Adoption of Quality Circles Approach a Powerful Tool for Quality Improvement in the Working of Commercial Banks in India

Commercial Banks in India constitute the most dominant segment of the financial sector by commanding about two third of its total assets. Indian Banks are well regulated and have emerged stronger under the watchful eyes of the regulator. Their unassailability could be well gauged by the health of the Indian economy. The public sector banks in India continue to lead the banking system. The objective of this study is to focus on the importance of new techniques in the fast changing banking scenario of India.The basic philosophy of participative management is that once the people are committed to the goals of the organization, they will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of the objectives to which they are committed. Their commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement and therefore, external control and the threat of punishment are the means to direct efforts towards achieving organizational objectives. In order to create proper conditions for people to seek and accept responsibility, conscious efforts are required to be made to involve them at all levels i.e. Intellectual, emotional and physical in the decision making process of the organisation. Employee's participation in the management process at all levels is expected to bring about improved employee morale and increased productivity.With this objective in mind, various techniques of participative management have been tried viz. employee suggestion scheme, work and floor committees, house journals, representation on the board etc. with varied results. Quality Circle is one such technique which has played a significant role in creating awareness for sustained quality improvement in the banking system of developed countries.This paper aims at providing a brief overview of the major developments in the field of Quality Circle Approach. An effort has been made to present the different phases of Quality Circle Concept. This study makes a modest attempt to analyse the relevance of Quality Circles Approach in India. The paper focuses to find out whether this Approach acts as an important driver to improve the quality of the banking system in India