The quality circle approach to knowledge management

Whilst the concept of quality circles is well established in the management lexicon, knowledge management is a much more recent addition. The aim of this paper is to show that these two concepts, together with a number of others, are closely linked and are all aspects of a much more fundamental concept – organisational development. The paper illustrates this by looking at a quality circle and a knowledge management application in two West Midland SMEs and highlighting the similarities and dissimilarities between the two. Finally the paper discusses the factors that, in the author’s experience, predispose an organisation to be successful in terms of such initiatives.