Quality Circles and Employee Withdrawal Behaviors: A Cross-Organizational Study

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Abstract
This article proposes a new theoretical approach to quality circles (QCs) and reports the results of a cross-organizational test of that theory. Improved attendance and retention were predicted as a result of the boundary-tightening effect of quality circles on employee work units. Study participants were 675 employees from five diverse organizations: a bank, a utility, a manufacturing plant, a hospital, and a university. Results supported the hypotheses, in that turnover was reduced following the circle interventions and absenteeism for circle members remained stable, whereas it rose substantially for noncircle employees. The QC intervention, by tightening the boundary around employees `immediate work units, counteracts the effects of a fragmenting system (the organization) in relation to its suprasystem (the environment). It is proposed that this systems perspective offers a more parsimonious interpretation of quality circle effects than existing QC models.