Business Research Proposal: Impact of TQM on Customer Retention

This report investigates the impact of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices on customer retention and satisfaction, focusing on Morrisons, a major UK supermarket chain. The research outlines its aims and objectives, including analyzing the concept and principles of TQM and examining its effects on customer satisfaction. It explores various research methods for data collection, ethical considerations, and validity and reliability issues. The literature review delves into the meaning of TQM, its principles in a business environment, and its specific impact on customer satisfaction and retention within Morrisons. The research methodology section details the chosen research philosophy (positivism), approach (deductive), strategy (survey), time horizon (cross-sectional), and data collection methods (questionnaires and interviews). The report emphasizes the importance of TQM in enhancing customer loyalty and gaining a competitive advantage through quality improvements and waste reduction.

Business Research
Methodologies
(Impact of total quality
management practices on
customer retention and
satisfaction. )
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Abstract
In the below report, there is a discussion about Impact of total quality management
practices on customer retention and satisfaction. This report includes research aims and objective
and questions. Then it includes rationale of choosing this project and literature review. Further it
includes various research methods which helps the investigator in collecting data and
information. Then it includes ethical considerations and validity and reliability of this research.
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Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Research aim:..............................................................................................................................4
Research project objectives ........................................................................................................4
Research Project questions ........................................................................................................5
Research rationale ...........................................................................................................................5
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................6
What is the meaning and concept of total quality management in business...............................6
What are the principles of total quality management in business environment..........................6
What is the impact of total quality management practices in customer satisfaction and
retention of Morrisons.................................................................................................................7
Research Method.............................................................................................................................8
Ethical considerations....................................................................................................................10
Validity and Reliability Issues.......................................................................................................10
Time plan in Gantt chart format ....................................................................................................11
........................................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13
Books and journals....................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
This research aims to do the impact of total quality management practices on customer
satisfaction and retention. Every organisation is focusing on earning profits and revenue of the
business through customer satisfaction. So, for enhancing customer satisfaction, they have to
maintain their quality and generates loyal customers. If company is providing better quality of
service then customer will stay in the organisation for longer duration. Total quality management
is the approach which is used by companies in order to focus on their quality and based on
making participation in all the activities and aiming to success of customer satisfaction. TQM is
take advantage on the engagement of management, suppliers, workforce, customers and in order
to meet customer expectations (Abazid, Gökçekuş, and Celik, 2021). This approach helps in
improving competitiveness among competitors and maintaining flexibility of the organisation so
that this could benefits customers in making satisfaction. Providing excellent service to the
customers will be resulting in retention of the customers. As profits which is generated by after
sales services is much higher than obtained with sales. TQM helps the organisation in making
improvements in their exiting and new products and services. Further, this helps in attracting
new customer as well. Total quality management helps in bringing more customer satisfaction
and develops sustainability in the organisation. Now a days in global competition, organisations
are more focusing on after sales service and differentiate themselves from competitors. By
making effective important in quality of products and services, this will helps the organisation in
gaining competitive adventure in the exiting market. Maintaining quality will be resulting in
attracting new customers and retaining them for long time in future. In this report the
organisation selected is Morrisons. It is one of the biggest supermarket chain of UK. It is having
495 stores in all over the locations. This report includes research aims and objectives and
literature review. Then it consist of research methodology.
Research aim:
“To determine the impact of total quality management practices on customer retention
and satisfaction.” A study on Morrisons.
Research project objectives
 To analyse the meaning and concept of total quality management in business.
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 To determine the principles of total quality management in business environment.
 To examine the impact of total quality management practices in customer satisfaction and
retention of Morrisons.
Research Project questions
 What is the meaning and concept of total quality management in business.
 What are the principles of total quality management in business environment.
 What is the impact of total quality management practices in customer satisfaction and
retention of Morrisons.
Research rationale
The main reason for using this techniques that is quality and products to focus on
customer for enhancing the customer retention process. There are different ways and method
which help the company to analyse their quality management and keep them on high. That
actually help for retaining more and more customer and supply more appropriate products. With
the help of growing number in the total quality management for the strategic competitive
advantages. With the help of beneficial organisation to analyse performance different products
and services within the organisation (Abdi and Singh, 2021). The main problem of the company
is beneficial for considering the approach and make effective total quality management with the
growth of effective quality management. Total quality management is helpful for the many
industries to make effective flexibilities and growth for the benefits of major customer
satisfaction.
