Quality circle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quality is conformance to the claims made. A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers who meet together to discuss workplace improvement, and make presentations to management with their ideas. Typical topics are improving safety, improving product design, and improvement in manufacturing process. Quality circles have the advantage of continuity, the circle remains intact from project to project. (For a comparison to Quality Improvement Teams see Juran's Quality by Design, referenced below).
Quality Circles were started in Japan in 1962 ( Kaoru Ishikawa has been credited for creating Quality Circles) as another method of improving quality. The movement in Japan was coordinated by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Prof. Ishikawa, who believed in tapping the creative potential of workers, innovated the Quality Circle movement to give Japanese industry that extra edge in creativity. A Quality Circle is a small group of employees from the same work area who voluntarily meet at regular intervals to identify, analyse, and resolve work related problems. This can not only improve the performance of any organisation, but also motivate and enrich the work life of employees.
The use of Quality Circles in many highly innovative companies in the Scandinavian countries has been proven. The practice of it is recommended by many economist/business scholars.
[edit] References
- The Quality Book, by Greg Hutchins, published by QPE, Portland OR. 1996
- Quality by Design, J.M. Juran, The Free Press, 1992, ISBN 0-02-916683-7. Pages 394-399
- Innovation in the Knowledge-Based Economy:ChallengesAhead (B-Å Lundvall, 2006) Article citing the importance of the Quality Circles.
