Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management 
ISSN: 2766-824X | Vol. 5, No. 3, 2022 

 

325 

Analysis	on	Quality	Control	Group	Activity	of	CNPC	in	
2022	and	Discussion	on	Improvement	Measure	
Zhaochuan Lia, Lin Ganb and Changyue Liuc 

CNPC Research Institute of Safety & Environmental Technology, Beijing 102206, China 
aleoupc@163.com, bgan-lin@cnpc.com.cn, cliuchangyue@petrochina.com.cn 

 

Abstract: Quality Control Group activity has been carried out in CNPC for more than 40 years. Through continuous 
participation and summary, the Quality Control Group has become an effective organizational form of quality management of a 
mass character in CNPC and an effective way for CNPC to improve quality management. Based on the harvest and experience 
of CNPC in carrying out Quality Control Group activity in 2022, this paper focuses on the role of carrying out Quality Control 
Group in consolidating the foundation and promoting innovation in quality management, as well as effective measures on how 
to promote Quality Control Group activity. 

Keywords: Quality Control Group, Quality Management, Improvement measure. 
 

1. Introduction 
In 1981, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry issued the 

Decision on Implementing Total Quality Management and 
Carrying Out Mass Quality Control Activities, which set off 
the climax of implementing total quality management in the 
petroleum industry. The development of total quality 
management has played an essential role in enhancing the 
quality awareness of cadres and workers in petroleum 
enterprises, improving the quality of enterprises, and ensuring 
and promoting the quality of production, transportation, 
services, projects, and products. As the essential critical work 
of total quality management and the main form of mass 
quality control activities, Quality Control Group (QC Group) 
activities have played a decisive role in developing quality 
management in the petroleum industry. In the great-leap-
forward development of the petroleum industry, the thorough 
implementation of such a modern system management 
institution as total quality management and the effective 
promotion of the healthy development of the activities of the 

petroleum industry QC Group will help to promote the 
transformation of the management concept of the cadres and 
workers in petroleum enterprises, and improve the 
management level and overall quality of petroleum 
enterprises [1, 2, 4]. 

QC Group is a group of workers engaged in various kinds 
of labor in production or work posts, organized around the 
enterprise's business strategy, policies and objectives, and the 
problems existing on the site to improve quality, reduce 
consumption, improve people's quality and economic 
efficiency, and carrying out activities using the theory and 
methods of quality management. QC Group comprises a 
group leader and members, with 3~10 persons [3]. The 
participants can be all the enterprise members, including the 
person in charge of the enterprise, the technical management, 
the production vehicle director, the quality supervisor, and the 
quality inspector (Table 1 is the composition of the QC Group 
of an oilfield enterprise). The QC Group leader is the critical 
group member, mainly responsible for formulating the 
activity's theme, content, and progress [5, 6]. 

 
Table 1. Composition of QC Group of an oilfield enterprise 

Role Name Duty Profession Group Division 
Group Leader A Chief Engineer Senior Engineer Plot 

Group Member B Workshop Manager Engineer Guide Production 
Group Member C Mechanical Manager Engineer Guide Technology 
Group Member D Mechanical Designer Engineer Device Support 
Group Member E Technician Engineer Technical Support 
Group Member F Technician Assistant Engineer Data Collection 
Group Member G Technician Assistant Engineer Data Analysis 

 
Based on the harvest and experience of CNPC in carrying 

out QC Group in 2022, this paper focuses on the role of 
carrying out QC Group in consolidating the foundation and 
promoting innovation in quality management, as well as 
effective measures on how to promote QC Group further. 

