Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Not for the non statistician
I picked up this book because I've been recently delving into the works of W. Edward Deming. I find it incredible that his works aren't taught in school, but I also as a previous reviewer has stated, this book is not for the statistical beginner or even intermediate.I do have a college degree and consider myself intelligent and stronger than average in math, but this is not an easy book to understand.

Oof!
This may be the most inaccesible management book I've ever read.I picked it because of Shewart's exalted position in the quality movement - as the mentor and intellectual guide to Deming, he is the theorist behind the quality of our cars, VCRs and televisions.

Unfortunately, his writing is enormously hard to read and apply.The mathematics were very hard to penetrate - dozens of pages to even get to basing control charts on standard deviations.I've got a minor in mathematics, so I was suprised by the difficulty.It was near impossible to derive quality lessons from the book.

In deference to the author, I'll make a lot of excuses for him:
- It was written a long time ago.
- The book was aimed at statisticians, not managers.
- A compilation of Shewart's ideas would be more effective than lecture notes.

My end recommendation - browse before you buy.

Timess Shewhart
This book is the culmination of the philosophy of Dr. Shewhart . Dr. Shewhart was virtually unknown till he delivered a series of lectures which were then edited and converted into this book by W. Edwards Deming . Dr. Deming recognised the importance of these lectures and felt that this would be the best way to popularise Shewhart's works . Shewhart's earlier book " Economic Control of Quality in Manufactured Product " was the second recorded book on Quality ( 1931 ) . His concepts of the " old Way " and " New Way " of doing businesses are relevant even today . Shewhart touched on topics which Management gurus refer to even today . This book first introduced the " Scientific Method of Improvement " which we now know as the Shewhart - Deming PDSA cycle for improvement . All in all a timeless piece of writing and a must for every Quality / Management fanatic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

the beginning of modern quality management...
Before Six Sigma, TQM, SPC & Deming, there was Shewhart.This classic work by Dr. Shewhart introduces the principles that were to become the foundation for process quality control.While not as concise as his later "Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control," this text provides a more in-depth introduction to basic statistical control concepts...very good for understanding the thinking behind Shewhart control charts. ... Read more