Companies in the Federal Republic of Germany that are about to introduce small group work face the question of the appropriate or right concept, unlike many other industrialized countries in Europe and the USA. While small group activities worldwide are now largely influenced by the Quality Circles originating from Japan, the discussion around Quality Circles that emerged here in 1980 has also rediscovered the concept of the Learning Workshop, which was developed ten years earlier. Companies are thus under a decision-making compulsion: they can either implement the originally Japanese Quality Circle or the authentically German Learning Workshop as an employee-centered small group model. Depending on the perspective and intention of the authors, the vast literature on these new forms of small group work offers various recommendations. This discussion of alternatives is where the present work comes in, arriving at a convincing solution. It is not appropriate to make a controversial decision in favor of Quality Circles and against Learning Workshops or vice versa; rather, a small group model that combines the advantages of both concepts is needed. Through thorough literature analysis, the author develops such an integrative approach to small group work. With a coherent argumentation, he demonstrates that the question of alternatives 'Quality Circles or Learning Workshops' is too simplistic and can lead in the wrong direction.