A 1982 study conducted by the New York Stock Exchange emphasized the growth in the use of quality circles by American manufacturing companies. Eighty-two percent of the managers from 49,000 American corporations felt that the use of participatory management practices such as quality circles is a promising new approach to increasing productivity and improved labor-management relations. / With such interest in quality circles from the private sector, vocational educators must ask themselves, what are the implications of quality circles for vocational programs? What can be done to prepare students to enter a workplace where teamwork and interpersonal skills are valued and required? / The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which postsecondary machine shop instructors were aware of quality circles being used in local industry. The study also determined the extent to which quality circles practices were used in postsecondary machine shop programs in Florida. The research also interviewed key personnel from two large Florida industries and a prominent management consulting firm, to determine the extent to which these individuals felt American industry would continue to encourage the growth of participative approaches to management. / The entire population of 30 instructors was surveyed by using a questionnaire and personal interviews. All data were personally collected by the researcher. / Major findings of the study were: (1) Most machine shop instructors in postsecondary institutions in Florida are aware of the trend toward increased use of quality circles by industry. (2) Most instructors felt that interpersonal skills and teamwork were very important skills for students to obtain prior to employment. (3) In general, quality circle practices are not taught to to students in postsecondary machine shop programs. (4) Instruction in postsecondary machine shop programs, in every program visited by the researcher, used a project approach to instruction. The lack of production type activities was repeatedly cited by teachers as the reason for not incorporating quality circle practices into their teaching. (5) According to key personnel interviewed at two large Florida manufacturing firms and the president of a consulting firm, quality circles continue to be a very important concept in enhancing productivity. The growth trend continues in large corporations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0913. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75566 |
| Contributors | WIMMER, WALTER L., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 114 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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