Abstract:

In today's world Quality Management is of utmost importance in ensuring that project deliverables meet certain quality standards so as to ensure that all project outputs are ready/fit for use.

It is the management of the processes of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that project will satisfy the needs for which it is undertaken.

The basic principles for the Quality Management philosophy of doing business are to satisfy the customer, satisfy the supplier, and continuously improve the business processes.

In this knowledge paper I would discuss about how quality management came into picture, how it is useful for various projects, why should it be employed, and various activities of quality management (quality planning, quality assurance, quality control).

Introduction:

One of the most important issues that businesses have focused on in the last 20-30 years has been quality. As markets have become much more competitive - quality has become widely regarded as a key ingredient for success in business.

Producing products of the required quality does not happen by accident. There has to be a production process which is properly managed. Ensuring satisfactory quality is a vital part of the production process.

A frequently used definition of quality is “Delighting the customer by fully meeting their needs and expectations”. These may include performance, appearance, availability, delivery, reliability, maintainability, cost effectiveness and price. It is, therefore, imperative that the organization knows what these needs and expectations are. In addition, having identified them, the organization must understand them, and measure its own ability to meet them.

Quality starts with market research – to establish the true requirements for the product or service and the true needs of the customers. However, for an organization to be really effective, quality must span all functions, all people, all departments and all activities and be a common language for improvement. The cooperation of everyone at every interface is necessary to achieve a total quality organization.

[task1]

What is quality management?

Theorists have noted that Quality Management is the process of ensuring that things

are done right the first time, without any errors. Hannagan, (2002, p.184) stated that

Quality Management is "an intensive, long-term effort to transform all parts of the

organization in order to produce the best product and service possible to meet

customer needs". With this in mind, restructuring of organizations must be

implemented. This can be achieved with Total Quality Management programme/s

(TQM), otherwise called Total Quality Control or Total Quality Improvement.

Quality Management encompasses the entire organization and is implemented from

the top management level, which instils the shift. This requires change - the redesign

of the organizational structure, culture, and work habits. This is done through

participative management, incorporating internal customers in the process of

decision making and planning.

Quality in terms of service:

Quality in service is defined by Bolton and Drew (1991) as the customer’s

assessment of the overall excellence or superiority of the service. As Parasuraman

et al. (1985) claimed that fully understanding of the three characteristics of services

which are intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability is essential to understand the

service quality.

First is the intangibility. The service quality is different with the product quality. The

product or physical goods quality can be measured by the tangible aspects of the

product, like the appearance, shape, colour, etc. But the service quality is normally

intangible, so it is difficult to get the information on how the customers satisfy about

the service.

Second is the heterogeneous. The service usually involves a lot of labour content.

So the different producers may provide different services to the same customer. Or

one producer may provide the different services to different customers. These are all

because of the uncertainty of human being. In summary, in this characteristic, the

customer may not get the service which the producer actually provides.

Third is the inseparability. Service is not like a product which can be made and

stored. Services’ production and assumption are inseparability (Parasuraman et al.

1985, 1996). So this means that when a service is created and offers to the

customer, the customer is enjoying the service at the same time, like the massage.

This aspect also implies that the service quality can be controlled when the service

being offered by producers or customers. For example, haircut is the situation which

the service affected by the requirement of the customer.

Quality in terms of business:

In the competitive world of business, the most successful companies will be more

efficient, more responsive, produce and support the better products, and so on. In

short, the company which practices the best quality control will be successful. To aid

in the process of achieving better quality, the principle of Quality Management was

invented. Refined to a dogma of business buzz words, the underlying concept is one

of commitment to the ideal of customer satisfaction through continuous

improvement.

The simplest way to find out quality excellence in business is by consulting staff and

customers. Ask if there is anything they can think of that would improve the business

or the service it provides or there are specific problems that need to be addressed.

The method of consultation can vary. It may be best to use a written survey,

especially dealing with large workforces or customers spread over a wide

geographical area. Alternatively, a forum could be held with a representative cross

section of employees or customers, which would allow development and discussion

of any issues arising.

Once the business has established that changes are necessary, how do they go

about making those changes? Regardless of the way the data was gathered, the

issues will have to be analysed and addressed somehow.

[task1]

Quality in terms of customer satisfaction:

Customer satisfaction is not an objective statistics but more of a feeling or attitude. If

a customer is happy with a product or a service it has hired or purchase they will pay

their bills promptly, which greatly improves cash flow-the lifeblood of any

organization.

