Satisfying the Customer. Quality Management and Service Provision


Essay, 2018

14 Pages


Excerpt

Inhalt

Quality in Business And Service Provision

Discussion Of The Measurement Of Quality

Process Of Inspection And Assurance

Approaches To Quality Management

Similarities And Differences Between Different Quality Control Methods

Meaning Of Customer Satisfaction

Added Value Of Quality Management

Types Of Information To Customers And Attention Given To Effective Marketing

Measuring Quality Management

Benefits Of User And Non-User Surveys In Determining Customer Needs

Methods of Consultation

Value Of Complaints Procedures And How They May Influence Quality

Role Of Self-Assessment

Importance Of Communication And Record Keeping

Guideline For Staff Consultation To Effect Quality Scheme

Improving Service Quality Systems

QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Customers have tastes and preferences. Thus, organisations must continuously produce high quality goods. An organisation has to be aware of how customer’s needs are satisfied by their goods and services hence the term quality. Essentially, customers have a way of deriving satisfaction in a good or service and that is precisely what informs their choice whether to utilize a good or service or not. Therefore, it is in the interest of this paper to find out how business organisations strive to satisfy their customers.

Quality in Business And Service Provision

Mar (2013) notes that customers have their own preferences and tastes. Products are mostly tangible unlike services which were defined by Friesner (2018) as things that cannot be measured. If customer needs are not satisfied then they would most probably switch to alternatives. Therefore, the implication of this is that quality is measured by the ability of a good or service to meet the expectations of each consumer. Evidently, the quality of a good or service is what determines a client’s loyalty. Additionally, it is important to note that if an organisation does not strive to assure its customers of quality service and products then the business may fail.

Mar (2013) further defines quality as a product’s ability to serve its purpose. ISO 9000 defines quality as a degree by which known characteristics for instance taste and flavour end up fulfilling desired requirements. ISO 9000’s definition implies that once a customer expects certain characteristics to be present in a good or service, the presence of such characteristics would result in the satisfaction of a customer hence it would be regarded as of good quality. Cohen (2011) on the other hand reiterates the best definition by Peter Drucker. He notes that may be the satisfaction that a client gets out of a good or a service. Therefore, every organisation should be customer oriented and strive to meet the customers’ expectations.

Discussion Of The Measurement Of Quality

a) Serves the purpose- a good or service would generally be of quality if that good or service is fit for the purpose it was bought to satisfy. If a customer buys a refrigerator that refrigerator must serve the purpose which is keeping for instance, drinks cold.

b) Meeting the requirements- a product or service has to be able to meet market requirements. For instance, it would be required that an armoured vehicle be able to shield users from armed attacks. Therefore, armoured vehicle does that, then that may be a measure of quality (Elkington, 2011). The two examples are just but a brief explanation of the many ways that firms and consumers use to define quality.

Process Of Inspection And Assurance

Products must meet customer requirements. As such, according to Condrea, Cristina and Aivaz (2012), quality assurance is the process by which a firm would check whether the product or service being developed would meet the desired requirements and correct any defects. Manghani (2011) notes that in order to assure quality, a certain process must be followed. First is quality planning which involves decisions on what to produce, ingredients to be used and what policies need to be developed to achieve quality. It is at this stage that quality standards are set leading to the next step in quality inspection-quality assurance. Quality assurance is the follow up made to ensure that the steps and policies set in the first stage were observed. Based on the information recorded during the first step, quality assurance would be able to make future decisions regarding quality improvement.

Quality control is the third step and it checks the viability of the production process by observing for example control charts, and sampling techniques used. Once that is done, it would either be satisfied that a production process was in line with quality requirements or not. If it was successful then the process would be adopted. The last step of inspection and quality assurance is by implementing quality management schemes such as the Total Quality Management Programme. Trainings, field studies and audits would then inform the company on for instance, the right staff.

In line with the foregoing is the issue of management system. For instance, the system that takes care of quality, the industry, matters of security and safety, management in general, health and matters to do with medical affairs, environmental management systems, systems that deal with information and technology and systems that address anything related to companies services. Companies set up procedures and policies on how each system is managed hence assuring quality. Evidently, once these systems have been put in place, an organisations’ assurance and control would be unquestionable.

Approaches To Quality Management

Abuhav (2014) and Murray (2017) note that there are several approaches that are followed to ensure quality. For instance, companies are advised to involve staff in decision making. Further, management’s assurance of co-operation also play quality management role. Additionally,, systems such as PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) help a lot in assuring quality management. Also, if each project undertaken by a company is given individual attention it may ensure quality is achieved. On top of that, activities should not be left to junior staff alone. Everyone has to be involved especially the top management. Training programmes have to be rolled out to keep updating staff on new developments.

Similarities And Differences Between Different Quality Control Methods

Abuhav, I. (2014) notes down some of the quality management procedures. Quality Systems such as ISO9001, ISO14001 and PQASSO exist. ISO9001 highlights the requirements a quality management system needs. Its main role is to help companies satisfy customer needs and further guides companies on ways to ensure their continuity regardless of size or industry. On the other hand, ISO14001 deals with how organisations may best address environmental matters regardless of size or industry.

PQASSO allows companies to do self-assessments. As such, PQASSO helps voluntary organisations to detect internal and find a way to remedy the mistakes. System differences depend on the role each plays. For instance, ISO9001 addresses how a company may effectively satisfy its customers. The same applies to PQASSO because the former and the latter target quality improvement and continuity and customer satisfaction. However, ISO14001 is different in that it addresses environmental concerns. When it comes to Total Quality Management Nayab and Scheid (2011) state that, it involves the co-operation and involvement of every staff in the organisation’s affairs. It is different from others in the sense that it applies to general company affairs as opposed to other methods most of which deal with particular goals. It is however similar to the above methods in that its objective is to see a firm succeed as it meets customer needs.

Meaning Of Customer Satisfaction

Gustaffsson, Johnson and Roos (2006) define customer satisfaction as how a customer’s expectations about a product surpassed by that product or service. Abbas (2012) proposes ways that would be important to ensure companies satisfy their customers. One is by listening to what customers say. By doing that, a company would be able to know its customers’ needs hence produce goods and services that meet client needs. Also, a company has to listen to its employees. On most occasions, employees could be likened to customers. They may turn out to know best ways to satisfy their customers and therefore, they need to be listened to. Lastly, companies ought to conduct reality checks to determine if their customers are satisfied. This could be done through surveys.

Concept of Continuous Improvement

Kovach, Cudney and Elrod (2011) note how businesses continuously improve their products and services. This was conceptualized by Kaizen. It is a concept used to measure results of a best practice used by an organisation and a way of ensuring that employees own the process. For instance, it may target an area such as the rate at which employees are injured in a scrap dealership enterprise or the period taken to process bank loans. Also, it is based on the notion that everything within an organisation may be improved by employees who are well positioned to propose and effect changes. Employees have to be trained to be able to use specific quality improvement tools for instance statistical process control among others (Syed, 2012). Further, it is important to involve every member in an organisation as the process depends on their common knowledge and co-operation.

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Excerpt out of 14 pages

Details

Title
Satisfying the Customer. Quality Management and Service Provision
Author
Year
2018
Pages
14
Catalog Number
V417366
ISBN (eBook)
9783668667846
ISBN (Book)
9783668667853
File size
488 KB
Language
English
Keywords
satisfying, customer, quality, management, service, provision
Quote paper
Benaiah Mayabi (Author), 2018, Satisfying the Customer. Quality Management and Service Provision, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/417366

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