Total Quality Management and its Applications

This assignment delves into the principles and practices of Total Quality Management (TQM), examining its impact on organizational performance. Students will analyze provided research articles and case studies to understand how TQM is implemented in different sectors, including education, food processing, and service industries. The assignment encourages critical thinking about the effectiveness of TQM strategies and their role in achieving customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Concept of quality management..................................................................................................3
How customer expectation of processes, services, and product can be met through company
operations.....................................................................................................................................4
Best way to develop quality management...................................................................................5
Relationship between customer satisfaction and high quality service.........................................6
Description of existing business process.....................................................................................7
Quality framework.......................................................................................................................8
Opportunities for process improvement......................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
In the modern era, delivery of quality products and services is essential for the growth
and success of a business enterprise. In simpler terms, quality can be defined as the distinctive
characteristic of products or services which satisfy the need and demand of customers in the best
possible manner. It can be also expressed that there is a direct relationship between quality and
customer satisfaction (Barata & Cunha 2017). Low product and services quality can directly
result in developing the high degree of dissatisfaction among customers. On the other side of
this, good quality of products and services encourage customer loyalty and repeat purchase.
However, it can be critically argued that management and improvement in quality, in the long
run, is not an easy task for organizations as there are various issues and challenges faced during
the same (Tzamalis, Panagiotakos & Drosinos 2016). For example, companies are required to
focus on areas such as continuous improvement, leadership, change management and feedback
from stakeholders.
The present study is based on ‘A special restaurant – food truck,’ and it outlines, the
overall concept of quality management. In addition to this, existing business process and quality
management systems within food truck are also mentioned in the study.
Concept of quality management
In the present scenario, the changing business environment and market needs have
resulted in creating obstacles for growth and success of companies. Nowadays, businesses are
required to maintain the highest level of quality within their products and services to sustain in
the marketplace (Mok, Sparks & Kadampully 2013). The latest trend in the restaurant business is
of the road food business which is getting more and more popular along with the passage of time.
Here, different food products and services are delivered to customers through mobile food truck
and portable sustenance trucks. At present, the industry’s overall value is more than $1 Billion,
and from the year 2007 to 2012, the industry has witnessed an annual growth rate of 8.4%.
On the contrary of this, it can be critically argued that along with high growth rate, the
industry has also become highly competitive. To attract new customers and retain the old ones, it
is required by the selected business which is food truck restaurant to focus on delivering the best
quality of food products and satisfactory services to all customers. In today’s business world,
quality is essential because it helps in meeting the need and expectation of customers in the best
possible manner (Pineda 2013). In addition to this, the overall reputation of a food truck in the
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market can be enhanced by delivering quality products and services. According to the concept of
quality management, the overall cost of operations increases when the quality of products and
services offered by a company is poor. The food truck is required to emphasize more on the
aspect of quality management to reduce operational cost and enhance profit margin. However, it
can be critically argued that difficulty in implementation is the major drawback associated with
the concept of total quality management (Augusto, Lisboa & Yasin 2014). The food truck is also
required to carry out effective monitoring of all its processes and operations to identify loopholes
and take corrective measures to improve quality.
How customer expectation of processes, services, and product can be met through company
operations
Nowadays, meeting customer expectations of processes, services, products have become
vital for long-term growth and sustainability of companies. Furthermore, the customers want that
businesses should opt for a quality process which can deliver satisfactory products and services.
It can be stated that implementing a customer feedback system is the best and most potential way
through which the expectation of customers can be meet in the best possible manner. The food
truck can adopt a feedback system wherein reliable data about products and services quality can
be collected through customers (Davis et al. 2013). Based on the information gathered, corrective
measures can be taken by the selected food truck business to carry out improvement in the
quality and attain the higher degree of satisfaction among customers. However, it can be asserted
that the business will need to ensure that the feedback provided by customers is taken seriously
and immediate actions for improvement are carried out.
On the other hand, customer’s expectations with regards to processes, services, and
products can be meet through the adaption of open communication channels. The key and most
important characteristic of service industry are that here employees comes in direct contact with
all customers (Chaudary, Zafar & Salman 2015). Therefore, the food truck can implement open
communication channels where employees can be encouraged to present their views regarding
what kind of changes can be carried out in menu and service delivery process. The information
provided by staff members can be beneficial in terms of carrying out improvement in areas such
as to processes, services, and products.
