Chapter 4: Quality Circles

Definition Quality Circle is a small group of employees in the same work-area or doing a similar type of work who voluntarily meet regularly for about an hour every week to identify, analyze and resolve work-related problems, leading to improvement in their total performance, and enrichment of their work life. ( 5-15 group, same wave-length, QUALITY CIRCLE must meet regularly, Work related problem only to be tackled). Participatory philosophy of QUALITY CIRCLE transcends all barriers of culture, language, educational levels of employees, type of work or size of the organization. Tangible and intangible impacts of Quality Circle are: Tangible: Intangible: Enriched quality of work life - efforts Attitudinal change self confidence Harmony and mutual trust - interactions Better communication interactions and meetings Effective team working develops team spirit and cohesiveness Better human relations close inter actions Participative culture workers participation in management Human resource development- trainings Promotion of job knowledge acquire greater knowledge Greater sense of belonging QUALITY CIRCLE manages most of the problems Better quality 25-35% of the problem is usually dealt by QUALITY CIRCLE Productivity improvement less rejection, solves productivity problems Higher safety improved workplace and housekeeping Greater cost effectiveness options analysed/ close identification of problem Better house-keeping neatness and cleanliness is encouraged Increased profitability quality products Waste reduction increased attention and interest Reduced absenteeism and grievances interest in the job

Misconceptions prevalent in perceiving Quality Circle are;

1. Quality Circles tackle only quality problems 2. Q Circles replace task forces, product committees, QUALITY Control departments etc. 3. Quality Circles change the organizational structures or chain of command. 4. QUALITY CIRCLE are forum for grievances and spring board for demands 5. Management expects that all problems will be solved by QUALITY CIRCLE 6. QUALITY CIRCLE is another technique/tool like Value engineering etc. 7. QUALITY CIRCLE are panacea for all ills Unique features of QUALITY CIRCLE 1. QUALITY CIRCLE is a philoshopy and not a technique 2. QUALITY CIRCLE has bottom-up approach 3. QUALITY CIRCLE is voluntary 4. QUALITY CIRCLE is management supported and not directed by management 5. QUALITY CIRCLE is truly participative 6. QUALITY CIRCLE is a group activity 7. QUALITY CIRCLE involves task performers or grassroots employees Benefits to QUALITY CIRCLE members Reward Recognition Incentives Motivation through job satisfaction, team work and self esteem.

In many cases QUALITY CIRCLE failed due to: Inadequate preparation Incorrect methodology No conviction but imitation

Role of the top management: Top management who wish to adopt Quality Circle in their organization should be ready for; Improvement of quality and productivity Understanding participatory philosophy of QUALITY CIRCLE Fostering initiative and creativity among the employees Confidence in the capability of employee Commitment to guide and support QUALITY CIRCLE Building employees as partner for the prosperity of organization and employee. Role of top management in adopting quality circle;

Techniques that QUALITY CIRCLE should use most frequently Brain storming Data collection Stratification and processing techniques Pareto analysis Management presentation Ishikawa diagram etc Pitfalls and problems related to QUALITY CIRCLE Lack of management support to QUALITY CIRCLE activities Lack of interest and incompetence of facilitator Apathy fear and misunderstanding among middle level executives Delay or non-implementation of circle recommendations Irregularity of QUALITY CIRCLE activities Non application of simple techniques for problem solving Lack or non-participation by some members QUALITY CIRCLE running out of problems Antagonism of non-members towards QUALITY CIRCLE Complex problem taken up Non-maintenance of QUALITY CIRCLE records Too much or too little facilitation Language difficult in communication Communication gap between circle and department heads Change of management Resistance from trade union Quality Circles in construction Quality Circle is an approach which allows employees to become more involved by solving their own job-related problems in an organised way. The quality circle is an exciting, invigorating and fresh concept. If introduced with care and skill there is no doubt that it can contribute to the development of healthier and more effective organisations where peoples abilities at all levels are recognised and valued and there is an opportunity provided for latent talent to be used. The advantages of quality circles in the manufacturing/construction industry are: quality improvement waste reduction attitude change cost reduction safety improvement

improved communication higher productivity increased job satisfaction team building improvement in skills

The use of quality circles in construction often faces some unfavourable conditions. For example, construction projects, usually being one-of-a-kind, of large unit size and with low repetition, negate the multiplicative effect of method improvement, and the temporary nature of their employment and high turnover militate against the quality circle process. However, the following points indicate good prospects for its implementation: The concept of quality circles is likely to be easily adopted by the construction manager and foremen, since they are not total strangers to teamwork and team decision making in their day-to-day work. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of construction projects seems to keep such circles busy with significant and interesting problems most of the time, thus drastically reducing the prospect of their gradual decay and fadeout, as often happens in stable manufacturing and service work settings. Quality Circle seems unsuitable in the construction industry because of the following reasons. Prototypical nature of construction project - One- of-a-kind large units with low repetition negates the multiple effect of method improvement. Short-term relevancy of problems highly dynamic physical environment of construction sites and continuos change of production problem Instability of the workforce lacks group dynamics and team spirit because of high turnover Low Benefit to cost ratio doubts on whether workers are capable of generating sufficient valuable and implementable suggestions to justify the effort, time and money needed to establish, run and maintain QUALITY CIRCLE.

Special merits for QUALITY CIRCLE in construction are as follows that suggest that Quality Circles are suitable for construction industry as well Low initial efficiency opportunities for modification and improvement New challenges local conditions different from project to project Projects are prototypical but construction operations are repetitious QUALITY CIRCLE process spots problems early timely solution is critical Authority for implementation manger has high decision power which is in the spirit of QUALITY CIRCLE

More experiment are necessary in the context of Nepalese industry to decide the applicability of QUALITY CIRCLE in construction industry.