The Qualitative Nature of Quality - Essay Example

Nature of Quality Introduction: Over the past few years businesses have witnessed chaotic changes. Quality is becoming very essential for the businesses and the top management’s main focus is set on the quality of product and services. Quality has become one of the biggest competitive factors for any business and is a pre requisite for market sustenance and possible growth. This essay aims at understanding what quality means and what are the factors that effect quality of products or services. Also the focus is on the dimensions and determinants of quality. The following sections focus on understanding the meaning of quality and the main aspects that affect the quality of a product. Quality: Quality is a very difficult concept to be defined. There have been different views by different people of what quality really is in a given circumstance. Quality of a product or service depends mainly on the specification laid down for it. If the specifications are met the product or service can classify as good quality. There is a high quest for quality improvements by every business in today’s highly competitive global market place. Business performance is now being measured by the quality of the product or service the business provides (Corbett et.al., 1998). The effect of quality on a business has been discussed by several researchers. There have been continuous efforts to improve quality and most researchers believe that increased and improved quality would help businesses sustain their competitive edge in the global markets (Kanji & Yui, 1997). The main purpose of any product that is produced is to satisfy customer needs. Below are the dimensions which directly relate to products and the end users. These dimensions need to be abided by the company to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Quality has been considered as a driver of improved business performance, it is essential to understand the various dimensions of quality. The next section explains the dimensions of quality (Sureshchandar, et.al, 2002). Dimensions of Quality: This section focuses on the dimensions of quality. This helps us understand the meaning of quality better and helps us develop a more complete definition of quality. Researchers have classified the dimensions of quality into eight major heads. The eight dimensions are explained as below. Performance, this is an essential factor of quality. Performance of a product is based on the fact whether or not the product is built according to the specifications. This affects the brand name of the producer to a great extent. Products that are not built according to specifications could cause major damage to the company and could influence profitability or the reputation of the end user (Garvin, 2008). Reliability of a product is also a very essential factor. It is the ability of the product to provide trouble free performance over a given time. It is important that a product performs consistently within the specifications. This is considered as one of the major dimensions by the consumers. It is essential for every customer to have the confidence that a product is reliable for them to buy the product. Reliability of a product can affect the profitability of a company and also if a product fails to be reliable it can cause serious damages to the brand image. This aspect is very closely related to performance (Garvin, 2008). Conformance with specifications is another very essential factor for quality. This is basically how well the finished product matches with the specifications and the original designs. This is checked by a quality control or quality assurance teams in companies to ensure that the quality of the product is not compromised in any aspect and the product follows the specification standards and design (Garvin, 2008). Features form the next important aspect for quality. It is very important that a product has all the features required for its performance as well as all that have been included in the specifications. It is essential that producers keep in mind all the possible uses of a product whilst designing the product. Also it is essential that the producers understand the customers needs to ensure the product meets their needs and satisfies them (Garvin, 2008). Durability is also a feature which every customer would expect from a product. This is one of the requirements in the specifications of any product. Durability of a product becomes a part of the warranty of the product and signifies the good quality of the product (Garvin, 2008). Serviceability is another essential element for selection of a product by the customers. Apart from the procurement costs and the reliability of a product the customers also focus on how easy it is to maintain and repair a product, thus making this an important element of quality (Garvin, 2008). Perception of customers plays a very important role in the success of a product. There are a few products that possess all the qualities to make them successful however due to public and customer perception. These perceptions could be reality in a few cases where producers ensure the product is perfectly in line with customer needs however the after sales services are not up to the mark making this a negative aspect of the product (Sureshchandar et. al., 2001 a, Garvin, 2008). Aesthetics of a product does play a very important role for the customers as well. It is essential that along with all the above mentioned qualities a product also looks good. This is quite an important factor for the end users and it contributes to the brand image of the product. Often damages or defects in a product’s aesthetics can make it unappealing to the customers and cause rejection of the product (Garvin, 2008). All the above mentioned dimensions are inter related and while the producers work on designing the product special attention should be given to the dimensions to understand the interactions. These are a few factors that are very essential for quality of any product or service. However there are a few determinants for quality as well. The determinants of quality will be discussed in the following section. Determinants of Quality: After having understood the dimensions of quality it is important to understand the factors that determine quality in products and services. This section aims at understanding the determinants of quality. A few of the determinants of quality for the service industry are reliability which means a consistency of performance and keeping up of promises made by the company. Other factors that matter are aspects like quick responsiveness, competency, friendliness, good communication, honesty and trustworthiness, security and confidentiality of customers, individual attention, understanding, and good written communication wherever required and last but not the least providing the customer with the feel good factor and the most important factor being good customer service (Asubonteng, 1996, Cronin, 1992). These factors play a very important role for customer experience and lack of any one of these factors could mean unsatisfied customers. It is very essential that producers keep in mind the importance of quality at every stage of the product development to ensure that customers receive the products and services to their satisfaction. Conclusion: After looking at the above mentioned factors it is very evident that the obvious and the simplest factors are extremely essential for customer satisfaction. Quality plays a very important role in today’s market place where it has become a factor that controls the performance of businesses. This essay has helped focus on the dimensions of quality that matter the most for customer satisfaction and help producers focus on the factors to provide good quality products to the customers at affordable prices. References Asubonteng, P., McCleary, K.J. & Swan, J.E. 1996, ‘SERVQUAL revisited: a critical review of service quality’, The Journal of Services Marketing, 10, pp. 62-81 Corbett, L.M., Adam, E.E., Jr, Harrison, N.J., Lee, T.S., Rho, B.H. & Samson, D., 1998, ‘A study of quality management practices and performance in Asia and the South Pacific, International Journal of Production Research’, 36, pp. 2597-2607 Cronin, J.J. & Taylor, S.A. 1992, ‘Measuring service quality: a re-examination and extension’, Journal of Marketing, 56, pp. 55- 68 Garvin, D.A., 2008, ‘Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality’, 5 January 2008, Harvard Business Review, New York Kanji, G.K. & Yui, H., 1997, ‘Total quality culture, Total Quality Management’, 8, pp. 417-428 Sureshchandar, G.S., Rajendran, C., Anantharaman, R.N., ‘The relationship between management’s perception of total quality service and customer perceptions of service quality’, Total Quantity Management, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2002, 69-88 Sureshchandar, G.S., Rajendran, C. & Kamalanabhan, T.J., 2001a, ‘Customer perceptions of service quality - a critique’, Total Quality Management, 12, pp. 111- 124. 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