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Abstract
The problems confronting U.S. manufacturers whose products must compete with high quality products of foreign manufacturers are introduced. Major competitors are located in Japan where a competitive edge has been gained through applications of Statistical Process Control (SPC) technologies and innovative human resource management techniques. The concepts composing SPC are introduced and briefly compared to Skinner's (1938) approach to behavior analysis. SPC and behavior analysis involve a search for the cause(s) of variation in a system's outputs for purposes of output prediction and control. The 14 points which constitute Deming's (1982) Theory D are then presented. Theory D is a set of principles to guide managers interested in improving production quality using SPC. It deals with human resource management issues as well as SPC control technologies. The points are similar to OBM in that they provide prescriptions and proscriptions for managers interested in SPC technology while OBM includes advice to managers concerning implementation of technologies derived from behavior analyses. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the OBM research issues suggested by SPC as a systems control technology and Theory D as an approach to its implementation.