QUALITY CIRCLES

“Quality begins on the inside... and

then works its way out in a circular
manner”
 PRESENTED BY :-
• Manmeet Singh (6)
• Divya Duddu (19)
• Piyush Khandelwal (28)
• Sonam S. Pandit (37)
• Gurpreet Singh (44)
• Navjyot Kaur (55)
WHAT IS QUALITY CIRCLES?

• 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.
HISTORY OF QUALITY CIRCLES

• Quality circles were first established in JAPAN in 1962; Kaoru Ishikawa has
been credited with their creation.
• The movement in Japan was coordinated by the Japanese Union of
Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).
• The first circles were established at the Nippon Wireless and Telegraph
Company but then spread to more than 35 other companies in the first year.
• By 1978 it was claimed that there were more than one million Quality
Circles involving some 10 million Japanese workers.
• There are now Quality Circles in most East Asian countries; it was recently
claimed that there were more than 20 million Quality Circles in China.
• Quality circles have been implemented even in educational sectors in India,
and QCFI (Quality Circle Forum of India) is promoting such activities.
However this was not successful in the United States, as it (was not properly
understood and) turned out to be a fault-finding exercise although some
circles do still exist. Ref Don Dewar who together with Wayne Ryker and Jeff
Beardsley first established them in 1972 at the Lockheed Space Missile
Factory in California.
 THE CONCEPT

• The concept of Quality Circle is primarily based

upon recognition of the value of the worker as a
human being, as someone who willingly activates
on his job, his wisdom, intelligence, experience,
attitude and feelings. It is based upon the human
resource management considered as one of the key
factors in the improvement of product quality &
productivity. Quality Circle concept has three major
attributes:
Quality Circle is a form of participation management.
Quality Circle is a human resource development
technique.
Quality Circle is a problem solving technique.
 THE OBJECTIVES

• The objectives of Quality Circles are multi-faced.

A) Change in Attitude.
From "I don’t care" to "I do care"
Continuous improvement in quality of work life through humanization of work.

B) Self Development
Bring out ‘Hidden Potential’ of people
People get to learn additional skills.

C) Development of Team Spirit

Individual Vs Team – "I could not do but we did it"
Eliminate inter departmental conflicts.

D) Improved Organizational Culture

Positive working environment.
Total involvement of people at all levels.
Higher motivational level.
Participate Management process.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

• A Quality Circle has an appropriate organizational structure for its effective

and efficient performance. It varies from industry to industry, organization to
organization. But it is useful to have a basic framework as a model. The
structure of a Quality Circle consists of the following elements.
– 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 in a month.
– Co-coordinator: He may be a Personnel or Administrative officer who co-ordinates
and supervises the work of the facilitators and administers the program me.
– Facilitator: He may be a senior supervisory officer. He co-ordinates the works of
several quality circles through the Circle leaders.
– Circle leader: Leaders may be from lowest level workers or Supervisors. A Circle
leader organizes and conducts Circle activities.
– Circle members: They may be staff workers. Without circle members the programme
cannot exist. They are the lifeblood of quality circles. They should attend all meetings
as far as possible, offer suggestions and ideas, participate actively in group process,
take training seriously with a receptive attitude. The roles of Steering Committee, Co-
0rdinator, Facilitator, Circle leader and Circle members are well defined.
 TYPES OF QUALITY CIRCLES

• There are different quality circle tools, namely:

• The Ishikawa or fishbone diagram - which
shows hierarchies of causes contributing to a
problem
• The Pareto Chart - which analyses different
causes by frequency to illustrate the vital
cause,
Process Mapping, Data gathering tools such as
Check Sheets and graphical tools such as
histograms, frequency diagrams, spot charts
and pie charts
 PROCESS OF OPERATION USED IN
QUALITY CIRCLE

• The operation of quality circles involves a set of

sequential steps as under:

1 . Problem identification: Identify a number of

problems.
2 . Problem selections: Decide the priority and
select the problem to be taken up first.
3 . Problem Analysis: Problem is clarified and
analyzed by basic problem solving methods.
4 . Generate alternative solutions: Identify and
evaluate causes and generate number of possible
alternative solutions.
5 . Select the most appropriate solution: Discuss
and evaluate the alternative solutions by
comparison in terms of investment and return from
the investment. This enables to select the most
appropriate solution.
6. Prepare plan of action: Prepare plan of action for
converting the solution into reality which I ncludes
the considerations "who, what, when, where, why and
how" of solving problems.
7. Present solution to management circle members
present solution to management fore approval.
8. Implementation of solution: The management
evaluates the recommended solution. Then it is
tested and if successful, implemented on a full scale.
 How Can They be used in
an Organization?

