Mohr Family Bios

Harriet Mohr has a degree, with honors, in the Psychology of Women and is the author of a spiritual trilogy: What the Soul Teaches, Meditations on Self-Discovery and Enlightenment and The God Within. In connection with these publications, she lectured extensively in the Bay Area including the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Graduate School and DeAnza College. She was a speaker at the annual conferences of the American Psychological Association and the International Transpersonal Psychology Association. In connection with the promotion of her book, What the Soul Teaches, she lectured and did book signings at more than 20 locations in Northern California including seven branches of Barnes & Noble and Border’s Books, as well as book signings and lectures in Carmel and the Wine Country. She also lectured at Global Village Books in Cambridge, MA.

Her presentations to religious groups included: The Graduate Theological Union – Center for Women and Religion, San Francisco Jewish Center, First Unitarian Universal Church, Unity Center and the Cultural Integration Fellowship.

During the 1980’s, she was internationally recognized as a writer in the field of human development. She co-authored, with her husband, Bill, a B. Dalton bestseller, which is a business book and college sociology text: Quality Circles: Changing Images of People at Work (Addison-Wesley 1983). The government of Saudi Arabia, for translation into Arabic, selected the book for management training in government offices. Together with her husband Bill, Harriet also wrote several articles for publications including the book, Productivity and Quality through People by Shetty and Buehler. Harriet was a guest columnist for The Japan Times. In 1985, she made a video documentary in England, showing interviews she conducted with members of the British government, academia and business communities. She is listed in Who’s Who in the West, 1985-86 and Who’s Who in American Women, 1987-88.

Bill Mohr was with the Hewlett-Packard Company for 27 years before retiring in 1999. He held a variety of positions including: Manufacturing Manager, Marketing Manager, Logistics Programs Manager, Quality Manager and he served on HP’s corporate Logistics Transportation Strategy Team. Bill has been on the board of directors of the International Association of Quality Circles. He is listed in Who’s Who in California and Who’s Who in the West and was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences. Bill co-authored (with Harriet Mohr) Quality Circles: Changing Images of People at Work (Addison Wesley, 1983), a B. Dalton Silicon Valley best-seller. The book, about bringing more equality into the workplace, was used as a college sociology text and was translated into Arabic by the government of Saudi Arabia. He has lectured extensively on quality and participatory management at colleges and universities including: Stanford University, University of California (Berkeley and UCLA), the University of Alaska, Utah State University and the New School for Social Research in New York. His speaking engagements abroad include: the Taiwan International Conference on Quality Control Circles, the Science University of Tokyo and the Center for Quality Circles in England. Bill has lectured in Stockholm, Sweden at the invitation of the Swedish Ministry of Defense. His work as an adviser led to lectures for Rockwell International, Bank of America, AT&T and others. He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (where he was a member of the Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies) and a Master of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Bill and Harriet were residents of Tel Aviv during the period of 1970-71, where Bill worked for Motorola Israel

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Comments on Harriet and Bill Mohr’s
QUALITY CIRCLES: CHANGING IMAGES OF PEOPLE AT WORK (Addison-Wesley) 

“This book served as a key reading for my graduate seminar on innovation in work organizations. It captures well the key ingredients of successful circle activities:”

Dr. Robert E. Cole, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan, Department of Sociology, Ann Arbor, author: “Work, Mobility. and Participation.”

“Through in the last few years, the literature on the QC movement including varieties of instructional manuals concerning the operation of QC programs has blossomed, the judgment of this reviewer is that this IS surely one of the best works that has appeared. Whether a private or public sector oriented reader, whether practitioner or a yet-to-be QC participant, whether student or teacher, a QC believer or non-believer, this book is worth the reading. Without having to adopt all its prescriptions or the specific kind of QC program it particularly describes. it offers many operational clues and much wisdom for anyone committed to organizational effectiveness, quality of work life concepts and goals, enhanced labor-management cooperation, organizational productivity gains or just more insight into or knowledge about organizational dynamics as viewed through a very special set of spectacles. “

Dr. Seymour Mann. Professor of Government and Public Administration and Associate Director of The National Center for Public Productivity at John Jay College, CUNY, New York City.

“The book is written in clear and simple language. It is useful to anyone who wishes to obtain a straightforward and quite comprehensive description of what Quality Circles are, how they work, how they are started, how they are maintained and how you can put them to use in your organization.” .

Dr. Moshe F. Rubinstein, Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California. Los Angeles. author: “Patterns of Problem Solving and co-author; “Concepts in Problem Solving.”

“.As an instructor, I insist on a text authored by one with heavy practical experience and accomplishments The Mohrs’ Quality Circles more than meets that requirement. It’s scholarly and exceptionally instructional, yet it doesn’t oversell the concepts,”

Dr. Vernon M. Buehler. Professor of Business Administration and Assistant Dean of Business Relations, College of Business Utah State University. co-author: “Productivity and Quality Through People”

“For a company considering the introduction of Quality Circles this is the book they should read. It is also useful for teaching Quality Circles both at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.”

Dr. Barri Dale, Department of Management Sciences, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, England

“The quality circle concept is a set of techniques for organizing individuals and raising their effectiveness. But it is more than that. It’s based on a philosophical position – a positive view of people and an understanding of their needs. The Mohrs’ book is strong in both technique and philosophy, in pointing out the benefits of quality circles to the individual and the corporation, and in addressing the pitfalls as well as the measurable and immeasurable payoffs. This book is particularly helpful for managers who must consider not only how to implement the process, but whether it is ready for quality circles and what the ultimate effect will be on organizational structure and culture.”

Perry Pascarella, Executive Editor, Industry Week,
author: “The New Achievers”

“Knowing the European scene relatively well on publications regarding “Quality Circles” I can say that the Mohrs’ book on Quality Circles is the most founded one. Its strength is the precise and well considered structure based on practical experiences of one of Americas most excellent companies — Hewlett-Packard. It is a must for everybody who wishes to study the basics of Quality Circles and I am personally thankful for the useful thoughts and insights in this book.”

Peter Engel. Ford Motor Company, Germany, author:
“Japanese Organizational Principals: Improvement of Productivity Through Quality Circles” (German).

The book “Quality Circles: Changing Images of People at Work,” by William and Harriet Mohr tells you why and how to succeed and avoid problems and pitfalls, in a clear, easily understood, but thorough way. The book combines in a successful manner, the practical experiences of an industrial practitioner and manager with the overview and theoretical knowledge of an academician. It contains many valuable illustrative examples from circles and literature references. I think this book will be one of the standard references on quality circles.

Asbjorn Aune, Professor, Production Engineering Laboratory, Norwegian Institute of Technology, Trond­heim. Norway

“It was quite an astonishment for me to read “Quality Circles: Changing Images of People at Work” because I felt at last such a valuable book on QCC was published in the U.S. I recommend this book for anyone who is going to organize QCC or is concerned about their program,”

N. Tsunobuchi, Kansai Paint, Amagasaki Factory,
Hyogo, Japan

“This is a must book for anyone interested in quality circles. Well written, highly informative and very practical. The Mohrs have extensive experience in quality circle design and implementation and share their knowledge and experience with the reader.

Edward E. Jones, Jr., President, Management Training Consultants.