1. Quality Circles By : Terri Spahr

2. 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

3. 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 decision-making and problem-solving improves the quality of work

4. How Do Quality Circles Work? • Characteristics • Volunteers • Set Rules and Priorities • Decisions made by Consensus • Use of organized approaches to Problem-Solving

5. 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

6. How Can They be Used in an Organization? • Increase Productivity • Improve Quality • Boost Employee Morale

7. Real World Example • At Penn State University in 1983, a Quality Circle was formed by Professor Hirshfield, a Professor of East Asia History. • Selected 8 Students from a large lecture class • Resulted in increased involvement from the class

8. 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

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. Summary of History and Practices • Quality Circles were first seen in the United States in the 1950’s • Circles were developed by Dr, Kaoru Ishikawa in Japan in the 1960’s • Circles were re-exported to the US in the early 1970’s

12. Summary of History and Practices • 1980’s brought Total Quality Management and a reduction in the use of Quality Circles • Quality Circles can be a useful tool if used properly

13. 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.

14. 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/circles.html