People are often surprised that the mission statement of Bama Companies, an international food manufacturer, is “People helping people be successful through caring and accountability.”
When a heart attack prevented my father from continuing to run Bama Companies, a family business, he asked me to take over. It was 1984, and I was young and inexperienced. However, I had worked within our plants. I listened to our employees, and I knew fear kept many of them from speaking up about problems and seeing that they could help shape the solutions.
Luckily, I soon attended a Deming seminar and heard a philosophy that aligned with what I knew about Bama employees – they cared about each other and took pride in their work. Over the next three years, I worked with Dr. Deming to shape a management team that put people first…and the profits followed.
The Deming philosophy gave us the roadmap to create a people-centered company. Your support of The Deming Institute will help emerging leaders discover how to empower their teams for success.
Today, Bama is not only a multimillion-dollar global food leader, but we are also a certified B corporation committed to transparency and sustainability. We treat our customers and suppliers as partners and work together on everything from product innovation to sustainability initiatives.
Our Caring Center provides counseling and training to help workers overcome obstacles on the job. Our Second Chance Program hires women who have been incarcerated, and our food insecurity initiative has provided millions of meals throughout our community.
I’m so proud of what we’ve created and owe so much of who we are today to Dr. Deming. Through decades of tremendous growth, his teachings have been, and continue to be, our North Star.
Let’s bring his work to thousands of others around the globe and unleash the power of purpose! Give today.
