Teaching Profound Management Lessons Using the Expanded Funnel Experiment

• In Event: INNOVATIVE EDUCATION: Innovations for Experiential Learning in the Classroom

Abstract

Deming’s Funnel Experiment is known to show how destructive tampering can be. With some adaptations, a new version of the experiment, called the Expanded Funnel Experiment (EFE), can demonstrate Deming’s 14 Points for management and the Deming System of Profound Knowledge. What’s new in the EFE are different sizes of funnels, different heights above the target for the funnel position, different supply sources of red beans, and different shapes of the target. The EFE has been instrumental in my EMBA, MBA, and executive classes since 2005. Beyond tampering, the EFE is powerful to illuminate each point of Deming’s 14 Points.

Author

• Brian Hwarng, National University of Singapore