Within the chosen company, the quality is helpful for gaining more competitive
advantages and achieve the standards for their products and services. This will be helpful for
analysing the position and make changes in sales, original purchase, quality and different sector
to analyse the use of management. While using appropriate objectives and achieve them in the
research proposal and growth in the firms.
Literature Review
What is the meaning and concept of total quality management in business.
From the views of Ali, Gardi, and Anwar, (2021) Total quality management is refers to
the initiatives and procedures that is made for ensuring that quality of products and services is
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good. This is a approach that is helping organisation in improving their quality and performance
which could meet satisfaction and expectations of customers as well. This can be attained by
measuring all the functions and process in a company. TQM is looking overall quality of the
products made in company. This includes quality control and maintenance, designing and
managing of the products, maintaining quality and making improvements and assurance of a
quality. TQM is taken into account at all the level of quality that involves company employees.
TQM is coming from quality assurance methods. Total quality management is the universal
approach. As “total” in organisation is conveying the idea of organisation accepts. Then
“quality” explains that quality is maintained in organisation likewise covering quality of
products, quality of a process and service delivery and customer satisfaction. Then next is
“management” this is referring to the quality of results of quality management process. Total
quality managements is helps in business to identify their quality assurance and further, this
helps the organisation in attracting customers. If organisation is maintaining quality of a products
and services in their working environment, then they could be able to attract more customer
towards their brand. In this given report, the organisation selected is Morrisons, as it is one of the
biggest supermarket in the world (Amjad, Rafique, and Khan, 2021). Company is maintaining
their quality of standards and also providing quality of service to the employees so that they
could attract customer towards their brand. Also by having this quality assurance, customer will
be more satisfied by the brand products and services and they will retain to one brand effectively.
What are the principles of total quality management in business environment.
According to Bashar, Hasin, and Adnan, (2021) Total quality management is the
including assurance of quality is maintained in the organisation of products and services. As
there are various methods and techniques which re vary from one to another company. This
includes some of the principles. First is Customers focus- as this principles is focusing on
customers whether they are buying their products and services. As customers firstly is
determining the quality of products. If a products is fulfilling customer needs then they are most
attracted towards that and wants to buy that products. Customers know that if they are paying
prices of a products then they should receive high quality. For implementing this principles,
organisation should have to conduct a research and understand about a customers needs and
demands. Then they should have to align organisational objectives and communicate with
customers and know their preferences. Then they should manage customer relationships as well.
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Then next principle is Total employee commitment- as a manager cannot increase employees
productivity. First of all they should provided proper missions and vision of a company. Some of
the benefits of this principles is that it helps in increasing employees retention. Further, it helps
in innovation and creativity of the employees and staff members.
According to Hansen, Mowen, and Heitger, (2021) Then next principle is Process
approach- as this ensures that proper steps are being taken at right time and maintaining
consistency in the organisation so that there could be speed up in production. This can be
implemented by using TQM tools such as flowcharts and clearing roles and responsibilities of
everybody. This principle is benefited because it develops faster growth and lower the cost and
increases revenue and profitability of the organisation. This focus on making continuous
improvements and success in the organisation and achieving goals and objectives. In context
with Morrison organisational, they are mostly focusing on these principles. The main principles
they focus on is customers focus because this helps them in researching about a customers
demands and needs and providing those products and services which is being liked by them. This
helps them in enhancing customers and retaining to the one brand. They also focus on providing
total employees commitments so that employees could increased their productivity and
efficiency.
What is the impact of total quality management practices in customer satisfaction and retention
of Morrisons.
