Quality Management in Business: Analysis and Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of quality management principles within the context of a business, specifically using PC World as a case study. It begins by defining quality in terms of business and service provision, emphasizing its importance in customer satisfaction and competitive advantage. The report examines various tools and techniques, such as benchmarking and cost-benefit analysis, to identify gaps between current and desired quality standards. It explores the application of Deming's cycle and Juran's trilogy, offering detailed insights into quality planning, control, and improvement strategies. The report further discusses the similarities and differences between these approaches, highlighting their practical implementation and impact on customer satisfaction, cost, and service quality. The analysis includes recommendations for PC World to enhance its quality management practices, improve customer satisfaction, and achieve sustained business success. The report also emphasizes the importance of effective communication channels in fostering a culture of continuous quality improvement.

Quality Management
in Business

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
1.1.................................................................................................................................................3
1.2 ................................................................................................................................................4
1.3 ................................................................................................................................................5
1.4 ................................................................................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
2.1 ................................................................................................................................................8
2.2 ................................................................................................................................................9
2.3 ..............................................................................................................................................10
2.4 ..............................................................................................................................................11
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................12
3.1 ..............................................................................................................................................12
3.2...............................................................................................................................................13
3.3...............................................................................................................................................13
3.4...............................................................................................................................................14
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................15
4.1...............................................................................................................................................15
4.2...............................................................................................................................................16
4.3...............................................................................................................................................16
4.4...............................................................................................................................................17
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................18
References ....................................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
In the present era, the competition among businesses in every sector has become so
intense that it is no longer easy for companies to attract customers and gain competitive
advantage over other market players (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). Furthermore, organizations are
also required to concentrate upon maintain appropriate quality in their products and services in
order to sustain in the market. It can be stated that delivering quality services and products to
people in the market results in developing sense of satisfaction among customers and it also
contributes in overall growth and success of companies. The present report is based on PC world
which is a company that deals in marketing and sales of different electronic products. In the
current study, definition of quality in terms of business and service provision has been
mentioned. Apart from this, processes of inspection and quality assurance, and their role in
quality management has been also highlighted in the present research report.
TASK 1
1.1
In simpler terms, quality in context of service and business can be defined as the overall
degree or extent to which services and products meet the demand of people in the market. It can
be stated that the approach of quality management also helps businesses to understand the
changing customer needs and providing them with an system to satisfy those needs in the best
possible manner. The use of quality management tools and techniques supports business
enterprise in getting useful information about their current position in marketplace. Quality
management tools and techniques provides company with an platform to make improvements in
services/ products in order to improve overall quality and enhance performance in marketplace.
Furthermore, it can be subjective attribute, condition and it can be perceptual also (Ahmad
and et.al. 2014). According to the definition which has been provide by American society,
quality can be termed as a form of subjective term and therefore every person has his/her own
definition regarding the same. On the other hand Peter Drucker has defined quality as the extent
to which the customer is willing to pay for a particular products or service. ISO 9000, explains
that quality is the parameter which highlights that certain standards has been fulfilled or met by
products and services. In the modern era, quality of services and products is one of the most

important things which need to be taken into consideration by businesses (Kern, 2014).
Nowadays, people in the market are avalaiable with wide range of options and alternatives
available and therefore if qualities services are not deliver then customer will prefer to buy
services and products provided by other market players.
1.2
According to the provided case scenario, businesses such as PC world are facing wide range
of issues and challenges. For example the buyer or customers are returning the electronic
products which they have purchased and the rate of customer’s satisfaction has also reduced to a
great extent. The selected business enterprise can make use of different tools and techniques in
order to identify the gap between present quality standards of products/ services and desired level
of the same (Dale, 2015). This includes tools such as benchmarking, flow charts, cost benefit
analysis etc. which can be taken into consideration. Apart from this, quality of services and
products within PC world can be improved by focusing upon three different parameters which
are mentioned below as:

