If Japan Can, Why Can't We?

On June 24, 1980, Americans widely viewed a NBC documentary called “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We.” The program, part of NBC’s White Paper series, prominently featured Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Produced by Clare Crawford-Mason and narrated by Lloyd Dobyns, this documentary has been unavailable for public viewing for the past 35 years.
We are proud to announce that we have secured the perpetual rights for the program and are making it available here and on our website, free of charge.
This compelling documentary, about the ever-increasing industrial competition between the United States and Japan, introduced Dr. Deming to Americans. For the first time, they learned of the then 80-year old American who was widely credited with the Japanese industrial resurgence after WWII.
Viewers were astounded to learn that it was this American, Dr. Deming, who went to Japan in 1950 and began teaching his philosophy to their leadership. They listened and learned as he taught them about quality and productivity. When the program aired, the most coveted industrial award in Japan was The Deming Prize. Named in honor of Dr. Deming, the Deming Prize is still awarded, and highly esteemed, today.
Near the close of the program, Lloyd Dobyns asks Dr. Deming, “Would the same methods work in the United States…? Deming’s reply was the catalyst for relentless requests for Deming to help American businesses. Soon the icons of American industry, such as Ford, General Motors, Dow Chemical Company, Xerox and Hughes Aircraft were asking for his help.
Now you can view the video that started it all.
Thank you to NBC Universal for working with us to bring “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We?” back to the public.
We also extend our sincere gratitude to Clare-Crawford Mason and Bob Mason for their unwavering support of The Deming Institute’s efforts, and for their contributions to this program and the follow-up Deming Library, which Clare says provides the answer to “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We?”

[@shroyer6]

So glad to find this. My mom just passed away and I wanted to see if this was on KZbin. She is the one leading the quality Circle meeting at the 41:25 minute mark. She worked for Motorola before Matsushita bought the plant. She thought their products and their business model was far superior to Motorola. When the plant closed and moved to Mexico, she used NAFTA the way it should have been used; she went back to school, received an LTA degree and worked another 21 1/2 years at a library doing a job she loved. NAFTA worked if you actually used it.

[@wesshelton3197]

Thanks for following up - I use this video in my Quality Training - it is still relevant in many ways today. I have often wondered what folks went on to after the film was made. I appreciate you sharing.

[@jeffersonianideal]

59:57 “All humans think. And nowhere is it chiseled in stone that those in management think best.” One of the most perceptive observations expressed within the documentary.

[@pabloqp]

Also with "Work smarter, not harder" You can do a lot of efforts in vain if you don't have a scheme or planification in your actions.

[@kaneinkansas]

"There are no bad soldiers, just bad generals." - Napoleon Bonaparte

[@jeffersonianideal]

Dr. Deming firmly believed that the line employees are the ones who can best identify problems and solve those problems. Management, especially those tucked away in the 'C' suite, is too far removed from problems to be able to either pinpoint such adversities or remedy them.

[@stijnzelf]

35 years old video, where still a lot of companies (if not all) can learn from!

[@gerrylundergaard60]

Thank you Dr. Deming. For providing my family and friends with millions of trouble free happy driving miles. I was fortunate enough to attend one of his programs from WPI long ago.

[@MarkGraban]

Thank you for your efforts to re-surface this video! I'm so happy to finally see it.

[@joed3264]

Thanks for finding this video. I became a big fan of Deming. I brought TQM to the company I worked for. Eventually earned my Six Sigma Black Belt.

[@budhrseh2001]

Fantastic! I believe Dr. Deming would want nothing more than for this information to be readily available to all those who wish to learn. I hope that in the future more documentaries and seminars are made available by the Deming institute so that a new generation may know Dr. Deming's name, marvel at his brilliance, and come to understand the profound knowledge required to build a better future.

[@matthewweflen]

This video starts out as a Reagan-style polemic about crushing regulations, but then morphs into a celebration of Japanese regulation, economic interventions, and loyalty to workers.

[@c14husky]

They're not mutually exclusive. Reaganomics is less country centric and less based on the collective good, and has, of course, resulted in the abject failure of trickle down.

[@robertbaird8558]

Thank you to the people who made this public. It is interesting to listen to American business people, back in the 70's, the importance and benefits of worker participation and management wanting workers to understand how they contribute to business success. This is something today's leadership still struggles to understand how to do it.

[@hectormunoz659]

I was looking for this video in the past, it is great news that it is now released to the public, it applies not only to the American people, but to every country that wants to improve the quality of their products and services and as a result, their economy. Congratulatinos!!!

[@JimenaCalfa]

One year before I was born this video was on TV. Soo happy I can see it now and learn from it! Thanks!

[@asadjeff]

This is a great documentary on many levels. It is very interesting from a historical perspective and also informative from a business and economic standpoint. It is quality journalism about issues that are still relevant today. Thanks for making this available.

[@jorgecanale994]

Gracias por haber subido el video! Hace años que estaba buscandolo!

[@SajeeSirikrai]

Thank you for making this video available for us.

