Evolution of Quality in Japanese Firms
The evolution of quality in the Japanese firms in 1950s are discerned with the involvement of the major manufacturers who has been able to contribute significantly in military technology and equipment. The main manufacturers have been extensively involved in the military production which has been converted into civilian production. It has been discerned that the main obstacles during this time convinced Japan for improving the quality and reputation. The shock of losing the war led to exploring the new ways which are seen to be based on the involvement of the important considerations for improving the overall quality. The evolution of the quality management during 1960s and 1970s led the Japanese manufacturers to increase their share in the U.S. market. The main rationale for this was seen with increasing focus on the superior quality aspect. The main form of the impacted industries was seen with “consumer electronics, automobiles, steel, machine tools”. In the 1990s the U.S. companies were seen to be separated with the planning and execution activates which are inherent with the Taylor scientific management. In addition to this, the during the last half of the 20th century, the implementation of the “Total quality management” was seen to be evident in both the countries. In the 21st century, quality aspect is seen to be moving its target with increased focus on productivity and considering the customer perception which catches up with the main facts. The advent of newer concepts has led to bridging the gap between the Japanese and U.S. firms in terms of the quality aspect.
In my view customers are not always right in their opinion. However, it is not correct to openly tell the customers that they are wrong straightaway. The business needs to put themselves in a better position to evaluate and support the opinions of the customers. Once the factors such as time, safety, money and business disagreements has been evaluated then it is possible to evaluate the various rationale for the agreements or disagreements of the opinions. The assessment as per the Kano Model on the customer expectation is able to suggest on the three types of main requirements. This is stated with “Satisfying basic needs”: which allows an organization to get into the market, “satisfying performance needs: Allows a company to remain in the market” and “satisfying excitement needs”, this particular aspect allows a company to excel in its own class. The Kano analysis can feature the main form of the expectations which are seen to be based on the various considerations allowing for the fulfillment of the basic customer needs. Some of the various types of the other considerations needs to be taken into account whether the standard characteristics is able to increase or decrease the satisfaction of the customers by a certain degree. The unexpected features need to be addressed with the characteristics which accompanies to the needs of the customer and also able to address the various considerations pertaining to company earning extra credit. These needs are typically seen to be unspoken in nature.
Importance of Employees for Quality Service Delivery
The conceptualization of zero defect is pragmatically is viewed as quest for the perfection for improving the overall quality in the product development or the manufacturing process. The theory of zero defect can ensure that there is no wastage involved in the manufacturing process of a project. Zero defect is a concept used in the quality management coined by “Mr. Philip Crosby” which refers to the implementation of the Six Sigma. Crosby used this concept as a major theory to implement this in organizations and ensure maximum quality. As per the standard prescribed in the Six Sigma it has been inferred that the definition of zero defect is seen to be based on the notion of 3.4 “defects per million opportunities (DPMO)”. This consideration allows for 1.5 sigma scope of shift in the overall process. Based on the research conducted by Philip Crosby, the true perfection may not be achievable but at least the quest will be able to push the quality aspect to further limits and improve the process to a point where it may be acceptable under the most stringent metrics. The zero defects theory is based on the implementation of four elements. The first aspect of the quality is able to state on assurance to the requirements. The second aspect ensures the integration of the quality process from the beginning instead of solving the issues at a later stage. The next important aspect under the zero defect is stated with the measurement of quality in financial terms. It is important to judge the waste, production and revenue and its impact on the budget. Additionally, it is necessary to judge the quality with performance in terms of the accepted standards.
As per the concepts prescribed by Deming, the principles of the quality management were focused with improving the quality of the product and at the same time reducing the costs. The reduction in the cost was included with the consideration for lessening of “waste production” and “reducing staff attrition”. The Deming theory of profound knowledge is made up from knowledge about variation, psychology of change, theory of knowledge and appreciation of a system. The depictions made from the “Crosby’s Absolutes of Quality Management” is able to state on the measurement of quality in conformance to the requirements and not goodness. It has been further stated with achieving the quality by prevention and not appraisal and accepting the fact that quality has a performance standard of zero defects which is not acceptable to the quality levels. The philosophy also states that measurement of quality is done at the price of nonconformance and not indexes. The theory has been seen to compliment each other by eliminating the cons of the individual processes. The main advantage of the implementation of both the process will be able to significantly reduce the defect level in the waste and striving the perfect process which cannot be met in a realistic manner. The combination of both the models will further able to improve the overall process by building a better environment which aims at continuous improvement in service.
