InstitutionClaim Cited
Japanese quality-control circles
Japanese quality-control circles made frontline employees participants in systematic problem solving by joining small work groups to statistical tools, supervisors, journals, conferences, and company-wide quality systems. They developed practical knowledge and improved work, but participation remained bounded by management authority, employment systems, and unequal access to recognition and advancement.
How can the people who perform everyday work become investigators and improvers of the system rather than only executors of instructions?