Quality Management in Business

[Quality management in business] Quality has an utmost value and importance for all the businesses- be it a industrial unit or a services concern. There have been many definitions of quality in terms of business and services provision. It has always been a bit difficult to define quality.

2014

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2 Quality management in business

Table of ContentsTask 1..........................................................................................................................................................3

a) Discuss definitions of quality in terms of business and services provision (AC 1.1).........................3

b) Illustrate how the concept of total quality has developed from the processes of inspection and assurance (AC1.2)........................................................................................................................3

c) Discuss a range of quality management approaches you selected organization can adopt (AC1.3)4

d) Explain the similarities and differences between the different methods your selected organization can adopt, mentioned previously above (AC1.4).............................................................6

Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................9

a) Discuss what is meant by customer satisfaction (AC2.1).................................................................9

b) Explain the meaning of continuous improvement (AC2.2)..............................................................9

c) Illustrate the type of added values your selected organization would gain from implementing effective quality management (AC2.3)..................................................................................................11

d) Describe the importance given to effective marketing and the type of information made available to customers of your selected organization (AC2.4)..............................................................11

Task 3........................................................................................................................................................13

a) Explain how quality management can be measured by your selected organization (AC3.1).........13

b) Evaluate the benefit of user and non-user surveys in determining customer need by your selected organization (AC3.2)................................................................................................................14

c) List the methods of consultation employed by your selected organization using one quality scheme to encourage participation by under-represented groups (AC3.3)...........................................16

d) Identify the value of complaints procedures and analyze how they may be used to improve quality in the production line by your selected organization (AC3.4).............................................18

Task 4........................................................................................................................................................21

a) Report on the role of self-assessment in order to determine the current ‘state of health’ for your selected organization (AC4.1)................................................................................................................21

b) Evaluate the importance of communication and record keeping for your selected organization (AC4.2)...................................................................................................................................................22

c) Explain how quality schemes can be effectively implemented by your selected organization following guidelines on the stages of staff consultation (AC4.3)......................................................26

d) Propose new systems or modifications to your selected organization existing systems that could improve service quality (AC4.4).............................................................................................................28


Task 1

a) Discuss definitions of quality in terms of business and services

provision (AC 1.1)

Quality has an utmost value and importance for all the businesses- be it a industrial unit

or a services concern. There have been many definitions of quality in terms of business

and services provision. It has always been a bit difficult to define quality. However, an

appropriate and very simple definition says, “Quality is about meeting the needs and

expectations of customers.” Below is the customers’ perspective of quality:

Suitable design

Proper functioning

Reliability

Resale value

Expected life

Quality in businesses is defined in terms of the relation among customer, product and

the business.

b) Illustrate how the concept of total quality has developed from the processes of inspection and assurance (AC1.2)

The idea of total quality has developed from the methods of quality assurance in the

early decades of 20th century. Warlike environment enhanced large-scale production.

The poor quality was the result of it. In order to improve the quality, quality inspectors

were employed in the different large-scale manufacturing units. After WW-1, quality


inspectors got more importance in manufacturing units. This was the time when Dr. W

Edward Deming introduced his famous theory. This theory is called Statistical Quality

Control.

In 1950s, Dr Deming was invited in Japan by the manufacturers and in the same

decade quality control had been adopted by all the manufacturers in Japan.

From 1980s, the idea of total quality is being discussed in the world. In 1970s time total

quality was described in Japan as organization wide quality control which involved all

employees of organizations- be it higher or middle management or labour force.

In the decade of 1980s, this idea grabbed the focus of the rest of the world. Companies

began to introduce quality management procedures. This new trend was known as

Total Quality Management in the world.

c) Discuss a range of quality management approaches your selected

organization can adopt (AC1.3)

Deming’s approach

Anderson et al (1994, p.472) explains Deming’s approach to QM is “creation of an

organizational system that fosters cooperation and learning in order to facilitate the

implementation of process management practices, which, in turn, leads to the

continuous improvement of business processes, products, and services as well as to

employee fulfillment, both of which are critical to customer satisfaction, and ultimately,

to survival in the market.”

This approach seeks to create a system for an organization which enhances learning

and collaboration to help implement practices of process management; this results in

continuous improvement of product or services, employee fulfillment and business

processes. Deming believed that the means to improve quality was present in the

capability of controlling and managing processes and also in the management’s

responsibility for the achievement of this. This includes the following:


Usage of different tools

Statistical methods

Improvement to reduce variation due to special causes and common causes in

production

Management

The means for improving quality, according to Deming, lies in the ability to control and

manage systems and processes properly, and in the role of management’s

responsibility in achieving this. This including the use of specific tools and statistical

methods in the design, management, and improvement which aim to reduce the

necessary variation that occurs from ''common causes'' and ''special causes'' in

production. ''Common causes'' of variations are systematic and are shared by many

operators, machines, or products. They include poor product design, non-conforming

incoming materials, and poor working conditions. These are the responsibility of

management. ''Special causes'' relate to lack of knowledge or skill, or poor

performance. These are the responsibilities of employees.

