quality circles

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GENESIS OF QUALITY CIRCLES After the Second World War Japanese economy was in the doldrums. Seeing this disastrous effect of war, Americans decided to help Japan in improving the quality standards of their products. General Douglas Mac Arthur who, at that time, was the commander of the occupational forces in Japan took up the task of imparting quality awareness among Japanese to help them improve their products and the reliability of manufacturing systems including men, machine and materials. Thus, by 1975, they were topping the world in quality and productivity. This astonishing and unique achievement in modern history became an eye – opener to the world. Industrialists and politicians from all over the world started visiting Japan to know how they have achieved such magical results in such a short span. The answer to this was painstaking and persevering efforts of the Japanese leaders and workers and the development and growth of the philosophy of small working groups. This resulted in the Quality Circle concept being accepted all over the world as a very effective technique to improve the total quality of work life. 1

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Page 1: Quality Circles

GENESIS OF QUALITY CIRCLES

After the Second World War Japanese economy was in the doldrums. Seeing this disastrous effect of war, Americans decided to help Japan in improving the quality standards of their products. General Douglas Mac Arthur who, at that time, was the commander of the occupational forces in Japan took up the task of imparting quality awareness among Japanese to help them improve their products and the reliability of manufacturing systems including men, machine and materials. Thus, by 1975, they were topping the world in quality and productivity. This astonishing and unique achievement in modern history became an eye – opener to the world. Industrialists and politicians from all over the world started visiting Japan to know how they have achieved such magical results in such a short span. The answer to this was painstaking and persevering efforts of the Japanese leaders and workers and the development and growth of the philosophy of small working groups. This resulted in the Quality Circle concept being accepted all over the world as a very effective technique to improve the total quality of work life.

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HISTORY

The term quality circle is derived from the concept of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) circle developed by Dr. W. Edward Deming.

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. By the mid-1990s thousands of manufacturing plants, banks, hospitals, and government agencies had implemented quality circles.. Some critics view quality circles as antiunion corporate strategies, intended to make employees feel as though they have input while denying them real power in the workplace.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.

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MEANING

A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers (or even students), usually under the leadership of their supervisor (but they can elect a team leader), who are trained to identify, analyse and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. The focus of the circles is on improving both the quality of the product and the production process.When matured, true quality circles become self-managing, having gained the confidence of management. They are formal groups. They meet at least once a week on company time and are trained by competent persons (usually designated as facilitators) who may be personnel and industrial relations specialists trained in human factors and the basic skills of problem identification, information gathering and analysis, basic statistics, and solution generation. Quality circles are generally free to select any topic they wish (other than those related to salary and terms and conditions of work, as there are other channels through which these issues are usually considered).

Quality circles are an alternative to the dehumanising concept of the division of labour, where workers or individuals are treated like robots. They bring back the concept of craftsmanship, which when operated on an individual basis is uneconomic, but when used in group form (as is the case with quality circles), it can be devastatingly powerful and enables the enrichment of the lives of the workers or students and creates harmony and high performance in the workplace. Typical topics are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace and manufacturing processes.Quality circles are not normally paid a share of the cost benefit of any improvements but usually a proportion of the savings made is spent on improvements to the work environment.Quality circles have the advantage of continuity; the circle remains intact from project to project.

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PHILOSOPHY

Quality Circles is a people – building philosophy, providing self-motivation and happiness in improving environment without any compulsion or monetary benefits. It represents a philosophy of managing people specially those at the grass root level as well as a clearly defined mechanism and methodology for translating this philosophy into practice and a required structure to make it a way of life. It is bound to succeed where people are respected and are involved in decisions, concerning their work life, and in environments where peoples’ capabilities are looked upon as assets to solve work-area problems. The Quality Circle philosophy calls for a progressive attitude on the part of the management and their willingness to make adjustments, if necessary, in their style and culture. If workers are prepared to contribute their ideas, the management must be willing to create a congenial environment to encourage them to do so.

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 activises 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:

a. Quality Circle is a form of participation management. b. Quality Circle is a human resource development technique. c. Quality Circle is a problem solving technique.

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QUALITY CIRCLE…ITS COMPOSITION

- It's a small group comprising of 6 to 12 employees doing similar work - They meet together voluntarily on a regular basis for identifying improvements in their respective work areas.- Their aim to achieve and so also to sustain excellence towards mutual upliftment of employees as well as the organization.

OBJECTIVE OF QUALITY CIRCLE:-

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.