Importance of Information Technology for Quality Service Delivery
In today’s service sector, the main motto of the business organizations is to provide the customers of the companies with quality services. In the business organizations, different factors are responsible for the delivery of quality services to the customers. Two of these most important factors are Employees and Information Technology. The following discussion shows the importance of both the employees and information technology in the delivery of quality services:
In the business organizations, service employees play an integral part in the delivery of quality services. In the service organizations, the front line employees and the other employees who provide support to them have equal role to play for the success of the service organizations. The process of production and consumption run simultaneously in the service organizations and the service employees have direct contact with the customers for the delivery of the entire services. Thus, the service employees have large effects on the quality of the provided services. For this reason, employee satisfaction plays an integral part in this process as satisfied employees posses the ability to make satisfied customers and satisfied customers lead the organizations towards higher profitability. Thus, based on this above argument, it can be said that in the absence of employee satisfaction, it will be difficult for the companies to gain customer satisfaction. Apart from employee satisfaction, the employees needs to get enough training in order to develop necessary skills for delivering high quality of services. For this reason, the employee are required to go through all the necessary formal education and training processes to become skillful. Most importantly, the service employees need to get training on the development of interactive skills to be able to allow the customers with courteous, responsive, empathetic and caring services. Thus, the above discussion indicates that service employees play an integral part in delivering quality services.
Example: In this context, the example of Sony Corp (ADR) can be provided as the company is well known for their quality customer services. The key focus of Sony is to increase the profitability and to retain their customers by providing quality services. For this reason, Sony has established over five hundred customers service centers with effective employees.
Apart from employees, information technology has large importance in the delivery of quality services. It needs to be mentioned that the business organizations largely relies on the various aspects of information technology in the manufacturing and delivery of services than the employees. It can be seen that most of the companies are using various electronic channels so that the customers can check the price of their products. At the same time, different aspects of information technology play a crucial role in minimizing the inconsistency between the employees and the customers. Thus, it can be seen that the implementation of different information technologies has made it easier for the companies to provide quality services to their customers.
Examples of Quality Service Delivery: Sony and Uber
Example: In this context, the example of Uber can be provided. It can be seen that with the help of information technology, the customers of the company can book cabs from their cell phones. Thus, it helps in providing quality services to the customers.
For the success of the business organizations, Quality Management is considered as one of the most crucial aspects. Quality Management refers to the process to ensure that the quality of the products and services of the companies is consistent. It needs to be mentioned that there are many quality thought leaders all over the world and their approaches have developed different processes for ensuring the quality of the products and services. Among all of them, two of the greatest quality thought leaders are W Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran.
Born in the year 1900, W Edwards Deming was an American engineer, professor, statistician, lecturer, author, and management consultant. According to him, business organizations can improve the quality of their products and services with the help of the reduction in costs. As per him, reduction of costs includes reduction in waste, reduction in staff attrition and increase in customer loyalty. On the other hand, Joseph Juran was an Romanian born American engineer and management consultant and he is famous for his quality management approaches. According to his philosophy, business organizations are required to put more focus on the quality of the end produces. According to him, companies are required to put focus on the education and training of the senior management employees in order to maintain the quality of services and products. As per him, the main barrier in quality management is the resistance of the employees to change and human relation problems. Thus, from the above discussion, it can be seen that there are differences between the approaches of W Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran. The focus of the approach of W Edwards Deming was on the reduction of cost to improve quality of products and services. On the other hand, Joseph Juran emphasized on the training and education of the management employees for the improvement of product and service quality.
It needs to be mentioned that the approaches of both Joseph Juran and W Edwards Deming are highly applicable in twenty-first century. No one can ignore the importance of cost reduction for increasing the quality of products and services. In today’s business world, most of the companies have adopted various cost reduction strategies like Crosby’s Absolute Quality Management, Deming’s Plan Do Check Act Cycle and others. At the same time, the companies are also required to train and educate the managers about various aspects of quality management. Thus, both the approaches are applicable in today’s world. However, it needs to be mentioned that the approach of Joseph Juran needs a little modification in this century. He mentioned about educating and provide training the managers of the companies. However, in modern business, employees are considered as the main key of success. For this reason, in case of the modifications, it needs to be mentioned that the employees of the companies are required to be trained and educated for maintaining high quality of products and services; and to provide the customers with quality services.
