Service Quality Improvement

BUS 642 Business Research Methods & Tools

Service Quality Improvement

Introduction

Service quality management plays critical roles in the general management and the overall success of the business organizations. Provision of customer-centered services is at the heart of satisfaction of the business customers which has positive impact on the profitability of the business enterprise. Due to the current dynamics in the market demands, customers’ tastes and preferences form the basis under which the provision of services should be anchored on. In other words, service quality management aims at aligning the organization goals and the satisfaction of the customers in the long-run profitability and sustainability. Therefore, this research paper will discuss how business enterprises can put in place measures that help in the enhancement of quality management systems (Goetsch & Davis , 2014).

Background Information

Quality management is one of the most common organizational philosophy that functions to promote the long-term success and sustainability of an organization as a result of customer satisfaction. This is only possible through the establishment of effective quality management systems as well as processes which are able to continuously improve the quality and economic values of goods and services provided by the business enterprise (Goetsch & Davis , 2014).

Additionally, the quality management also significantly improve customer experience as far as the provision of goods and services are concerned. This is particularly important in maintaining brand loyalty. Similarly, the improvement of customer experience also helps in countering the impact of stiff competition from the rival firms. Normally, the formation of processes for successful quality improvement in an enterprise is focused on: continuous improvement, managerial involvement, customer satisfaction, measurability and recording of quality, and organizational support (Goetsch & Davis , 2014).

The Management Dilemma

The most common form of ethical dilemma facing the management of most business enterprises; is the decision to choose between provision of high quality goods and services and the incurring increased spending on quality improvements. There has been constant challenge resulting from spending more on quality improvement such as liquidity crisis faced by the business organization. In this research paper, a lot of emphasis will be placed on how best practice can be incorporated by managers in quality management to improve the operations of an organization (Goetsch & Davis , 2014).

Furthermore, other than focusing on improved quality of products and services, improvement of products and service must be connected to the input of employees. The research paper will evaluate how employees contribute to the process. An example of quality management tools is the Shewhart model of quality assurance; PDCA which means Plan, Do, Check, and Act. Ultimately, the research will address the different stages and phases in a company’s quality management system and propose on the best practice to enhance each of these stages (Vasconcellos, 2004).

Research Question

Hypothesis

1. What management measures should business organizations put in place to improve the quality of goods and services they provide to their customers?

H0: The creation of management processes and procedures will significantly improve the quality of goods and services provided by the business enterprises to their customers.

H1: The creation of management processes and procedures will not significantly improve the quality of goods and services provided by the business enterprises to their customers

Research Design and Sampling Data

The research used qualitative method approach. This approach is participant friendly thus yields much in terms of research expectations. The research uses of interviews and diary entries. This was helpful in capturing raw data from the customers for purposes of conducting the scientific study research. Additionally, the qualitative approach is most appropriate in gaining of valuable insight into a theory, phenomenon or any other aspects of the research. Using the qualitative study approach will help in gaining useful insights into the quality management systems for improved product or service delivery. Since the qualitative interview is for different groups- employees, organizational managers and customers, sales and administrative employees, a stratified sampling strategy helps in achieving objective results. Testing of the hypotheses will be done thorough statistical approach based on the established relationships between different study parameters. The lie Kart’s scale will be used to quantify the response from the study subjects (Kim, Kumar, & Kumar, 2012).

Ethical Issues

There are ethical challenges or issues associated with conducting research especially in the case of collecting primary data from participants. Firstly, gaining IRB approval is key because respondents will be involved in gathering data. Secondly there is the issue of protecting the privacy and confidentiality of respondents who give primary data for the study. The personal information or details of the research participants, say name, age, work designation and other details cannot be disclosed in the survey. The respondents must be assured a great deal of confidentiality and privacy in the manner in which their data will be handled.

Thirdly, cultural competency is an important element in selecting research participants. Both gender should be equally represented in the study to ensure the gender bias is completely dealt with. Lastly, the selection of the respondents will solely be based on the ability and willingness to respond to the survey questions and not on ethnic backgrounds or culture and therefore this addresses the professional and ethical issues associated with collecting primary data (Goetsch & Davis , 2014).

Summary

ISO 9000:2000 is a quality management system which benefits a company in improving the quality of products as well boost employee performance. This is a basic tool for any company which wishes to develop its quality management system. I believe that by using this tool, a company can adequately examine the different processes and incorporate some of the ISO 9000 approaches to correct the different management and quality challenges.

References

Goetsch, L. D., & Davis , B. S. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Kim, Y. D., Kumar, V., & Kumar, U. (2012). Relationship between quality management practices and innovation. Journal of operations management, 30(4), 295-315.

Vasconcellos, J. (2004). Quality assurance for the food industry: a practical approach. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.