The management of PC world needs to focus on areas such as quality planning and will
need to develop appropriate quality standards. Along with this, the selected business enterprise
can adopt techniques such as quality assurance for carrying out improvement in service quality
and overcome from the key issue which it is facing (Accuracy of Quality Assurance, 2012). The
use of quality assurance will allow PC world to focus on its process of production and identify
key areas which needs to be improved (Sallis, 2014). Apart from this, quality control technique
can be also used and it will allow PC world to ensure whether its products and services are
meeting the developed quality standards or not. On the other hand, charter mark is another
effective technique which can be taken into consideration by PC world with an objective to make
certain improvements in its quality of customer services delivered. The selected business
enterprise will also need to lay emphasis on different components which are mentioned below as: Mass production and mass inspection – It was in the year 1800s when this concept came
into existence. Furthermore, the rationale behind this was that elements such as high volume
production, dividing the labour and increasing specialization encouraged in carrying out
more formal kind of inspection. Here, the concept of examining product and removing good
from bad came into existence. The early system of quality control – The early system of quality control includes
approaches such as inspection 1800, statistical quality control 1930, quality assurance 1950
etc. Inspection focuses on detection of issue whereas statistical quality control focuses on
taking measures regarding control. The last quality assurance laid emphasis on carrying out
effective coordination among different activities.
 Quality system accreditation – ISO 9000 is a quality accreditation focuses on quality
management by providing various tools and techniques which can assist in quality
management. ISO 9001is another quality management technique which can be used.
1.3
PC world is required to focus on quality of services/ products delivered in order to create
sense of satisfaction among customers. It can be expressed that there are wide range of
approaches which can be used by the organization with the purpose of carrying out
improvements in quality (Lee and Lee, 2014). For example PC world can make use of approach
such as Plan- Do-Check-Act (PDCA) which was developed by Deming and also known as

Deming’s cycle. Furthermore, the approach is very effective in terms of providing businesses
with a potential strategy which carries out improvement in products and process. In the stage of
planning, the company will be required to develop certain aim and objective regarding quality. In
the stage of Do, it will need to provide training to employees who will support in execution of
plan developed (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully, 2013). Furthermore, the third stage will be of
check in which the business will determine whether it is heading towards right direction or not
(Mehta, Verma and Seth, 2014). The last stage is of Act in which PC world will need to take
corrective measures in case if there is a gap between expected and actual performance. Along
with this, future strategies and action will be also developed in this stage with an objective to
attain the best possible outcome.
Figure : Deming’s Cycle of Quality
(Source : Doherty, Shakur and Ellis-Chadwick, 2015.)
Apart from this, Juran’s approach to quality management can be also adopted by PC
world for carrying out various kinds of improvements in quality of services and products
delivered. The use of Juran’s trilogy will assist the selected business to focus on areas which are
quality planning, control and improvement. The model also laid emphasis on the fact that in
order to deliver quality services and products, it is required by PC world to have quality leaders.

Quality planning – It can be defined as an process in which different types of plan are
made in order to carry out regular improvements in quality. For this, manager can set the
standards in order to improve the quality of services. Along with this, SMART objectives can be
used so that customers will be able to get the quality products. A procedure can be followed by
the manger of PC world so that overall performance can be improved.
Quality control - A system which encourages business to enhance quality of products
and services by testing a sample of final output. Here, the products are tested against the set
specification.
Continuous quality improvement- It can be defined as the technique in which such an
environment is created that focuses on encouraging staff, management and workers to focus
upon carrying out continuous improvement in quality.
Cost and benefits of quality – In the present scenario, improvement in quality provides
wide range of benefits to organization (Kuei and Lu, 2013). For example it creates sense of
satisfaction among customers, helps in getting competitive advantage, enhance market share etc.
however, adopting the approaches of quality management can improve the overall cost of
operations of PC world.
Communication channels – It is required by PC world to establish effective channels of
communication in order to enhance its quality and focus on quality management aspects. It can
be asserted that effective channels will support in making workers understand the need and
benefits of regular improvement in quality.
1.4
It can be stated that there are various similarities and difference between the methods
which can be used by PC world to improve quality of services and products offered. The
similarity between two approaches is that both provide a systematic strategy which can be
adopted by PC world to enhance service and product quality (Gimenez-Espin and et.al., 2013).
Along with this, both methods also focuses on providing correctives measures which can be
taken into consideration to enhance poor performance which has been delivered by a particular
business enterprise. On the other side of this, the difference between two approaches is that in

