Quality Shot

(Beijing)- Eighteen factory managers were executed for poor product quality at Chien Bien Refrigerator Factory on the outskirts of the Chinese capital. The managers - 12 men and 6 women - were taken to a rice paddy outside the factory and unceremoniously shot to death as 500 plant workers looked on.

Minister of Economics Reform spokesman, Xi Ten Haun, said the action was required for committing unpardonable crimes against the people of China. He blamed the managers for ignoring quality and forcing shoddy work, saying the factory's output of refrigerators had a reputation for failure. For years, factory workers complained that many component parts did not meet specification and the end product did not function as required. Complaining workers quoted the plant manager as saying "Ship it."

Refrigerators are among the most sought-after consumer items in China. Customers, who waited up to five years for their appliances, were outraged. "It is understandable our citizens would express shock and outrage when managers are careless in their attitudes toward the welfare of others," Haun says. "Our soldiers are justified in wishing to bring proper justice to these errant managers." The executed included the plant manager, the quality control manager, the engineering managers and their top staff.

Source: Excerpt from the Wall Street Journal, Oct 17th, 1989

It looks like a true story. Number of people aspiring for QA/Test Manager posts would be almost zero in India if we had a system like this. Good measure for population control.