About
Armand Vallin Feigenbaum (April 6, 1922 November 13, 2014) was an American quality
control expert and businessman. He devised the concept of Total Quality Control, later
known as Total Quality Management (TQM).
Feigenbaum received a bachelor's degree from Union College, his master's degree from the
MIT Sloan School of Management, and his Ph.D. in Economics from MIT. He was Director
of Manufacturing Operations at General Electric (19581968), and was later the President
and CEO of General Systems Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, an engineering firm that
designs and installs operational systems. Feigenbaum wrote several books and served as
President of the American Society for Quality (19611963). On November 13, 2014, he died
at the age of 92.
Background
Dr Armand Life Career and Achievements
1951 - the first book Quality Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration
published
1988 - appointed to the first Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award Program.
1998 - the American Society for Quality established the Feigenbaum Medal to be
granted annually for excellence in performance
Quality is the customers perception of what quality is, not what a company thinks it
is.
Quality is a principal.
The several editions of Total Quality Control have been published in more than twenty
languages including French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, and are
widely used throughout the world as a foundation for management practice.
Dr. Feigenbaums establishment of General Systems with his brother Donald, made it
possible for him to further refine TQM and widely bring to many companies and
organizations the benefits of the total quality and management practices he had developed.
This has brought demonstrable economic, environmental and social business benefits to these
companies and their customers, and correspondingly to Americas economy. Equally
important, far more than General Systems Company clients have benefitted from his intellect,
creativity and experience.
He co-authored The Power of Management Capital with his brother and business partner,
Donald S. Feigenbaum (see bio), a former GE engineer and manager, setting a new direction
for innovation in management in the twenty first century not only in industry but also in
health care, education, public administration and technology. The book has been translated
into Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic, in several other languages and an
edition in India.
Dr. Feigenbaum has been exceptionally generous, sharing his concepts, processes and
implementation knowledge through numerous books, articles, interviews, keynotes and
leadership as President of such groups as the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the
International Academy for Quality (IAQ). He is well known, highly visible, revered
worldwide, and his name in synonymous with Total Quality. He is considered one of the
Worlds Gurus of Quality.
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_V._Feigenbaum
https://ceopedia.org/index.php/Armand_Feigenbaum
http://www.feigenbaumfoundation.org/about/dr-armand-v-feigenbaum/