Congratulations to Carol Kleiman on a good and timely article,
”Companies are putting teamwork to work.” She could not be more correct that throughout the United States ”participatory management” has evolved beyond the Japanese copy of quality circles on the shop floor.
In fact, the Association for Quality and Participation estimates that 7,500 U.S. companies have organized team problem-solving groups with trained leaders and members. And in Chicago alone our membership approaches 400 user companies.
Ms. Kleiman did not mention some of the time-tested leaders in team problem-solving in the Chicago area, such as Fel-Pro, Inc., Speigel, 3M Co., General Electric, North American Phillips Co., Cooper Industries, Eastman Kodak Co., Rand McNally and scores of others.
A true revolution in the corporate structure has occurred over the last decade. Team problem solving that eliminates root causes to long-standing problems has begun to improve customer satisfaction, lower costs and increase productivity at our most progressive offices and plants.
