THE EFFECT OF QUALITY CIRCLE INITIATION ON MOTIVATION TO ATTEND QUALITY CIRCLE MEETINGS AND ON TASK PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The motivation to attend quality circle (QC) meetings and the task performance of 47 quality circles over a three‐year period were examined as a function of quality circle initiation (self‐ vs. management‐initiated) in a field study. Motivation to attend meetings was operationally defined as the number of members per QC (QC size) and the attendance rate at QC meetings. Task performance reflected the number of projects completed and the amount of time required to complete the project. The results of a MANOVA suggested that QC initiation had significant impacts on motivation to attend meetings in that self‐initiated QCs had more QC members than had management‐initiated QCs. Further, management‐initiated QCs solved more work‐related problems and solved their problems significantly faster than did self‐initiated QCs. The effect of QC initiation on the number of projects completed failed to reach significance, however, when QC size was controlled as a covariate. Further, a high attendance rate at QC meetings was associated with a low quantity of projects completed in self‐initiated QCs and a slow speed of problem solving in management‐initiated QCs. Some implications related to the effectiveness of QCs are discussed.