Implementation of the Quality Management at a Departmental Store at Mackay of Queensland - Book Report/Review Example

Total Quality Management Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Background 4 Aims 4 Scope 5 Action Plan 6 Detailed Plan 8 Implementation 10 Recommendations 12 Conclusions 12 Bibliography 13 Executive Summary Total quality management is the need of the hour. It has been implemented all through out the world with due sincerity to reach the next higher level of efficiency. The report focuses on the various aspects of planning and most importantly the implementation of the quality management at a departmental store at Mackay of Queensland. The planning upon which the report lays emphasis has been under the broad categories of action plan and detailed plan. The various planning processes include the likes of quality products, customer service, organisational culture, electronic strategies, team empowerment, corporate social initiatives, and external approval. The implementation aspect has also been dealt in due length in the report. The report also comprise of certain recommendations that are presumed to be essential for successful implementation of total quality management. Introduction Background The word ‘change’ has been rightly presumed to be the only constant phenomenon in the competitive world of today. The change is most prevalent in the flow of information which has led industrialisation and globalisation to new heights. The changing environment has compelled the business companies and firms to find newer means to use their scarce resources efficiently and effectively so that the customers remain satisfied. In the modern world, quality management has been viewed as such a way to ensure customer satisfaction. The concept of quality management or total quality management is still in the early days of development and the business houses are using different combinations to reach to the desired level. The broad head of quality management basically involves three sub heads namely quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Aims The initial check point should be the quality control. The organisation must impose check on the quality of the deliverables. The organisations should also offer assurance to the customers and the market as a whole regarding the expected quality standards. As quality has often been perceived as the ongoing process, the business house should strive to improve the levels of quality on continuous basis. The modern concept of Total Quality Management emphasises on the satisfaction of the customers through effective implementation of tools, trainings and techniques. TQM also stresses on the improvement of the overall organisational processes in order to develop higher quality of goods and services (Kansas State University, n.d.). Scope The scope of the report is many fold. It deals with the various aspects of total quality management in a departmental store. The report has been divided into three broad heads namely action plan, detailed plan and implementations of such plans. The planning head consist of seven different steps. It also comprises of the modern approaches of total quality management. The recommendations deal with the steps that the departmental store should initiate to make total quality management successful. Action Plan In order to generate increased profitability, the departmental store should lay emphasis on the total quality management on different aspects of the organisation. But prior to implement quality management measures, at the outset the store should prepare the action plan for the same. The various steps that can comprise the action plan for the departmental store based at Queensland are discussed below: Quality Products – One of the most important aspects for the management of the quality for the departmental store would be the products that are being sold over there. The departmental store must have all the top brands on its shelves. The products that are available at the store must have proper display of the constituents and the ingredients. The statutory declaration should also be exhibited. Customer Service – Today it has been widely accepted fact that it is hard to have new customers flying in because of increased competition. Therefore, onus lies on the departmental store to retain the present customers and make them store loyal. This can be accomplished with the increased services provided to the customers. To keep the customers loyal and to retain them, the departmental store should initiate different measures. Organisational Culture – Towards the success of any organisation, the culture plays a significant role. The new members of the store should be informed about the heritage of the departmental house. The senior members should play exemplary roles and lead from the front to imbibe the organisational culture across the team members. E - Strategies – The action plan of the departmental store should also involve different online strategies. The internet based online strategies would help the store to implement total quality management efficiently and effectively. With in the store, the management should opt for a dedicated information technology network that would enhance the flow of communication and the flow of goods optimally. To understand the complex phenomenon of demand and supply, the information technology should be used. The online strategies should also be made available to the external parties like that of stake holders and the customers. The customers can use the strategy by viewing the available products and the related prices online. They can also order and purchase the products online. The online strategy should also help in having efficient supply chain management. Team Empowerment – As it is evident from the study that the top management do not have enough time for the departmental store, therefore emphasis has to be provided for team creation and empowerment of such teams. The teams should be made responsible and accountable for certain processes and also due authority should be awarded to such teams for smooth functioning. The team effort is crucial for the success of total quality management as in case any flaw occurs, the concerned loophole can easily be recognised and measures taken. CSR Activities – To have the ultimate success of total quality management, the departmental store should initiate corporate social responsibilities. It would help the store to have a bright face among its stakeholders i.e. the suppliers as well as customers. External Approval – Last but not the least, the departmental store should strive to have the accreditation about the practised quality from certain external expert bodies like that of ISO. Such approval would enable the store to have faith among the various concerned parties regarding the quality of the products as well as processes. Detailed Plan The planning process might start with the action plans but it gets completed only with the detailed plans. The detailed plan for the departmental store on the basis of the action plan can be as follows: Quality Products – The ultimate goods that are to be sold at the departmental store are the products of the different brands. To have increased sale, the departmental store should have attractive pricing policy. The store should be able to provide goods of the big brands at the discounted prices. But in order to do so, the store should have proper quality check in place so that the big brands do not provide inferior goods to the store. The store should also be careful with the expired goods as it would invariably affect the customers. Customer Service – As it