The Deming Center
“Experience by itself teaches nothing; it must be coupled with theory, with profound knowledge.” — W. Edwards Deming
The Deming Center, located within Columbia Business School, was founded in 1990 during W. Edwards Deming's last year at Columbia. The center focuses on developing thought leadership in three major initiatives: Revenue Optimization, Advanced Commerce Research, and Six Sigma. The center organizes major conferences and seminars in an effort to bridge the gap between industry and academia. It also sponsors the Deming Cup, an award that recognizes individuals for operations excellence.
Mission
The Deming Center will sponsor leading-edge research on the fundamental challenges facing member companies as a result of emerging technologies and new practices; and will disseminate current research and best practices among its academic and industry partners. The center will support focused education and professional development activities.
Objectives
The Deming Center aims to: 1) train a new generation of managers by developing curriculum materials on operations management for use at Columbia and other schools; 2) to reach senior executives through conferences, executive education, and publications; 3) to conduct research in all disciplines and functional areas that will produce new knowledge related to the field of advanced commerce, revenue optimization, and quality management.