Juran’s approach

“QM is the system of activities directed at achieving delighted customers, empowered

employees, higher revenues, and lower costs” (Juran J. M., Gryna F. M., 1993, p 25).

Juran believed that the main quality problems are due to management rather than

workers. The attainment of quality requires taking action at all levels of an organisation.

It is very important to understand customer needs. This requirement applies to

marketing, design, manufacture, and services. In order to ensure design quality, he

proposed the use of such techniques as quality function deployment, design of

experiment, reliability engineering and concurrent engineering. Juran considered quality

management as three basic processes, called The Juran Trilogy:

“QM is the system of activities directed at achieving delighted customers, empowered

employees, higher revenues, and lower costs” (Juran J. M., Gryna F. M., 1993, p 25).


According to Juran, management is the cause of main quality problems not workers.

Achieving quality needs to take action at all levels. Juran was for Design Quality

approach. According to him design quality can be improved by:

Quality function deployment

Design of experiment

Reliability engineering

Juran’s Trilogy comprises Quality Planning, Quality Control and Quality Improvement.

Quality planning

Quality control

Quality improvement

Crosby’s approach

Crosby identified some important principles and practices for a successful quality

improvement program, which include: management participation, management

responsibility for quality, employee recognition, education, reduction of the cost of

quality, prevention costs, appraisal costs, and failure costs, emphasis on prevention

rather than after-the-event inspection, and zero defects (Crosby, 1979, pp. 127–139) .

Crosby claimed that mistakes are caused for two reasons: lack of knowledge and lack

of attention.

According to Crosby management’s participation, employee recognition, management’s

responsibility for quality, quality cost reduction, appraisal cost and zero emphasis are

some important practices for quality improvement (Crosby, 1979, pp. 127–139). He

used to believe that lack of knowledge and lack of attention cause mistakes.

Education and training can eliminate the first cause. Personal commitment to excellence

and attention to detail will cure the second. Crosby also stressed the importance of

management style for successful quality improvement. The key to quality improvement

is to change the thinking of top managers. Understanding, commitment, and

communication are essential. Crosby (1979, pp.23-33) presented the ''Quality


Management Maturity Grid'', which can be used by firms to evaluate their quality

management maturity. The five stages of the maturity grid are uncertainty, awakening,

enlightenment, wisdom and certainty. The quality management maturity grid and cost of

quality measures are the main tools for managers to evaluate their quality status.

d) Explain the similarities and differences between the different

methods your selected organization can adopt, mentioned previously

above (AC1.4)

Similarities among Juran, Crosby and Deming’s approaches

It is the management’s responsibility to establish an organisational culture focusing

mainly on the commitment to quality.

That’s the responsibility of management establishing the culture of organization

The mission of the organization must be clearly communicated to everyone, and all

management action must lead to fulfilling that mission.

Company’s mission should be communicated to all stakeholders in a clear

manner. All acts and functions should be aimed at fulfillment of the mission

It is essential to have continuous education and training at all levels to promote the

concept of quality and to develop employee skills and knowledge.

Training and education are very essential at every level in the organization for

quality

It is essential to have effective communication, cooperation, and teamwork throughout

the organization.

Effective communication, teamwork and cooperation is very necessary


Almost all problems associated with quality can be attributed to management policy or

action. This means that management action is required to achieve improvements.

The customer–focused quality is a long–term process. The improvements will be

evident over time in terms of reduced costs, and organizations will be able to anticipate

and prevent problems.

Cost and quality are not in competition with one another

The differences between Juran, Crosby and Deming’s approaches

Use of Measurement: Crosby, Deming, and Juran recognize measurement concept as

vital to the process of improving the organization, but they use it in different ways: both

Crosby and Juran explained that measurement has to focus on the cost of quality. They

use the reduction in cost as an indicator to meet customer requirements. Deming

underlined importance of the unknown costs (e.g. impact from losing a customer). He

explained that measuring and meeting customer needs and expectations are major to

implementing quality improvements. He emphasis more on quantitative methods and

statistical methods rather than did his colleagues.

The use of measurement is viewed differently in the three approaches above

discussed. According to Juan and Crosby measurement should focus cost

quality. They see cost reduction as a clue for meeting customers’ needs. Deming

was more concerned about unknown costs. According to him, measuring and

meeting the requirements of customers are of excessive importance to

implement quality improvement.

Goal Setting: According to Crosby, the ultimate goal should be defect–free products and

services and a quality product or service results when the process has consistently

produced something that falls within specification limits. Deming, considers that being

within specifications is just the first step to continuous process improvement. He

advocates reducing process variation on a continuing basis to improve quality. Deming

also opposes the use of numerical goals and quotas to manage work. Juran said that

the deployment of goals throughout the organization is more important. Strategic goals


need to be deployed to all divisions and sections of the organization, and more specific

goals need to be deployed to people so that they know what to do.

