Title: Performance measurement of quality circles through financial accounting statements: a case study in an Indian cement manufacturing unit

Authors: R. Suresh Premil Kumar, C. Sudhahar, John F. Dickson, V. Senthil, A. Ramesh, S. Shyam Sundar, S.R. Devadasan, R. Murugesh

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam College of Engineering, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam College of Engineering, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam College of Engineering, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Quality circle is an employee involvement technique aiding business houses to achieve competitiveness. Yet many business houses fail to appreciate the power of quality circles since their performances are not depicted using money values. In this context, this paper reports a case study to indicate the method of employing a financial accounting system of quality circles. During the conduct of this case study, financial accounting statements of four quality circles were developed. The feedback gathered in this regard indicates that this financial accounting system would be a practically viable instrument for measuring the performance of quality circles.

Keywords: quality circles; financial accounting; performance measurement; profit and loss account; balance sheet; process management; benchmarking; cement industry; India; employee involvement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2007.015140

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2007 Vol.2 No.2, pp.99 - 117

Published online: 18 Sep 2007 *

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