Customer satisfaction can be secured through high quality products and services

(Getty & Getty, 2003). Edvardsson (1996) reflected that the concept of quality should

be approached from the customer's point of view, since it was his/her perception of

the outcome that constituted the quality. Customers may have different values and

different grounds for assessment and most of the time they may want to acquire the

same service quality in different ways. The concept of quality has been the subject

of many research studies in variety of service industries, attention and even research

towards hospitality industry has been growing. However, these research studies

were mostly focused on Australia, Korea, the United States and Europe.

Furthermore, today's business environment and the multicultural diversity of

international tourists points to the importance of developing a better understanding of

the culturally different tourist (Reisinger & Turner, 1999). As mentioned by Camison

(1996), poorness or non - existence of customer satisfaction measuring systems

could cause the hotel companies to be lacking in market orientation. Attributes of the

service and product that add value for the customer and increase his or her

satisfaction might be unknown and that gives no guide to the hotel operators for

improvement projects.

[ task1]

How quality can be measured?

I believe that it will take at least four measurements to measure the quality of an

organization. One measurement is the outcome. If outcome of an organization is

negative then I will perceive the quality as negative also. Outcomes should be

evidence-based processes. The second measurement is company health status. If

one company is healthier than some other else that is terminal, I feel that they should

get more quality than we just for the simple fact of comfortableness to draw out

without being a new paradigm. Company status of both, individuals and non-

individual, should be compared to peer practices. The third measurement is

customer satisfaction. If they are not satisfied then they do not believe that there

was quality involved at all. The process and access of organization should be

assessed. Last but not least, the fourth measurement is value. Value expresses

professionalism to the organization and is very important to both organizations and

suppliers.

Example:

Here I have explained quality of the Hilton hotel. Hilton receives a fair amount of

information from the internet for the quality measurement, where the customer

supplies much of the needed information when designing their own computers based

on their own research of service products.

As Hilton exemplifies above, quality has a customer-first orientation. Customer

satisfaction is seen as the company's highest priority. The company can only realize

success if their customers are satisfied with the quality of the information and

product provided. As a total quality management company, Hilton is sensitive to

their customer requirements and responds rapidly to them. Ashley Loran, a recent

Hilton customer, delivers her testimony of her quality-managed experience with

Hilton. Hilton assumed total responsibility for the service error, manufactured a new

service and sent it overnight.

[Task2]

Quality schemes adopted by the commercial operators:

To implement quality successfully commercial operators continuously ensure

performance by creating a culture involving all internal and external customers.

These customers will have an input in the end result of the product or service and as

such the organisation will have satisfied the customers' requirements/concerns.

There are various schemes required to improve quality. The main four are that

Quality Circles, Benchmarking, Just-in-Time, Statistical Process Control and I have

also discussed the rationale behind these systems.

Quality Circle:

Quality Circles (QC) is approached to control and improve products or processes

within organisations, is established by voluntary teams comprising of six to ten

individuals from the same area or unit. This method has been said to originate in

Japan and involves participative management, allowing the workers regardless of

their positions to make valid contributions.

The group meets on a regular basis to discuss and decide on solutions to solving

problems, which are either implemented by the team or in most cases presented to

management for review and then possible implementation. If teams are to function

well management must give the necessary support and time for teams to meet, as

well as finances to facilitate training for team members and the implementation of

solutions.

Benchmarking:

Benchmarking is achieved through comparison with other organizations, mostly

those that are similar to the organization in question or best in the field. This

comparison is achieved through reviewing the business operations. It is a means of

measuring performance, services and or products by collecting and analyzing data,

which may be applied to specific areas in an effort to identify what is done differently

and how it is accomplished. There are four types of benchmarking.

Type Function

Internal Comparing operations across your business

Functional Comparison of business activities within the same industry

Generic Comparing business activities not related to a specific industry

Competitive Comparing your activities to other competitors

Just in time:

Just in Time is an inventory control system where efficient production processes help

reduce inventory levels (Lean Manufacturing). Supplies are received only when

needed. This eliminates wastage and storage facilitates and minimizes cost. As

such, products have to meet pre-identified quality standards, as stock will not be

stored at a warehouse to replace defective products during manufacturing.

With this type of system there is the need for management to have defined lines of

communication with both staff and suppliers; if not, this result in the failure of having

no stock to fall back on at the time needed for processing, which would affect

production time and customers by lost of orders.

Statistical process control:

SPC is used to monitor and measure processes with the aim to improve on

consistency of quality for products through statistical analysis. This is carried out by

sampling using control charts. The process involves collecting data at different

stages of the production process through inspection techniques to track variation.