Crosby suggests that the final goal of an organization should be the products

without ant defect. According to Deming, a quality product comes from the

situation when a system had been producing a product which fell within limits. He

also asserted on the need of minimizing process variation. Deming opposed the

numerical goals. On the other side, more specific goals should be assigned to

workers in order to teach them as to what to do.

Supplier Relationships: Deming approves the practice of working with a single supplier,

where possible, to reduce variability of incoming materials. To maintain long–term

contracts, suppliers will be more likely to improve their own processes to provide better

products or services. Crosby and Juran recognize some of the advantages of single

suppliers, but they take a more conservative view and simply advocate reducing the

number of suppliers. Crosby and Juran consider it important to have different suppliers

for the same product when the product is a critical one.

Crosby as well as Juran was for selecting different suppliers. On the other hand,

Deming was for selecting a single supplier- whenever it was possible- for

reducing the variation of input materials.

Leadership Commitment: Crosby describes the Zero Defects Day as the time when

management confirm its commitment to quality and communicates it to all employees.

Juran presents the annual quality program used by managers to communicate to all

employees’ management’s commitment to quality improvement. Although Deming

acknowledges that top management commitment is obligatory, he does not describe a

program for accomplishing it. To him, the leader’s new job is to “remove barriers and

create a culture that value helping others to do a better job and to feel pride in

workmanship” (Deming, 1986, pp 23-24).

Crosby says that the day when management commits to provide quality and

convey this commitment to all the employees, it’s Zero Defect Day. Juran


proposes annual quality programs for managers. According to Deming, leaders’

job is to displace all the barriers and to create an environment which helps

workers in better performance and make them feel pride.


Task 2

a) Discuss what is meant by customer satisfaction (AC2.1)

Daffy C. (1996, p.34) says “satisfied customers occur when you provide them with what

you promised or they expected” and Lam & Burton (2006) believe that “customer

satisfaction has frequently been suggested to be the leading determinant of loyalty.”

Customer satisfaction generally used to measure a customer's perception of a

company's products and services. Satisfied customers are likely to make repeat

purchases and often refer others.

The level of customer satisfaction determines the level of long-term success could be

achieved in business. There are some common solutions for improving customer

satisfaction.

Satisfied customer keep on coming back to purchase a same item. Customer

satisfaction is a measure of the perception of a customer about company’s product or

services. Following are the solutions that are being used for improving the satisfaction

of customers:

People who deal with customers set a long-lasting impression of product or

services. Therefore, these workers should be trained and well versed with

customers services.

First impression: The people who greet customers at the door are the customers' first

impression of any business, and will set the tone for the rest of the experience. They

need to be well-versed in customer service, even though they are not salespeople.

Sales: Sales team should be thoroughly knowledgeable about service or product line.

They should also be able to anticipate customers' needs and wants without prompting.

Sales people of company should not only be fully knowledgeable in terms of

product information but also able to forecast the customers’ requirements.


Customer care: There should be a system in place for customer follow-up and a part of

staff that is dedicated to handling customer feedback or complains.

Product or Service: The business offerings should be relevant to what they are

advertised. Purchasing process must be clear and easy. Delighted customers are those

who don't have to wait. Well managed after-sales service also works towards business

benefit.

There should be some mechanism to deal with customers’ response and

feedback.

The appropriate products and services should be advertised. Also, the process of

purchasing should be easy and simple. After-sale services should be very

responsive.

b) Explain the meaning of continuous improvement (AC2.2)

Hoyle D. (2007, p.31) says that ISO 9000:2000 defines continual improvement

“as a recurring activity to increase the ability to fulfill requirements.” In addition of Gaal

A. (2001, p224) continuous improvement “in a process-approach quality management

system primarily takes place by implementing corrective action through process control,

hence preventing problems from flowing down, process to process.” In other words is a

type of change that is focused on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of an

organization to fulfill its policy and objectives.

According to ISO 9000:2000 continuous improvement is a recurring activity for

increasing the requirement meeting. Continuous improvement is the name of a process

for making it sure that programs are improving the services systematically.

Issues in continuous Improvement are work flow, data management,

communication, customer service and all the things that can make some difference in

workers’ efficiency.


Continuous Improvement is a process to ensure programs are systematically and

intentionally improving services and increasing positive outcomes. It is data collection

and making positive changes based on collected information, rather than waiting for

something to go wrong and then fixing it.

There are numerous issues involving work flow, customer service,

communication, data management, and other matters that are exclusively the

competence of team that can make a big difference in improving the efficiency of team.

One of the tools can be used to implement continuous improvement in the team

is the plan-do-check-act model, also called the Deming Cycle or the Shewhart Cycle

(http://www.mindtools.com: 1).

There are some tools available for managers to be used in order to implement

Continuous Improvement. One of them is Plan-do-Check-Act Model. It is also known as

Deming Cycle.