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Best way to develop quality management
It can be stated that development of quality management is essential to sustain in the
highly competitive service industry. Furthermore, the food truck is required to commit quality to
attain a high degree of satisfaction among customers. Even the quality management model
present by Deming highlights the fact that quality should be reinforced over and over again and
top management must do the same (Bon & Mustafa 2013). All the staff members working in
food truck should commit quality with an objective to carry out effective management of the
same. In addition to this, tracking and monitoring quality is another strategy which can be
adopted by the food truck to manage its quality in the best possible manner. On the other side of
this, it can be critically argued that tracking quality in the service industry is the most
challenging task for businesses (Doeleman, Ten Have & Ahaus 2014). The food truck can adopt
techniques such as net promoter score to track its service quality and identify the critical
loopholes present in the same.
Another effective way which can be used by the selected business enterprise to manage
its quality is of investing in employee training and development. The food truck is operating with
very few staff members and thus, conducting training programs to enhance service delivery is
not going to be a challenging task for the business (Sallis 2014). Implementing quality circles is
also a good way which can be used by the food truck to manage its service quality. Another
effective way that can be adopted by food truck for enhancing food quality is rendering training
to the staff members on different aspects through which they can know the ways through which
quality of food can be enhanced easily. Food truck has to build strong relationship with the
suppliers so that they may supply quality food item.
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Figure 1: Quality circle
Source: (courses.bus School of Business 2000)
The mentioned above diagram denotes a quality circle which can be used by businesses
such as Food truck to manage their quality (Mohammad Mosadeghrad 2014). Here, the business
will need to focus on four different areas which are plan, do, check and act. This circle is being
used by food truck where in the first stage company takes appropriate action with the motive to
improve quality of its food item, in second stage planning is done where food truck has to
determine its customer need so as to satisfy it, the plan prepared is implemented and at last
testing is done.
Relationship between customer satisfaction and high quality service
Delivering high-quality service is necessary in case of food truck which is a special
restaurant. In order to deliver effective service, it is necessary to set some benchmarks where the
restaurant has to implement some quality management models in its operations (Dale 2015).
There exist the direct relationship between customer satisfaction and high-quality service. In the
case when high-quality services are delivered to the target market then it contributes a lot in
enhancing customer satisfaction level, and in turn, all the desired goals of the enterprise can be
accomplished efficiently (Gharakhani et al. 2013). Apart from this, it is a well-known fact that to
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deal with the issue of competition in the market it is necessary for the restaurant to ensure that its
services are of high level regarding food quality and other additional services that are rendered to
the target market. Moreover, quality management is regarded as the act of overseeing all the
tasks in order to maintain the desired level of excellence (Gould 2013). In case if the customer
satisfaction level is high then in such case food truck has to deliver high quality service to its
target market. This is most significant as the level of customer satisfaction depends on quality
like in case if high quality food is delivered to the customer then it enhances customer
satisfaction level and vice versa.
Further, in case of food truck the company has to ensure that its service quality level is up
to the mark and in case if food and another type of facilities are delivered efficiently to the target
market, then it can surely enhance the overall performance of the food truck in the market where
it operates (Fu et al. 2013). Level of customer satisfaction can only be enhanced if service quality
is above the expectation level and this, in turn, can surely act as the development tool for the
business in every possible manner. It has been witnessed that businesses offering various kind of
services measure service quality through different means such as obtaining views of their
customers and other techniques that are most effective (Jurow & Barnard 2013). Maintaining
service quality on the continuous basis and for long period of time can surely manage long-term
performance of the company.
Description of existing business process
The present business process of food truck restaurant is associated with offering the type
of food service to the target market. Therefore, the process starts from the purchase of raw
material and different type of food items as per the actual need of the target market. Further, it is
a well-known fact that each and every process of food truck restaurant is crucial and for
enhancing the overall quality of the service, it is mandatory to implement so quality
improvement models so that favorable results can be accomplished easily and in a possible
manner (Obeidat et al. 2016). Food quality matters a lot and in case if the food truck is not able
to deliver high-quality food service to its target market then it will surely lead to the decline in
the level of overall performance and in turn business performance will decline significantly.
Apart from this, the food truck business has to identify the most crucial business process that
involves preparing high-quality food item as per the need of the target market.
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The truck restaurant has to ensure that the raw materials purchased for preparing different
type of food items are of high quality and this, in turn, can surely assist in preparing high-quality
food as per the actual requirement of the target market. No doubt, the real customers of food
truck expect high-quality food and due to this reason, it is necessary to deliver them high-quality
food (Oakland 2014). All the business processes must be flexible so that changes can be made in
each process easily and in short period. Food truck restaurant operates on the smaller basis and
due to this reason ensuring quality service will not be difficult for the business. Apart from this,
the overall process of the business is very small, and this will provide support in implementing
quality tools for rendering services to the target market.
