Search results

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

Bases itself on the premise that the categorisation of people who may adopt innovations is not the sole answer to the length of time taken for diffusion of innovations, but that a major factor is the characteristic of the innovations as perceived by adopters or non‐adopters. Says that marketers have an interest in decreasing the time taken for an innovation to diffuse throughout an industry by changing people from one category into another which is more progressive in outlook. States that two main industries were chosen to be used in this study – the flour milling industry and, to a lesser degree, the malting and dairying industries. Decided that the relationships between the time taken for innovations to diffuse throughout industry, and the characteristics of the innovations as perceived by technologists responsible for their introduction. Lays out the research method in detail and discusses this. Sums up that the research illustrates a method of studying the perceived characteristics technological innovation and shows a strong relationship between innovations and time taken.

This is the final article of a series of three which deal with Quality Circle failures. The first two papers, based on a review of the literature, dealt with the possible reasons why quality circles may fail. To carry the investigation further the authors visited five companies to examine in more detail the main reasons for quality circle failures, how to prevent such failures and plans to revive entire circle programmes. In no way do these case studies purport to be representative. However, they do highlight some important determinants of success or failure and also some aspects which may be important in maintaining the long‐term viability of circles. The investigation was carried out by structured interviews with the appropriate member(s) of the company.

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of some of the earliest quality circle (QC) programmes to be established in the United Kingdom. The 27 companies in question were first contacted in 1981. A second survey, conducted in April/May 1985, aimed to find out how many of the QC programmes have survived the test of time and in what circumstances. Reasons for the termination of individual circles and programmes were also sought. Forty per cent of the programmes unequivocally remain operative in organisations where senior management tend to be committed to the QC concept; the trade unions have been reasonably receptive or indifferent, the working environment is conducive to this type of initiative, and there have been no major crises, such as redundancy or serious retrenchment. The main reasons for QC programme termination were closure of sites or redundancy, and lack of support from senior management. Regarding those organisations in which QCs did not survive, the majority of respondents nevertheless felt that the technique has the potential to make a valuable contribution to British industry, primarily in relation to employee involvement.

Introduction Technological innovation is a subject of increasing importance in industrial life. There is a general feeling in Britain, that our relatively poor industrial performance compared with countries such as the United States, Japan and West Germany is because they are more advanced in adopting new technology. It is vitally important, in a situation changing as rapidly as at present, for organisations to keep abreast or even ahead of technological developments and to adopt innovations successfully. This article attempts to inter‐relate the findings of researchers who have examined the process of diffusion of innovations, in the hope that an increased understanding of this process will assist in the spread of new technology.

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.

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.

This paper presents the results of a state of the art postal questionnaire survey from 132 manufacturing companies based in the UK. Also outlined are the trends in the profile of quality circle programmes of some 40 companies over a period of around 12 months. The main trends include circle leadership passing from supervision to a member of the shop floor workforce, an increase in the number of circles selecting quality as a project theme and a decrease in the circle meeting frequency. From the findings it is clear that some middle managers feel threatened by quality circle activities. A list of reasons for this is given along with suggestions to reverse such attitudes. It is also pointed out that a number of companies are still trying to short‐circuit the factors that are important in quality circle programme success.

This article is an attempt to increase knowledge of the best conditions for application of a programme of quality circles. It suggests that before applying such a programme, the top management team must clarify: the purpose of application, the ways to use the circles, and analyse the organisational characteristics, especially the organisation culture. The search for such coherency will contribute to the success of the programme.

Quality circles are organisational interventions that seek to increase an organisation's productivity and the quality of its products through direct employee participation. The underlying assumption is that such participation will result in useful suggestions for improving work methods and quality, and for increasing employee commitment to implement these changes. Quality circles typically are small groups of volunteers from the same area who meet regularly, under the leadership of their supervisor, to identify, analyse and solve quality and related problems in their respective areas of responsibility.

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.

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.

