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Total Quality Management

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Quality circles and total quality: a

case study
a b c
K.F. Sherwood , B.G. Dale & Y. Guerrier
a
School of Business, Thames Polytechnic , London, UK
b
Manchester School of Management, UMIST , Manchester,
M60 1QD, UK
c
Department of Management Studies for Tourism and Hotel
Industries , Surrey, UK
Published online: 28 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: K.F. Sherwood , B.G. Dale & Y. Guerrier (1993) Quality circles
and total quality: a case study, Total Quality Management, 4:2, 151-158, DOI:
10.1080/09544129300000025

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 TOTAL. QUALITY MANAGEMENT, VOL. 4, NO. 2, 1993 151

Quality circles and total quality: a case study

K.F. SHERWOOD',B.G. DALE^ & Y . GUERRIER~

'School of Business, Thames Polytechnic, London, UK, 2Manchester School of Management,
UMIST, Manchester, M60 1 QD, UK, & Department of Management Studies for Tourism and
Hotel Industries, Sntrey, U K
Downloaded by ["University at Buffalo Libraries"] at 20:57 02 February 2015

Abstract This paper repom the mainfindings of a study which examined the relationship between
a programme of quality circles and a process of quality improvement. The circle programme was
inmduced some years before the company decided to introduce a formal process of quality improve-
ment and little attempt was made to integrate circles into this process. One of the main reasons for
this was that the quality circles were intmduced by the personnel department and were perceived by
company employees to have no relationship with product quality. The findings indicate a lack of
understanding of what fi required to introduce and sustain a process of continuous quality improve-
ment and many of the mistakes made in the operation of quality circles are still to be found with this
later initiative.

Introduction
The majority of authors (e.g. Dale & Lees, 1986; Moir, 1988; Russell & Dale, 1989) hold the
view that quality circles have a much better chance of survival if they are viewed as one part
of a continuous process of quality improvement. Unfortunately, a large number of quality
circle programmes in Western European organizations were introduced before a framework
for total quality management (TQM) was in place and consequently some quality circle
programmes have not been successful (Frazer & Dale, 1986; Hill, 1986; Chevalier, 1991).
A challenge facing many organizations is how to integrate their quality circle programme
into a process of continuous quality improvement. The purpose of the research described in
this paper was to examine the relationship, if any, of a quality circle programme to recent
initiatives of the host organization to introduce and develop TQM. The research was camed
out via semi-structured interviews with a cross-section of company employees.

Background
The host company is a large engineering firmwhich occupies several sites in a large town in
the south east of England and has around 2800 employees. It is chiefly involved in the
manufacture of electronic products. The company was already operating a programme of
quality circles hut was intending to introduce TQM. One of the policies of the newly
appointed quality director was that circles were to become part, if perhaps only a small part,
of the approach to total quality.
Quality circles were first established in 1982, apparently not in response to any particular
Correspondence to B. G. Dale.
 152 K. F. SHERWOOD ETAL.

problem; at no time did they include more than a small fraction of the workforce. A policy
document (dated 1987) does not specifically mention improvements in product quality
among the objectives of the circles, although one of the goals was said to be unrelenting total
quality improvement. The company's house journal, where circles receive frequent mention,
has over the past 3 years included only three references to their possible role in improving
product quality but some 20 references to their problem-solving aims and objectives. In the
early days, the success of the circle programme appears to bave been measured by the
numbers actually functioning, although there is no mention in the policy document of either
their evaluation or of a time-scale for the achievement of stated objectives.
At the time the research was started the company had suffered substantial redundancies,
as a result of commercial difficulties and losses of major orders, so that morale throughout the
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company was at a very low level. Fourteen circles were in existence at the time but only three
of them were actually meeting.
Midway through the research project the managing director closed down the entire
programme of quality circles; he did not see them as part of his total quality philosophy.

The purpose of the circle programme

Tbe internal publicity given to circles does not appear to have established in the minds of the
workforce a clear picture of the company's purpose in launching them. At least 20% of those
interviewed claimed to have no idea as to why circles were inuoduced. Among the others,
opinions differed widely and ranged from improving company performance, through helping
employees to feel more involved, to the belief that the circles were introduced simply as a
management tool. In the words of one employee, the circles "Would not bave happened if the
workers had asked for them". However, there was a fair measure of agreement that the
motives for introducing circles were directed towards enhancing the company's image as well
as improving the lot of the workforce.
The majority of those interviewed did not recognize that the circles were intended to be
pan of the company's total approach to quality and were not, in general, seen to be part of
the company's total quality policy. On the one hand, some people were adamant that circles
were completely separate from it while, on the other hand, there was a view that although the
circles were not part of the quality policy they ought to be.
Although the company's objectives for its programme of circles were poorly defined, a
primary one appeared to be that of 'people-building'. This was certainly being achieved in the
case of employees displaying increased confidence, or greater ability, to talk to groups of
people and to communicate with staff in other sections and departments. If the programme
of circles had continued, it would without doubt have led to further developments in this
direction.
It was unfomnate that the quality circles were not widely recognized as pan of the
company's approach for TQM, particularly since this led to many union members believing
that there was something sinister in circles which they had not been told about. Of course,
the atmosphere in which the circles were operating was not helped by reorganizauons,
redundancies and disagreements over rates of pay.

