ABSTRACT
Shigeo Shingo, who died in 1990, is perhaps the least well known in the West of the Japanese quality gurus. Educated as a mechanical engineer, he became a consultant in 1945, subsequently working with a wide variety of companies in many industries. These companies included Toyota, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and Sony. During his later career, he became involved with a large number of Western organizations. Norman Bodek, president of Productivity Incorporated, in the foreword to The Sayings of Shigeo Shingo (Shingo, 1987), cited by Bendell (1989: 11), says, ‘If I could give a Nobel Prize for exceptional contributions to world economy, prosperity and productivity, I wouldn’t have much difficulty selecting a winner – Shigeo Shingo’s life work has contributed to the well-being of everyone in the world.’
