Quality Circle Principles of Management: Quality Circles

A quality circle is a small group of employees doing similar or related work who meet regularly to identify, analyze, and solve product-quality and production problems and to improve general operations. The circle is a relatively autonomous unit (ideally about ten workers), usually led by a supervisor or a senior worker and organized as a work unit (Kucera, 2012). The purpose of these groups is to solve problems by focusing on measurable indicators of quality that impact the company's costs, productivity, or other business interests. For instance, quality circles at a manufacturing company might focus on finding ways to minimize product defects, as measured in the amount of product with a particular defect per thousand or million, while, those at an insurance company might seek methods to reduce the frequency of billing errors.

Quality circles are generally associated with Japanese management and manufacturing techniques. The introduction of quality circles in Japan in the postwar years was inspired by the lectures of W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993), a statistician for the U.S. government. The newly formed Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (UJSE) was...

Accepting UJSE's invitation, Deming addressed Japanese industry's top 50 executives.
A number of elements of Deming's philosophy depart from traditional notions of quality. The first is the role management should play in a company's quality improvement effort. Historically, poor quality was blamed on workers; on their lack of productivity, laziness, or carelessness. However, Deming pointed out that only 15% of quality problems are actually due to worker error. The remaining 85% are caused by processes and systems, including poor management.

Deming said that it is up to management to correct system problems and create an environment that promotes quality and enables workers to achieve their full potential. He believed that managers should drive out any fear employees have of identifying quality problems, and that numerical quotas should be eliminated. Proper methods should be taught and detecting and eliminating poor quality should be everyone's responsibility.

Deming outlined his philosophy on quality in his famous "14 Points." These points are principles that help guide companies in…