Support for circles

Support for quality circles was judged almost entirely upon that given by local managers.
Several times it was said that a circle had been supported by a departmental manager but
"Now be has gone support has waned". On the other hand, many people blamed the recently
 QUAUTY CIRCLES AND TOTAL QUALITY 153

appointed managing director for not giving circles the support that his predecessor had done.
This decline in support for the circles over the last year or so was commented upon by several
people, although it was frequently blamed for shortage of funds. A bitter experience of one
circle had been that after spending a considerable time working on a major project, they spent
a further 6 months persuading local managers to implement it, not surprisingly seeing this as
proof of lack of management commitment to the circle ethos. Several people believed that the
company's only real commitment to the circle programme had been the appointment of a
full-time facilitator. A frequent comment conceming the commitment of managers to circles
was that frequent changes in the composition of the steering committee showed a lack of
enthusiasm by individual managers who too often asked subordinates to stand in for them at
such meetings.
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Benefits
The observed improvements resulting from the quality circles were few, being mainly enjoyed
by their members. Admittedly, there were frequent references to better communications with
other sections and departments, said usually to be the result of personal contacts developed
through circle activities. People appeared genuinely surprised at the cooperation they had
received when visiting other areas and functions as pan of circle activities, finding employees
far more helpful than generally expected. The publicity given to the circles through company
publications was seen as a good feature, assisting working relationships across sectional
boundaries and process streams.
What was frequently commented upon was how the morale of a section improved during
and after a successful circle project, while in several instances it was said to have declined
when a project collapsed or was not adopted by the department concerned. Improvements
were reflected through comments about less frustration and hassle, as well as claims that
working conditions were now more comfortable, leading to savings of time and effort.
Benefits that the company might have gained from the circles were less easy to ascertain
since most of those interviewed claimed not to have detected any. Productivity was thought
not to have improved, although it would have been enhanced by the observed improvements
in morale and working conditions. Insufficient data were available to support this belief and
the company claimed to have no figures that would either confirm or deny it.
There was not a single piece of evidence to suggest that product and service quality had
been affected by the existence of the quality circles. It was even believed that, despite the
efforts of the facilitator to encourage concentration on major problems, some circles spent too
much time in dealing with those of a trivial nature.
Unfortunately, the few major problems tackled, such as the complete layout of a section
of the purchasing department and the design of a training manual for the offices, played no
direct p a n in improving product quality although they undoubtedly conuibuted a great deal
to morale, the working environment of those affected and the quality of service.
The company had made no attempt to utilize fully the training given to its circle
members, for instance by employing the problem-solving methods in other work-related
situations. In consequence, circle training was considered by most to be relevant only to the
activities of circles and unconnected with other work; this is clearly not the case. This finding
indicates that the company's attitudes to training are in need of reappraisal; training is a key
feature in the introduction of development of TQM.
There is no doubt that many employees were surprised at the better relationships that
they established with other sections of the company through their quality circle training and
activities. They found it far easier to talk to other people, particularly some managers, than
 154 K. F. SHERWOOD ETAL.

they once thought possible. Most members of the circles seemed to appreciate that the
training received had made some contribution to their own development, especially in
improving their public-speaking ability. They seemed also to like learning how to get things
done and how to tackle problems, although as indicated above the majority of circle members
did not perceive that their training bad a far wider purpose than merely to serve circle ends.
Some people believed they had benefited personally from their membership of a circle.
The benefit most often quoted was of being able to solve problems in a far more effective
way. An understanding of how "things get done in the company" was also valued greatly.
Another frequent claim was that the circle training had strengthened people's confidence in
standing up and speaking before groups of people, thus improving the ability to communicate
with others. Some were surprised at finding this was not as difficult as once feared, also at
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how easily one could speak to managers. The opponunity it gave for talking with managers
and understanding their problems was referred to by several people as a benefit of circle
training and membership. A few people apparently believed that promotion with the com-
pany might follow from activities in the circle, largely through becoming more known to
departmental beads and improved leadership skills. Other personal benefits seen as arising
from circle training and membership included a greater willingness to listen to other people.

Conflicts
Despite some obvious suspicions of the circles, few people in the company seemed to see
them as posing any serious threats. Those who did perceive threats were in two groups: those
who saw a threat to the trade unions and those who saw the greatest threat as being to those
middle managers directly affected by circle activities.