• Increase Productivity
• Improve Quality
• Boost Employee Morale
 BASIC PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

• The following techniques are most commonly used to analyze and solve work
related problems.
1. Brain storming
2 . Pareto Diagrams
3 . Cause & Effect Analysis
4. Data Collection
5 . Data Analysis

The tools used for data analysis are :

1 Tables
2 Bar Charts
3 Histograms
4 Circle graphs
5 Line graphs
6 Scatter grams
7 Control Charts
• The Quality Circles also are expected to develop internal leadership, reinforce worker morale
and motivation, and encourage a strong sense of teamwork in an organization.
• A variety of benefits have been attributed to Quality Circles, including higher quality,
improved productivity, greater upward flow of information, broader improved worker
attitudes, job enrichment, and greater teamwork.
 BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF
QUALITY CIRCLES

• It took more than two decades for the quality control

concept to get acceptance in India, after its
introduction in Japan.
• This may be due to the differences in the industrial
context in the two countries. Japan needed it for its
survival in a competitive market.
• India had a reasonably protected, sellers market, with
consequent lethargy towards efforts to improve quality
and productivity.
• However, with the policy of liberalization of economy
and privatization of infrastructure development,
contexts changed. The concept now needs to be
looked upon as a necessity.
 LAUNCHING QUALITY CIRCLES

The major prerequisite for initiating Quality Circles in any organization is

the total understanding of, as well as complete conviction and faith in
the participative philosophy, on the part of the top and senior
management. In the absence of a commitment from the Chief Executive
to support the Quality Circle movement totally, it would be inadvisable to
seriously attempt the starting of Quality Circles. The launching of
Quality Circles involves the following steps:

1. Expose middle level executives to the concept.

2. Explain the concept to the employees and invite them to volunteer as
members of Quality Circles.
3. Nominate senior officers as facilitators.
4. Form a steering committee.
5. Arrange training of co-coordinators, facilitators in basics of Quality
Circle approach, implementation, techniques and operation. Later
facilitator may provide training to Circle leaders and Circle members.
6. A meeting should be fixed preferably one hour a week for the Quality
Circle to meet.
Formally inaugurate the Quality Circle.
7. Arrange the necessary facilities for the Quality Circle meeting and its
operation.
 TRAINING

• Appropriate training for different sections of employees

needs to be imparted.
• Without a proper understanding of the real concept of
Quality Circles, both the workers and management might
look at this philosophy with suspicion.
• Each group should know beforehand the commitments
and implications involved as well as the benefit that can
be obtained from Quality Circles.
• Such training comprises of:

1. Brief orientation program me for top management.

2. Program me for middle level executives.
3. Training of facilitators.
4. Training for Circle leaders and members.
 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.
 Problems solved by the QC in P.W.D.
of Maharashtra are as follows:

1. Eliminating delay in issuing observation memos after

inspection of site.
2. Preventing accidents on highways.
3. Reducing electricity bill in office.
4. Avoiding duplication of work.
5. Removal of encroachment from Govt. land.
6. Speeding up pot-hole filling on roads during
monsoon.
7. Up keeping of service records of employees.
8. Maintaining Govt. offices clean.
9. Stream-lining reservation system of Govt. rest
houses.
10. Improvement in maintenance of Govt. Hospital at
Sholapur
 Real World Example

• At Penn State University in 1983, a

Quality Circle was formed by
Professor Hirsh field, a Professor of
East Asia History.
Selected 8 Students from a large
lecture class.
Resulted in increased involvement from
the class.
 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
• 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?
 CONCLUSION

Quality Circles are not limited to

manufacturing firms only.
They are applicable for variety of
organizations where there is scope for group
based solution of work related problems.
Quality Circles are relevant for factories,
firms, schools, hospitals, universities, research
institutes, banks, government offices etc.
The P.W.D. of Maharashtra has set an example
for the Government organizations marching
on the path of Quality Improvement.
 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.
• 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