[@SteveBrant55]

Congratulations on gaining the rights to show this hugely important documentary. Where would America be if it had not been shown on NBC that one time? May a great many people see it going forward and the still valuable lessons be learned by many more!

[@premsafety]

This is still absolutely relevant today and should be essential viewing at Business School

[@annikagil3415]

Lol hi I am watching this for business school

[@sfgabc2402]

Really interested in viewing this. I wasn't aware of it until now. Fascinating historical Management Consultancy artefact.

[@EclipticalD]

FINALLY!!!! I was looking for this everywhere!! :D :D :D thanks!

[@totubeornottotubethatistheQ]

Great documentary. Thanks for sharing

[@tretresko]

Thank you! Another breakthrough for changes that leads to improvement for humanity!

[@elitazesf]

Thanks for uploading

[@MrJonsieber]

Thank you so much for this.

[@AldousGWong]

Thanks for uploading it. It is just as relevant today after 30+ yrs.

[@cswang2136]

This documentary was published in 1980，but we still can learn a lot from it.

[@allenscott1705]

Thank you for this!!!

[@yvesroy7991]

Thank you for adding this video. I had taped on VHS in the 80's. I was looking for it on the Web on August 2014 and asked Bob Mason at CC-M Productions as per the comments on their website: ‘’DVD copies of the documentary will soon be available from NBC Universal. When it becomes available, we will display a link to the NBC web site’’, but I didn’t see anything on their Web-Site. I assume my request was answered! May be! I wish we could have a French translation of it, so I could provide a link to our Government website in Canada.

[@hughcampbell4806]

Congratulations and thank you, Clare-Crawford Mason, Bob Mason and The W. Edwards Deming Institute® for facilitating NBC Universal’s permission to disseminate “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We” to the world. Hears to a renaissance of Dr. Deming’s Principles for transformation!!

[@romeomirandafancuvilla]

This is an old story social media but an Inspiring Video Really AMAZING!!! Got It Fellows...

[@liwenkai9550]

Thank you very much for sharing! Now 42 years has passed.

[@dougherendeen3241]

R.I.P. Lloyd Dobyns. I hope he's remembered beyond the phrase "And so it goes." This video is of great help to that end.

[@jacobmorrill555]

That comment in the video about how the interests of a company can change from quality to only saving money when a CFO is promoted to CEO is brilliant. I'd never thought about that before.

[@toddhudson5157]

This is exactly what happened at Southwest Airlines. They replaced their CEO with their CFO and then he installed another financial type as their COO. Total disaster! Of course, they both made a ton of money and split before the chickens came home to roost.

[@godlovesuila6699]

That fact that this video has only 112K views after 7 years is proof that only very few people truely seek for knowledge. That is why only a small portion of the population truely make a difference in our society. Only very few people seek for knowledge to make the necessary changes. By the way, if this content was a paid one, I will readily pay to view it. Since I learnt about Deming Management philosophy, I search for more about it and I spread it to my friends and partners

[@matthewwilson2369]

Just returning to an old fascination with Deming after 25 years. This video is a chuckle - a nice catalogue of the things that US business were het up about in the 1980's. That Monterey Abalone company now markets itself on the basis of those strict environmental regulations. He's now in a position to be able to point out that there's no impact on the local environment (as distinct from wild aquaculture overseas - i.e. his competitors) precisely because those regulators gave him a tough time about it when he set up shop. Which isn't to say there aren't too many overlapping and conflicting jursdictions, or that the regulations aren't arbitrary or opaque - that's entirely possible (nay, likely). It's also a giggle to see people lauding Japan's ability to raise capital. Yep, they're still giving those Yen away, but they're still stuck with economic problems today. Everything has a context :-)

[@damilarearah]

Thank you

[@jamieh.vaught4461]

Thank you so much for the video but there are no captions or subtitles.

[@garytracy814]

Thank you for making this available

[@austinmillbarge8731]

Who else came here after learning of this video from the book, "The Man Who Broke Capitalism?" As I watch this, retired from the USAF which is still totally reliant on aerial refueling aircraft manufactured between 1956-1965 and then seeing in 1980 Japan replaced all of its steel making equipment that was 30 years old and doing so tripled productivity was heartbreaking to say the least. Good for Japan and shame on the US, always viewing change as a threat instead of the necessary process for making life better. There's an American cultural problem of everyone grabbing for themselves and sorry to say it, but keeping score of identity representation is NOT solution to any of the fundamental problems in our society, but more evidence of groups grabbing for themselves, producing friction and weakening our society in the process. We need less focus on identity and more focus on ingenuity and improving work experiences and wages. Why do we suppose quiet quitting is so prominent? It's because doing good work just does not pay. I doubt we will meet this challenge of reversing our correctly identified status in the film as an agricultural colony to the world, because America is hard wired to resist change and to just "grab for my group."

[@kamrandemetriuswilson]

The focus is on the system and the process which is replicable by all. Not doing better than competition, Japan, etc. I.E being better vs doing better than number 1, which is a moving target.

