was a Japanese planning specialist recognized as the developer of

Hoshin Kanri Hoshin Kanri (Japanese: 方針管理, "policy management") is a 7-step process used in strategic planning in which strategic goals are communicated throughout the company and then put into action. The Hoshin Kanri strategic planning system originate ...

strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to attain strategic goals. It may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the st ...

methodology). With the late Shigeru Mizuno, he developed

Quality Function Deployment Quality function deployment (QFD) a method developed in Japan beginning in 1966 to help transform the voice of the customer into engineering characteristics for a product.Larson et al. (2009). p. 117. Yoji Akao, the original developer, described QF ...

(a group

decision making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either rati ...

technique). Akao and Mizuno also co-founded the Quality Function Deployment Institute: a non-profit organization dedicated to dissemination and advancement of QFD. Akao received a Ph.D. in 1964 from the

Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as ...

.Productivity Press

Books

Akao authored or co-authored several books: * Quality Function Deployment: Integrating Customer Requirements Into Product Design (1991) * Hoshin Kanri: Policy Deployment for Successful TQM (Corporate Leadership) (1990) * QFD: The Customer Driven Approach to Quality Planning and Deployment (co-authored with Shigeru Mizuno) (1994)

Awards

* Deming Prize: 1978 * Quality Control Literature Prize: 1960 and 1978

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akao, Yoki 1928 births Japanese business theorists 2016 deaths Quality Quality experts Tokyo Institute of Technology alumni