Best Buy : Hubert Joly wins prestigious Deming Cup

Hubert Joly, Best Buy's executive chairman and former CEO, has been named as one of this year's winners for a prestigious award that recognizes top business leaders.

Columbia Business School's W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness on Monday named Hubert as one of three recipients of the 2019 Deming Cup. Now in its 10^th year, the award recognizes leaders for operational excellence and for fostering a culture of continuous improvement within their organizations.

This year's other honorees are David Abney, chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service (UPS), and Janet DiFiore, chief judge for the New York State Court of Appeals. They will be honored at a reception at Columbia University in New York on Oct. 22.

Professor Nelson Fraiman, director of the Deming Center, commended this year's honorees for 'creating efficiency-fueled, employee-empowered and excellence-oriented establishments. Driven by the ethos of continuous improvement, these diverse organizations are poised for long-term success, affirming the growing relevance of W. Edwards Deming's principles across the private and public sectors.'

Hubert served as Best Buy's CEO from September 2012 until June 2019, when he transitioned to the role of executive chairman. Corie Barry now serves as the company's CEO.

During his seven years as CEO, Hubert led Best Buy through our successful Renew Blue transformation, which resulted in improved customer satisfaction, market share gains, revenue growth and improved margins.

'Best Buy's talented, passionate employees are our most valued asset, and I am honored to accept the Deming Cup on their behalf,' Hubert said. 'Together, we turned around and then began to grow this wonderful company while staying true to our philosophy of doing well by doing good. I'm proud of everything we've accomplished and look forward to continuing to work with my amazing Best Buy colleagues as we pursue our collective purpose of enriching lives through technology.'