Deere invented the famous steel plow and soon began to manufacture his invention. New competitors quickly appeared. Deere sued them for patent violation. But while the legal process moved slowly forward, competitors put downward price pressure on Deere. Lesser men would have been tempted to meet the competition by cutting back on quality in order to reduce prices and still make a profit.But Deere refused to compromise quality. His ethical commitment to quality became a hallmark of Deere and Company as succeeding generations of managers kept the founder's quality commitment.