In 1947, American Management guru W. Edwards Demming went to Japan to help with planning the Japanese Census. A few years later, he conducted a series of lectures given to top managers in Japan about statistical management techniques. These techniques would largely influence what would later be Japan's renown for innovation and high-quality products.

I discovered this when reading John Avalon's post 3 Things Ford Can Teach the Rest of Detroit. I then did a quick search on wikipedia and found out more about Edwards Demming.