Concept of Zero Defects and Quality Management
Kano model analysis is a valuable method for majority of the organizations to ascertain the requirements of the customers in terms of features expected and features to be taken into account into the product or service. As a result, it helps the organizations to drive them from the mindsets of profit minimization. As a result, this model enables the organizations to include additional innovative and significant features into their products or services. Kano model does not pay much attention into the profit levels of the products or services. Instead, it enables the organizations to lay stress additionally into customer delight along with prioritizing the critical to quality features, which need to be inherent in the product or service.
This model has been formulated on the part of Dr. Noriaki Kano in the 1980s. The details of this particular model are reliant on two dimensions, which take into account customer satisfaction and performance or function of product or service. This model analysis further states that a product or service could possess three kinds of attributes, which are discussed briefly as follows:
These attributes could be described as those features, which the customers want to be present in the products and services of the organizations. Such needs of the customers are unspoken typically. In case, the features are absent in the product or services or the desires of the customers are not met, the dissatisfaction level of the customers would increase. On the contrary, if the features are inherent only in the products and services, the customers might not be extremely delightful regarding the same. Hence, these requirements or features should be understood particularly regarding their presence in the products or services. For instance, at the time of hotel booking, it is expected that the bed sheets would be fresh and the rooms and washrooms are cleaned. The visitors find no reason to tell the same at the booking counter. However, if these desires were not met, customer dissatisfaction would increase,
These features are not essential; however, if they were present, the satisfaction of the customers would increase. For instance, when a customer book a hotel, they might search for a non-smoking room or a room near to the elevator with an attached balcony. If any particular desire is not met, the customer might still book the room; however, it could have been better with the inclusion of such facilities.
Quality Thought Leaders: Deming and Juran
These attributes are those features, which the customers normally do not expect and when they obtain the same, their satisfaction level is increased greatly. For identifying these features, the suppliers need to conduct a detailed survey of the needs of the customers and available services or products in the market. After completion of the survey, the suppliers could add these features into the products or services. For instance, when a hotel room is booked, providing complimentary breakfast and drinks could increase the customer satisfaction level.
Based on the above evaluation, Kano model could be illustrated in the form of a diagram as follows:
According to the statement “empowerment is earned”, it is understood that the right of remaining in power with numerous authorities is earned only at the time an individual could carry out the correction activities for noble cause. Thus, no one could ask for empowerment. Instead, it is a privilege, which an individual earns from the society, since the individual has performed noble deeds for them to ensure the societal welfare. At the time empowerment is provided to an individual, the accessibility is enhanced with influential and capital conflicts. Hence, it would become essential for the individual to maintain an effective balance and check. However, it needs to be kept in mind to act accordingly within the limits. The overall welfare is needed to drive the actions of the individual rather than self-interest.
In case of the other statement, it could be stated that increased power is derived from additional responsibilities. This indicates that empowerment is necessary for all individuals; however, there are certain limitations of empowerment, which the individuals are needed to follow. Empowerment does not signify that the individual or group in question could control everything. Hence, effective checks need to be present into stuffs, which should not fall under empowerment and they need to be carried out effectively in accordance for benefitting the overall community.
The role of quality is immense in the software products. In other words, quality denotes the conformity of the product to the effective standards and designs. Thus, it could be termed as the output and it could be utilized for ascertaining the quality of a specific product. The products need not be faulty and the functions and activities are needed to be carried out for which it has been formulated. By user-based quality, it could be understood that the final users need to be able to carry out all such activities due to which the software is formulated. The customer satisfaction level could be ascertained through value-based quality, which would add value to the organizations as well. The compliance of different design and functional standards could be ascertained based on manufacturing-based quality for assuring the rightful functioning of the products.
There is a close association between Kano model and quality, since this model is utilized for describing the overall quality concept. According to this model, the first need is the quality. Under this method, less importance is provided to those attributes at the time they are achieved. However, if such attributes are not accomplished, it might result in increased dissatisfaction level. On the contrary, there is presence of a single-dimensional quality. This describes that satisfaction could be derived at the time of compliance with the attributes and dissatisfaction could be obtained from the non-compliance. Another form of quality identified is the attractive quality. This indicates that the entire satisfaction is accomplished at the time the attributes are matched completely. However, non-conformity does not indicate entire dissatisfaction. Hence, satisfaction governs each stuff and task achievement and the product or process quality is ascertained on the part of the same.
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