Plan: Identifying an opportunity and plan for change. Prior to implementing a change

there must understanding both the nature of current problem and how a process failed

to meet a customer requirement.

Do: Implementing the change on a small scale. Monitoring the change after

implementation to make sure no backsliding occurs.

Check: Using data to analyze the results of the change and determining whether it

made a difference.

Act: If the change was successful, implementing it on a wider scale and then continuous

assessment of the results. If unsuccessful- begin the cycle again.

Plan: Identify a plan for change.

Do: Implement the change at smaller level.

Check: Use data for analyzing the outcomes of change


Act: If the change proves to be successful, implement it on larger level; and then

continuous appraisal of outcomes.

Oakland (2004, p335) and his colleagues have developed a framework for a structured

approach to problem solving in teams, the DRIVE model. It is an approach to problem

solving and analysis that can be used as part of process improvement.

Define the problem: The scope of the problem the criteria by which success will be

measured and agreeing the results and success factors.

Review the information: The current situation, understanding the background, identifying

and collecting information, including performance, identifying problem areas and

improvements.

Investigate the problem: Improvements or solutions to the problem, required changes to

enable and support the improvements.

Verify the solution: Checking that the improvements will bring about benefits that meet

the defined success criteria, prioritizing and piloting the improvements.

Execute the change: Planning the implementation of the solutions and improvements,

agreeing and implementing them, planning a review, gathering feedback and review.

c) Illustrate the type of added values your selected organization would

gain from implementing effective quality management (AC2.3)

d) Describe the importance given to effective marketing and the type

of information made available to customers of your selected

organization (AC2.4)


Advertising

Advertising plays an important role in successful business ventures. It entails

identifying and selecting the media that provide the greatest amount of exposure for

your business and developing effective, yet appropriate materials for each medium. It is

more than running an ad in a local newspaper, on a radio or television station or just

simply hanging a sign outside your business and waiting for the customers to purchase

your product. It requires that you know your product - that is, the selling points - and that

you develop literature that can arouse the customers' consciousness levels to the point

that they are curious enough to investigate it, and then raises their need or desire levels

to the point that they are willing to purchase it.

Advertisement

Advertisement identifies and selects the media which provides the greater

exposure for company. It is actually something beyond the running a TV ad or

publishing an ad in print media. Advertisement demands that you should know

everything about your product. For example, what are where are selling point and

developing a literature that can affect the potential customers.

More Media Formats

Newspaper, radio, or television ads (newspaper advertising is the least

expensive and television advertising is the most expensive of these formats). You

probably will need professional advice and assistance when developing ads for those

media formats. The following media formats you probably can do yourself:

More Media Formats

Electronic and print media are ever green sources. Bill boards are also cheap

source of advertisement. Our organization also used direct marketing, affiliate

marketing, business cards, classified ads, telemarketing, and sampling.


• Business cards

• Classified ads in the local newspaper

• Direct marketing

• Telemarketing (this format can be expensive, also)

• Yellow Pages advertising

• Sampling - mailing or distributing free samples of your product to the public.

• Advertising in community-based magazines or newspapers.

Whatever media format you use, be willing to invest the money needed to

develop an effective ad campaign.


Task 3

a) Explain how quality management can be measured by your selected


Quality management can be measured to have three main components: quality control,

quality assurance and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only on

product quality, but also the means to achieve it. Quality management therefore uses

quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more

consistent quality.

Quality Management could be measure in the selected organization by 3 components.

They are Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Quality Improvement. QM is

concerned with the quality of product and service as well as means to obtain it.

Quality control

Quality engineering is used in developing systems to ensure products or services are

designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements. Refer to the

definition by Merriam-Webster for further information. These systems are often

developed in conjunction with other business and engineering disciplines using a cross-

functional approach.

Quality control is the branch of engineering and manufacturing which deals with

assurance and failure testing in design and production of products or services, to meet

or exceed customer requirements

Quality assurance


QA for short refers to planned and systematic production processes that provide

confidence in a product's suitability for its intended purpose. Refer to the definition by

Merriam-Webster for further information. It is a set of activities intended to ensure that

products (goods and/or services) satisfy customer requirements in a systematic, reliable

fashion. QA cannot absolutely guarantee the production of quality products,

unfortunately, but makes this more likely.

Two key principles characterize QA: "fit for purpose" (the product should be suitable for

the intended purpose) and "right first time" (mistakes should be eliminated). QA includes

regulation of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components;

services related to production; and management, production and inspection processes.

It is important to realize also that quality is determined by the intended users, clients or

customers, not by society in general: it is not the same as 'expensive' or 'high quality'.

Even goods with low prices can be considered quality items if they meet a market need.

