Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.

org
ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online)
Vo l.3, No.3, 2013

Issues and Concerns in Implementing Quality Circles in Public

School Management in Nigeria
DR. U. J. NWOGU
nwoguzoazis@yahoo.com
Depart ment of Educational Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
DR. NATH. M. A BRAHAM
nathabraham@yahoo.com
Depart ment of Educational Management, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Abstract
Quality improvement in educational institutions in Nigeria and the world at large is a major concern. Countries
all over the world are therefore making concerted efforts towards the improvement of educational standards. One
of the management techniques applied in most of these countries especially Japan, Britain and A merica is the
Quality Control circles. Its application in Nigeria raises a lot of concerns. These concerns and issues bother on
the structure, techniques; methods; and reactions of management of the institutions in imp lementing the
recommendations of quality circles. These and many other issues and concerns form the major cru x of th is paper.
The paper concludes that inspite of these issues and concerns; Quality circle is a technique that will assist in the
achievement of educational goals
Keywords : Issues and concerns, Imp lementing, Public Schools and Management.

1.Introduction
School imp rovement and quality of education have become issues of serious concern in Nigeria and the
world at large. This calls for prag matic methods in the actualizat ion and achievement of educational goals. In
Nigeria, supervision which served as quality control techniques for the improvement of educational goals seem
to lose its values. This is due to loss of confidence in the supervisory reports, lack of cooperation between the
supervisors and teachers, attitude of government towards the things of education and high cost of maintain ing
supervisory personnel.
Countries all over the world who are determined to imp lement and improve the quality of education
have embarked on the introduction of more result and practical oriented quality control measures and techniques
such as quality control circles.
Nigeria is not left out of this search for quality, hence many institutions in Nigeria have embarked on
the implementation of Total Quality Management. Total quality management (TQM ) believes in team-based
management. One of the management teams employed by corporations wishing to imp lement Total Quality
Management is Quality Circles. Infact, Oakland and Porter (1999:269) rightly observed that “one of the
management teams employed by organizat ions implementing total quality management is quality circles”. The
choice for this team based management is because of its ability to build emp loyees trust, communicat ion and
interdependence.
The building of emp loyee trust, communicat ion and interdependence help the schools to tackle
problems which are beyond the capacity of a single ad min istrator through the pooling of expertise and resources.
It also exposes the problems to a greater diversity of knowledge, skills and experience and as teachers participate
in the solving of these problems, job satisfaction is achieved. It also enables the schools to identify and solve
problems which cut across departmental and functional boundaries. Finally, solutions are reco mmended to the
school management for imp lementation.
2.Conceptual Definition
Quality Circle (QC) refers to a group of employees usually 5-12 who do similar work and voluntarily
meet together on a regular basis to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems in their respective work
areas through the application of proven techniques in order to maintain quality standards and objectives, as well
as sustain mutual uplift ment of employees and organizational goals.
Chase (1983) contends that it is “a participative management tool designed to systematically harness the
brain-power of emp loyees to solve an organization’s problem of productivity and quality’. Therefore, in a school
system, a quality circle group involves a group of teachers (usually 5-12) who voluntarily meet to:
29
Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online)
Vo l.3, No.3, 2013

(a) Identity problems relating to educational standards and quality.

