Abstract
Armand Vallin Feigenbaum, born 1922, earned his bachelor's degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and went on to acquire both his master's and Ph.D. from MIT. Perhaps best known for his development of Total Quality Control, now called Total Quality Management, Feigenbaum acted as Director of Manufacturing Operation at General Electric, President of the American Society for Quality, and currently serves as President and CEO of General Systems Company in Pittsfield, MA.
A leader in quality cost management, Feigenbaum has been repeatedly recognized for his achievements. Among his honors, Feigenbaum was the first recipient of ASQ's Lancaster Award as well as the 1965 Edwards Medal for “his origination and implementation of basic foundations for modern quality control.” Additionally, Feigenbaum was presented with the National Security Industrial Association Award of Merit and received the Union College Founders Medal. He has served as a consultant for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and is a life member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Feigenbaum is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Early in his career at General Electric, Feigenbaum, along with his brother Donald, began to construct Total Quality Control, which he would later expound upon in his 1951 book titled Quality Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration. At GE, Feigenbaum observed that managing for quality was very specific and meant that only one department was responsible for ensuring that technical specifications in products and services were met. According to Feigenbaum, “this narrowly defined emphasis on quality had a wide ripple effect.” Feigenbaum became aware that the pursuit of quality connects every process and person in the organization; quality is not a matter of technique, statistical control, or testing machines, but rather a way of leading, inspiring, integrating efforts and managing for profitability and growth.
Today, many companies use Feigenbaum's methods to create an effective corporate mindset. Feigenbaum asserts that today's “competitive worldwide marketplace and advances in information technology have created greater customer demand for quality than ever before.” With the Internet, the quality of products and services is increasingly transparent to customers, leading some products, not perceived as high quality, to fail weeks or months after their initial launch. According to Feigenbaum, this is due to the fact that “consumers now view quality as a fundamental measure of their total perception of the product or service as well as of the company, delivery and maintenance network that provides and supports it.”
An innovator in management strategy, Feigenbaum's work has revolutionized the way companies manage quality today. According to a recent survey by the American Society for Quality, “80% of all executives recognize total quality leadership as a systematic way of creating an effective corporate mindset.” As we move further into the 21st century, the employment of Total Quality Management will become even more crucial as companies shift from investment in “hard” assets to “soft” assets. Feigenbaum's work may prove even more valuable in the future than when he first initiated Total Quality Management in his early years at GE.