Control chart

These benefits of SPC cannot be obtained immediately by all organizations.  SPC

requires defined processes and a discipline of following them.  It requires a climate in

which personnel are not punished when problems are detected and strong

management commitment.

Identify definedprocess

Identify measureable

Attribute of theprocess

Characterize natural

Variation of Attributes

Track variation

IdentifyAssignable

cause

Remove assignable

cause

Is proces

scontrol

led?

Yes No

Similarities and differences of the processes:

Team improvement quality gives a sense of accomplishment, which enables team

members to drive the project. Benchmarking method is simply like quality circle to

work from the smallest to the largest organisation can tailor methods to suit its

individual needs. Benchmarking and quality circle allow an organisation to

continually meet the changes within its environment by recognizing its flaws and

improving on them.

Benchmarking uses manpower - teams have carried out research that may require

them to be out of the office on various occasions. This results in loss of time in

labour. Here SPC plays a critical role. SPC received from research and be reported

to the relevant persons to avoid discord and misunderstanding which will hinder the

process of effective implementation.

[task2]

Importance of communication and record keeping quality schemes:

Communication - is a common management process - planning, organization,

command and control thread. Leaders have the plan to communicate with others in

organization and organizing the implementation of the plans have been talking to

others about how to better distribute power, and design work.

Record keeping is an important key role of an organizer and the main aspect is to

assist planning and set future learning goals to the learner. Records may contain

company’s physical information as well as manager’s observation on the

performance. They need to continually reassess to meet changing needs, e.g.

personal situations may change and they may need to be considered to assist the

employee to complete their training.

Example:

In Hilton organization co-workers communicate amongst themselves through proper

communication. If it is a noisy factory, verbal communication would be ineffective so

employees of this organization communicate nonverbally with hand signals,

gestures, or facial expressions. Here supervisor is communicating the worker’s

assigned work area, or desired production for the day, verbal communication would

work fine, but if vast amounts, or important information needs to be communicated,

written communication would be the best choice.

Keeping records of lesson plans and scheme of work enables the manager of the

Hilton to reflect on how their quality scheme plans are progressing. This form of

record has the benefit of allowing the management to critically evaluate the process

on an individual basis and the implementing techniques they use to transmit

knowledge. It carries the possibility to assist in the development of new tactics and to

continuously monitor where/who would benefit from adjustments.

[task3]

Relation between quality and the information given to customer:

The relationship of quality and the information given to the customer, relevant

information reveals that the choice of standard is an issue customer expectation.

Desires, equity and experiences are some of the standards most frequently

employed (Woodruffet, 1991). Such an approach has caused confusion and some

past research has not specified which standard should be sued for assessing service

quality and customer information.

According to the researcher quality is the gap between customer information and

perceived performance. Therefore, the idea of normative expectation was introduced

and the wording of expectation statements was changed from “A company should

have..” to “An excellent company will have..” to capture the new conceptualization.

Parasuramen (1991) argued that excellent service is similar to the ideal standard

used in the satisfaction literature. However, Tas (1993) identified several problems

regarding this concept. He pointed out that according to the gap model, in certain

situations the perceived quality may decline even if the perception exceeded the

ideal expectation. He also showed that interpretation of the ideal service customer

information performance varied among respondents- a point that threatened validity

of the survey outputs.

Importance of affective marketing:

Affective marketing for business is very important as it aids in the growth and profit

for business. There are various ways through which small and medium type

business marketing at a very reasonable budget. Advertising is an important part in

marketing for business. A short and simple advertisement is much appealing than a

lengthy and boring one. Moreover, it will cost much less than the big budget ads

created by the reputed brands and also will help in promoting business.

At the beginning it is required trying to include some offers in advertisement. This will

help you a great deal as people love free and discount offers, and it is a very

important strategy in marketing for small business. When one is marketing for

business, always keep a cheaper version of product in stock. As many of the

customers don’t want to pay the price because they consider it to be high. So for

these customers, selling product cheaper and in smaller packages is a smart

business strategy.

[ task3]

Difference in benefits between user and non-user surveys to determine

customer needs:

Customer needs are the basis thing for a success business. A good way to learn to

do something better is to observe in action those who do it very well. The company

who know their customers better than anyone else has more chance to success. In

order to know your customers first of all is to know what a customer is. There are

several tips is identified by user based survey for the benefit:

(1)A customer is the most important person in any business.

(2)A customer is not dependent on us.

(3)A customer is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it.