(b) Discuss them,
(c) Identity and analyze the causes of these problems
(d) Reco mmend solutions to school management and
(e) Subsequently monitor the result.
lmel (I982) rightly concluded that such group provides workers with improved authority. The wo rk of the group
is regulated by a facilitator or cross-college coordinator trained in co mmunicating, problem-solving and team-
working in conjunction with group of teachers for each circle act ion.
The findings are reported to the steering groups or management representatives responsible for implementing
and maintaining quality functions. This process enables quality circle management technique to achieve the
following objectives:
(a) Enabling the teachers to change the attitude of “1 don’t care” to ‘I do care”.
(b) Help ing the teacher to achieve self development by bringing out his hidden potentials.
(c) Inculcating the spirit of team work in the teachers since the group achievement becomes a
collective achievement.
(d) Improving the organizat ional culture of educational institutions through the inculcation of
positive work environment, total involvement of employees at all levels, provision of motivational
variables and promotion of part icipative management. However, Arora (2008:433) further
remarked that objectives of quality circles (QCs) include: Ensuring harmony, effect ive team work,
improvement of quality, increase in prob lem-solving capacity, prevention of problems, safety
awareness, better interactions, better job satisfaction, willingness to volunteer, better
communicat ion, development of better leadership skills, self development, increase in productivity
and increased employee participation.
A careful examination of these objectives indicate that a quality control technique of this nature when
applied in any educational system will yield a positive result since the teachers will voluntarily and genuinely be
involved in the work process. This assertion is valid because workers become frustrated in some way, by the
work environ ment, which prevents the workers fro m do ing job as well as they should be done. Quality circles
enable the teacher to identify the problems h indering his progress, analyse them, proffer solutions and present to
management for imp lementation. When these recommendations are accepted and implemented by the
management, the teacher feels more co mmitted towards its implementations because the ideas and
recommendations belong to him and its failure will challenge his personality and integrity.
These benefits explain why Holley and Jennings (1983) asserted that despite lack of general
acceptability and application of quality circles by organizations and educational institutions, a good number of
American and Japanese schools are applying the technique to reduce the cost of education, improve morale and
increase productivity.
3.Concerns in the i mplementation of QCs in schools:
Nwogu (2005:67) stated that “group dynamics is a very co mplicated process and working together in
group for a co mmon purpose is a challenging task”. In h is opinion, differences in opinion, personality clashes,
controversy during meetings if not properly managed can lead to the disintegration of circle groups. This makes
the existence a defined structure, method, approach and procedure for solution implementation. Imp lementation
of quality circles in the management of secondary schools in Nigeria is not yet well rooted. This is true because
Nwogu (2005:6) observed that “although many institutions are applying total quality management (TQM), it
appears they fail to incorporate management teams such as quality circle, which is a co mponent of TQM”.
These, therefore, have negative implications on the imp lementation of quality circles in Nigerian
secondary schools. The position of this paper therefore is that even when quality management technique is
applied in some schools, the imp lementation is inadequate in terms of structure, methods and techniques of
problem-solving, approaches and reaction of school management towards recommended solutions.
4.Quality Circle Structure: Quality circles have appropriate structure for effect ive and efficient performance.
These structures may be altered fro m organization to organization depending on the nature of the organization.
In spite of these differences, Chase (1983), Dessler (1984) and Arora (2008) confirm that every Quality Circle
must have the following structure:
30
Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online)
Vo l.3, No.3, 2013

