QUALITY CIRCLES

Prepared by:
Sheila Mae Malesido, LPT, MBA

WHAT IS A QUALITY CIRCLE?

Quality circle is defined as a small group of 6-12 employees doing similar work voluntarily meet
together on a regular basis to identify improvements in their respective work areas

 Proven techniques for analyzing and solving work-related problems that are preventing
from achieving and sustaining excellence
 The groups work toward mutually uplifting employees as well as the organization
 A way of capturing the creative and innovative power that lies within the work force
 Quality circle is a form of participation management
 Quality circle is a human resource development technique
 Quality circle is a problem-solving technique
ORIGIN OF QUALITY CIRCLES

 Originally the idea of American business guru W. Edwards Deming, the idea was taken
up in Japan after the Second World War. The idea was that the front-line production
workers – the people who knew best about the product – would meet regularly with
supervisors and managers (engineers and salespeople may also be involved) in order to
discuss ways of improving work
 He argued that American management had typically given line managers and engineers
about 85% of the responsibility for quality control and line workers only about 15% and
wanted these roles to be reversed.
 This fact made Deming encourage the formation of quality circles during the 1950s
where the bottom-line working force meets regularly to discuss shop problems.
 Originally formed for controlling defects at the shop floor level, its scope was later
widened by Kaoru Ishikawa, the initiator of Cause and Effect diagram, to include method
improvements, maintenance problems etc.
 Quality circles took shape in 1962 due to the efforts of Kaoru Ishikawa who translated,
integrated and expanded the management concepts of W. Edwards Deming and Joseph
M. Juran into the Japanese system of Quality Control Circles and Small Group Activity.

 Quality circles offer more responsibility to

the production worker.
 They are more part of the decision-making
process, which is called empowerment.
 Quality circles benefit management by
giving employees a less formal opportunity
to discuss what they think is going well or
what can be improved on, thereby bringing
the product on in terms of quality
THE AMERICAN SCENARIO

 This concept of quality circles spread to the United States after the U.S. aero-space
manufacturer Lockheed organized a tour of Japanese industrial plants and planned to
implement in their company.
 Thereafter, quality circles spread rapidly and by 1980, more than one-half of firms in the
Fortune 500 had implemented or were planning to implement quality circles.
 In 1978, 1981, and 1985: three international quality circle conventions were held.
 By 1988, more than one million Circles, with over ten million members were formed in
Japan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_circle).
 Even the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in 1990, which prohibited
company unions and management-dominated labor organizations, later relaxed the
ruling in the case of quality circles to make them more popular in companies in the
interest of productivity

THE INDIAN SCENARIO

 In India, the quality circles concept was first introduced by BHEL, Ramachandrapuram,
Hyderabad in the year 1980, which grew to 1411 Circles in all BHEL offices covering
around 13,362 members by 1985.
 As a direct effect of the success of BHEL's quality circles, the Quality Circle Forum of
India came into existence in Apr. 1982, as a nonprofit, nonpoliti-cal, national professional
body with the purpose of creating an environment for active involvement and
participation of employees and college students in every area of human endeavor.
 Tata Motors (formerly Telco) started quality circles in 1983, and by 1985, they had more
than 400 Circles.
 Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) represents India in the 13-nation International
Committee that has been set up for organizing International conventions on Quality
Concept Circle.
 After attending a QC Conference in Hong Kong in 1993, the City Montessori School
Lucknow was the first educational institution to set up the student quality circle.
 Since then several engineering colleges and other educational institutions have set up
quality circles and QCFI gives the best QC Project award in its annual meets.

SIGNIFICANCE OF QUALITY CIRCLE

 Quality circles are formed of employees working together in an operation who meet at
intervals to discuss problems of quality and to devise solutions for improvements and are
led by a supervisor or a senior worker.
 They usually receive training in formal problem-solving methods, such as brainstorming,
Pareto analysis, and cause-and-effect diagrams—and are then encouraged to apply
these methods, either to specific or general company problems.
 Quality circles played a key role in rejuvenating Japanese industries and economy. This
practice spread from Japan to countries all over the world, including India.
OBJECTIVES OF QUALITY CIRCLES

 Opportunity to identify and solve problems in their work area.

