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TODAY, we start the work week by answering the basic ethical
question in management—is it OK to screw down our workers in the
name of the company’s survival?
The answer is a big capital NO. But sure, most
of us have heard the story of many corporations, even big moneyed
conglomerates having been brought to the courts by their complaining
workers to their great embarrassment.
But believe me, this was for the purpose of
subsidizing the operations of their legal counsel which could have
been simplified if the money went straight to the workers
themselves.
What happened (according to the standard fine
print of a retainer contract between a lawyer and his client) was
this contract had one provision whose main purpose in the Great
Supply Chain of Life is to financially support the cause of
litigious lawyers and their children of school age.
Of course, this needless tragedy could easily
have been prevented via legislation (here we go again) requiring all
lawyers to carry their business cards with a message such as:
“Warning: The Solicitor General has determined
that you should not put your complete trust and confidence in the
bearer of this card.”
On the other hand, this could be one of those
stories that everybody hears even though it’s not true, like the
one that implies that the Government Service and Insurance System is
more efficiently and effectively managed than the Manila Electric
Co.
This probably could never happen.
And so our opener for this article is really an
interesting ethical question, which I must intelligently answer with
nothing but The System of Profound Knowledge by W. Edwards Deming
(1900-1993).
As a statistician, Deming’s early works were
studies on how to measure production efficiencies, how to survey
every worker and manager’s opinion and how to correlate those
surveys with the gaps in operational efficiency.
Dr. Deming advocated against management tyranny,
bootlicking and blackmail that pushed workers into the role of a
robot who were paid peanuts. He argued that the ultimate success in
any endeavor is rooted in the basic concept of human behavior, such
as trusting the worker to do good, if given the chance.
Everything must start from the premise that
every human being is strategically important to the business. And
that we, in management must optimize human enjoyment while producing
goods and services that cater to the needs or wants of the consumer.
Dr. Deming’s philosophy of The System of
Profound Knowledge is not complicated as your typical household
electric bill, which incidentally is now being delivered again in a
crisp, white letter-envelope. But this is another story.
Really, all one has to do is understand the
rationale behind Deming’s maxim that “80 percent of quality
problems are caused by management, and only 20 percent by the
workers.”
This means that quality of work is everything.
It is controlled by management and is the basis for the joy of
workers’ work-life. It is a “win-win” approach for management.
If the workers are happy then they are bound to produce more that
contributes to profitability. Otherwise, the organization is bound
to lose.
I don’t wish to do a lecture here. But those
timeless statements from Dr. Deming make me forget that I’m a
columnist here and not a university professor. So anyway, Mr.
Winston Garcia of GSIS, what I’m trying to say here is:
Big thanks. Thanks a million for taking the time
to rock the Meralco boat because we too, would like to know the
answer to the question posed in those whole page newspaper print ads
accusing the National Power Corporation as the culprit causing the
Philippines to have the most expensive electricity rate in this part
of the world.
So anyway, that’s another ethical question
that must be answered…this time, by our government officials who
are currently enmeshed in a wholesale electric disaster.
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Rey Elbo is a business consultant
specializing in human resources and total quality management as a
fused specialty. Reader’s feedback may be sent to kairoshq@info.com.ph
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