(a) Top management

(b Steering committee
(c) A co-coordinator
(dl A facilitator
(e) A circle leader
(f) Circle members
The top management refers to the Chief Executives at the highest level of the education whose support
helps or disrupts the circle programmes. In a school situation, it includes the principal, vice principals and Zonal
Directors, where necessary.
The steering committee refers to the Senior Executives who are representatives of the management.
Their functions include orientation of circle programmes, identification of object ives, provision of resources,
authorization of actions, etc. Its meetings are held once a month.
The co-ordinators are senior ad min istrative staff who supervise the work of facilitators and other
leaders. This is necessary because a school may have several quality circle groups as there are several facult ies,
departments and sections. Facilitators are the senior supervisors. Their responsibility includes publicity of the
concept, enlisting of members, providing training for leaders and members. The Nigerian Union of Teachers
(NUT) Study circle hand book (1999) states that the work of the facilitators include presenting problems to
members, directing the working of the group, guiding d iscussions in the group, coordinating the activit ies of the
group, summarizing contributions of members and ensuring active part icipation of all members. This calls for
innovation and human relation potentials on the part of the facilitators.
The leaders are the immed iate supervisors or foremen of a quality circle g roup. They must be properly
trained in leadership activities because they bear the direct responsibility of the group.
Finally, the members of the QC g roup are those who voluntarily participate in quality circle activit ies.
They belong to the Theory Y group of workers as identified by McGregor’s Theory X and Y. In spite of these
well established structures, Nwogu (2005) in h is study on the ‘Application of Quality Circle Management
Technique in the Ad ministration of secondary schools in Rivers State’ established that there are significant
differences in the structure of Quality Circles in private and public secondary schools in Rivers State. The
findings revealed the existence of a steering co mmittee, coordinator, facilitator, leader and members in private
schools while the public schools had coordinators, leaders and circle members. These differences are at variance
with the structures established by Sharp and Smith (1999), Chase (1983), Arora (2008) and Talib and Ali (2002).
There should be uniform structures for all Quality Circles for effective functioning of QCs.
Another issue of concern in the implementation of QCs is methods. The methods applied by QC groups
during problem solving include identificat ion of problems, prioritizat ion of the problems, selection and analysis
of the problem, generation of solutions. After the generation of several solutions through brainstorming and other
techniques, the most appropriate solution is selected. This is followed by the preparation of an action plan for
solution imp lementation.
The selected solution is then recommended to the school management whose responsibility it is to
implement the solution. These methods are well articu lated and applied by the schools that implement Quality
Circles. In order to achieve success during the implementation of these methods, the Quality Circle (QC) group
adopts various approaches such as trial and error, h ill climb ing, breaking problems into sub units,
contradiction of problems, flashback and comparing of information obtained. These cannot be achieved without
the application of techniques such as brainstorming, voting to achieve consensus, cause-and-effect analysis,
collection of data etc.
At the end, there is an evaluation of the recommended solutions. Based on the results of the evaluation, the entire
problem can be adjusted, resolved or revisited. Quality circle groups do not imp lement solutions. The solutions
are reco mmended to management for imp lementation. Therefore, management reaction is another issue of
concern in the imp lementation of quality circles. Arora (2008:442) contends that Quality Circle Management
technique believes in the principle of voluntary use of human mind for best results and that a man who does the
job understands the problems of the job more than any other person.
Based on this principle it is expected that management should:
(a) Recognize and reward the workers’ efforts
31
Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online)
Vo l.3, No.3, 2013

(b) Offer monetized incentives

(c) Provide training for both members and QC t rainers
(d) Accept and implement reco mmendations.
Unfortunately, one of the problems or concerns in the imp lementation of QCs in public secondary schools is lack
of management support. Research results fro m Tang and Edie (1992) on the attributions of Quality Circle failure
reveal that “the most important thought by respondents to contribute to Quality Circle failu re was lack of
management support followed by lack of quality circle members.” In another related study Tang and Edie (1992)
found out that management initiated QCs solved their problems significantly faster and solved more prob lems
than did self-init iated QCs. Self-in itiated QCs had low level of upper management support.
Nwogu (2005) also found out that public and private schools management reacted negatively to
recommendations from QC groups. Specifically the study established that:
(a) Management did not accept most of the recommendations
(b) Management fears that solutions and recommendations are against them
(c) Management fears that QC groups may usurp their powers
(d) Emp loyee unions are against some of the reco mmendations
(e) Management fears that circle groups may become too popular
(f) Management does not motivate Quality Circle groups.
These issues and concerns on the reactions of management are serious threats to the actualization of quality
circles in public schools.
These negative tendencies are counter-productive because Lillran k (1988:16) affirmed that “The Quality Circle
Control (QCC) activ ity should be a part of company-wide QC activ ities. The activity must be coordinated other
quality imp rovement goals and activities and enjoy support and recognition fro m the management”.
The teacher who is a member of a quality circle group becomes frustrated when the reco mmendations are not
implemented. Nigerian managers are noted for indifference towards the things which yield no direct monetary
value to them. Definitely some of the recommendations of the QC groups may be against some of this
mis management syndrome. These issues and concerns must be positively addressed before QCs can be
effectively imp lemented. Teachers are hu man beings and would be interested in the quality of their products. But
negative reactions from the government and management will affect their morale and hence inhibit productivity.

