On October 22nd, 2019, David Abney, Chairman and CEO of UPS, Janet DiFiore, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and The State of New York, and Hubert Joly, Executive Chairman of Best Buy were honored with the 2019 Deming Cup for Operational Excellence at Columbia University’s Low Rotunda.
Browse through the Summary Highlights of the award ceremony from October 22, 2019 that highlights the proceedings, speakers, and honorees of the evening.
As CEO of UPS since 2014, David Abney used the principle of “continuous transformation” to lay out the vision, align the resources, and execute a growth strategy that would lead UPS to become the fastest and most technology-enabled and responsive company in the industry, while maintaining its core tenets of trust, reliability, and integrity.
Upon being sworn into office as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and the State of New York in 2016, Janet DiFiore announced the “Excellence Initiative” focused on—and to date, successful in—improving court operations and case management, increasing promptness and productivity, eliminating backlogs and delays, and providing high-quality justice services that support fairness and excellence in judicial decision-making.
As CEO from 2012 to 2019, Hubert Joly steered Best Buy through the transformative “Renew Blue” campaign, turning around what was a struggling company with an uncertain future, declining sales, decreasing profits, and plummeting stock prices into a profitable entity showing improved customer satisfaction, higher margins, greater market-share gains, and solid revenue growth.
Abney, DiFiore, and Joly highlight the importance of an unwavering focus on the Deming-based principles of continuous process improvement, efficiency, and quality to foster long-term success, regardless of sectors. The W. Edwards Deming Center and Columbia Business School were honored to present the 2019 award to these three exemplary leaders who have relentlessly driven continuous improvement in their organizations and have set a new benchmark for operational excellence in their fields.
To learn more about the Deming Cup, please email [email protected].