 Improve job satisfaction.
 Create and enhance problem-solving capacity resulting in enhancing competence.
 Build an attitude of problem prevention and problem-solving.
 Promote personal and leadership development.
 Better interpersonal relationship.
 Recognition leading to motivation.
 Promote creativity.

NATURE OF PROBLEMS THAT CAN BE SOLVED BY QUALITY CIRCLES

1. Customer service
2. Streamlining of factory functioning.
3. Business growth and profitability.
4. Optimum utilization of working space.
5. Optimum unitization of manpower.
6. Reduction of human errors.
7. Reduction in the defects produced. (In fact, this was the original objective of quality
circles.)
8. Training and knowledge development.
9. Cleanliness of the work area and factory premises.

TEN CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL QUALITY CIRCLES

 Ron Basu and J. Nevan Wright, in their book Quality Beyond Six Sigma specified seven
conditions for successful implementation of quality circles. These are summarized below
after adding three more:
1. Quality circles must be staffed entirely by volunteers.
2. Each participant should be representative of a different functional activity.
3. The problem to be addressed by the QC should be chosen by the circle, not by
management, and the choice honored even if it does not visibly lead to a management
goal.
4. Management must be supportive of the circle and fund it appropriately, even when
requests are trivial, and the expenditure is difficult to envision as helping toward real
solutions.
5. The members should not be suppressed in giving their opinions. There should ideally be
brainstorming, allowing them to "let loose their brains."
6. There should be prior suggestions to the members, to let them think before coming for
the meeting.
7. The members should only seek clarification, but no criticism.
8. Circle members must receive appropriate training in problem-solving.
 9. The circle must choose its own leader from within its members.
10. Management should appoint a manager as the mentor of the team, charged with helping
members of the circle achieve their objectives; but this person must not manage the QC.

ROAD MAP TO BE FOLLOWED IN A QUALITY CIRCLE MEETING

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE QUALITY CIRCLE MEETING

 Commitment to task
 Openness
 Constructive criticism
 Action plan after the meeting.
 Informality in the meeting
 Conflicts on ideas, and not between persons
 Agreement by consensus

STRUCTURE OF A QUALITY CIRCLE

Any corporate employee irrespective of his
cadre, except the head of the unit, can join the
circle. The structure of a quality circle consists of
the following elements, as illustrated in the
following figure
(i) A steering committee: This is at the top of the
structure. It is headed by a senior executive and
includes representatives from the top
management personnel and human resources
development people. It establishes policy, plans, and directs the program and meets usually
once a month.
(ii) Coordinator: He may be a Personnel or Administrative officer who co-ordinates and
supervises the work of the facilitators and administers the program.
(iii) Facilitator: He may be a senior supervisory officer. He coordinates the work of several
quality circles through the Circle leaders.
(iv) Circle leader: Leaders may be from the lowest level workers or supervi-sors. A Circle
leader organizes and conducts Circle activities.
(v) Circle members: They may be staff workers. Without circle members, the program cannot
exist. They are the lifeblood of quality circles. They should attend all meetings as far as
possible, offer suggestions and ideas, partici-pate actively the in group process, and take
training seriously with a recep-tive attitude. The roles of Steering Committee, Coordinator,
Facilitator, Circle leader, and Circle members are well defined.

CONCLUSION

 Quality circles are not limited to manufacturing firms only. They are applicable for variety
of organizations where there is scope for a group-based solution of work-related
problems.
 Quality circles are relevant for factories, firms, schools, hospitals, universities, research
institutes, banks, government offices, etc.

SAMPLE QUALITY CIRCLE IN COIL SHOP

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
By all means let us be open-minded, but not so openminded that our brains drop out.
-Richard Dawkins