Quality framework
Figure 2: Gap Model of Service quality
Source: (Verint Customer Engagement 2009)
In order to understand the significance of service quality from the point view of food
truck restaurant, the gap model of service quality is quite effective (VERINT 2009). Further, this
model helps in knowing about the five types of gaps whose description is as follows:
Gap 1: It is the distance between customer expectation and what managers think they expect
clearly. For example, the customer expects that the food truck restaurant will deliver fact and
accurate services to them whereas the manager of the business perceives that customers are only
expecting the best quality of food at convenient prices.
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Gap 2: It is between the actual specification of the customer experience and the management
perception. Managers working in the organization are required to ensure that business is
delivering high-level service (Habibah Abdul Talib, Anuar Mohd Ali & Idris 2014). For
example, the manager at food truck restaurant can carry out customer survey to identify the
actual specification of the customer’s experience and can make changes in existing services
according to the information collected from those surveys.
Gap 3: From the experience specification to delivery of experience where it is necessary for the
managers to audit the customer experience that business is delivering at present.
Gap 4: It is the gap between delivering of customer experience and what is being communicated
to the target market. The manager at food truck restaurant needs to ensure that there is no gap
between services communicated and services delivered to the target market. For example, if the
food truck restaurant communicates that its speed of services is very fast then it needs to make
sure that fast processing of customer order and delivery is carried out within the restaurant.
Gap 5: It is the gap that arises due to customer expectation of service and customer perception.
Here, food truck restaurant can adopt customer oriented strategy to fill the gap between customer
expectations, customer perception and make these concepts identical to each other.
So, these are the main gaps that allow in knowing about the significance of service
quality, and through this, it is possible for food truck restaurant to deliver high-quality service to
its target market as per their actual expectations. Apart from this, it is necessary to understand the
different type of gaps that can take place and the overall alternatives through which these gaps
can fulfill (Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez & Martínez-Costa 2013). The most important
aspect that needs to be ensured is linked with meeting customer expectation, and in case of the
food truck, it is possible by purchasing quality raw materials that are effective enough in
rendering quality food to the target market as per their expectations. Through this model, it is
possible for food truck restaurant to meet with the expectations of its customers in terms of
quality and it can surely provide the base in dealing with the market challenges that are
associated with competition or another form of barriers.
Input output model (ITO) of operations management can be also taken into consideration
to enhance the overall operations of the food truck restaurant. Here, the model is highly effective
as it will support food truck restaurant to defining and analyze mechanism through which
outcomes are generated. It can be expressed that the use of this model will allow food truck
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restaurant with an opportunity to identify the key issues associated with output and processing of
the services. For instance, lack of communication or clear roles and responsibilities can be a
major reason which is creating restrictions in terms of delivering satisfactory and fast services to
customers (Chaudary, Zafar & Salman 2015). Based on the information collected through the
model, food truck restaurant can make certain changes in its processes to improve overall quality
of service delivery. For example, effective communication tools and techniques can be adopted
or democratic leadership style can be adopted by food truck restaurant to make the workers clear
about their roles and responsibilities.
Opportunities for process improvement
Different opportunities are present with food truck restaurant so as to improve its process
in the proper manner. Firstly, it is required for the business to ensure that all its process is
flexible as through this improvement is possible in every possible manner. Apart from this,
quality improvement tactics have to be implemented in each and every process so that it can
bring favorable results for the business (Augusto, Lisboa & Yasin 2014). The main opportunity
is that business is operating on the smaller basis and due to this reason all its processes are small.
Therefore, it would be quite easier for the food truck business to render quality service in terms
of food and this will allow the business to gain the competitive edge over its rivals in every
possible manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above carried out study, it can be inferred that delivering high quality of
services to customers is essential in terms of achieving long term growth and sustainability. The
CEO of food truck restaurant can make certain changes in its existing process and can make it
more flexible. For example, the CEO of food truck restaurant can use a flexible business process
instead of using a rigid process for service delivery. Apart from this, quality management
framework such as Gap Model and Input Output Model can be used by the CEO of food truck
restaurant to enhance the quality of services and operations. It can be also inferred that open
channels of communication can be used by to encourage the views and opinions of staff
members during the process of decision making and strategy formulation.
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