3.3 The Concept of Quality

Question 1

What is a quality product?

Answer 1

A product that meets the expectations of the business’s customers.

Question 2

How may a business identify customer expectations in terms of quality?

Answer 2

Through market research.

Question 3

How may a business measure the quality of their products?

Answer 3

> level of product return.
> mystery shoppers.
> customer loyalty.
> customer complaints.
> customer satisfaction.
> failure/reject rates.

Question 4

What are the consequences of a business with quality problems?

Answer 4

> higher production costs
↳ customers may need replacements causing cost.
➞ repairing faults.
➞ producing products that can’t be sold ads to costs without earning income.
loss of sales
↳ bad customer experiences result in buying from competitors.
➞ reputation for quality problems may not attract new customers.

Question 5

What is meant by the term “quality assurance”?

Answer 5

A process of carrying out quality checks at specific stages during the production process.

[this ensures that facts and sub-standard products are found sooner rather than at the end]

Question 6

What is meant by the term “quality control”?

Answer 6

The process of inspecting products and services to ensure its met the expectations fo customers.

[checked at the end of the production process]

Question 7

What is meant by the term “total quality management (TQM)”?

Answer 7

Where the quality of the product is the responsibility of each employee in a business to ensure quality remains the same.

[reduces waste by cutting down on waste]

Question 8

What are the drawbacks of maintaining quality?

Answer 8

> inspection costs
↳ when employees are inspecting, they are not engaged in producing good or services.
staff training
↳ employees may need training which can be expensive and takes them away from producing goods and services.
costs of time.

Question 9

What are the benefits of maintaining quality?

Answer 9

> additional sales/customers
↳ repeat purchases and attract new customers.
good image/reputation
↳ increase in sales.
higher prices.
↳ be able to charge higher prices for the products resulting in a rise in profits.

Question 10

What are the advantages of TQM?

Answer 10

> quality is embedded into the organisation resulting in few quality issues.
improved motivation for employees as they are responsible for the quality.
better relationship between employees and management leading to possible increase in productivity.

Question 11

What are the benefits of good customer service?

Answer 11

> increased customer satisfaction.
increased customer loyalty.
increased spending.
increased profits.