2. Analysis on Quality Control Group 
of CNPC in 2022 

CNPC has 8 companies, including the Company of 
Exploration and Production (CEP), the Company of Natural 

Gas Sales (CNGS), the Company of International Exploration 
(CIE), the Company of Technology Service (CTS), the 
Company of Refining-chemical and Production (CRP), the 
Company of Refined-oil Sales (CRS), the Company of 
Engineering Construction (CEC) and the Company of 
Equipment Manufacturing (CEM). The amount of QC Group 
achievements reported by each company this year is shown in 
Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the Company of Exploration and 
Production had 55 QC Group achievements, the Company of 
Natural Gas Sales had 10 QC Group achievements, the 
Company of International Exploration had 10 QC Group 



 

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achievements, the Company of Technology Service had 25 
QC Group achievements, the Company of Refining-chemical 
and Production had 27 QC Group achievements, the 
Company of Refined-oil Sales had 20 QC Group 
achievements, the Company of Engineering Construction had 
10 QC Group achievements, and the Company of Equipment 
Manufacturing had 10 QC Group achievements. It is 
indicated that exploration and production, technical service, 
refining-chemical and production, and refined-oil sales were 
business segments with more QC Group achievements, which 
was also the main business of CNPC. 

 

 
Figure 1. QC Group achievement amount of CNPC 

 
After the QC Group's establishment, the subject needs to 

be selected for activities. The source of the subject can be 
divided into three aspects: mandatory subject, instructional 
subject, and self-selective subject. The mandatory subject is a 
subject that the superior competent department sends to QC 
Group in the form of administrative instruction according to 
the actual needs of the enterprise. This subject is usually a 
significant technical problem that needs to be solved urgently 
in the production and operation activities of the enterprise. 
The instructional subject is recommended and published by 
the quality management department of an enterprise 
according to the needs of realizing business strategies, 
guidelines, and objectives. Each group chooses appropriate 
subjects to carry out activities according to its conditions. The 
self-selective subject is those that the QC Group seeks and 
chooses on its own, usually from daily production, service, 
and work site. The source of QC Group achievement subject 
of CNPC this year is shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen from the 
figure, the proportion of mandatory, instructional, and self-
selective subjects are 10.18%, 16.17%, and 73.65%, 
respectively. 

 

 
Figure 2. QC Group achievement subject source of CNPC 

 

According to the subject characteristics of QC Group, it can 
be divided into five types: field-type, service-type, research-
type, administrative-type, and innovation-type. Among them, 
the field-type subject is usually selected as a topic to stabilize 
the quality of the production process, improve product quality, 
reduce consumption, and improve the production 
environment [7]. This subject is small, manageable, short-
cycle, and easy to achieve results, but the economic benefits 
are not necessarily great. The service-type subject is usually 
selected to promote standardization, procedure, and 
scintillation of service and improve service quality and 
benefit. It is small, has a short activity time, and has a quick 
result. Although economic benefits are not necessarily great, 
social effects are apparent. The research-type subject usually 
takes solving critical technical problems as the scope of topic 
selection. The subject is complex, the activity cycle is long, 
more resources must be invested, and the economic benefit is 
usually remarkable. The administrative-type subject is 
usually selected to improve the quality of business work, 
solve problems existing in management, and improve 
management level. They can be large or small, so the 
difficulty of the subject is different. The innovative-type 
subject is a subject for QC Group members to develop new 
products, projects, and methods and achieve the expected 
objectives by using new thinking and innovative methods. 
The QC Group achievement types of CNPC this year are 
shown in Fig. 3. From the figure, we can see up to 112 field-
type subjects, 21 research-type subjects, 17 innovative-type 
subjects, 13 service-type subjects, and 4 administrative-type 
subjects. 

 

 
Figure 3. QC Group achievement type of CNPC 

 
Achievements made in carrying out QC Group activities 

can be divided into two categories: tangible and intangible. 
Tangible achievement refers to the achievements displayed in 
material or value form and can directly calculate economic 
benefits. This achievement easily attracts employees' 
attention and will become the focus of organizing results 
reports, publishing exchanges, and rewards. Intangible 
achievement refers to those achievements that are difficult to 
express in material or value form and can not directly 
calculate their economic benefits. They play an essential role 
in developing the intelligence of QC Group members, 
mobilizing employees' enthusiasm, improving their quality, 
fostering talents, and enhancing collective cohesion. They are 
often manifested in the mental outlook of employees, such as 
professionalism, work awareness, initiative, work skills, Etc. 