According to Iravani, (2021) Total quality management practises are those which are
focusing on enhancing quality of products and services. This defines quality that customers is
always right and also it comes first. It is said that quality begins with customers and also ends
with customers. TQM is customers focus. TQM practise are impacting positively on customer
satisfactions and retention in the organisation because it helps the organisation in maintaining
quality of products and service and reducing wastage in the business environment. This is a
framework which includes activities and performance that could be able to achieve
organisational objectives. This helps the organisation in running a business and continuously
examining the activities which are taken for maintaining quality in the organisation. Further, it is
helping organisation in reducing waste and improving their morale of employees so that they
could perform better in the organisation and achieve more profits and revenues. It is impacting
organisation in gaining competitive advantage in the market among competitors.
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According Kuznetsova, and Karlova, (2021) Total quality management is used in the
organisation for maintaining their quality and reducing waste. As customer is the one who is
looking of quality of products and services. As if they are spending money on a particular
products then they need quality of a products more. So, organisation now a days more focusing
on providing quality top the customers. If quality is good then customers more will purchase that
products and services and satisfy. This develops organisation image in market and also enhance
customers retention towards one brand. In addition, TQM is affecting in many aspects of
employees and also satisfy them towards their work. It also helps in improving employees
satisfaction. TQM practise are enhancing global competition. In context with Morrisons
company, there managers are more focusing on providing employees satisfaction and further
they are maintaining quality of their products and services. They are mostly focusing on
customer satisfaction so for that they are providing more information to them by promoting their
products and services. By having TQM practises, they are impacting positively to the employees
and customers and they retain in the organisation for long time.
Research Method
Research methodologies are the methodologies which helps investigator in identifying
the method which helps them in collecting data and information in most effective manner. This
research methodologies helps the investigator in achieving research aims and objectives
(Kwarteng, 2021). In this particular research, the investigator is using Research onion framework
which helps in explaining various stages while conducting researches an collecting information.
This research involves various elements including in research. This is discussed below :
Research philosophies : Research philosophy is the set of principles which is refers to
worldwide from which research being conducted. This consist of two types of philosophies.
These are positivism and interpretivism. In this particular research, the researcher is using
positivism approach because this helps in assuming that knowledge is independent of the topic
which s being studied. This approach is more scientific and helps in resulting the phenomenon.
Research Approaches : Research approach is next stage of research onion framework.
There are two types of research approaches. These are deductive and inductive approach. In this
particular research, the investigator is deductive approach which is based on literature review and
that is been observed by investigator. This approach will helps in achieving research aims and
objectives in a systematic manner.
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Research strategies : This research strategy includes various strategies such as
experimental research, interview, survey, literature review and case study (Nurcahyo, and
Habiburrahman, 2021). In this given study, researcher is using survey and literature review to
collect data and information. This helps them in achieving more information about a research
topic. Literature review is bringing in depth knowledge and survey is being conducted for
gaining practical information and which includes frequency and graphs and tables. By making
use of these strategies, researcher will be able to get more information and knowledge abut this
task and topic.
Research choice: The research onion consisting of another stage called research choice.
This consist of two types of choices these are quantitative method and qualitative method.
Qualitative method is used for when there is a use of theoretical information about a particular
topic and quantitative information is used when researcher is using practical information about a
particular task. In this particular research, investigator is using both of the methods because
qualitative information is collected through literature review to get in depth information about a
particular topic and quantitative method is used by using survey and graphs (Saini, 2021). This
consist of close ended questions and which is to be filled by respondents of the organisation to
get accurate information.
Data collection and analysis: This is the final layer of research onion framework. As it
consist of techniques and procedures. This consist of two sources of data primary and secondary
source of data. In this present study, researcher is using both of the methods. Because primary
source of data is collected through questionnaire survey which consisting of graphs, frequencies
and tables. This helps them in collection accurate information about a particular thing. On the
other hand, secondary information is collected through literature review which brings theoretical
information and in-depth knowledge about a particular topic. This incudes different books and
articles to gain more information.
Sampling: Sampling is consisting of two methods probabilistic and non probabilistic
sampling. In this selected study, investigator is using probabilistic sampling in which random
sampling used to collect data and information (Torlak, Demir, and Budur, 2021). This will helps
in gaining more information. In this research, the selected samples are 30 who are the filling
questionnaire survey in order to get information.
