Lillie to succeed Seaton at APC. (John Lillie, W.B. Seaton, American President Companies Ltd.)

Lillie to Succeed Seaton at APC

Imagine a transportation company run by all 4,500 members of its work force.

Better yet, don't just imagine it. Prepare for it - because that is where American President Companies is heading.

W.B. Seaton, APC's chairman and chief executive since 1983, is retiring by the end of 1991 and has recommended that the company's board appoint John M. Lillie, who has been president and chief operating officer, to head the company.

Lillie says he wants to bring the Deming-Guran theory of management by broad-based participation home to its American roots.

"Our greatest opportunity is in applying the quality process throughout the business, getting people to operate on a micro basis instead of a macro basis - have everyone responsible for his own job," Lillie said. "You have enormous power when you have 4,500 people working toward the same goals."

The Japanese did not put forth the theory of participatory management; they merely adopted it - and they have proven that it works, Lillie noted.

He said the theory came from two Americans - W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Guran - and it was widely rejected by corporate America in the 1950s before it was adopted in Japan. …