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PROCESS OF OPERATION

The operation of quality circles involves a set of sequential steps as under:-

How to Stitch the Problems through QC:-

1. The use of various techniques must be supported with accurate information and data.   

Data  and information collection or insufficient  data could  lead  to  a  situation where decisions or  corrective  action  be implemented  effectively. 

Data and information should be collected for the following purposes:-

(a)  To understand the actual situation and to support or reinforce an option;

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and( b)  To  established the relationship between the problem  and  its causes..

The operation of quality circles involves a set of sequential steps as under:

1 Problem identification: Identify a number of problems.2 Problem selection: 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 includes 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.

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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.

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 in a month.

ii. Co-coordinator: He may be a Personnel or Administrative officer who co-ordinates and supervises the work of the facilitators and administers the programme.

iii. Facilitator: He may be a senior supervisory officer. He co-ordinates the works of several quality circles through the Circle leaders.

iv. Circle leader: Leaders may be from lowest level workers or Supervisors. A Circle leader organizes and conducts Circle activities.

v. Circle members: They may be staff workers. Without circle members the porgramme 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, and take training seriously with a receptive attitude. The roles of Steering Committee, Co-0rdinator, Facilitator, Circle leader and Circle members are well defined.

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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:

Expose middle level executives to the concept. Explain the concept to the employees and invite them to volunteer as

members of Quality Circles. Nominate senior officers as facilitators. Form a steering committee. 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.

A meeting should be fixed preferably one hour a week for the Quality Circle to meet.

Formally inaugurate the Quality Circle. 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:

Brief orientation programme for top management. Programme for middle level executives. Training of facilitators. Training for Circle leaders and members.

BASIC PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

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The following techniques are most commonly used to analyze and solve work related problems.

1 Brain storming2 Pareto Diagrams3 Cause & Effect Analysis4 Data Collection5 Data Analysis6 Ishikawa (Fish bone diagram)

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

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BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF QUALITY CIRCLES

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.

Problems quality circles often suffer from unrealistic expectations for fast results are :

lack of management commitment and support, resistance by middle management, resentment by non participants inadequate training, lack of clear objectives and failure to get solutions implemented.

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.

APPLICABILITY IN GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS

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The Public Works Department of Government of Maharashtra is responsible for the construction and maintenance of about 2.00 lakhs km. of road net work in the state and a large number of Government-owned buildings spread all over the state. The road net work caters for national level traffic to the rural area traffic. The climatic and geographical features also vary from place to place in the state. The ultimate customer of the Department is the common man and it is not generally easy to satisfy the ultimate needs of this user to the fullest extent merely by taking decision at the top management level. The sub-ordinate officers and staff working in the field and who are well-acquainted with the day-to –day problems in their work areas are the best judges to decide upon the line of action. The top management in Maharashtra P.W.D. realized this need of the time and introduced the concept of Quality Circle as employee participation method in the organization. The concept of Quality Circle was launched in the Public Works Department of Govt. of Maharashtra on 18-11-1997. In a span of about a year 17 Quality Circles have been formed in Mumbai Region wherein 22 problems have been solved so far. 48 Quality Circles have been formed in Pune Region wherein, 8 problems have been solved. Nashik Region of the P.W.D. has formed 9 Quality Circles and solutions to 3 problems have been found out. Aurangabad Region has formed 21 Quality Circles and solved 7 problems. Nagpur Regions have formed 47 Quality Circles and have found out solution to 57 problems, so far.The results of a short period of one year are found to be very encouraging so far and many of these Circles have already come up with solutions to the various work related problems as evidenced from the last two state level conventions held at Mumbai and Aurangabad respectively. The presentations by the various Quality Circles at these conventions bear testimony to the fact that the concept of Quality Circle has been received with much enthusiasm at the grass root level. These presentations also provide concrete evidence fulfilling the expected benefits of the Quality Circle. Taking inspirations from these conventions, more staff of the Department has come forward to form Quality Circles, emphasizing the fact that Quality Circles have come to stay in the Department.Some of the problems solved by the Quality Circles 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.

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5 Removal of encroachment from Govt. land.6 Speeding up pot-hole filling on roads during monsoon.7 Upkeeping 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 Solapur.

Some of the problems and the solutions thereof are explained briefly below:

1 Delay in issue of observation memos:

The Public Works Department (PWD) of Maharashtra is divided into six regions each headed by a Chief Engineer. Each regional Chief Engineer is assisted by a Superintending Engineer, Vigilance & Quality Circle who with the help of two Executive Engineers and about 6 Deputy Engineers carries out inspection of the ongoing projects. The samples of the construction material being used on project are collected and independently tested in the Regional Testing Laboratories to ascertain the level of acceptance. The findings of the inspections are communicated to the field engineers in the form of ‘observation memo’. It is contemplated that the Execution Engineer in charge of the project ensures immediate compliance of the remarks raised in the observation memo and carries out corrective measures in the ongoing project as well as preventive measures for the future works.

