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.