(4)A customer does us a favor when he comes in.

(5)A customer is an essential part of our business, not an outsider.

(6)A customer is not just money in the cash register.

(7)A customer deserves the most courteous attention we can give him.

(8)Without him we would have to close our doors.

Non user surveys provide the profile of average customer; they are the first source of

information. These special data are the most common means for segmenting market

and for identifying new targets wish to reach with your product or service.

There are numerous ways to gather qualitative and quantitative data. Among the

most common qualitative research tools are: face to face in-depth interviews,

opportunistic interviews, telephone interviews, on-site interviews, and focus group

interviews.

It is a serious mistake to attempt to launch a survey initiative in an organization

benefit which has internal problems or issues that may be counterproductive to the

new service culture. The employees represent one of most valuable means for

gathering information about customers. They are kinds of sort of frontline radar; an

early warning system. And each of them can function as a valuable data collection

centre. The employees can be your best secret weapon in the war to win customers.

You need show them how to do on-the-spot market research. Other radar stations

for gathering customer information are at refund and exchange counters. These are

the best opportunities to learn about customers need.

[task3]

Consultation suggestion scheme to encourage under-represented group:

Employee involvement scheme:

Employee involvement scheme is one of the quality schemes that can help where

both management and employees are willing to be open in their attitude and

behaviour. It allows employee participation and employee support through mutual

agreement. Unless an atmosphere of trust is in the air, the relationship can’t be

successful. Gennard & Judge (1997) explain that employee involvement schemes

can thrive where both management and employees are willing to be open in their

attitude and behaviour, operating in a background with no disputes and

confrontation; allowing employee participation; employee support gained by

agreement not by force.

In Consultation employees exchange views and information. However it is still upon

management to make the final decisions but management takes into account the

views of employees before making the decisions. CIPD (2004) report on agenda for

change mentions ITV’s EI initiatives. ITV’s approach to employee relations is based

on engaging with its employees. It achieved this by a combination of methods, such

as; collective bargaining, consultation with elected employee representatives and

direct engagement with individuals.

It is a face-to-face communication scheme that encourages a dialogue between

management and employee representatives. It is believed that employees become

well informed about company operations and therefore choose to support

management initiatives. We can use this option as it will lead to direct participation

from employees.

[task3]

Complaints procedures:

The purpose of an effective complaints procedure is to ensure all complaints are

resolved quickly and efficiently. The credibility of the Investors in a company is

paramount and it should be perceived as a benchmark of quality. The information

gained from complaints should be used to inform and improve practice within the

both the company and the delivery network. It should also be used to influence the

executive board of the Investors in People UK in defining and setting organizational

strategies.

In Hilton hotel complaints are handled by quality projects manager who will then

ensure that the complainant receives some form of response. In most cases this will

be a written acknowledgement using e-mail or letter, unless the complainant’s

preferred communication method in the telephone. If this is the case then the detail

of the conversation will be recorded.

The management of the Hilton hotel is required to investigate complaints against

organisations that are located in their defined geographic locations, regardless of

whether the quality management department has previously been responsible for

assessment and review of the organisation concerned.

In Accor Group hotels details of the complaint and associated information will then

be entered into the Investors in People Enquiry Management System Database.

Each complaint will automatically receive a numeric identifier, which should be

quoted on all written correspondence, should the complaint require formal

investigation.

Once the complaint has been received in database, the quality projects manager will

check the following information using the National Database of all the organisations

that have achieved the Standard:

Whether the hotel in question is recognised as an Investor

The recognition or last review date, which may have a bearing upon which

version of the Standard the organization, has been assessed against.

[task4]

Role of Self assessment in order to determine organization health:

Self-assessment is the process of critically reviewing the quality of one’s own

performance and provision to assess the other organization. An integrated approach

is to conduct an organizational self-assessment with a purpose to assess an

organization's readiness and risk for a planned change. The self-assessment utilizes

a multi-dimensional approach and incorporates an organizational analysis to assess

its supportive organizational climate and cultural analysis to assess the strength of

its organizational culture. The assessment method utilizes a mixed methodology

using a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques to determine the

organization's readiness to change. A risk analysis is determined by the difference

between the level and type of planned change initiative and the organization's

readiness to change. With the aid of self assessment the level of risk to change

provides an insight on the organization's alignment to their strategic, climate, and

cultural designs. The significance in providing such insight provides organizational

leaders, researchers, consultants, and academia information prior to implementing

the change as to its level of readiness and risks if the organization decides to

implement the change initiative for different levels of planned changes. The results of

this study are intended to provide guidance to assess the others who may develop

similar initiatives in the future. This article summarizes aspects of a more

comprehensive work concerned with the conditions and attributes of successful

organizational change.