However, very often the observation memos are issued after much delay defeating the very purpose of the observation memo. This problem was identified by the ‘OMKAR’ Quality Circle formed in the office of Superintending Engineer, Vigilance & Quality Control Circle, Navi Mumbai. The members used various tools and methodology, identified the various root causes that led to this problem and finally solved the problem with requisite fool proofing.

By solving this problem, it became possible to improve the quality of work in the field which ultimately brightened the image of the Department. The formation of Quality Circle also benefited employees by providing.

a) A systematic style of education that helped them grows.b) Freedom to modify their work habits.c) Opportunity to use their brain for development of the Department; andd) Opportunity to work as a team.

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e) The employees were also motivated to improve work culture, self improvement recognition and creativity in work.

ii) Preventing accidents on highways: It was observed that the accident rate on Sion-Panvel Highway passing through New Mumbai had gone up sharply. The Circle members collected the data from the respective police stations and identified the important causes of accidents by using Pareto Analysis. They segregated the causes under Man, Machine, Material & Method. The Circle members found out solutions to the problem such as closing of central verge at all locations except junction, frequent lane marking, installation of Caution boards, Providing lay-byes for buses etc. The data collection of accidents for a period three months after implementation of solutions near Shirvane and Turbhe revealed that the cause of accident had been eliminated and no more accidents occurred at those locations had been eliminated and no more accidents occurred at those locations again. This way the Circle members ensured the effectiveness of the solution implemented. They made presentation to their steering committee for obtaining sanction to other solutions involving more funds.

QC AND OD INTERVENTIONS

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Organization development (OD) is a planned, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and viability. Warren Bennis has referred to OD as a response to change, a complex educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organization so that they can better adapt to new technologies, marketing and challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself. OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of the organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. OD can involve interventions in the organization's "processes," using behavioural science knowledge as well as organizational reflection, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis.

TYPES OF INTERVENTIONS IN QUALITY CIRCLES

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1. TECHNO-STRUCTURAL INTERVENTION Bring about the changes in the task, structure & technological processes. It consists of:

Structural Design Downsizing Reengineering Employee Involvement Work Design

2. HRM INTERVENTIONS

This intervention focuses on the individuals within the organization. Goal Setting Performance Appraisal Reward Systems Career Planning & Development Coaching and Counseling Activities Managing Workforce Diversity Employee Wellness

3. TEAM BUILDING INTERVENTION

This intervention is probably the most important single group of interventions in OD, the goals of which are the improvement and increased effectiveness of various teams within the organization.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

- Henry FordTeam building is an effort in which a team studies its own process of

working together and acts to create a climate that encourages and values the contributions of team members. Their energies are directed toward problem solving, task effectiveness, and maximizing the use of all members' resources to achieve the team's purpose. Sound team building recognizes that it is not possible to fully separate one's performance from those of others.

4. HUMAN PROCESS INTERVENTIONS

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This intervention includes the following:

Guiding Individuals CoachingCounselingDelegatingLeadingMorale (Boosting)MentoringMotivating

Group-Based Conflict ManagementDialoguingGroup FacilitationGroup LearningSelf-Directed Work TeamsTeam BuildingVirtual Teams

5. ORGANIZATIONAL MIRROR INTERVENTIONS

A technique designed to work units feedback on how other elements of organization view them.

Designed to improve relations between the teams.

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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. Quality Circles can work very well in the correct environment. Commitment and long-term effort are required if the Circle is to be effective.By organizing the workforce into Quality Circle type teams, not only can the Quality Circles tackle and solve work related problems, there follows a transformation in job design. Managers begin to increase their trust of their staff, in turn the staff increases their respect for their managers and this continues progressively until a full state of self management is reached. At some stage in this process, the teams progress beyond solving problems and move towards the phase of making continual process improvements. In those countries where this has been allowed to happen, there has been no limit to this development process. Hence, this concept demonstrates how people can effectively become involved in the success of an organisation through the development of self-control in `small group' type activities. These activities can be organised in several different ways, and can include task force operations, value analysis teams, value engineering, project groups, action centred groups, 5S Housekeeping activities, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) etc. Each plays a different but important part in participative activities. True `self-control' can only be introduced through Quality Circle type activities.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Organizational Development by French & Bell.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10264498 www.google.com www.mahapwd.com/isoandqualitycircle/qc www.ieindia.org/publish/id/0503/ may03id3 . pdf

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