How would you feel about devoting an hour or more to quality circle meetings every week or so, on your own time? If your answer is, “No Way,” do you think this is a fair attitude on your part? Why or why not?
Invitation to Research: Can you find any U.S. firms that are still using quality circles?

Quality circles were adopted by Japan in an effort to rid its industries of poor quality and junkiness after World War II. Quality circles are worker-management committees that meet usually weekly to talk about production problems, plan ways to improve productivity and quality, and resolve job-related gripes on both sides.
At the height of their popularity they were described as “the single most significant reason for the truly outstanding quality of goods and services produced in Japan.” At one time Mazda had 2,147 circles with more than 16,000 employees involved. They usually consisted of seven or eight volunteers who met on their own time to discuss and solve the issues they were concerned with. In addition to making major contributions to increased productivity and quality, quality circles gave employees an opportunity to participate and gain a sense of accomplishment.
The idea—like so many ideas adopted by the Japanese—did not originate with them: it came from two American personnel consultants. But the Japanese refined the idea and ran with it. In the 1980s, American industry, unable to match the quality of Japanese imports, saw quality circles as the elixir in quality enhancement. Firms also found them a desirable way to promote teamwork, good feelings, and to avoid some of the adversarial relations stemming from collective bargaining and union grievances.
Despite the glowing endorsements for quality circles, in the United States they were more a fad that quickly faded. Workers claimed they smacked of “tokenism,” and were a facade and impractical, with no lasting benefits once the novelty had worn off. Others saw them as time wasted and, unlike Japan, few U.S. workers accepted the idea of participating in quality circles on their own time.