A plethora of organizational change self assessment technique can help to

intervention and strategies have been attempted to align organizations in

implementing change initiatives. Organizations have invested into reengineering,

total quality management, downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, cultural changes,

restructuring, software/technological development and implementation, and other

interventions in an attempt to successfully implement change initiatives.

[task4]

Staff consultation for effective implementation:

Processes for finding out staff consultation think are particularly valuable when a

team / organization is facing change and re-structuring for quality development.

Organization doesn’t like change, particularly when they have no choice in the

matter. The effects of re-structuring can be huge and lead to low morale, insecurity,

and feeling side stepped and undervalued. Ideally, consultation would happen before

major change occurs, but sometimes this is not possible. Either way, consulting staff

on the effects of change, drawing out their best strategies and ideas for moving

forward with the change, and how the organization can best support them is a

powerful and motivational process.

Staff consultation is committed to putting the following schemes of quality and

diversity into practice, in workforce and in the services it offer by:

Ensuring policies, services and functions do not have an adverse impact on

staff from different quality target groups through systematic quality impact

assessments and promoting equality at every opportunity. 

Improving customer satisfaction by aiming to provide information and services

that are equally accessible to all sections of the community, and where all

customers can expect to receive the same quality and outcomes of service

irrespective of ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability, age, religion or

belief. 

Striving to become a model organization and model employer and

mainstreaming equality and diversity principles proactively in all that it does.

 

Skilling our workforce to understand and apply quality and diversity in their

roles through comprehensive mandatory equality and diversity training. 

Developing a diverse workforce that is representative of the population of the

community that we serve enabling us to develop our ability to understand and

reflect the diverse needs of patients and staff and provide a more appropriate

and responsive service. 

Enabling our workforce to feel positive about the organization in which they

work by involving them in its continuous review and improvement. 

Consulting effectively and enabling a wide range of people to be involved in

shaping the way that they work.

[task4]

A new system to improve service quality:

Service quality is defined as the degree of excellence intended that meets customer

requirements (Wyckoff, 1992). However, Carey (2003) points out the service quality,

the result of a comparison between the expectations of a customer and the actual

service they received. Therefore, understanding gap between the expectation and

the received service can be a key source of the service quality.

Here we have introduced a new system to improve the service quality which is

known as SERVQUAL, a survey instrument that measures service quality. According

to Saleh and Ryan (1991), it was initially devised for the assessment of services

within the financial sector, and consists of a 22-item, seven-point Likert Scale where

all of the issues were directly applicable to a hotel.

Implementation:

First, to adopt SERVQUAL scheme on the Hilton hotel, quantitative research will be

used and the data are from existing the company’s record. Not only the quantitative

data but also qualitative research will be used to identify the service quality gaps

which brought to inconsistency between the guest expectations and the guest

perceptions. The staffs of the Hilton can have in-depth and face-to-face interviews.

The interviewees will be included the reception GOs, the sport activity GOs, the bar

and restaurant GOs and whoever village GOs to identify the gap. This provided the

researcher to recognize which department has the most contact with the general

manager.

Next step is for sampling procedures and in the process the reception desk or the

front desk will allow information relate guest complaints. It is because of in many

hotels, the front desk has high level of contact with guests and also the reception

desk will receive the majority of guest complaints.

Conclusion:

The quality of service will be a major component of the future hospitality industry

continuously. Therefore hotels need to manage the service quality with various

theories and methods. As discussed above, this report has applied new scheme and

on the hotel to identify the service gaps. Accordingly, if the Hilton hotel uses the

service quality, they can reduce gap and provide customer satisfaction. The any

efforts from hotel’s marketing cannot be stand on long term period solely. However,

the quality of the interactive service between hotelier and the guest can be possibly

long term and this can be why the improving service quality is important to hotel.

Both service quality theories and models’ measurement is a customer satisfaction.

Thus to improve a hotel or resort’s service quality with customer satisfaction, the

whole of departments should link and think about the service quality together so the

all of employees and the senior mangers generate continuous improvements.

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Service Quality and Value’, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 375-

384.

Parasuraman, A, Zeithaml, VA & Berry, LL, 1985, ‘A Conceptual Model of Service

Quality and Its Implications for Future Research’, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49,

No. 4, pp. 41-50.

Hanagan, T., (2002). Management: Concepts and Practices. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall

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