Improving EasyJet's Service Quality: A Kaizen Approach

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes EasyJet's challenges and proposes solutions.

Managing Quality in Hospitality, Tourism and Events
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Executive Summary
The following business tends to provide a brief analysis of the different problems faced by
EasyJet airlines Company which is a low-cost airlines Company operating mainly in the UK.
The various problems faced by the Company are established with the help of customer reviews
and solutions are provided to the issues faced by the Company by following the Kaizen
approach. Recommendations regarding improving the quality of the services can be made by
following the PDCA cycle of the total quality management approach.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................5
1. Outline the problems being currently experienced by easyJet................................................5
2. Examine to what extent easyJet has the right capabilities and competencies to improve the
quality..........................................................................................................................................5
3. Assess the impact that one of the following techniques could have on easyJet in terms of
delivering consistent and effective quality management.............................................................5
Recommendations/Conclusions.......................................................................................................6
Reference List..................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction
The following business report will address the various problems faced by the airlines Company
easyJet in extending and providing their services to their numerous customers. The story will
focus on outlining the different issues faced by the easy Jet Company in executing its operational
activities and services. Various competencies and the capabilities of the airlines Company to
improve the quality of their services will be covered. One of the approaches of quality
management namely Kaizen or Benchmarking will be involved to help the Company to provide
efficient and quality services to their numerous customers, which would enhance their brand
image. Recommendations to the different problems faced by easyJet Company will be suggested,
and one concept associated with total quality management will be discussed.
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Main Body
1. Outline the problems being currently experienced by easyJet
Overview
EasyJet Company is a British low-cost Airlines Company whose headquarters are located in the
London airport (Burghouwt, 2016). The Company had recorded an operating income of more
than 500 million in GBP by the year 2018, and it had recorded net income of more than 350
million in GBP. The Company possesses a fleet size of more than 300, and it functions in over
130 countries (Easyjet.com.2019).
Problems currently faced by easyJet
According to the reviews given by the customers of easyJet who had availed their services and
facilities, the issues experienced by easyJet Company is numerous and had affected the business
operations of the Company severely. Out of the total percentage of a customer, reviews received
by the management of easyJet Airlines Company, more than 50 % of the customer reviews
express that the services provided by the Company were terrible, around 7% of the customer
reviews were found to be saying that the services offered by the airlines Company were poor. 6%
of the customers told that the services provided by easyJet were average, more than 10% of the
customers stated that the facilities were excellent and more than 15% of the customers felt that
the services were of high quality. Problems, which affect the business performance of the
organisation, are:
Faulty Customer Services
According to the customer, reviews given by the customers through TripAdvisor and TrustPilot
sites help to mention the different problems, which affect the business operations of the
organisations. Customer services provided by the easyJet Company is indigent. According to one
customer review, the staffs of the airlines Company were biased enough in allowing one good-
looking customer through with two bags without checking and then put the other customers’
wallets, which were duty-free alongside the cabin bags. Therefore, this highlighted the poor
attitude exhibited by the staffs of the easyJet Company in rendering their services. According to
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Bailey et al., (2018), the quality of the services provided by the Company thus was reduced as it
failed to satisfy some customers termed the customer and customer service provided by the
Company as reckless and irresponsible.
Irresponsible behaviour from the staffs
Staffs of the easyJet Company tend to behave recklessly with the various customers who avail
the services and facilities of the airlines Company. The crews and the different members of the
Airlines Company had been irresponsible in carrying out their duties timely and in a perfect
manner. Teams tend to harass the passengers who travel on board and give them wrong
instructions. According to Billings (2018), the on-ground staffs sometimes fail to provide the
customers with the emergency information related to the cancellation and the delaying of the
flights, which create a significant problem for the customers who are flying with the airlines. The
onboard experience of the customers is not that good according to the different reviews received
by the management of the easyJet Company. Staffs are sometimes reported to be ignorant of the
necessities of the various customers travelling on the flights of easyJet Company.
Poor Management
According to Ford and Sturman (2018), management associated with the easyJet Company
performed poorly according to the customer reviews as they are not able to handle the different
operational tasks and activities properly within the organisation. Several discrepancies are found
in the events of the several staffs, which lead to miscommunication between the management
and their teams. This, in turn, affects the business operations of the organisation negatively. For
instance, in case of flight cancellations, the administration fails to communicate to their staffs
regarding the aspect of flight cancellation, which in turn creates harassment for the different
passengers. In some cases, after the management decided to cancel the flights, they did not take
any steps to provide for any alternative flights nor did they explain the factor information why
they cancelled the trip. This created customer grievance and marred the reputation of the airlines
Company. According to Slack (2018), the communication between the teams formed by the
management at the airports and the central administrator posted by them is abysmal and had led
to providing an incoherent description about the various terms and regulations related to the
services offered by them.
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easyJet Company fails to meet the expectations of the multiple customers and the evaluation of
its different requirements about Dimensions of Service quality are:
Reliability
From the customer reviews received about the services provided by easyJet Company, it can be
established that the customer services provided by the management of the Company is indigent
in quality and cannot be relied upon entirely. This affects the image of the Company among its
customers. Lack of responsibility among the staffs also affects the operations of the Company.
According to Baroux (2015), the Company also fails to inform their customers when there are
sudden cancellations of flights, which highlights their irresponsibility and establishes the reason
about the fact why their customers prefer Ryanair or other jets compared to their flights.