Trade union viewpoinu

The interviews showed clearly that neither members nor non-members of trade unions
(AUEW and MSF) had any confidence in the power of their unions to achieve much for the
workforce. They were described as being resistant to change and to be supporters of
management. It was said that the company was 'contemptuous of them', also that they had
'sold out' to the company. They were certainly seen as being too weak in their dealings with
the company and to have insufficient support from the workforce.
Nevertheless, the relations between company and unions was perceived as reasonable,
largely because the company was believed to keep the unions informed as to its plans. Union
support for the quality circle movement was well known and the unions had demonstrated
their support for circles by being on the steering committee from its inception. However, at
the time of the research the union support for the circles was given 'gmdging'. The unions,
notably the AUEW, had withdrawn their official support from the circles following disagree-
ments about their future after reorganization and on the grounds that the company had tried
to change their format without consultation.
A view expressed by a shop steward convenor was that union hostility to the circles
stemmed from fears that in future only cost-effective projects would be allowed; this was seen
as a change in the whole philosophy of quality circles, turning them into what the company
had always intended-to improve output and quality while somehow undermining collective
bargaining-"We have never believed that quality circles are as innocent as they are made out
to be". We believe from our research that this view is indeed well founded.
In summary, the principal threat to the unions was seen as being to their collective
 QUALlTY CIRCLES AND TOTAL Q U A U n 155

positions, undermining their authority and changing working practices, which was thought
likely to lead to further redundancies.

Middle management
The threats to middle managers were seen to arise from the circles 'taking over their jobs',
characterized by apprehension amongst those afraid of being told by the circle "what we
should have known anyway". There evidently existed in the company one body of opinion
which resented having circle ideas foisted upon it and another which believed that workers
should not do managers' jobs for them!
Middle managers were not, in general, seen to he supporting the circles, some obviously
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paying them only lip service. Those managers who are supportive were too busy to spare the
necessary time demanded by circles. The blame for this was ascribed to the claimed lack of
support of the managing director, although this was not entirely supported by the research
evidence. For instance, it was the direct intervention of the managing director which led to
the adoption of the training manual developed by one of the circles, after local managers had
failed to support it. (This manual has since become a much-used document in all the offices
of the company.)
It was apparent that in many respects the company was not seen to be keeping to its side
of the bargain concerning the circles. Local management was too often seen to be less
supportive of them than was called for in the policy document, for example meeting places
were not always suitable or readily forthcoming and managers were evasive when asked to
implement their recommendations. Clearly, many of the circles achieved success in solving
local problems despite the hindrance, rather than the assistance, of their managers.

The company and its quality policy

Great care has been taken by the company to ensure that all its employees remain aware of
the vital importance of maintaining the company's reputation for quality. T o a limited extent,
this has been supported by the quality circle training. However, a number of middle
managers, members of trade unions and clerical staff appear to believe that product quality
has nothing to do with them.
Schein (1980) explains that the whole concept of 'participative management', the idea
that employees should be involved in those decisions which directly affect them, flows most
clearly from the assumptions that employees want to be morally involved in their work
organizations, want to influence decisions, and want to be able to use their capacities in the
service of organizational goals. It is common knowledge that a trainee must get involved
before helshe can progress and this is most likely to come about when a number of trainees
work together on common problems. It is evident that the programme used for training in
quality circle methodology has this feature. Circle members, in expressing their feelings at
meetings, have shared their views of the organization and of their managers, as well as their
own feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This can undoubtedly he considered a
successful feature of the programme.
On the negative side, it is unfortunate that trust between the company and its employees
appears virtually non-existent although the research evidence suggests that with goodwill on
both sides it could be re-established. One substantial benefit that the company might achieve
from a carefUlly planned and implemented programme of quality-related training would be
a reinforcement of the right type of behaviour and attitudes at every level throughout the
company. Employees would then understand better their own role in the company and
 156 K. F. SHERWOOD ETAL

benefit further if the training were to give them confidence in those newer techniques which
they face in their everyday work. Well-planned training, adequately followed up and assessed,
would additionally help to convince them, thereby achieving one of the major developmental
aspects of any programme intended to improve the quality of working life of the workforce.
It was clear that not enough care had been taken in training the circle leaders to ensure
that the skills they passed on to the members of their circles were seen to be relevant to the
solution of other workplace problems. This had been another implicit objective of the circle
programme and it is somewhat disappointing that so few people could see any connection
between their circle training and everyday work-related problems.
The company would undoubtedly benefit from streamlining its entire quality control and
assurance processes, which seem to be neither well understood, nor to work particularly well,
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and will certainly appear to be the cause of much waste of time and energy in 'beating the
system'. The same can be said about eliminating all unessential changes and modifications,
which appear to be major causes of frustration and discontent.
There is no doubt that if a culture based upon total quality is to be developed,
considerable time, energy and money will have to be invested in training at all levels of the
organizational hierarchy. There is undoubtedly middle-management apathy towards change
and meeting customers' (internal and external) needs and requirements. Any training should
be directed towards enlisting their support and enthusiasm.
All future training, in particular that in connection with TQM, needs to be taken far
more seriously than in the past; also, it needs to be spread more widely across the company,
being planned, used and assessed with greater care. Feedback of data from the training would
then enable such questions to be answered as:
What went wrong?
Why?
What could be done to prevent this in future?
Far too few employees understood what product quality and quality improvement really
means to them personally and do not appreciate how each could play hisiher pan in
developing a genuine philosophy towards it. This can only be tackled through a programme
of training directed at everyone in the company.

