Total Quality Service

Principles, Practices, and Implementation

D.H. Stamatis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781884015830
• eBook ISBN: 9781351407687
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Gestión industrial

Total Quality Service rises to the business challenge of the 90s. It explains in the most concise terms possible the principles of TQS. The research stands-most unhappy customers do not complain. Instead, they never again buy from businesses that just once left them unsatisfied. What then is TQS? In the simplest terms, it is the true commitment to operationalizing the concept of customer focus, establishing service performance standards, measuring performance against benchmarks, recognizing and rewarding exemplary behavior, and maintaining enthusiasm for the customer at all times. Companies that do not provide quality service not only won't compete-they won't exist. Let Total Quality Service put you and your employees on the cutting edge of customer satisfaction.

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QUALITY

It has been said that quality is in the eyes of the beholder. Therefore, quality has many definitions and means different things to different people. This chapter focuses on the term quality. Specifically, our focus is to identify the ingredients and the strategy that service organizations must understand, internalize, and implement in order to define the term as it applies to them.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Quality has been defined in many ways over the years. However, the most common definitions are basically the following:

1. Conformance to requirements (Crosby 1979)

2. Fitness for use (Juran 1979)

3. Continual improvement (Deming 1982)

4. As defined by the customers (Ford 1984, 1990) 5 Loss to society (Taguchi 1987)

6. Six sigma (Harry and Stewart [Motorola] 1988)

7. Zero defects (Crosby 1979)

Certainly these definitions are acceptable. However, the question still remains: What are the ingredients of a quality system that define, plan, develop, and improve quality in order to ultimately satisfy, or even delight, the customer?

To answer this very fundamental question, we must explore and understand some basic strategies dealing with the human element in any organization. We must do so because quality begins with the single individual, regardless of position, and not the quality department, as some still think today. Let’s examine these strategies, which become the prerequisites of defining quality.

Define and Provide a Clear Objective

Companies must have a clear objective in order to be successful in defining quality. Planned, if not controlled, expansion (in every domain within the organization), timely change, and effective continual innovation will permit steady growth and respectable profits, as long as the vision and objectives of the organization are defined. In order to remain competitive, growth and profitability have to depend on internal creativity and financial powers, to be sure. This is illustrated in Figure 1.1, which shows in a graphic format the phases of performance. However, the objectives based on some form of customer requirements or quality are the foundations of that growth and profitability. (From the author’s experience and literature research, the only exception to this rule is Stevens’s (1991, pp. 74–76) thesis that “quality does not sell quick printing.” Rather, Mr. Stevens’s contention is that a good marketing plan is of importance. Mr. Stevens concludes his article by admitting that “quality is expected but it does not help to advertise it.”

FIGURE 1.1 Phases of performance

It is important that the definition of quality for the service organization account for all the main ingredients for which the organization is known (Figure 1.1, as is)and identify (Figure 1.1, as could be)and totally support them. It must be noted that in order to do this, sometimes paradigms must shift and the culture must be renewed.

Initiate or Redefine the Culture

Initiating or redefining the corporate culture is aimed not at problem solving, but at improving basic conditions within the organization, so that all employees can work more successfully. A typical redefinition of culture and expectations is shown in Table 1.1. The goal of this new culture is to foster a spirit of commitment within the entire organization that will further the corporate aims contained in the company’s basic principles and management guidelines. This is demonstrated through Table 1.2. This goal should be encapsulated in the definition of quality.

When we are about to initiate and/or redefine the culture of the organization, much thought must be given to the values and ethics within the organization. The two are not the same. For example:

Values	Ethics
Define the individual	Translate values into actions
Are constant	Are changing
Are internally derived	Are situationally determined
Are concerned with virtue	Are concerned with justice
Are general	Are highly specific
Are stated morally	Are stated behaviorally
Are judged as good or bad	Are judged as present or absent
Set priorities	Set limits for appropriate behavior

TABLE 1.1 Typical Redefinition of Culture and Expectations

Category	Previous	Future
1. Jobs and people	Functional, narrow scope, management controlled	Service/service task forces, shorter cycle time, ownership, reduced inventory, employment stability, job flexibility
2. Technology and workplace layout	Product trends: management driven	Continuous flow, work-space-need oriented, perfection of processes
3. Role of manager	Plan, organize, motivate, control	Lead continual improvement, develop people, visionary—committed to total organization
4. Information and communication	Downward, limited, need-to-know	Greater sharing of needed information, integrated databases, continued emphasis on personal communication
5. Reward system	Pay by job and longevity, few team incentives	Reward for performance, improve performance appraisal system— link to pay, gainsharing for group involvement/rewards
6. Organization and structure	Authoritarian: top to bottom	Organization-project matrix oriented, fewer layers of management, suppliers as extensions of internal flows
7. Personnel policies and symbols	Hierarchy: status symbols	Reinforce core values, fewer procedures, enhancement of presenteeism program
8. Recruitment, selection, orientation, and training	Skills and knowledge	Behavior, ability, skills, long-term needs

TABLE 1.2 Assumptions of a Control versus a Commitment Company

Characteristic	Control	Commitment
1. Trust	People are untrustworthy, irresponsible	People are inherently responsible, committed to quality
2. Motivation	People work for pay; carrots and sticks apply	People are motivated by work itself, achievement, recognition, growth; responsibly respond to “ownership”
3. Results	Achieved via controlling behavior through policies and procedures; use of checks and balances	Achieved via (1) very high performance goals, (2) supportive relationships, (3) teamwork, (4) positive climate
4. Organization of work	Broken down into narrow elements; jobs specialized, individualized; coordinated and controlled with hierarchies	Integrated functions through teams; teams linked vertically and horizontally
5. Management-worker relationships	Arms-length; different goals; status reinforced with perks; adversarial, win–lose group-to-group; fear useful; people expendable	All employees share common destinies; people are most precious resources; open, problem-solving atmosphere; core values reinforced
6. Priority and focus	Financial performance achieved by cost and schedule via compliance with procedure; “good enough” quality achieved by sp...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• The Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Quality
• Chapter 2: Product versus Service
• Chapter 3: Communication and Management
• Chapter 4: Total Quality Service Implementation Strategy
• Chapter 5: Teams and Empowerment
• Chapter 6: Conflict Resolution
• Chapter 7: Customer Service and Satisfaction
• Chapter 8: Benchmarking
• Chapter 9: Problem Solving and Tools Used in TQS
• Chapter 10: ISO and Services
• Appendix A: How to Design, Implement, and Manage a Superior Customer Service Program
• Appendix B: Key Components of Customer Service
• Appendix C: How to Establish a Customer Service Plan for Your Company
• Appendix D: The Customer Service Test
• Appendix E: How to Identify the Current Condition
• Appendix F: A Generic Continual Improvement Tool Matrix
• Appendix G: Examples of Cost of Quality Items in Service
• Selected Bibliography
• Index