5.Implicati ons for School Management

Supervision of instruction has been one of the oldest forms of achieving quality in education delivery.
Unfortunately, most teachers have become dissatisfied with supervisory activities since most of the supervisory
reports have not made the desired impact on quality education visa-a-vise the professional improvement of the
teacher.
Therefore, the implementation of Quality Circle Management – a quality control technique which
involves the group of teachers evaluating themselves, identify ing problems, proffering solutions and making
recommendations to management will help in the improvement of quality education in Nigeria. As the teachers
recommendations are being imp lemented by management, the teachers have a sense of belonging, feel motivated
and satisfied that their decisions are recognized by the management. This naturally makes the teachers to be
more dedicated, goal oriented and committed.

6.Conclusion:
Quality Circle management technique is a form of part icipative management, a hu man resource
development solving technique. It helps to prove that man will naturally exercise self-direct ion and self-control
in any service to which he is committed. Therefo re, teachers not only accept responsibility but seek it.
Although, QC is not generally practiced its results in the achievement of quality education in Nigeria is obvious
inspite of lack o f uniformity in structure and management support. Educational organizat ions that are desirous of
quality results should resort to the Quality Circle management option since it builds trust, motivation job
satisfaction, positive work environ ment and promotes the culture of participative management.

32
Public Policy and Administration Research www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-5731(Paper) ISSN 2225-0972(Online)
Vo l.3, No.3, 2013

7.Recommendati ons:
Based on the foregoing issues and concerns, the following recommendations are summarily made:
(1) Quality Circle groups should obtain approval and support of management before establishment.
(2) Train ing should be provided for all category of members-management, facilitators, steering groups and
members.
(3) The structure of quality circles should be harmonized
(4) The methods applied during problem-solving should be maintained
(5) Managements should mot ivate Quality Circle groups
(6) Reco mmendations of Quality Circle groups should be implemented.

References
Arora, K.C. (2008). Total Quality Management New Delhi: SK Kataria and Sons.
Chase, L. (1983). Quality Circles Illinois: North West educational Cooperative.
Dessler, G. (1984). Personnel Management: Virginia: Reston Pub. Co.
Holley, W. H. & Jennings, K.M. (1983). Personnel/Human Resources Management Contributions and Activities.
New York: Dryden Press.
Imel, S. (I 982). Quality Circles. Implications for Training Overview. Eric Fact Sheet 24.
Lillrank, P.M . (1988). Organization for (Continuous Improvement-Quality Control Circle Activit ies in Japanese
Studies: University of M ichigan.
Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) (1999). Study Circle Material. Abuja: Laranfobudent
Nwogu, U.J. (2005). Applicat ion of Quality Circle Management Technique in the ad ministration in Secondary
Schools in Rivers State. An Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Port Harcourt.
Oakland, J.S. & Porter, L.J. (1999). Total Quality Management Text with cases Oxford: Martins Printers.
Sharp, S. & Smith, P. K (eds) (1999). Tackling Bully ing in your school. A practical Handbook for Teachers.
London: Routledge.
Talib, F. & Ali, M . (2002). Impact of Quality Cycle — a case study of AMU University Po lytechnic.
Tang. T. L. & Ed ie, B.A. (1992). Attributions of Quality Circles Failure Differences among top management
supporting staff and quality circle members. Eric Digest 8.

33
This academic article was published by The International Institute for Science,
Technology and Education (IISTE). The IISTE is a pioneer in the Open Access
Publishing service based in the U.S. and Europe. The aim of the institute is
Accelerating Global Knowledge Sharing.

More information about the publisher can be found in the IISTE’s homepage:
http://www.iiste.org

CALL FOR PAPERS

The IISTE is currently hosting more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journals and
collaborating with academic institutions around the world. There’s no deadline for
submission. Prospective authors of IISTE journals can find the submission
instruction on the following page: http://www.iiste.org/Journals/

The IISTE editorial team promises to the review and publish all the qualified
submissions in a fast manner. All the journals articles are available online to the
readers all over the world without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than
those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. Printed version of the
journals is also available upon request of readers and authors.

IISTE Knowledge Sharing Partners

EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP Open

Archives Harvester, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, Elektronische
Zeitschriftenbibliothek EZB, Open J-Gate, OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial
Library , NewJour, Google Scholar