvement
of processes, products, and services, and to employee fulfillment, both of
which are critical to customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, to firm sur-
vival. Implicit in this theoretical statement is the crucial role that orga-
nizational leadership plays in ensuring the success of quality manage-
ment, because it is the leaders' responsibilities to create and
communicate a vision to move the firm toward continuous improvement
and to provide formal and informal support to enable the creation and
sustenance of an organizational system that is receptive to process man-
agement practices.

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