Quality improvement

There are many methods for quality improvement. These cover product improvement,

process improvement and people based improvement. In the following list are methods

of quality management and techniques that incorporate and drive quality improvement

b) Evaluate the benefit of user and non-user surveys in determining

customer need by your selected organization (AC3.2)

User Profile survey

Trying to implement hardware and software standards but not sure what your End

User's requirements are? User Profile survey gathers the inputs required to quantify

your user community's usage behavior, critical applications, skill levels & training

requirements, hardware and software requirements. The User Profile survey groups


technology requirements by job function to help you plan and develop common PC

platform standards lowering TCO.

Features

The following examples provide potential uses of the data provided:

The User Profile survey is ideal for planning and developing PC computing

standards to reduce the total cost of technology (TCO).

Learn how your Users use their computer systems including frequency, duration

and locations.

Discover which applications your users deem as critical to their job.

See what your Users are experiencing in terms of system, application and

network reliability.

Determine how your Users perceive their proficiency levels on systems and

applications.

Benefits

The User Profile survey provides the following kinds of benefits:

Improved HW planning - used to develop common hardware configuration

standards lowering TCO of hardware and operational support.

Reduced SW license risk & cost - used to develop common software

profiles/standards to reduce the risk and cost non required applications.

Understand the computing habits of your Users in order to balance service levels

and costs.

What do I get?

1. Telephone/email support during the data collection phase

2. Electronic templates to help collect necessary information

3. Softcopy (PDF) findings report

4. Teleconference to review findings and outcomes.


c) List the methods of consultation employed by your selected

organization using one quality scheme to encourage participation by

under-represented groups (AC3.3)

Unions and Employee Involvement

In general, unions support quality improvement programs but express concerns regard-

Management exercising too much control over employees. Union representatives I must

be involved in any program involving employees. Although employee involvement J has

been widely accepted, it could be a problem if not properly addressed. In some in-1

stances where management takes too much control over employee involvement, it

could 1 be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935. Some have

argued j that a law passed to serve a good purpose in 1935 may not be appropriate for

today's problems. However, unless the NLRA is amended, it is in the best interest of

management to be sure actions taken will not violate the NLRA. Teams should not

discuss wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of| work. In some

cases, these limitations will adversely affect the team's objective. Both management

and unions must examine long-held views of what constitutes proper union-

management relationships. Desire for unilateral power must be changed to shared

power for the benefit of employees and the organization. A joint process of determining

how best to proceed to effectively meet the competition, especially* from foreign

organizations, is the only sensible solution. Management must recognize and respect

the unique role unions play in employee involvement. A feeling of trust must be

established and a partnership developed between management and the union.

There are two ways in which unions and management have chosen to deal with the

implementation of employee involvement in an organization. Some have chosen to work

Co-operatively, giving union membership on quality councils and having them

participate \ fully in planning, implementation, and evaluation of the entire effort. Others


have adopted the more "traditional" mode of bargaining the impact and implementation

actions affecting those in the improvement team. Each approach presents benefits and

potential risks.

Union involvement improves the continuous improvement process; however, union

leadership runs the risk of criticism from other members if it is perceived as working too

closely with management. The nature of the relationship will be determined by the

background and history or the labor-management relations in the organization and the

willingness of the union to participate. Ideally, the leadership of the organization will

seek early involvement of the union and make the nature of the involvement as specific

as possible. An example of union-management cooperation is illustrated by the

collective bargaining agreement between the United Auto Workers and Ford Motor

Company.

It provides for joint leadership in the quality improvement effort by joint committees at

the corporate, division, and facility levels. These committees have the authority of the

contract to plan, implement, evaluate, and expand quality systems as needed. Many

organizations can provide evidence that their successful quality systems can be

attributed to the unions. Unions will grow if they are seen as a superior way to support

democracy in the workplace and improve the performance of the organization.

Benefits of Employee Involvement

Involving employees, empowering them, -and bringing them into the decision-making

process provides the opportunity for continuous process improvement. The untapped

ideas, innovations, and creative thoughts of employees can make the difference

between success and failure. Competition is so fierce that it would be unwise not to use

every available tool.

Employee involvement improves quality and increases productivity, because

Employees make better decisions using their expert knowledge of the process.

Employees are more likely to implement and support decisions they had a part in

making.


Employees are better able to spot and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Employees are better able to take immediate corrective action.

Employee involvement reduces labor/management friction by encouraging more

effective communication and cooperation.

Employee involvement increases morale by creating a feeling of belonging to the

organization.

Employees are better able to accept change because they control the work

environment.

Employees have an increased commitment to unit goals because they are

involved.

d) Identify the value of complaints procedures and analyze how they may

be used to improve quality in the production line by your selected


Importance of complaints

By complaining up when customers believe they have not received the service they

expected, consumers or service users give organizations an opportunity to fix problems

and restore goodwill. If customers don’t complain, company would not know there is a

problem.

Complaints offer organizations an opportunity to correct problems immediately. They

also provide constructive ideas for improving services, practices and policies.

Recognizing the importance of responding fairly and efficiently to customer

disappointment, many organizations have established effective and customer-sensitive

systems for resolving complaints. In the private sector, those companies with a positive

philosophy and a reputation for fair complaint management have a competitive edge.

