This five-part paper provides an overview of the use of quality circles as a participative management technique in community colleges. Section I offers an introduction to the technique, reviewing the history of quality circles from their development in Japan in the early 1960s to their introduction in American higher education in the early 1980s. This section also explains the mechanics of quality circles, and offers recommendations for avoiding the pitfalls that may impede their successful implementation. After section II examines the theoretical bases for quality circles, section III addresses the question of whether quality circles can be applied to higher education, offering three examples of their use in community colleges. Next, section IV presents a case study of the implementation of a system of quality circles at Midlands Technical College in South Carolina, describing in turn the need for participatory management, the organizational climate of the college, the establishment of an organizational renewal committee, consultant selection, training, implementation, ongoing public relations and marketing, and evaluation. Finally, section V offers conclusions, among them that the Midlands experience has proved that there can never be too much planning for the establishment of quality circles. (EJV)