Concluding remarks
The circles were still in their early days, but given the right resources of training and with
proper support they showed every promise of the people-building considered to be one of
their greatest strengths. However, the research findings conlirm that they did not make an
impact upon company policies.
Whether the company had gained any financial returns from its investment in the circles
programme was impossible to determine in the absence of any such data as productivity,
quality costs or labour turnover data. The investment included the employment of a full-time
facilitator, unusual for such a small number of circles.
The findings did not demonstrate any flaw in the case for the potential of circles but
pointed to the considerable difficultyof measuring their successes. Because the closure of the
circle programme came as TQM was being introduced, it was not possible to identify any
effects of the circles upon this strategy. However, there was no evidence that the circles
contributed significantlyto the company's quality control and assurance processes; few of the
known recommendations of the circles were directly related to these.
Surprisingly, when a circle showed signs of collapsing, no positive steps were instituted
 QUALITY CIRCLES AND TOTAL QUALITY 157

to save it; of course, the facilitator informally did what he could through personal contacts
and exhortation. The steering committee had not considered setting up formal procedures for
trying to save circles from closure. Collapsing circles were obviously thought of as failures,
not to be given any further attention.
None of the foregoing can be said to show conclusively whether the quality circle
programme had been a failure or a success. The circles were certainly successful in capturing
the attention and positive commitment of up to 10% of all employees, reinforcing the
message that product quality was the only sure way to continued employment. Circles had
certainly not become a 'way of life' in the company and showed no signs of becoming a
permanent feature, although if there had later been a diffusion of the circles across the whole
company they might well have been considered a great success. Their abandonment was
certainly viewed by many employees to have been a mistake.
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The claim of this company to have a policy for total quality was justified and the policy
could reasonably be seen as part (but only a small pan) of a move towards such a culture.
An attempt had been made to promote the existing quality circles as pan of this policy.
Unfortunately, the attempt had come rather late in the circle programme and was not helped
by the fact that the circles were suffering from the trauma of a period of indusuial unrest
following major redundancies, while they had not always enjoyed the full and honest support
of their managers.
Perhaps the most surprising finding of the research was the absence of any formal
relationship between TQM and the quality circles. This was almost certainly the result of the
two initiatives being introduced by different persons, at different periods of time and virtually
by different departments in the company, since the circles were originally under the control
of a training manager in the personnel department.
Since the circles were to form part of the approach to total quality, it was surprising that
no plans were ever made for any circle evaluation, formal or informal, that would have given
the company some measure of their success; data that might have been used was not even
collected. There was no timetable for consideration of the acceptability of the circles and their
formal absorption into the company as permanent features. The circles always suffered from
a legacy of mistrust, engendered by earlier redundancies and misunderstandings of the
quality circle ethos at virtually every level in the company, so their incorporation into a
process of quality improvement did not promise well. In the circumstances, it was perhaps
not surprising that the circles were abandoned shortly after the formal introduction of this
process.
Similar points made about the circle programme have to be made about the approach
being taken to TQM. There was no formal documentation which linked it with the existing
circles and once again no plans had been made for any form of evaluation. A significant
weakness in the company's strategy for total quality was the complete lack of programmes for
training in three important areas.

(1) General quality training at all levels: there were no published plans for quality training
at other than the level of senior managers.
(2) Training in appreciation of quality circles: no formal training was ever proposed to help
middle managers and supervisors develop an awareness of the quality circle ethos and
the potential that circles offered this company and its employees.
(3) Training for change: planning for change is particularly important for middle managers
and supervisors. The circles had not been seen as agents for change; indeed, only
recently had the company realized that the circles themselves were capable of changing
to suit its total quality policies. Nor had the possibility of organizational changes arising
 from circle activities been foreseen so that, inevitably, no plans had been made to
enable such changes to take place smoothly. In a genuine culture of total quality,
changes would most likely be seen in terms of greater participation of employees in
decision-making and in their greater involvement in solving work-related problems, so
that the impact upon middle and supervisory management would obviously be sub-
stantial. For example, middle managers would be freed to devote more time to their
longer-term planning strategies and would also have greater opportunities for training
their staff.

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