has been the accepted fact that the in today’s world, customer is the king, so due measures are expected to keep them satisfied. The service should be fast and prompt. The customer feedbacks should be implemented at once with in the process. There should be properly functional customer grievance department. On the other hand, measures like after sales service or home delivery should be implemented to remove customer hassles. Organisational Culture – Culture has the lasting effect among the employees. Proper strategies should be implemented to have the organisational culture towards meeting the organisational goal. It can take the formal shape like training and personality development as well as informal ways. E - Strategies – The departmental store take the benefit of information technology to the highest possible extent. The store should have dedicated state of the art website which would enable the customers to place order and purchase online. It can have collaborations with international pay systems like that of Paypal and Alert Pay. In case of customer dispute too, website should accommodate customised problems. Team Empowerment – Unavailability of the top management would invariably focus on the team creation and empowerment of such team with in the departmental store. The concerned teams should be provided with due authority as well as responsibility and authority to get the work done. The structure should preferably be decentralised. Principles of quality circles can be implemented for better results. As it is accepted that authority, responsibility and accountability go hand in hand, therefore empowerment of the team should lead to higher performance standards. CSR Activities – The activities related to corporate social responsibility also has bearings on the overall performance of the organisation and also on the total quality management. The same is true for the departmental store too. The store should take certain measures for the overall benefit of the society and economy which would help in enhancing the positioning of the society. The activities should help in building a sense of belongingness and pride among the customers as well as suppliers and other stakeholders of the organisation. The various corporate and social responsible measures might involve lesser if not zero use of plastics by the store. The store can campaign for afforestation and fund various such measures initiated by different agencies. External Approval – To maintain high standards of quality management, it is desired for the store to get itself approved and accredited from certain external quality assurance agencies. The external approval and accreditation would help the store to maintain bright face among all its stake holders and the society at large regarding the level of quality that is practised at the store. The external agencies like ISO would require the departmental store to document all its process, structure, procedure and resources. It would surely take care of all the quality loopholes that could have generated if the quality check was internal. Therefore, it can be suggested that if the management is really sincere in its intentions regarding high level of quality to be implemented at the store, external accreditation is the most important step. Implementation The action plan and the detailed plan will have its underlying meaning only if it can be implemented in the desired way. The implementation should be measured and be based on several related aspects like benchmarking and customer feedback. To initiate report to the management, the organisation should note down the quality parameters prior to the planning and implementation of the measures. It should compare and contrast the previously performed level with the present level (i.e. after the implementation of total quality management). The previously performed level should act as the benchmark of the quality. It would enable the top management to understand the change that has been experienced because of the planning and implementations. Customer feedback should be provided with due sincerity. Such measure would help the bridge between the customer and the departmental store. The customer feedback would help the store to understand the real problems that the customers are facing and the perceived solution of such hassles. Understanding and initiating measures to reduce and nullify such hassles through quality measure would definitely result to higher level of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Total quality management is an ongoing phenomenon. There is no starting or ending point to the implementation of TQM. On the front end as customer satisfaction is regarded as the successful implementation of total quality management, on the back end it is the minimum and zero wastage of resources is viewed as the same. Total quality management should include all the measures like effective supply chain management or minimum stock holding (just in time approach might be the case). The other parameter of proper implementation of the total quality management can be the successful accreditation by the external agencies like ISO. Such certifications help in understanding that the store has initiated certain quality measures and has been successfully implementing those. Recommendations The departmental store should emphasise more on the quality than quality. As it is evident that the top management does not have frequent involvement with the day to day operations of the store, therefore it is highly recommended that there is proper control and check points so that the quality measures that are initiated and maintained. The team building is also equally crucial and the store should be able to operate as an independent sub-unit. There should be proper mix of authority, responsibility and accountability. As in today’s market, customers are the decision maker; therefore quality management should take the driving seat to run the store. With all the different steps stated above heads it is expected that the departmental store would do well. The management might also look forward to have quality specialist as and when required to achieve success. Conclusions There is no doubt that the total quality management is the need of the hour. With successful implementation of total quality management organisations can expect to reach the highest level of products and services. The same is applicable for the Queensland based departmental store. The store should try and achieve higher level of quality like that of six sigma standards. It would mean that there are zero loss or minimum defects among the various processes that the organisation is going through. As discussed earlier total quality management is an ongoing process and therefore with the continuous support of the top management, it can enhance the revenue and profitability of the store in the long run. Bibliography Goetsch, DL & Davis, S 2009. Quality management: introduction to total quality management for production, processing, and services, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River. Harvard Business School, 2009. Strategies to Create Business and Social Value, Corporate Social Responsibility. [Online] Available at: http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/csr/ [Accessed on 13 September 2009]. Kansas State University, No Date, Total Quality Management, K – State Research and Extension. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/hfrr/Stevenson/Total%20Quality%20Management.pdf [Accessed on 13 September 2009]. Sanders, DA & Scott, CF 1997, Passing your ISO 9000/QS-9000 audit: a step-by-step guide, CRC Press Read More