He once remarked to Dr. Reimann that, no organization in the country deserves an award and no one could judge it even if the level of quality were there. The relationship between the two in private was friendly and cordial but in public Dr. Deming would criticize the Award. Mr. Crosby was somewhat supportive of the idea but was strictly opposed to the self-nomination of organizations. He believed that organizations should be nominated by customers and never really overcame this objection. Dr. Reimann understood Mr. Crosby s point but realized that companies differ too greatly to be customer nominated.
Some organizations have millions of customers while others have few or even only one.
Concerning Dr. Juran, Dr. Reimann states, Dr. Juran was immediately cordial, helpful in every way, analytical and wanted to be used as a sounding board where ever possible. Though there was not overwhelming support from all quality leaders, Dr. Reimann recalled the excellent support he received from the business leaders and many practitioners who volunteered to serve as examiners for the Award. Dr. Reimann firmly believed that non-prescriptive criteria was the way to go. We felt that the practices and tools and techniques would come and go. We were concerned that organizations have ways, effective ways, and by effective we mean can demonstrate the effectiveness, and should have a variety of ways to improve products and services.