Q2.

The employees of a midsized printed circuit-board manufacturer had been excited about their quality circle program during its first several months of operation. A number of solid suggestions for improvement have been made, accepted, and implemented, saving the company substantial amount of money by reducing throughput time by 19%, reducing rejection rate by 15% and overall increasing the productivity by 50%. During this period, the management was very supportive, attending all (Quality Circle) QCC presentation of their proposals and even rewarding the groups that have the best contribution in terms of cost savings to the company. Because of its new employee-driven competitiveness, the company became a hot item and achieved profit increase. From this, it is evident that the management has supported the QCC. However, the management was not able to sustain its support, started missing the QCC presentations, accepting proposals but not approving and implementing despite viability of the proposed actions. From this, it is apparent that management support was hollow and half-hearted. Within a year of implementation, employee interest in the program had died, and the program had been dissolved.

1. If you were the quality manager of this company and the quality circle had been your idea, what strategies would you have done in order to ensure management commitment and sustain employee participation in the QCC?(10 Marks)