Quality Circles

Overview
What are Quality Circles?
How Do Quality Circles Work?
How Can They be Used in an
Organization?
Example and Activity
Problems with Quality Circles
Summary of History and Practices
Bibliography

What is a Quality Circle?

Voluntary groups of employees who
work on similar tasks or share an
area of responsibility
They agree to meet on a regular basis
to discuss & solve problems related
to work.
They operate on the principle that
employee participation in decisionmaking and problem-solving improves
the quality of work

How Do Quality Circles

Work?
Characteristics

Volunteers
Set Rules and Priorities
Decisions made by Consensus
Use of organized approaches to
Problem-Solving

How Do Quality Circles

Work?
All members of a Circle need to
receive training
Members need to be empowered
Members need to have the
support of Senior Management

How Can They be Used

in an Organization?

Increase Productivity
Improve Quality
Boost Employee Morale

Real World Example

Team Exercise
Break down into teams of 6-8
people
Establish a leader and rules for
your Circle
Have a brainstorming and
problem-solving session to
resolve the issue on the next
slide

Team Exercise
A Collegiate class on Statistical
Analysis has a total enrollment of 45
people.
Average attendance is 18 students
The class consists mainly of lectures
How can the professor of this class
improve the quality of this course
and increase student involvement?

Problems with Quality

Circles

Inadequate Training
Unsure of Purpose
Not truly Voluntary
Lack of Management Interest
Quality Circles are not really
empowered to make decisions.

Summary of History and

Practices
Quality Circles were first seen in
the United States in the 1950s
Circles were developed by Dr,
Kaoru Ishikawa in Japan in the
1960s
Circles were re-exported to the
US in the early 1970s

Summary of History and

Practices
1980s brought Total Quality
Management and a reduction in
the use of Quality Circles
Quality Circles can be a useful
tool if used properly

Bibliography
Cole, Robert E. 1999. Managing Quality
Fads: How American Business Learned to
Play the Quality Game. New York, NY:
Oxford Press.
Aubrey, Charles A. 1988. Teamwork:
Involving People in Quality and Productivity
Improvement. Milwaukee, WI: Quality
Press.
Foster, S. Thomas. 2001. Managing Quality:
An Integrative Approach. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bibliography
Author Unknown. 1984. Quality Circles in
the Community College [online]. Available
online via
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/
ed353008.html
Author Unknown. 1994. Kaizen and Quality
Circles [online]. Available online via
http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis/bola/quality/c
ircles.html