🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct2.143330.24239@cbfsb.cb.att.com> (anthony.r.rizzo) writes:
>
> Government and the educational system could learn much from the
> "Process Quality Management and Improvement" programs that are
> being implemented in the private sector.
>
> As I see it, the students are the customers, and the educational
> system is the supplier.

   Customers are people who buy something.  There is a well-established
industry of greeting cards.  All the firms in this business know that
their customer is the buyer of the card, not the recipient.  Why do
educators insist on believing that _their_ customers are the recipients,
not the buyers?

> Yes, I know that this is not alt.politics.  But the deterioration
> of the school system inevitably will lead to the deterioration
> of industrial competitiveness.  It will affect even my own
> children's ability to earn a living, even though they are only
> 4 year old and 15 months old right now.

   Now you sound like a customer.  Quality Improvement programs _do_
have a lot to offer us, once we've correctly identified the customer.
Customers can learn to recognize and value quality, once the supplier
takes the time to listen to their needs and adjust the specifications
to fit those needs.

   Could we re-cast this discussion, starting with the customers' needs
and progressing into adjusting the specifications?

John Leslie <john@jlc.mv.com>