Complains procedures


In order for a complaint handling policy to work effectively it must be supported by a

written policy and procedures that give clear direction on complaint handling. This will

assist staff in resolving, conciliating and investigating all kinds of complaints from

service users. It is important that the complaint handling policy is endorsed and

supported by the heads of the organization, as well as senior management, and that

staff are fully aware of the organization’s approach to complaint handling and

the standards expected from them.

The policy and procedures should be easy to understand, well-publicized to both

service users and staff and easily accessible.

A complaint handling procedure may contain:

How service user feedback will be encouraged (feedback / complaint forms / on-

line forms / dedicated email address / telephone number)

What complaints are accepted: verbal, written, anonymous etc

Who is responsible for taking the complaint (at each stage of the process) and at

what point the complaint is referred on (at each stage of the process)

How complaints and their outcomes will be recorded

Timeframes for resolution and other performance standards - including guidance

on what happens if these are not met

Acceptable forms of redress and clear levels of delegated authority for staff

Review and appeal mechanisms if the complainant is not satisfied

Clarification on what kind of analysis should be carried out on complaint data

How complaint analysis should be reported including mechanisms for reporting

trends / underlying causes of concern

Ways to make recommendations for organizational change to improve service

delivery as a result of complaint data

If the complaint is about the product features:

Once the complaint is received authorized person or department would conduct

an investigation on the complaint to know whether it is true or not. Once it is


found true next step will be finding out whether the problem is only with the single

sold piece of product or all the pieces of product.

Responsible people will make arrangements to solve or overcome the defect.

When it comes to quality this will help to make effective developments on the

product which increases quality. At the same time competitive advantage can be

gained.

If the complaint is about the customer service:

If a complaint is received on the service of the organization, proper actions

should be taken and the defect must be overcome. It is so important to identify

whether the problem is with an individual employee or with overall staffs. If it is

with all the staffs there will be a need for further trainings and new rules.

Through this organization will gain customer satisfaction which is a distinct

advantage for quality.


Task 4

a) Report on the role of self-assessment in order to determine the current

‘state of health’ for your selected organization (AC4.1)

Self-assessment is an essential activity for any organization to ensure its stability in

various areas. Also a self-assessment helps the organizations to make amendments to

ensure stability and efficiency.

Usually organizations have a routine set of activities to ensure stability and

development. A self-assessment would check those activities whether they are done or

not. Those activities are,

Board members clearly understand their roles and responsibilities for financial

health

Board receives and reviews complete financial information at every meeting. A

computerized accounting/recordkeeping system is maintained records

All staff understands their responsibilities regarding the financial systems

Process in place to develop a well-considered and realistic budget

Budget is reviewed by the board and approved before the fiscal year begins

Organization routinely budgets for an unrestricted operating surplus

Financial reports are prepared in an accurate and timely manner

Staff and board regularly compare financial results to budgets

Regularly plan for adequate cash balances, including cash flow projections and

monitoring

Maintain cash balances or reserves appropriate for the organization (minimum 30

days)

Maintain a system for tracking restricted or designated funds

Payroll tax deposits are made when due

Organization is able to pay bills and make loan payments when due


Written financial policy in place including responsibility and authority for financial

decisions

Adequate and appropriate internal controls are in place and maintained

Maintain a system for compliance with all required legal and funder reporting

Annual financial audit (or comparable annual review) completed and reviewed by

board

Board and staff regularly review short-term and long-term plans and goals

b) Evaluate the importance of communication and record keeping for your

selected organization (AC4.2)

The importance of free-flowing forthright communications, both downward from

management to employees and upward from employees to management, can hardly be

overemphasized. Whether it’s to support morale and productivity among the workforce

or to assure that management takes advantage of employee input, good

communications are essential. Where downward communication is poor, rumors and

misinformation will fill the vacuum. Where upward communication is poor, employee

grievances will fester driving down morale and productivity and increasing vulnerability

to union organizing.

The following checklists of suggested vehicles for upward and downward

communication can help you gauge whether your organization is performing as well as

it might with respect to internal communication.

Upward Communications

General manager’s routine staff meeting with supervisors: In addition to

production issues, these staff meetings should also include topics of interest to

employees with respect to business developments, company affairs, and any


other topics that and any other topics that should be communicated by

supervisors to rank and file.

General Manager’s routine meeting with non-supervisory employees: In addition

to production issues, these meetings should emphasize issues that involve pay

and benefits, problems, complaints, rumors, and questions.

Supervisor’s routine meeting with employees: Upper management should ensure

that supervisors have routine meetings that cover topics beyond production that

are of interest to employees. In many environments, there is a tendency for

supervisors to overlook these important communications vehicles while under

pressure to produce.

Employee newsletter for home delivery: The spouse should become involved in

events and conditions to give the entire family a stake in and appreciation of the

employee’s job.