quality planning process, only previously developed standards of quality are taken into
consideration (Jeston and Nelis, 2014). In addition to this, Juran’s approach explains that quality
leadership is very important to maintain quality standards whereas Derming’s quality cycle do
not focuses on such type of leadership. It can be stated that the selected business enterprise can
use any of the above mentioned models of quality management with an objective to enhance the
degree of customer satisfaction by offering them with quality products.
The differences and similarities can be understood by focusing upon other parameters
such as application, cost involved, orientation towards customer, period of implementation etc. It
can be expressed that Derming’s is more complicated in terms of practical implementation and it
is also very time consuming as compared to the method proposed by Juran’s approach. The
rationale behind this is that the approach of Derming’s consists of 14 major points which
companies such as PC world need to take care of. Along with this, the period of implementation
is also very lengthy as compared to other methods or approaches or quality management.
However, it can be critically argued that the approach of Derming’s focuses more on areas such
as customer satisfaction and continuous improvement in quality. The similarities between cost
and service quality is if cost get minimized then quality can be improved Through this, the
overall customers loyalty can be improved.
TASK 2
2.1
In simpler terms, customer satisfaction can be defined as the overall degree or the extent to
which services and products offered by a particular business enterprise meet the need/demand of
people in the market. In the modern era, it has become very essential for companies such as PC
world to develop products and service which can meet demand of people in the market in best
possible manner. Along with this, high degree of customer satisfaction helps a business to gain
competitive advantage over other key players operating in the market (Dale, 2015). The rationale
why customer satisfaction is important is that it plays very important role in encouraging
customer loyalty. This further result in increasing the volume of sales and profits for an business
enterprise. It can be expressed that high degree of customer satisfaction is also important for
company like PC world because it helps in lowering down the chances of negative word to

mouth publicity. This directly contributes in long term growth and development of company. It
can be also stated that it is easier for businesses to retain their old customers as compared to
attracting new ones (Oakland 2014). High degree of customer satisfaction will directly help PC
world to retain its key customers in long run.
The five points regarding customer satisfaction are mentioned below as:
Customer’s satisfaction - It can be termed as a procedure in which customer’s voice is
identified and business try to understand the changing need of customer.
Customer need and expectation – At present the need and expectation of customers is
linked with getting higher quality of services and products at convenient prices.
Responding to customer demand – It is another effective area which needs to be taken
care by management of PC world in order to sustain in highly competitive market. The firm is
required to carry out changes in products/services and respond quickly to changing demand of
customers.
Value for money- PC world needs to understand the fact that retaining customers in long
run is one of the most complicated tasks in the competitive world. Furthermore, the selected
business enterprise needs to focus on delivering quality products and services which has value
for money.
Added value and repeat custom- The selected business which is PC world can provide
customer satisfaction by adding value in its products by offering some additional and innovative
services to all its customers.
2.2
Continuous improvement can be defined as the process which focuses upon ongoing and
regular improvement in services and products offered by a particular business enterprise. The use
of continuous improvement process results in enhancing the overall efficiency of companies and
therefore results in providing them with higher volume of sales and profits. In other terms or in
the words of kaizen continuous improvement can be defined as the changes which are being
carried out for businesses in order to do something good (Fu and et.al., 2015). PC world can
make use of techniques such as continuous improvement with an objective to enhance the overall

