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Sixty‐seven British companies took part in a survey to determine causes of failure of quality circles. The main reasons determined were: rejection of the concept by top management and trade unions; the disruption caused by redundancies and company restructuring; labour turnover; lack of co‐operation from middle and first line management; and failure by circle leaders to find enough time to organise meetings. The author was optimistic about the findings since growth in the number of companies using circles and the average number of circles per company is still taking place.

In response to the National Leadership Education Agenda, this application brief furthers priority one, addressing the teaching, learning, and curriculum development of leadership education. The ability of students to demonstrate leadership outcome mastery in areas of communication, self-awareness, interpersonal interactions, and civic responsibility (Seemiller, 2014), is valued across disciplines. Socratic Circles provide a structured discussion learning strategy based on Socratic pedagogy (Copeland, 2005), beneficial to the practice of leadership outcomes. Discussed are descriptions of implementation methods; outcomes related to Seemiller’s (2014) Student Leadership Competencies; and practitioner reflections of the use of Socratic Circles in college level leadership courses.

A questionnaire sent to facilitators of 12 engineering companies and thence distributed to operational blue‐collar circles resulted in a 68 per cent response rate and established that the expectations, their realisation, the benefits, training, co‐operation and participation of all parties within an organisation are important to circle members. It is vital for management to demonstrate prescience and sensitivity to these areas when operating quality circles.

Quality circles have become one of the most commonly used remedies to reverse the decline in productivity in business organisations. In this article, the authors draw upon the experiences of quality circles in four US organisations in order to make some general observations.

This is the second of a series of three articles dealing with Quality Circle failures. The concept of organisational readiness and implementation issues were discussed in Part I, while in Part II we focus on operational issues and the problem of maintaining the long‐term viability of quality circles.

The objective here is to critically assess the essential characteristics of quality circles and to focus attention on the factors and conditions which are crucial to the successful implementation of quality circles at Cosalt Holiday Homes. The proposed quality circle programme for Cosalt is discussed and methods of implementation, together with progress to date and recommendations for the future are given. Amongst the main findings is a view that there is a need for a clear commitment from top management, together with a proper organisational climate and favourable shopfloor attitudes for successful implementation of a quality circle programme.

With the foundation of the National Quality Circle Society in the Federal Republic of Germany, a forum has been established for small group work and the promotion of Quality Circle ideas. The number of firms in the FRG who use Quality Circles is growing and a historical account is provided. Examples of Quality Circle work in German firms is given.

Based on a survey of 136 successful Japanese quality control circles (QC Circles), six underlying QC circle dimensions are identified through factor analysis. The surveyed industries were categorised into four types: automotive/steel; other manufacturing; construction; retail/service. All circle dimensions except one (techniques of data collection and analysis used by the circles) differ significantly across industry type. This finding suggests that quality circles planning, implementation, and evaluation may encounter industry‐specific characteristics that need to be taken into account.

A postal questionnaire survey of quality circles in the UK service sector has been completed. It was revealed that there are no major differences in the characteristics of circle programmes in the service and manufacturing organisations. However, service industries need to be aware of the individuality of each organisation before adoption of programmes.

Intrigued by brief references to Quality Circles in various articles in Personnel and Training publications, we began a search for more definitive information on the structure, use and value of Quality Circles in the US. We found numerous articles in journals and periodicals describing implementation in the US of this Japanese concept. The articles described successes and often referred to consulting firms as further resources. Literature was obtained from consulting firms specializing in the implementation of Quality Circles plus data and impressions from companies that have instituted Quality Circles. One consulting firm mentioned application to health care facilities, but we were unable to locate a hospital which has implemented the process.