Newsletters for supervisors: Subscriptions to appropriate newsletters that provide

supervisors with information on how to do their jobs better and how to handling

employees and job problems. Or create a regular supervisor newsletter

internally.

Bulletin board program: Every attempt should be made to make the bulletin

board a viable source of information—in most cases bulletin boards fall into

disuse.

Employee handbook: Handbooks should be published in an attractive, easy-to-

use format so that they are readily usable by employees as a source of

information.

Supervisor’s handbook: This document can serve as a training aid as well as

communication tool.

Downward Communications

Routine discussion meetings between employees and their supervisors:

Supervisors should be trained in techniques for generating discussion among

employees and in how to feed the information “up the line” on a routine basis.


(Supervisors also need to be trained to feed information back down to

employees.)

Supervisor’s appraisal of individual employees: Periodic appraisal by each

supervisor on each employee under his or her supervision, including specific and

focused questions which the supervisor must answer about each employee with

a method for passing this information “up the line” in order to fix a “status

appraisal” on each employee.

Manager’s appraisal of individual supervisors: Again, use focused, specific

questions, recognizing that weak, arbitrary, unfair, or excessively harsh

supervisors are a prime cause of employee discontent and acting out; be sure

this information goes “up the line” in order to correct supervisory problems.

Attitude surveys: Annual, anonymous questionnaires given to employees; use

customized, specific questions that will alert management to trouble spots.

Employee suggestion program: For employees and family members, give

monetary awards or other forms of recognition for accepted suggestions.

Grievance procedure: Have a non-adversary system where employees feel

uninhibited in bringing their complaints and grievances past their immediate

supervisors.

Open door policy: Encourage employees to ask questions and take their

concerns to anyone in the company.

Exit interviews: Every employee who leaves the company should be interviewed

and their comments on working conditions and morale recorded.

The main focus of business communications is to:

Give out information;

Make your ideas understood

Initiate some action;

Share ideas, attitudes, beliefs;

Establish links with other people.

Conclusion


All the above vehicles are effective. But more important than any specific vehicle for

upward or downward communication is the commitment by top management and the

supervisory staff to the ongoing importance of communication to the success of the

business mission. This must be implemented through regular, consistent effort by

management at all levels.

Record keeping

Everyone in business must keep records, especially those that will come in handy when

it's time to think about taxes on the business. Good records will help you do the

following:

Monitor the progress of your business. You need good records to monitor the progress

of your business. Records can show whether your business is improving, which items

are selling, or what changes you need to make. Good records can increase the

likelihood of business success.

Prepare your financial statements. You need good records to prepare accurate financial

statements. These include income (profit and loss) statements and balance sheets.

These statements can help you in dealing with your bank or creditors and help you

manage your business. Remember, an income statement shows the income and

expenses of the business for a given period of time. A balance sheet shows the assets,

liabilities, and your equity in the business on a given date.

Identify the source of receipts. You will receive money or property from many sources.

Your records can identify the source of your receipts. You need this information to

separate business from non-business receipts and taxable from nontaxable income.

Keep track of deductible expenses. You may forget expenses when you prepare your

tax return unless you record them when they occur.

Prepare your tax returns. You need good records to prepare your tax returns. These

records must support the income, expenses, and credits you report. Generally, these


are the same records you use to monitor your business and prepare your financial

statements.

Support items reported on tax returns. You must keep your business records available

at all times for inspection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If the IRS examines

any of your tax returns, you may be asked to explain the items reported. A complete set

of records will speed up the examination.

c) Explain how quality schemes can be effectively implemented by your

selected organization following guidelines on the stages of staff

consultation (AC4.3)

Implementing a quality scheme is not an easy task for an organization. Implementing a

quality scheme is a very expensive and long term activity. Any organization would need

dedication, support and contribution from its staffs in order to implement the scheme

effectively.

There are some basic staff consultation steps for the implementation.

Making them understand the importance of the quality scheme

To get high contribution and dedication from the employees, employees needs to

be explained and known the importance of the quality scheme which is going to

be implemented.

This will help the employees to understand the impacts of the scheme on the work

place, organizational reputation and image.

Once the employees understand the benefits they would support highly to get it done.

Adopting the change


Staffs should be prepared to adopt the changes due to the implementation of new

quality scheme. Otherwise there may negative results due to the implementation. So the

organization needs an effective change management.

Trainings

Trainings should be arranged for the employees to support the implementation

effectively. This would help the organization to achieve high support from employees.

Main Stages of Consultation

1. The first, setting up, stage (now completed) has helped to scope out the main

issues and the main groups and sectors to consult. It also ended with agreement

amongst key parties on the format of the consultation.

2. In early November there will be a workshop for around 40 key stakeholders from

specific groups and organizations. The aim of that event is to work together to

generate a range of quite different options or choices for the future of The Rec.

The workshop will also produce what those stakeholders (not the consultation

manager or technical consultants) believe to be the main arguments for and

against each option.

