QWL improves worksite quality: Success rates in a large pool of studies

Yes, quality of work life (QWL) applications do work, and they continue to work over time. Robert Golembiewski and Ben‐chu Sun studied 231 applications of QWL (from bibliographies, journals, books, unpublished reports, dissertations, theses, and so on) that were conducted over twenty‐two years (1965‐1987). The success rates for four major classes of QWL (human processual, sociotechnical systems, technostructural, and combined), which encompass fifteen separate types, were substantial for hard‐criteria effects as well as for soft changes, such as those in attitudes, opinions, and self‐reports about worksite features. This article explains the outcomes, predictions, limitations, and perhaps the biases of their research. Despite minor inadequacies in design the authors remain adamant about the success of QWL—so much so that they recommend greater reliance on its techniques.