Lecture 9 - Quality and Improvement

Question 1

CTQ

Answer 1

Critical to Quality (QTC) Tree

Needs -> Drivers -> CTQ Characteristics

What do we need, what do we need to implement in order to do so?

Question 2

Methods in Measuring Service Quality

Answer 2

Transactional surveys

• Mystery shopping
• Lost-customer surveys
• Focus group interviews
• Customer advisory panels
• Service reviews
• Walk-through audits
• Complaint and inquiry capture
• Total market surveys
• Employee field reporting
• Employee surveys
• Service operating data capture
• In-app surveys
• Social media/online forum monitoring

Adapted from: Berry and Parasuraman (1997)

Question 3

Quality Definition

Answer 3

The ‘consistent conformance to customer expectations’

(Slack and Brandon-Jones (2018:378))

Question 4

Dimensions of quality management

Answer 4

Immprove Continuously

Top Management Commitment

Focus on Customers

Focus on Processes

Base Decisions on Facts

Let Everybody be Committed

Question 5

Levels of Quality Management

Answer 5

1) Inspection
2) Quality Control
3) Quality Assurance
4) TQM

(Hill & Hill, 2012)

Question 6

Statistical Process Control

Answer 6

• Processes will exhibit some central tendency, e.g. a mean (average) performance level
• In practice all process exhibit some variation around this central tendency due to: – Common causes – natural variation in process capability – Assignable causes – variation assignable to a particular and preventable cause
• Statistical process control (SPC) is a technique for monitoring processes as they produce goods and services
• Control chats can be used to display and monitor process variations

Question 7

Quality Management Values

Answer 7

Top Management Commitment

Improve Continuously

Focus on Customers

Let Everybody be Committed

Based Decision on Facts

Focuss on Processes

Question 8

Quality Management Tool

Answer 8

Control Charts

Plots

Ishikawa Diagrams (cause and effect)

Brainstorming

Why-Why

Pareto Diagrams

Check Sheets

Process Mapping

Question 9

Stratification Definition

Answer 9

Stratification means splitting the data into groups to aid analysis of patterns and potential causes

Question 10

Quality Circles

Answer 10

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Standards Models (e.g. ISO 9000)

Six Sigma - a set of management techniques intended to improve business processes by greatly reducing the probability that an error or defect will occur.

Quality Awards

Self-assessment models

Methodologies

Question 11

Six Sigma

Answer 11

Control

Define

Measure

Analyse

Improve

• Six Sigma was pioneered by Motorola in the 1980s
• Initial focus was the manufacturing process but the techniques were soon applied to service processes
• GE (General Electric) and Allied Signal (Honeywell) made Six Sigma a high-profile business phenomenon
• According to one online report* as a result of Six Sigma:

– 1996-1999 GE saved USD 4.4 billion (1.2% of revenue)

– 1986-2001 Motorola saved USD 16 billion (4.5% of revenue)

– 2000-2002 Ford saved USD 1 billion (2.3 % of revenue)

• A study by Swink and Jacobs (2012) concluded that ‘the benefits of Six Sigma adoption tend to more than compensate for associated costs and required investments’

Chakrvorty (2009) reviews reports of problems with Six Sigma:

– Research suggesting that nearly 60% of corporate Six Sigma programmes fail to yield desired results

– 3M and Home Depot abandoned their Six Sigma programmes

– Less than 50% of survey respondents in aerospace were satisfied with the results of their Six Sigma programmes

Question 12

Institutionalising Quality Management Programmes

Answer 12

Supportive Culture

Leadership

Strategic Fit

Resources