3. Before moving on, the emerging options will be given a quick technical evaluation

on legal, financial and other aspects. This will be provided by Ernst and Young

4. The next stage is for ‘all’. The main part of this will focus on a questionnaire

asking people not just to choose an option but to say ‘why’. That way it will be

possible to evolve and refine solutions, pick and mix from options and use new

ideas.

5. There will be several formats to the questionnaire. One will be used with a

statistically selected sample group (managed by a specialist survey company)

and another will go to a wide range of groups and organisations within Bath. A

third will be available on this website and at other locations for anybody to

complete. It will be available for 6 weeks to allow as many as possible to

respond, especially groups which may wish to meet to discuss it. (Please note:

The questionnaire will not be a 'referendum' but a major guide to the outcome.


The most robust results will come from the statistically managed sample but

results from the more open formats will also be given appropriate weight.)

6. As is often the case, some key groups - for example, young people – may well

not respond to the questionnaire format. Special events may be run to ensure

their voices are heard.

7. As a mix of option(s) and/or new ideas emerges they will be given a more

thorough technical check. If there are outstanding issues, on planning aspects for

example, these will be explored in small meetings or workshops.

8. As well as keeping you up to speed on progress, reports of events, etc on this

website, there will be a high profile public announcement of what emerges at the

end of the process.

9. The final task, working with the original key consultees, will be to produce a full

‘Report of Consultation’ – a complete audit trail to show how and why the result

was generated.

d) Propose new systems or modifications to your selected organization

existing systems that could improve service quality (AC4.4)

Service Quality

Strategies that have produced significant results in production are often harder to

implement in a service environment. Thanks to the teachings of Deming, Juran, andol

ers, significant strides have been made in manufacturing. The same results have to

slower in service organizations or service activities in manufacturing. , Customer service

is the set of activities an organization uses to win and retain of customers' satisfaction. It

can be provided before, during, or after the sale of the product exist on its own.

Elements of customer service are:

Organization


Identify each market segment.

Write down the requirements.

Communicate the requirements.

Organize processes.

Organize physical spaces.

Customer Care

Meet the customer's expectations.

Get the customer's point of view.

Deliver what is promised.

Make the customer feel valued.

Respond to all complaints.

Over-respond to the customer.

Provide a clean and comfortable customer reception area. Communication

Optimize the trade-off between time and personal attention.

Minimize the number of contact points.

Provide pleasant, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic employees.

Write documents in customer-friendly language.

Front-line people

Hire people who like people.

Challenge them to develop better methods.

Give them the authority to solve problems.

Serve them as internal customers.

Be sure they are adequately trained.

Recognize and reward performance.

Leadership

Lead by example.

Listen to the front-line people.

Strive for continuous process improvement.


I have selected ISO management standards to propose new modifications. Here are the

common principles of ISO management standards.

Customer focus

Leadership

Involvement of people

Process approach

System approach to management

Continual improvement

Factual approach to decision making

Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Proposed new principles

Evaluation of customer service skills of employees

Key benefits

Increased effectiveness of service

Better understanding of customers

Increased customer satisfaction

Development of employee skills

Increased customer retention

Increased customer base and market share

Better image for the organization

High reputation

High customer loyalty

Better communication with customers

Increased employee retention

Good inter relationship of employees

Key benefits

Better decision making

Better problem solving


Increased coordination

Increased employee retention

Effective work activities

High result in short time

Increased motivation

Increased knowledge sharing

Reduced training costs


References

Andersen, E., Grude, K. and Haug, T. (2009). Goal directed project management. 1st

ed. London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Anjoran, R. (2011). What is a quality control inspection? - QualityInspection.org.

[online] QualityInspection.org. Available at: http://www.qualityinspection.org/qc-

inspection [Accessed 11 Aug. 2014].

Bized.co.uk, (2014). Business studies teaching and education resources: Biz/ed.

[online] Available at: http://www.bized.co.uk [Accessed 11 Aug. 2014].

Daffy, C. (2001). Once a customer, always a customer. 1st ed. Dublin: Oak Tree

Press.

Deming, W. and Orsini, J. (2013). The essential Deming. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-

Hill.

Deming, W. (1986). Out of the crisis. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study.

Drucker, P. (1954). The practice of management. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row.

Ezinearticles.com, (2014). EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality

Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article

Reprints. [online] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com [Accessed 11 Aug. 2014].

Forman, E. and Selly, M. (2001). Decision by objectives. 1st ed. River Edge, N.J.:

World Scientific.

Lovelock, C., Wirtz, J. and Chew, P. (2009). Essentials of service marketing. 1st ed.

Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall/Pearson.

Turner, J. (n.d.). Handbook of project-based management. 1st ed.


Uncommon-knowledge.co.uk, (2014). Self help, personal development, training from

Uncommon Knowledge. [online] Available at: http://www.uncommon-

knowledge.co.uk [Accessed 11 Aug. 2014].

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Quality Management in Business

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