ABSTRACT
Quality circles are small groups of employees from the same work area who meet voluntarily on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve problems ofproduction and quality. From small beginnings in Japan in the early 1960s, quality circle programs are now being embraced enthusiastically by thousands of companies throughout the world. These programs integrate quality control techniques, first introduced in postwar Japan by American quality control experts Edward Deming and Joseph Juran, with the basic principles of participatory decision making. There are now over 8 million Japanese workers involved in quality circles, and a recent survey estimated that quality circles were operating in over 6200 locations throughout the United States (Sealye, 1982). Media hyperbole and a rhetoric of remarkable results reflect the growing international involvement in quality circle programs.
