Advisory Committees: Vocational Education's Quality Circles

Journal of Health Occupations Education, Dec 1994

Quality circles have become well known in management for their ability to I improve internal efficiency and quality while motivating employees to participate in a I cohesive team effort. They function as voluntary groups of advisors representing all aspects of a particular operation who make recommendations to administmtion. LAewise, advisory committees are comprised of health care community leaders who serve in an advisory capacity on a voluntary basis. The mission of an advisory committee is to provide suggestions and recommendations which will help assure that graduates of the vocational-technical program are skilled, competent, and technologically current workers. The mission of quality circles is to provide suggestions and recommendations which will enhance the operations and management of an organization. Therefore, the quality assurance provided by the internal quality circle is very similar to that of the external advisory committee. The similarities, differences and functions of each group are explored in this article.

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Advisory Committees: Vocational Education's Quality Circles

Journal of Health Occupations Education Advisor y Committees: Vocational Education's Quality Circles Shirley A. Baker Ph.D. 0 Bill Hartman Ed.D. 0 0 University of Central Florida Libraries , USA Recommended Citation - Journal of Health Occupations Education Fall 1994, Vo1ume9, Number2 Advisory Committees: Vocational Education’s Quality Circles Shirley A. Baker’ Bill Hartman improve internal efficiency and quality while motivating employees to participate in a cohesive team effort. They function as voluntary groups of advisors representing all aspects of a particular operation who make recommendations to administmtion. LAewise, advisory committees are comprised of health care community leaders who serve in an advisory capacity on a voluntary basis. The mission of an advisory committee is to provide suggestions and recommendations which will help assure that graduates of the vocational-technical program are skilled, competent, and technologically current workers. The mission of quality circles is to provide suggestions and I. Shirley A. Baker, MT(ASCP)SC, Ph. D., is Out-Patient Laboratory Services Coordinator at Park Place Medical Center, Pt. Arthur, TX; BiLl Hartman, Ed. D., is Administrator of Vocational Technical Education of Oklahoma City public Schools, Oklahoma City, OK. 65 Journal of Health Occupations Education, Vol. 9 [1994], No. 2, Art. 7 recommendations which will enhance the operations and management of an organization. Therefore, the quality assurance provided by the internal quality circle is very similar to that of the external advisory committee. The similarities, differences and functions of each group are explored in this article. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a popular concept among businesses and industries. TQM means that the organization’s culture is defiied by and supports the constant attainment of customer sastifaction through an integrated system of tools, techniques, and training. This involves the continuous improvement of organizational processes, resulting in high quality products and services (Sashkin & Kiser, 1993, p. 39) . TQM includes three primary functions which also are found in health occupations education: tools and techniques (statistics, quality circles, teamwork), customers (students, employers, patients), and organizational culture (an appreciation and recognition of the value and contributions of all health care professionals) (Sashkin & Kiser, 1993) . Health occupations education (HOE) programs, therefore, can benefit from TQM. Quality circles (advisory committees) are a TQM technique particularly applicable to HOE. Health occupations educators often experience difficulty in communicating the importance of advisory committees to representatives of health care providers in the community. When this happens, attendance at advisory committee meetings, as well as valuable technical input, is lost. Proper communication is the key. Educators and administrators frequently use different terminologies for similar concepts. An administrator 66 Baker and Hartman: Advisory Committee: Vocational Education Quality Circle may not have a working knowledge of the responsibdities and functions of an advisory committee, but that same administmtor would instantly relate to the terminology and concept of quality circles. To allow the two arenas to interlock, educators need to understand fully theti similarities and differences. Recruitment of exceflent advisory committee members is enhanced when the educator uses terms and concepts familiar to health care professionals to explain philosophy and purpose. In other words, educators can sell the idea of advisory committee membership to health care representatives by using the quality circle concept as a communication technique. Quality Circles Quality circles (QCS) are defiied as being “comprised of small groups of employees who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and develop solutions to problems, and to implement those solutions when feasible” (Lloyd & Rehg, 1983, p. 7) . The QC concept was developed by W. Edwards Deming in the late 1940s as a method for increasing worker productivity and product quality control. In 1949, Japan invited Deming to present his approach to Japanese industrialists. Convinced of the merit of QCS as a management process, Japanese executives began the process of training, implementing, and developing QCS throughout their industries. However, optimun benefits from QCS were not realized until the 1960s because their value had to be proven at each level of management (Lloyd & Rehg, 1983) . “The quality circle technique is best used in the context of an organization-wide quality improvement effort” (Sashkin & Kiser, 1993, p. 8) . llms, QCS are an integml part of total quality management, which is committed to continuous quality improvement. 67 implement the QC management style formally. Their success with QCS spawned a whirlwind of changes that continue today. QCS (...truncated)


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Shirley A. Baker Ph.D., Bill Hartman Ed.D.. Advisory Committees: Vocational Education's Quality Circles, Journal of Health Occupations Education, 1994, Volume 9, Issue 2,