Process Variation: Demonstrating Responsibility

Abstract

W. Edwards Deming preached that understanding variation is of paramount importance. He created the Red Bead Experiment (DRBE) to illustrate that variation is present in all processes and that utimately, management, not the willing worker, is responsible for the variability that is inherent in a process. We modify DRBE to demonstrate these lessons to undergraduate management and accounting students. Our results indicate that DRBE is a successful way for these students to I cam how variation applies to their respective studies.