Responsiveness
The management and the staffs associated with the easyJet Company are not much responsive to
the grievances of their customers, and they do not communicate clearly with their customers,
which leads to miscommunication. Responsiveness of the airlines Company easyJet has to be up
to the mark so that they can provide smooth and efficient services to the customers. The
Company must be responsive to the grievances of their customers as well as providing suitable
information to their customers.
Assurance
According to the customer reviews received from the customers availing the services of the
organisation, the Company cannot guarantee certainty about the provision of quality services as
it lacks in proper management. Assurance can only be given to the customers of easyJet if the
Company can bring about transformations within its operational activities by putting in place
proper supervision at the head.
Empathy
EasyJet is not able to provide understanding to their customers, as their staffs tend to behave
rudely and in an arrogant manner with the customers. This makes the customers angry and
dissatisfied at using the services of the Company. According to Pattajoshi (2018), moreover, the
Company’s failure to inform its customers about the cancellation of the flights without giving
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any specific reason tends to make their customers frustrated and disappointed in availing the
facilities and services of the Company.
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2. Examine to what extent easyJet has the right capabilities and competencies to improve
the quality
EasyJet possesses the right skills and competencies to improve its quality. Easyjet is one of the
low-cost airline companies; however, the company is facing issues problems with the quality of
the product and services offered by the company to the customers. According to Roos and Von
Krogh (2016), to solve this kind of problem the company has to introduce new digital
technology-driven initiatives, as this will increase the competitive advantage of the business
and will help to work collaboratively with other companies and maintain excellent customer
experiences. It is likely that a company will be able to build up the right capabilities and
competencies to improve the quality of the services and the focus of the company should be on
excellent customer experiences at low prices. It was seen that the customers of the company were
not happy with services provided by the company and the company will have to ensure a
decrease in the prices of the flights and the team of EasyJet will have to update several
Technologies like mobile applications to have the customers in their journey.
Customers not satisfied with the services will have to be provided with free flights, the company
has to focus on increasing customer base, and this can be done by growing facilities and
discounts for families or small groups to check in and travel together. The company has the
capability of introducing digital innovation so that the travelling expenses of the customers can
be made better. The company can enter new investments from the foreign shareholders, and
therefore digital change will not be a huge factor for the company. The company will also have
to introduce NFC Communications on near field Communications and take advantage of
Disruptive Technologies.
According to Sebbane (2018), the company is capable enough to provide proper guidance
support to the travellers through mobile systems and inside the airport and therefore one of the
best options is to give the travellers geofencing technologies during their journey. The
operations of the company will also have to be strategised by an open plan office, and the
company can easily introduce proper communication and understanding within all departments.
The company has the competence to focus on generic strategies and has to provide a proper
quick around time so that there is adequate utilisation of the aircraft. The company will also have
to focus on the minimal use of airport infrastructure to reduce the operation cost of Business
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and will have to advertise the products and services to the customers. For this reason, the focus
of the advertisement should be on the customer and the services should be the same. The
company will have to reduce the overall costs and will have to jot down the strengths and
weaknesses and eradicate the shortcomings so that the challenges faced by the industry can be
focused to introduce productivity and innovation.
Proper supply chain management will help the Company to improve its services by developing
online systems and services. The development of the digital channels as well as the online
services of the organisation will help it to provide their services to the customers in rapid quick
time without any delay. The staffs of the easyJet Company will be offered with the training,
which can unite and help in executing cohesive action in improving the quality of the services
provided by the Company.
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3. Assess the impact that one of the following techniques could have on easyJet in terms of
delivering consistent and effective quality management
Kaizen
Kaizen technique or approach of operations management came into existence in the country of
Japan in the year 1950 (Gordon, 2018). It was discovered when the government and the
administration associated with the organisations felt that the operational activities were not
executed properly and the different management skills were poor in providing services to the
customers. Kaizen has become a crucial part of the various manufacturing systems found in
Japan, and it has enhanced the improvement of the multiple functions of the organisations.
Kaizen is very well structured and involves project, which is executed with the help and support
of teams which are cross-functional and tends to bring about improvement to a specific area of
functioning within the organisation. Kaizen is a fundamental concept, which is practised within
the companies of the western world. Kaizen falls under the category of the compound word. The
idea of Kaizen is divided into two words kai and Zen. Kaizen takes into consideration the
application of various theories to bring about an overall improvement in the quality of the
services provided by the organisations.
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Kaizen Approach to continuous improvement
(Source: Created by the learner)
Application of Kaizen in improving the quality of the services of easyJet
According to Mitra (2016), Kaizen takes into consideration the problem areas from which the
organisation is suffering, carries out the analysis of the problem, identifies the reason behind the
improvement, then collects, and compares the results following the implementation of the
project. Lastly, all the different systems are standardised. It helps in bringing improvement
within all the services provided by the organisation. Following the Kaizen approach and the
various methods associated with it, the easyJet Company can bring about improvements in the
provision of their services as they can sort their services in order, they can manage their
workforce and help them to execute the operational activities smoothly and efficiently. Kaizen
can bring about an overall improvement within the organisation. It can assist in maintaining
the link between communicating the information given by the management to their employees.
Improvements can be brought about by following the kaizen approach within managing the
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