 

327 

The positive change in employees' spirit and psychology will 
undoubtedly have a more profound, more comprehensive, and 
longer-term impact on the economic benefits of enterprises. 
The QC Group achievement classification of CNPC this year 
is shown in Fig. 4. As can be seen from the figure, the 
proportion of tangible achievements is 93.71%, which is 
much larger than that of intangible achievements by 6.29%. 

 

 
Figure 4. QC Group achievement classification of CNPC 
 
The QC Group achievement awards of CNPC are shown in 

Fig. 5. As seen from the figure, the Company of Exploration 
and Production has won 10 first-class prizes, 14 second-class 
prizes, 29 third-class prizes, and 2 eliminated. The Company 
of Technology Service won 4 first-class prizes, 9 second-class 
prizes, and 12 third-class prizes. The Company of Refining-
chemical and Production won 5 first-class prizes, 4 second-
class prizes, 13 third-class prizes, and 5 eliminated. The 
Company of Engineering Construction won 3 second-class 
prizes and 7 third-class prizes. The Company of Equipment 
Manufacturing won 7 third-class prizes and eliminated 2. The 
Company of Refined-oil Sales won 10 third-class prizes and 
eliminated 10. The Company of International Exploration 
won 2 third-class prizes and eliminated 8. The Company of 
Natural Gas Sales eliminated 10 items. 

 

 
Figure 5. QC Group achievement award of CNPC 

3. Effective Measures to Promote QC 
Group Activities Further 

CNPC has mobilized employees' enthusiasm by carrying 
out QC Group activities, solved a series of problems in 
production and operation, improved the quality of products, 
projects, and services, and formed various innovative 

achievements in quality management. However, during the 
actual development of QC Group activities, there were still 
some problems, such as a lack of interest, initiative, and self-
awareness of the group members. In order to strengthen 
guidance, increase motivation and create a more vibrant 
activity atmosphere, as an organizer of QC Group activities in 
the next year, the following measures can be used to improve 
the effectiveness of QC Group activities. 

3.1. Create an Activity Atmosphere  
Enterprises should closely focus on quality awareness 

education, actively create an atmosphere for QC Groups' 
activities, and cultivate employees' interest in consciously 
participating in quality improvement. 

Leadership's emphasis is fundamental to creating an 
atmosphere. Leaders at all levels attach importance to quality 
in their specific work [2]. For the activities of QC Group, we 
should stand at the height of mobilizing the enthusiasm and 
creativity of employees, driving the effective operation of QC 
Group, and promoting the improvement and innovation of 
enterprise quality. Prominent leaders should pay attention to 
and support it. The leaders in charge should pay attention to 
it personally and frequently and become active promoters of 
the activities of the QC Group. Leaders at all levels should 
promote the activities of the QC Group by arranging and 
summarizing the relevant quality meetings. Leaders attach 
great importance to QC group activities and convey positive 
information to employees who actively seek topics in their 
work and consciously organize group activities. 

Establishing institutions is the key to creating an 
atmosphere. Institutions are the guarantee for carrying out 
various work. What enterprises encourage and punish can be 
reflected by the institution. Establish the management method 
of enterprise QC Group, make clear the purpose, management 
responsibility, work procedure, review method, and guidance 
of rewards and punishments, which can tell employees how 
to do and what to do. Employees can experience the quality 
atmosphere of the enterprise through the institution. The 
activities of QC Group can be guaranteed by the enterprise 
institution, which will attract employees' attention at all levels 
and develop continuously. 

Educational training is the driving force for creating an 
atmosphere. To carry out QC Group activities, enterprises 
must educate and train employees to understand, familiarize 
themselves, accept, and apply QC Group activities [6]. There 
are three levels to carry out education and training on QC 
Group activities: one is external training, which can be 
attended by leaders in charge, personnel in charge of 
departments and backbones of main activities; second, 
internal enterprise-level training, organizing key member 
activities for systematic knowledge training; third, internal 
basic level training, basic knowledge training for group 
members by critical members. There are three aspects for 
enterprises to carry out QC Group activities education and 
training: first, QC Group activities knowledge training, 
focusing on basic concepts, management process, and activity 
procedures; second, QC Group activities tools training, so that 
the key members are familiar with statistical methods, 
understand the use of tools and master the use of commonly 
used tools; third, QC Group activities results collation, 
publishing skills training, by explaining the inherent logical 
relationship of activities results, publishing the key points to 
be mastered, to enhance the group member’s ability to express 
words and languages. 



