Final answer:
The statement is false. Deming's total quality management emphasizes the crucial role of meeting customer needs and improving quality based on those needs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Deming's total quality management system largely ignored the needs of customers is false. W. Edwards Deming, a renowned statistician and quality consultant, introduced the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM). One of the core principles of Deming's approach to TQM emphasizes that businesses should be more customer-focused, and that the quality improvement of products and services should be driven by the changing needs and expectations of the customers. Deming's TQM includes understanding customer needs, enhancing product and service quality, and ensuring customer satisfaction at all levels of the organization.
Deming's 14 Points for Management, part of his TQM philosophy, are guidelines that stress the importance of aligning business processes to meet the needs of the customer, creating a strong customer service culture, and developing continuous improvement strategies that involve everyone in the organization from top to bottom.