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Ethical considerations
There can be various ethical consideration which should be considers in mind while
conducting this research. As some of the ethical consideration are data protection, moral harm,
business harm and physical harm. In this particular research, researcher is making sure that the
data should be kept secret and it will not be disclosed to any third person. The information
collected should be stored in some devices so that it could not be leaked. Then there could not be
any moral harm and physical harm to the respondents (Tsiligiris, and Hill, 2021). Then
researcher will respect every answer and will not do any biasses among employees. They are
making use of random sampling which helps in selecting a random sample.
Validity and Reliability Issues
In this present study, researcher is making of questionnaire survey, which helps in
gaining valid and reliable data. In this both of the researcher method qualitative and quantitative
if used by researcher. So some of the issues which can be come under is that sometimes
participants could not find interest in filling survey. And also there can be lack of true
information about a particular topic.
Time plan in Gantt chart format
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References
Books and journals
Abazid, M., Gökçekuş, H. and Celik, T., 2021. Implementation of TQM and the Integration of
BIM in the Construction Management Sector in Saudi Arabia Validated with
Hybridized Emerging Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO).
Abdi, M. and Singh, A.P., 2021. Effect of total quality management practices on nonfinancial
performance: an empirical analysis of automotive engineering industry in Ethiopia. The
TQM Journal.
Ali, B.J., Gardi, B., Jabbar Othman, B., Burhan Ismael, N., Sorguli, S., Sabir, B.Y., Ali Ahmed,
S., Abdalla Hamza, P., Mahmood Aziz, H. and Anwar, G., 2021. Educational system:
The policy of Educational system in Kurdistan Region in public Kindergarten. Ali, BJ,
Gardi, B., Othman, BJ, Ismael, NB, Sorguli, S., Sabir, BY, Ahmed, SA, Hamza, PA, Aziz,
HM, Anwar, G.(2021). Educational system: The policy of Educational system in
Kurdistan Region in public Kindergarten. International Journal of English Literature
and Social Sciences.
Amjad, M.S., Rafique, M.Z. and Khan, M.A., 2021. Leveraging optimized and cleaner
production through industry 4.0. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 26, pp.859-
871.
Bashar, A., Hasin, A.A. and Adnan, Z.H., 2021. Impact of lean manufacturing: evidence from
apparel industry in Bangladesh. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma.
Hansen, D.R., Mowen, M.M. and Heitger, D.L., 2021. Cost management. Cengage Learning.
Iravani, S.M., 2021. Operations Engineering and Management: Concepts, Analytics, and
Principles for Improvement. McGraw-Hill Education.
Kuznetsova, N.M. and Karlova, T.V., 2021. Application of Digital Twin Technology for
Modelling of Information Security Level of Industrial Plant. In EPJ Web of Conferences
(Vol. 248, p. 02007). EDP Sciences.
Kwarteng, A.J., 2021. An assessment of outcome criteria associated with the implementation of
TQM in a higher education institution in Ghana. Cogent Education, 8(1), p.1859198.
Nurcahyo, R. and Habiburrahman, M., 2021. Relationship between ISO 9001: 2015 and
operational and business performance of manufacturing industries in a developing
country (Indonesia). Heliyon, 7(1), p.e05537.
Paulose, D. and Shakeel, A., 2021. Perceived Experience, Perceived Value and Customer
Satisfaction as Antecedents to Loyalty among Hotel Guests. Journal of Quality
Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, pp.1-35.
Saini, G., 2021. Thinking Styles and Leadership Skills of Managers on Organizational
Productivity. In Handbook of Research on Multidisciplinary Perspectives on
Managerial and Leadership Psychology (pp. 448-458). IGI Global.
Torlak, N.G., Demir, A. and Budur, T., 2021. Using VIKOR with structural equation modeling
for constructing benchmarks in the Internet industry. Benchmarking: An International
Journal.
Tsiligiris, V. and Hill, C., 2021. A prospective model for aligning educational quality and
student experience in international higher education. Studies in Higher Education,
46(2), pp.228-244.
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TSOU, Y.H., HUANG, Y.F., LIU, S.C. and DO, M.H., 2021. The Effects of Total Quality
Management and Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Performance: A Future
Research Agenda. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(4),
pp.277-287.
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