ONE or two questions raised by the writer of “Letters on our Affairs” this month are of some urgency. The first, the physical condition of books, is one that is long over‐due for full discussion with a view to complete revision of our method. The increased book fund of post‐war years, and the unexpected success of the twopenny library, have brought us to the point when we should concentrate upon beautiful and clean editions of good books, and encourage the public to use them. “Euripides” is quite right in his contention that there is too much dependence upon the outcasts of the circulating library for replenishing the stocks of public lending libraries. We say this gravely and advisedly. Many librarians depend almost entirely upon the off‐scourings of commercial libraries for their fiction. The result, of course, is contempt of that stock from all readers who are not without knowledge of books. It is the business of the public library now to scrap all books that are stained, unpleasant to the sight, in bad print, and otherwise unattractive. Of old, it was necessary for us to work hard, and by careful conservation of sometimes quite dirty books, in order to get enough books to serve our readers. To‐day this is no longer the case, except in quite backward areas. The average well‐supported public library—and there are many now in that category—should aim at a reduction of stock to proportions which are really useful, which are good and which are ultimately attractive if not beautiful. The time has arrived when a dirty book, or a poorly printed book, or a book which has no artistic appeal, should be regarded as a reproach to the library preserving it.

What constitutes a success, survivor, or failure regarding UK quality circle programmes, is not a clear‐cut issue, according to results from four questionnaire‐based surveys carried out by the Department of Management Sciences at UMIST, 1982–4. It is an open question whether some quality circles have a limited life‐span and should be allowed to die off naturally when appropriate; circle activity often appears to resume once labour conditions have stabilised. The success of individual circles seems to depend greatly on how well their members work and integrate together, and how well the circle philosophy has been evolved to fit the company's style. A circle will only work as part of a policy of worker involvement and open management and if it is coupled with a specific long‐term company‐wide commitment to quality.

Despite the optimism which surrounded the advent of quality circles a decade ago, recent research suggests that there are few programmes still functioning. The data on which this article is based were collected in five organisations in central Scotland in the period 1983‐86, when quality circles were in operation or were being introduced. Since then, all but one of the programmes has ceased. The research indicates that the barriers encountered by quality circles are of two kinds: some general to any form of organisational change; others specific to quality circles. In addition, quality circles cannot easily be assimilated into existing organisational power structures but require changes to systems of reward, communication and decision making. Specifically the role played by middle managers is examined. They may see quality circles as a threat to their managerial prerogative and are in a position to impair the circles by denying them the resources (such as time, information, people and finance) they need to operate. Without the co‐operation of middle managers, the circles cannot select appropriate projects, collect data or implement solutions, and may find it impossible to continue.

Quality circles are now a worldwide phenomenon but their survival depends on many factors. Some of the problems faced by quality circle facilitators were highlighted by this research in the NW of England.

The topic discussed in this monograph is how to make training more effective by fitting it more closely into the organisational context. Models of training are examined to consider the difference between training an individual and changing the way in which the individual performs in the work context. In order to highlight the ways in which individual and organisational needs can be integrated, the identification of training needs is discussed. To emphasise the essentially cyclical nature of learning, the learning experience is broken down into a sequence of events. Most of these attempts to define effective training imply that it is often an attempt to change the way the organisation functions. In the final section therefore, the problems of using the training department as an agent for change are discussed.

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.

Quality Circle is a very effective program and low‐cost tool for implementing total quality management (TQM) in industry. A good number of manufacturing industries have so far adopted the Quality Circle program successfully, however the Quality Circle concept has failed in many other cases. To make successful use of the Quality Circle tool in manufacturing industries, knowledge and awareness of the probable reasons behind the failures of the Quality Circle is essential.

In this general review paper, after thoroughly reviewing literatures, the authors consolidate and highlight the probable reasons behind the failures of the Quality Circle, especially in manufacturing industries.

This study reveals that organizational Issues at the background stage; circle‐formation Issues at the implementation stage; and operational Issues at the operating/running stage of Quality Circle implementation, are the three main key areas of the problems which generally limit the success of the Quality Circle.

If the management is aware of and takes care of such anticipated problems, it is more likely that the Quality Circle programme will definitely be a success, leading to the effective implementation of TQM in the organization.

Reports the effects of an employee involvement programme on members of a small, emerging high tech firm. (Names of firm, industry, and officers used in this study have been disguised). The attitudes of these employees towards management and their perceptions of behavioural changes are described. A consultant’s experience in the development and implementation of such a programme is presented.