Date of Award

1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business Administration

Department

Business

First Advisor

Daniel W. Kemper

Second Advisor

James McHugh

Third Advisor

Bernard Weinrich

Abstract

The :focus of this project is the hypothesis that productivity of employees of utilities will improve in terms of increasing quality of their service, while controlling operating costs if they participate in teams involved in the decision-making process.

With the government taking steps to deregulate the sale of electrical energy, electric utilities will be thrown into a competitive market for the first time. Managers will find it necessary to keep quality high, while keeping rates low.

As American industry faced competition from Japan, management began to adapt the programs used by Japan to fit their own organizations. One successful program is to get employees involved in the decision-making process through work teams or quality circles.

The purpose of this paper will be to determine if a concept suitable for the manufacturing industry will have the same effect on a service industry. More particularly, by using quality circles, electric utilities can increase employee productivity, increase the quality of their service and still maintain their costs.

The changes in the utility industry has required the regulated companies to review their way of doing business. Competition and customer expectations have the utility executives concerned over productivity and quality. Quality circles are seen as the way to increase productivity and anticipate the changes in the industry's environment.

By examining the QC programs of several different utilities, this study attempts to determine the successfulness of these types of .interventions. The results show that these organizations have been rewarded with tangible and intangible benefits. Top utility officials believe t hat training employees in the decision-making process has insured their company's success in the future. The findings of this study has led the writer to accept the hypothesis.

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