The Deming Cup

The Deming Cup is an annual prize presented by the Deming Center at Columbia Business School to recognize a world leader who has made outstanding contributions in the area of operational excellence and has fostered the culture of continuous improvement in an organization.

The Judging Committe is led by Rob Amen '73, an executive in residence at the School and former CEO of International Flavors and Fragrances, and Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the US Treasury and former director and chairman of Alcoa.


Judging Committee 2013:

  1. Saad Abdul-Latif, CEO, PepsiCo Asia, Middle East, Africa
  2. César Alierta Izuel '70, Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
  3. Rob Amen '73, Columbia Business School
  4. Lucien Arkas, Chairman, Arkas Group
  5. Wolfgang Bernhard '88, Member of the Board of Management, Daimler AG
  6. Kevin Burke '83, Chairman, President and CEO, Consolidated Edison
  7. Ivoncy Brochmann Ioschpe, Chairman, Iochpe-Maxion S.A.
  8. John Church, SVP, Supply Chain, General Mills
  9. John Coatsworth, Provost, Columbia University
  10. Tom Cole, Chief Administrative Officer, Macy’s
  11. Bruno Di Leo, SVP for Sales and Distribution, IBM Corporation
  12. John Dillon '71, Vice Chairman and Senior Managing Director, Evercore Partners
  13. Ali Doğramacı, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bilkent University
  14. Awi Federgruen, Columbia Business School
  15. Beth Ford '95, Chief Supply Chain & Operations Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.
  16. Nelson Fraiman '71, Columbia Business School
  17. Peter Gibbons, Former EVP, Global Supply Chain Operations, Starbucks Coffee Company
  18. Lynne Greene, President of Clinique, Origins, and Ojon, Estée Lauder
  19. Thomas Groos '80, Partner, City Light Capital
  20. Richard Jaffe '92, Managing Director, Stifel, Nicolaus & Co
  21. Jeffrey Keefer, Former CFO, DuPont
  22. Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
  23. Shelly Lazarus '70, Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
  24. Sang Wan Lee, Former President, Samsung Electronics
  25. Nicolás Loaiza, Co-founder and CEO, Bodytech
  26. Terry Lundgren, Chairman, President and CEO, Macy's, Inc.
  27. Sergio Marchionne, CEO, Fiat S.p.A., and Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Group LLC
  28. Jorge Morán, President and CEO, Sovereign Bank
  29. David Niles '98, President, SSA & Co
  30. Bennett Nussbaum '71, SVP and CFO, Winn-Dixie
  31. Paul O’Neill, Former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
  32. Quentin Roach, SVP and Chief procurement Officer, Merck & Co
  33. R. Seshasayee, Executive Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland Ltd.
  34. Keith Sherin '91, Vice Chairman and CFO, General Electric
  35. S.D. Shibulal, Co-founder and CEO, Infosys
  36. Charles Sorenson, President and CEO, Intermountain Healthcare
  37. George Stalk, Senior Advisor and BCG Fellow, The Boston Consulting Group
  38. Burt Steinberg '70, Former President and Director, Dress Barn
  39. David Thurm, COO, The Art Institute of Chicago
  40. Hans Van Alebeek, Corporate VP, Nike
  41. Garrett van Ryzin, Columbia Business School

Criteria and Eligibility Requirements

The Deming Cup is seeking individuals who led initiatives in continuous improvement and helped change the culture within their company/organization.

Nomination Criteria
  1. Global leader who has applied and demonstrated the Deming principles
  2. Organization that exhibits multidimensional excellence (for instance excellence in safety, environmental responsibility and a view towards inclusion)
  3. Organization known for continuous improvement.
  4. An organization that has increased in shareholder value over a sustained period of time due to organic growth
  5. An organization where operational excellence has made a decisive impact on the competitive position of the firm
  6. Evidence of a culture in which all stakeholders in the organization are treated with dignity and respect
  7. Leader who requires data driven analysis and has clear commitment to impactful training and skill development

The nomination can be self or third-party recommendation. The nominee must demonstrate his/her contribution in the achievements of operational excellence, through specific and measurable outcomes.

Individuals can only receive the award once and the nominee must be alive at the time of nomination.

Nominations for this year's Deming Cup will be received from April 1 to June 1, 2013. To send an application for 2013 click here.