Part of America's industrial problems is the aim of its corporate managers. Most American executives think they are in the business to make money, rather than products or service. The Japanese corporate credo, on the other hand, is that a company should become the world's most efficient provider of whatever product and service it offers. Once it becomes the world leader and continues to offer good products, profits follow.

The most important figures for management of any organization are unknown and unknowable.

It is important that an aim never be defined in terms of activity or methods. It must always relate directly to how life is better for everyone. . . . The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment.

The process is not just the sum of its parts.

You cannot inspect quality into the product; it is already there.

All anyone asks for is a chance to work with pride.

A goal without a method is nonsense.