An Introduction to Student Quality Circle at College of Business Administration, Salman bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—An Empirical Study

Abstract

Catch’em young for imparting hands-on rigorous academic training. This is what has been relentlessly pursued while dealing with the undergraduate students of business management who are to be thoroughly exposed to the whole gamut of quality work life. Whether they opt for corporate career or pursue masters or choose be an entrepreneur, their exposure to the dynamics of quality management must be ensured most likely at student level. Needless to say that the student is more adaptive to change of attitude, behavior, learning etc., and is prone to imbibing the changes without any resistance. One of the collaborative approaches gaining popularity globally is the Student Quality Circle (SQC), an initiative for raising the bar of quality learning and quality teaching. To the best of our knowledge, Quality Circle very much in the vogue, does exist at scores of manufacturing units in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but this has not yet taken roots in the academic field. This research is essentially a pilot study done at College of Business Administration, Salman bin Abdul-Aziz University, Al-Kharj. The concept “student’s quality circle” has been proved quite effective to a larger extent and its encouraging findings will prompt other colleges to opt for it. The study has done an objective analysis of pre and post session implementation of student quality circle and it has carefully measured its empirical impact on student’ s traits, attitude, learning, extracurricular activities, individual versus team chemistry, leadership, incubation of quality mind set, total quality environment, and student faculty relationship etc.