David Kearns and Total Quality Case Study

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David Kearns is often said to have been such a leader, capable of gaining trust and also making the company change on a global scale to focus first on quality and customers instead of its own, often inwards-centric agendas (Deckert, 2011).

Kearns began a practice of having senior managers personally take phone calls from customers with problems. Try calling the president of an organization with one of your concerns about a product or issue you have with the company. Report what happened on the phone call. (Good luck).

I recently tried to call the President and CEO of Delta Airlines and was routed first to their automated voice response customer service line. After about fifteen minutes on hold I was connected to an agent who said their CEO's office is confidential and cannot be reached from an outside line. He directed me to their Public Relations Department. I called their PR Department in Atlanta and was asked if I was a member of the media looking for an interview, blogger or a member of a television network. I said I was none of these, just a customer who would like to chat with the CEO. The PR person acted as if they were getting an e-mail address and "accidentally" hung up on me. I called her back and asked for the e-mail address again and was given a rather generic one of -- . Next I tried calling directly to the main switchboard again and did not press any buttons on my phone as I was thinking a person would answer if the automated voice response system did not think a touch tone phone was on the call. The system hung up the phone.

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Not getting anywhere with the company, I tried next going to their Investor Center in the hope his e-mail address would be there. I found that Delta using the first name, last -- definition for their e-mail address. Finally I had his e-mail address, which is Richard.anderson@delta, com. I e-mailed him and asked just for an interview and a chance to discuss Delta service. After a week I received a form e-mail back and a note saying he gets thousands of e-mails a day and regrets he does not have time to talk. This would have never happened in the days of Xerox under David Kearns.

Is Kearn's approach generalizable to all settings?

No, his approaches are not applicable to all settings and all conditions. His approach is ideal however for a company that has lost touch with its customers and what quality management means in a technology-centric business. His drastic actions to save Xerox are further not needed in many other businesses as well. The focus on accountability over performance and visibility into results was a strong catalyst for change at Xerox when he was in charge however (Kearns, 1992).

What has happened to Xerox since Kearns stepped down?

The culture continued to thrive and the company eventually won the Malcolm Baldrige Award in 1988 and the carry-over effects of David Kearns kept the culture focused on quality and customers first (Deckert, 2011). There was also the unforeseen benefit of training and development becoming a core value of the company going forward as well (Huysse, 1997)......

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