Another way...please!

Those of you who know me will know that I believe that society in the West is being strangled by fear of litigation as people spend more time covering their backs and ensuring that they are absolutely covered in the case of anything going wrong, or an accident happening. This atmosphere, which is being perpetuated by Governments in most cases, creates bureaucracy in organisations that stifles their creativity and in many cases, their ability to compete in an increasing global market.

China is at the other end of the spectrum producing goods that are being recalled from the shelves because they have been produced without the care and quality checks that make them safe. These mistakes are costing corporations dearly and wiping out some of the significant savings of having their manufacturing in Asia.

Recently Mattel had to recall toys because of lead paint being used and a problem with magnets. Already lawyers are seeking class action suits to force Mattel to pay for children to be tested for lead poisoning!

There have been a number of issues with goods being manufactured in China including mattresses, being returned for having been sprayed with poisonous chemicals to avoid infestation. Clothes, toothpaste, faulty tyres, dog food, etc. have all been in the news over the last couple of months with questions about their quality and as a result their danger to consumers.

As lawyers start to hover in anticipation of a chance to add to the problem with class actions suits and ways to make their money, we have to ask ourselves, isn’t there another way? Do we have to resort to this old fashioned method of retaliation that stifles innovation and creativity? For some organisations, creativity and innovation is their ONLY way of making money.

How can we blame China?

China does not have the wealth of experience that the West has in their development. If we look at Japan, it had to be educated (notice the word was not ‘told’) about the importance of quality. Once it understood about the importance of quality, Japan embarked on producing a quality product and, only then, did it seek to find ways of cutting the costs in the process down whilst maintaining the quality.

That education process is a vital link. How can we blame companies in China that are being given target prices to produce goods and so price becomes their primary focus? Quality becomes a secondary issue. But then we scream and shout when the quality is poor and try to blame China!

Dutch businessman Jan Kemeling sums it up well:

"It's like this: a Western company tells the Chinese that they have to make something that costs 10 euros, even though they know that the raw materials cost 15. So it stands to reason that the Chinese are going to take something out to arrive at that price of 10. They are going to look for ways to save a bit of money. Which means buying in cheaper paint or cheaper steel or whatever. And that's when the quality starts to slide."
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/chi070824mc

In the case of the lead paint on Mattel toys, it seems that the Chinese manufacturing company outsourced the painting to another company that did not have the quality procedures in place! We can’t blame them for outsourcing in this way because we taught them that. We equally can’t blame them for forcing the outsourced company to do it cheaply when that is what the West taught them was the most important criteria.

The West needs to take a more responsible view and learn the importance of measuring the right things or at least teaching China how to prioritize measurements. Price without the quality IS NOT CHEAP.

So I ask as the lawyers add to the problem with their class action suites and scared business leaders frantically attempt to cover their ‘backs’ and limit the damage: Who is taking a step out of this blame culture and seeing where the real problem is?

As you consider that question, let me bring another thought to the table.



On 21st August we saw the return of the space shuttle Endeavour from the international space station after nearly two weeks away from earth. The shuttle was brought back a day early because of the concerns about Hurricane Dean.

Space shuttle Columbia in 2003 with seven crew were lost when entering earth’s orbit because of a hole made in the wing from some foam falling off at take off. Everything was put on hold to rectify the problem! Prior to Endeavour’s launch this time, NASA said that they had sorted out the issues relating to take-off that had caused eventual disasters of previous missions.

On the 8th August, the world was then shocked to discover that the space shuttle Endeavour was yet again damaged on take-off by falling foam. There were anxious moments when the shuttle flew back to earth and re-entered the earth atmosphere. Would another disaster befall this mission?

Fortunately, the shuttle returned to earth safely and NASA announced that once and for all they were going to get to the bottom this issue and ensure that the shuttle was not damaged. Once again more promises!

A friend said to me recently, “How would you like to get in a space craft made of tens of thousands of parts all made by a company that submitted the lowest tender?”

What a powerful question.

There has to be another way! Litigation and the fear of class action suites is not the way forward. It makes the lawyers rich and brings out the worst in humanity.

For China, education and good measurements are vital. Learn from Japan and educate people at every level of the organisation about quality first and then when that is right, seek ways to drive down costs within that framework.


For NASA I have a simple way of solving the foam issue. Every space flight in future carries one of the Executive Boards grandchildren on the voyage!