First introduced by Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989), quality circles, also named quality control circles,
appeared in the Japanese industry (Zink, 1986), then in banks and sales companies to be later exported all over
the world. They are study groups for quality improvement or self-improvement and are made of a small
number of employees (10 or even less). These groups voluntarily carry out workplace improvement tasks
within a large company program for quality control, production increase, education and self development. The
nature and role of these quality circles differ from one company to the other.