[@ericmiller6914]

I have seen this video many times as we had a copy in our University library in the UK. I am now retired and working as a volunteer in Zambia where they are just starting on their lean journey they call it Zaizen here they are supported by a Japanese consultancy through JICA. Sadly i'm afraid the program is long on tools but short on the people and implementation side. The planning and the doing is OK but have missed out on the CHECK and ACT part of the cycle.

[@andersonsliva6188]

Eric Miller hey how’s the work in Zambia. Curious to know

[@deandrumer2134]

18:00, 33:14 , 37:26 , 1:06:00, 1:12:00

[@pickpac1]

Many changes in America since this original broadcast. Increase in worker productivity (1 person doing the work of 4, low labor participation rate), while lowering or cap wages (stagnate) and removing quality expectations is now being used by corporate America to increase their profit margins on a purely selfish basis. There is no loyalty, from either the management nor the worker. Unfortunately, conservative politics (de-regulation) has infiltrated American business and the Quality of American made products continues to be second rate. Thank you for bringing this back, this certainly still applies today as it did back then, even more so today in our current, corporate-government political climate

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Apparently you didn't watch the first 20 minutes of this video.

[@budsfernandoQIT]

Yes it is true, if Japan can do it, why can't the Philippines do it, too? This is a major vision of the Total Quality Management (TQM) Commission that will be championed by President Duterte. (N.B., Global Quality Movement).

[@badweetabix]

I know for a fact that I'm worst off than my parents. The sad part is that many younger generations of Americans do not know how worst off they are from previous generations. The slip in standard of living has occurred over a period spanning many generations and have been so small in increments that most Americans didn't notice it. My neighbor who passed away 8 yearsago was not only a veteran of WW2, but a survivor of Omaha Beach on D-Day; I found out one day he could not afford to turn on his furnace for heat during winter and living on barely 2 meals a day. The neighborhood got together and chipped in to paid for his heating bill. That's how bad things have become in America. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, and the cold and hungry.

[@stolte95]

If Dr. Deming were alive today, what would he think about China's economic and business methods?

[@jamiedorrian4784]

Shoutout GMIT engineering students

[@tan0590]

Where can i find it in spanish? regards

[@ericthehalfmexican9187]

24:00 How’s that debt financing working now at 230% debt to GDP?

[@nikolagrkovic8769]

Gde je moj FON Kvalitet, a?

[@mikerock4537]

OMIS 442 y'all !!!! :D

[@juliemagro734]

My divorce is final tomorrow and I am planning on changing my last name to Deming. I was quality controller for DHL and principals of lean have on many occasions changed my life.

[@rufuspipemos]

Nice to meet you Julie Deming.

[@crlaw75]

...and yet the Detroit three are abandonding small vehicles and going back to the big SUVs and trucks. Jimmy Carter put it straight, the car prevails.

[@markfrieser9006]

I love Japan, and do a lot of business in the country, but really, without the headstart that we gave Japan in terms of the exchange rate - a steady 360 yen to a dollar until the 70's - it would have been far harder for Japan to rebuild.

[@boogerie]

1:08:50 "[W. Edwards Deming] insists that management causes 85% of all the problems"

[@mikedonovan8811]

So what happened? If some companies were starting to adopt his methods, why did all the manufacturing jobs still go overseas?

[@billlumbergh6294]

Maybe it only works with Japanese..... Watch the gung-ho movie... second: Opening up china means a supply shock of cheap workers. It finally is eaten up so outsourcing makes less sense

[@KevBoy3D]

Why such glorification for extrinsic motivation around 44:00?

[@allenscott1705]

A lot of wrong practice in the video, some good practice. What Deming learned from about age 80 here to age 93 belongs in Guinness book of world records. He developed his system of profound knowledge.

[@kelvinbrunton1606]

And has.

[@terrymarshall2613]

When OSHA wanted to come to our operation... I told the boss where is there probably cause.... Think about it... Get out.

[@whatsmyname2664]

Wow! Very Helpful! I have been been given the job of Quality Assurance Manager recently and now i'm scouring the web for ways to set up a previously nonexistent department/way of integrating this into the DNA of the entire company. Anybody wanna help? haha JK

[@hassanabbas1395]

انا من طرف المخبر الاقتصادي

[@jaymescloninger4812]

Maybe smoking pipes during meetings was impacting productivity?

[@nakadetakenori]

40:09 it's like dashboard of bi tools today. そう、僕たち日本人は科学的な経営ができてたんだ。なら今もできないことはない。事実に沿った経営を

[@vitamindick3]

Τρομερό ντοκιμαντέρ, δείτε το ειδικά όσοι σπουδάζετε Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων, αλλά και όχι μόνο.

[@markfrieser9006]

The USSR was the 2nd most productive country?!? Ummmm, that can't be right.

[@musicislife2000]

Biden should watch this

[@whytodo741]

video ingilizçe hiç bir şey anlamadım aq

[@mxferro]

Peanut President...he wasn't forceful enough on ANYTHING.

[@ericthehalfmexican9187]

24:00 How’s that debt financing working now at 230% debt to GDP?