performance and attain all the objectives which it has developed. On the other hand, the use of
continuous improvement technique will also support the selected business enterprise to carry out
appropriate modifications in business strategy and gain competitive advantage over other market
player in the industry (Talib Rahman and Qureshi, 2013). The use of continuous improvement
will help PC world to develop strong relationship between stakeholders such as employees,
customers, managers and suppliers. In order to overcome from the issue and challenges faced,
the company can make modifications in areas such as business strategy, procedure, overall
operations, and process of communication, utilization of resources, communication and
leadership. This will help PC world to carry out overall modifications and improve its entire
performance.
The five different areas on which PC world needs to focus are mentioned below as:
Customer need and expectation - Here the selected business will be required to identify
the changing demand and need of people in the market. On the basis of information collected, the
brand can carry out changes in existing products and services for carrying out continuous
improvement.
Quality gap- A comparison between the set standards of quality and expected outcomes
can be made. This will help in identification of gap and carry out continuous improvement by
taking corrective measures.
Internal and external customers- For the purpose of carrying out continuous
improvement, information can be also gained from external and internal customers. By working
upon the data collected, quality can be improved
The mature years of continuous quality improvement- PC world will also need to lay
emphasis on the mature years of improving quality continuously. This will help in understanding
the importance of quality and will also help in identifying the benefits associated with the same.
Moving quality into the service sector and its associated problems- Business can also
face different types of issues and challenges at the time of moving their operations to service
sector. The issues can be related to identifying issues in services and taking corrective measures
to improve the same.
2.3

The selected business enterprise or PC world is required to gain various types of added
values which are mentioned below as:
 Added value in quality: The Company can take corrective measures to add some values
in overall quality of its products and services. This will help in providing more
convenience to customers and retain them for long run. Added values also include
elements such as low cost, waste reduction, time saving, customer loyalty, reducing need
for support activity. Improvement in quality can help in lowering down the cost of
operations which is beneficial for company (Gimenez-Espin, Jiménez-Jiménez and
Martínez-Costa, 2013). Along with this, it can assist businesses in carrying out the best
and most effective utilization of all resources available. This directly results in saving
time and reducing the wastage carried out. Smooth flow of operations achieved will
lower down the need of support activities and will also play a vital role in enhancing
degree of customer loyalty. For example, PC World can uses techniques in order to
reduce their cost such as budgetary control. Company can prepare budget when they
implement any strategy then through this cost can be minimized and profits can be
maximized.
 Added value in environment- PC world can start focusing on more sustainable practises
which will help in protection of environment. Over the past few years, companies have
been forced to ensure that their operations and business activities do not create any kind
of negative impact on environment (Kuei and Lu, 2013). Therefore, PC world can add
values to environment by adapting more sustainable practises. For example, the
company can use modern technological advancements in order to provide the innovative
products to their customers. They can also provide unique products at the flexible prices
then through this customer’s loyalty can be increased.
2.4
It is required by the selected business enterprise to provide adequate and detailed
information about the products and services offered. This includes information with regards to
the features of products, its pricing, key characteristics and benefits associated with the same. It
can be stated that the use of such kind of information is going to help PC world in carrying out
its activities related to marketing and promotion (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). However, it can be

also argued that providing more information to customers will help them to understand key
benefits associated with the usage and purchase the same. Customers should be also provided
with adequate information in case of any changes done in products, services and pricing strategy.
Other type of information which needs to be made available to company includes: Opening Times- The customer’s needs to have information about the operating and opening
time of business. This is considered as one of the most important data which needs to be
provided to all customers. Location- Location is another key area or information about which customer needs to have
information about. People should not have any kind of issues in terms of finding out the
location of company. Price list- PC world should also provide its key customers about the information regarding
the pricing of all services and products offered. Creating true image- The information provided to customer should be also related to the
developing a true image of company in front of customers.
 Promotional material- It can be stated that PC world also need to provide its customers with
information related to the promotional material which it has used for carrying out marketing
and sales of all its products.
TASK 3
3.1
In order to maintain and manage quality in PC world, there are wide ranges of options
which can be used. For example system such specific production can be used in which the
selected business enterprise can start producing and dealing with products and services according
to specific need and demand. On the other hand, the brand can also focus on using strategies
such as customer complains to manage and maintain quality. The brand can adopt feedback
system wherein customers can be asked to provide review and feedback regarding the issues
faced while using the products (Psomas, 2013). Furthermore, by working on information
provided by customers, the selected business can maintain quality in products in long run. The
other techniques of quality management which can be used by the brand are mentioned below as: