Chapter 24: Developing Effective Operations

1. Chapter 24: Developing Effective Operations QUALITY

2. Quality • Those features of a product or service that allow it to satisfy (or delight) customers • Tangible measures of quality: • Appearance • Reliability • Durability • Functions (added extras) • After-sales service: cost, promptness, effectiveness • Repair and maintenance needs • Intangible measures of quality: • Image and brand • Reputation • Exclusiveness

3. Importance of quality to a business Quality System – the approach used by an organisation to achieve quality. Most quality systems can be classified as either quality control or quality assurance.

4. Quality Control • A system that uses inspection as a way of finding any faults in the good or service being provided.

5. Quality Assurance • A system that aims to achieve or improve quality by organising every process to get the product “right first time” and prevent mistakes ever happening • Benefits: • Ownership of the product or service rests with the workers rather than with an independent inspector, giving them greater responsibility • Theorists such as Herzberg argue that there are positive effects on motivation because of this sense of ownership and recognition of the worker’s responsibility • Costs are reduced because there is less waste and less need for reworking of faulty products • With all staff responsible for quality, there should be a higher and more consistent level of quality, which can lead to marketing advantages for the firm.

6. Systems of Quality Assurance • Total quality management (TQM) – a culture of quality that involves all employees of a firm • Kaizen (“continuous improvement”) – a policy of implementing small, incremental changes in order to achieve better quality and/or greater efficiency • Quality Standards – a set of criteria for quality established by an organisation. IE: BS 5750, ISO9001