 

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Achievement review is an enabler in creating an 
atmosphere. Employees need to be recognized for their work. 
After the QC Group activities have achieved achievements, it 
is necessary to organize on-site reviews in time to praise the 
achievements, correct the shortcomings and point out the 
direction of efforts. Regular organization and publication of 
reviews can exchange experience, exercise ability, identify 
talent, and create a playful atmosphere. At the same time, the 
achievement review is a vibrant way to integrate employees 
and leaders. It is a periodic summary of QC Group activities 
and the continuing mobilization. It is a crucial link for 
enterprises to create an atmosphere for QC Group activities. 

3.2. Promoting Activities 
Enterprises should combine the actual conditions of 

personnel and work to promote the development of QC Group 
activities vigorously and continuously improve quality 
control performance. 

Departmental communication is a long-term mechanism to 
promote activity development. An enterprise's competent 
business departments shall take the QC Group's activities as 
a daily business and manage the activities according to the 
procedures planned, arranged, and summarized. First, we 
should start with group registration and subject selection and 
go deep into the basic units to help find problems and 
determine subjects. Help the group to plan the process, 
content, and time allocation of the activities. It can help the 
group members have a clear idea of the activities. Guiding the 
group to summarize the achievements is the key to improving 
the confidence of group members [3, 4]. At the same time, the 
competent department shall inquire, urge, inspect and guide 
the activities of QC Group during daily work inspection. 

The key member function is the guiding mechanism to 
promote development. Key members need to participate in 
QC Group activities actively, to fully master the procedures, 
methods, and tools of activities, to be familiar with the 
achievements preparation and publication, to be able to 
impart knowledge actively, to excavate more excellent results, 
and to organize the achievements can give more fabulous 
inspiration. The development of QC Group activities needs to 
play a leading role in key members. 

Recognition and reward are incentives to promote 
development. Achievements achieved through hard work can 
be recognized and rewarded so that employees can fully 
recognize their value, find a sense of accomplishment, 
stimulate greater motivation, tap into the more significant 
potential, and contribute to the enterprise. In addition to 
honorary and material awards for achievements, attention 
should also be paid to verbal praise of relevant work 
performance, vigorous publicity and promotion of 
achievements, and the reuse of outstanding key member 
activities. 

Assessment evaluation is the restraint mechanism to 
promote development. A cheerful group needs to mobilize the 
enthusiasm of its employees fully [1, 4]. QC Group activities 
aiming at improving the quality of work and service will 
inevitably receive strong support from excellent groups. 
Therefore, in the situation of CNPC striving for excellence 
and pioneering, local enterprises will significantly promote 

the development of QC Group activities if they take the QC 
Group activities as a condition to be included in the 
assessment indexes when evaluating units comprehensively. 
As a restraint mechanism, assessment and evaluation of 
excellence will not restrict the progressive group but will only 
bring more power to it. 

4. Summary 
QC Group is an effective organizational form for mass 

quality control activities in CNPC. It is the result of 
combining the experience of employees participating in 
enterprise democratic management with modern scientific 
management methods. QC Group is an essential 
manifestation of the eight basic quality management 
principles in ISO9000. It has broad popularity and is 
conducive to the realization of full participation in quality 
management. Through QC Group activities, group members 
can discuss their work, work together and improve the 
relationship between people, which is conducive to enhancing 
the unity and cooperation of employees. QC Group activities 
are an effective way to attract broad masses to actively 
participate in quality control and an important measure to 
promote product and project quality and economic benefits. 

Acknowledgment 
This work was supported by the Soft Science Research 

Subject of CNPC Research Institute of Safety & 
Environmental Technology (No. RKX-2022-03). 

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