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The evidence presented in this article was elicited by group discussion from Quality Circle facilitators of 22 companies at a recently held North West workshop organised by the National Society of Quality Circles. The typical issues discussed and reported here include: sustaining quality circle programmes over time, monetary rewards, evaluation, management resistance and conflict with the roles of trade union representatives. Amongst the main findings are: that the support of all grades and levels of management and sustained top management recognition for circles are vital for their long‐term growth, direct cash contributions given to circle members are alien to the quality circle philosophy; circle programmes should be evaluated in terms of the quality of working life and cost benefits; middle managers are more likely to resist circle activities than are top and first‐line management, and circle activities do not conflict with the roles of trade union representatives.

Considers the factors which affect the success or failure of QCs. Analyses international QC experience through empirical literature reporting field results in various European, North American and Australasian countries. Summarizes a process aimed at identifying the main contingency factors likely to influence the QCs, since their smooth operation depends on a variety of economic, organizational and psychological contingency factors. Overall, the results suggest the predominance of external environmental and organizational factors over group or individual‐related factors. A final major trend points to the key importance of contingency factors at the pre‐introduction and introduction phases of QCs.

Presents results of a study on evaluating the efficiency‐effectiveness relationship of quality circles (QCs). Defines QCs as a means by which organizational goals can be achieved. States that prior studies have examined QCs in an organizational setting. However, these studies have not provided an approach to relate effectiveness and efficiency of QCs at the same time. Extends the body of literature on QCs by presenting an approach management can use to examine the efficiency‐effectiveness relationship of QCs. Uses a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach and computer‐generated data to illustrate the means by which QCs can be evaluated. Notes that DEA is a linear programming‐ (LP) based method. Provides an approach for visualizing the efficiency‐effectiveness relationship of QCs. Uses the LP model output to gain insight into the ways to improve performance of QCs and notes that the LP output could be used by a manager to take the necessary corrective action.

One of the main difficulties with the Quality Circle (QC) technique is that, to the uninitiated, it appears attractively simple in concept. This attraction has been enhanced by the many claims made for it in the management literature. Such claims though, are often based on experiential rather than research evidence. However, a longitudinal study covering the four‐year period 1981‐1984 did indicate that QCs can survive for reasonable periods of time, and with varying degrees of success, outside Japan, providing the organisational environment and circumstances are conducive. The study also showed that the QC technique is not universally applicable; it has real limitations as well. The article aims to examine some of these limitations and to suggest what may be reasonably expected from a QC programme.

Over the past decade much has been written on service quality (SQ) in the financial services industry and on the value of quality circles (QCs) in service industries in general. The SQ literature propounds the competitive importance of achieving high standards of SQ in service companies and documents the advantages and difficulties of maintaining these high standards. In a different area of management, quality circles (QCs) have been developed as a method of improving processes within companies, with a literature citing widely held beliefs about the benefits of running QC programmes. However, few, if any, previous writers have analysed how QCs and their advantages relate to SQ, despite the potential synergies between the two areas. Reviews both service quality and quality circles, identifies the relation between the two within the framework of gap analysis, and presents empirical work carried out within Midland Bank, investigating this relationship. Finally, presents a 12‐stage approach to implementing a QC programme.

One problem in studying quality circles (QCs) is the shortage of objective measures of success. Another is the fact that many previous studies have been longitudinal but based on only one site. Presents results of a large sample of over 5,000 QCs which capture some longitudinal aspects of quality circle development and relate them to several objective and subjective measures of success. Contrary to previous small, longitudinal studies which have been reported in the literature, this study found no evidence at the level of organizational QC programmes to support the role of top and middle management in QC success, except for the need for management representation on steering committees. Data suggest that organizations with TQM have more successful QC programmes and (weakly) that older QC programmes are more successful.

Quality circles (QCs) remain viable and continue to operate effectively. This paper traces the QC journey of the Singapore Housing Development Board, providing a historical perspective to the development of a QC for a large Asian state‐owned organisation. The inductive case study method is applied. Key implementation barriers and critical success factors are identified. The barriers include reluctance to change on the part of employees, initial lack of identification with the QC movement, and organisational size. The critical success factors include active CEO support, continuous publicity for the movement to create awareness and acceptance, conducive organisational culture, and appropriate reward and incentive schemes. A short illustrative QC project is also included for completeness. Overall, this paper issues a call for management to re‐examine the use of QCs as a potential strategy and to integrate QCs with other team type initiatives for continuous improvement.

Posits that quality circles (QCs) are a form of employee involvement (EI) which failed due to inconsistent support from management and because they were unable to cope with the realities of organizational power. The QC programme in Land‐Rover flourished during most of the 1990s and is atypical of the national trend where programmes have tended to be short‐lived. States, theoretically, that QCs in Land‐Rover are similar to other programmes in so far as they depend on management support and do not fundamentally challenge the managerial prerogative. Most QC programmes in the UK commenced as an EI initiative, but soon raised issues of participative management which contributed to the brevity of their popularity. The comparative longevity of QCs in Land‐Rover suggests a greater capacity in the company for participative management, although this was unexploited over the long‐term because of the prevailing managerial ideology and its overriding emphasis on economic rationality. Investigates the evidence from the employee perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to: explore the problems that the production division of Qatar Steel Company (QASCO) typically encounter in implementing QCs, identify the critical success factors promoting QCs implementation and discern the real benefits of QCs implementation.

Data for this study were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire that was distributed to 400 QCs members within the five departments (i.e. Manufacturing, Maintenance, Direct Reduction, Material Control and Technical departments) which comprised the production division of QASCO. Of the 400 questionnaires posted, a total of 197 were returned and used for the analysis.

The results of the study indicated that lack of support from top management was reported as the biggest problem impeding the implementation, and also commitment and support from top management were reported as the most important success factor of QCs implementation in the five departments. More importantly, the findings indicated that QCs implementation has created an atmosphere of cooperation within QASCO and produced many positive results including improving quality, increasing productivity, and improving the management style.

The sample is restricted to only a single division, i.e. the production division of QASCO, so it would be strongly recommended that data be gathered from various divisions of QASCO, i.e. replications of this study are required to generalize its findings. Studying the deriving and inhibiting forces to QCs implementation in practice remains a task that requires further attention from researchers, whatever their motivations.

The findings are important and relevant to all the departments in QASCO. The study hopes to create more awareness among management and employees of the strategic importance of QCs to operational processes. More importantly, the benefits attained would be a motivating factor for managers to use QCs.

The research provides empirical insights to the growing body of knowledge on QCs implementation. Most of QCs research has been done in developed countries. The study presents the successful adoption and implementation of QCs in a manufacturing firm in a developing country of the Middle East where published research results on the successful use of QCs have been rather scarce.

Much evidence has been generated in the past few years which describes the demise of quality circles (QCs), yet teamwork involving non‐managerial staff, aimed at quality improvement, is still a feature of the quality improvement process of many organizations, particularly within the service sector. Re‐evaluates the classic characteristics of quality circles, as found in the literature, within the context of research carried out within one of the main UK clearing banks. Gives consideration to both the operation and outcomes of QCs within a service organization, and also discusses the role of QCs as part of a company‐wide process of quality improvement, rather than a quality technique used in isolation. Examines the “soft” benefits of QCs and compares the “success factors” identified within the literature for the use of QCs with the empirical evidence. Concludes that, while there are differences in the way in which such teams operate when compared with quality circles, the basic characteristics are the same and there are many lessons to be learned. Proposes a tentative revised definition which takes account of these findings and the latest trends in Japan.