CUSTOMER FOCUS – THE CUSTOMER’S NEEDS MUST BE MET OR EXCEEDED.

THE NEEDS ARE DETERMINED THROUGH:

MARKET STUDIES
RESEARCH GROUPS
CLIENT MEETINGS

BENEFITS OF ACHIEVING THIS CONCEPT INCLUDE:

INCREASED REVENUE
INCREASED EFFECTIVENESS
CUSTOMER LOYALTY
 CLIENT PROGRAMMER QUALITY ASSURANCE

REQUIREMENTS CREATE API

REVISE API

TEST API

SUCCESS NO
?

CREATE TEST
YES CASES

RUN TEST
CASES

NO
SUCCESS
?

YES
EMAIL
LAUNCH API
APPROVAL
CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING THUS THE CONCEPT OF
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.

ONE COMMON APPROACH TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IS PDCA.

PLAN: EVALUATE THE CURRENT PROCESSES AND MAKE PLANS TO RESOLVE

PROBLEMS FOUND
DO: IMPLEMENT THE PLAN AND COLLECT DATA FOR EVALUATION
CHECK: STUDY DATA TO DETERMINE IF THE PLAN IS ACHIEVING THE DESIRED
RESULTS
ACT: COMMUNICATE RESULTS AND IMPLEMENT THE NEW PROCEDURE IF
SUCCESSFUL
IN TQM PHILOSOPHY, EMPLOYEES ARE CONSIDERED A VITAL PART OF THE
QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROCESS.

EMPLOYEES ARE EMPOWERED TO MAKE DECISIONS

THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE VALUED

THEIR SUGGESTIONS ARE IMPLEMENTED

THEY UNDERGO TRAINING IN USING QUALITY CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT

TOOLS
 QUALITY PERSPECTIVES
TRANSCENDENT PERSPECTIVE – EXTENDING BEYOND THE LIMITS OF QUALITY.
Eg. Shangri-la Hotel, Harley Davidson

PRODUCT PERSPECTIVE – THE MORE ATTRIBUTES THE BETTER IS THE PRODUCT’S

QUALITY.
Eg. LG WM4000HBA with 13 wash options, 12 wash programs, AI fabric sensor,
smart pairing, steam technology,…

USER PERSPECTIVE - A QUALITY PRODUCT FITS THE INTENDED USE.

Eg. Family vehicle, Off-road vehicle

VALUE PERSPECTIVE – A QUALITY PRODUCT IS ONE THAT PROVIDES SIMILAR

BENEFITS AS THAT OF THE COMPETITOR BUT AT A LOWER PRICE.
Eg. Travel package, CCTV

MANUFACTURING PERSPECTIVE – A QUALITY PRODUCT CONFORMS TO

SPECIFICATIONS.

CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE – A QUALITY PRODUCT MEETS OR EXCEEDS CUSTOMER

EXPECTATIONS.
QUALITY PERSPECTIVES ON THE VALUE CHAIN
 QUALITY DIMENSIONS
PERFORMANCE – MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE.

AESTHETICS – APPEARANCE, FEEL, SMELL, TASTE.

SPECIAL FEATURES - EXTRA CHARACTERISTICS.

CONFORMANCE – HOW WELL A PRODUCT OR SERVICE CORRESPONDS TO

THE CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS.

SAFETY – RISK OF INJURY OR HARM.

RELIABILITY – CONSISTENCY OF PERFORMANCE.

DURABILITY – THE USEFUL LIFE OF THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE.

PERCEIVED QUALITY – INDIRECT EVALUATION OF QUALITY (eg. Reputation).

SERVICE AFTER SALE – HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS OR CHECKING ON

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
DIMENSION PRODUCT (AUTOMOBILE) SERVICE (AUTOMOBILE REPAIR)

Performance Everything works, fit and finish. All work done, at agreed price.
Friendliness, courtesy, competency,
quickness.
Aesthetics Interior design, soft touch Clean work/ waiting areas

Special features Placement of gauges and Location

eq. Convenience controls
Safety Antilock brakes, airbags Separate waiting area

Reliability Infrequency of breakdowns Work done correctly, ready when

promised
Durability Useful life in miles, resistance Work holds up over time
to rust and corrosion
Perceived quality Top-rated car Award-winning service department

Service after sale Handling of complaints and/or Handling of complaints

requests for information
 Service Quality

Put simply, service quality is serving the customer right the first time. More
formally, service quality is defined as “error-free” service that consistently
meets or exceeds the expectations and needs of the customers.

The service quality comes from conformance to customer expectations that are
cognitive descriptions of the quality in perception, economic quality
(“affordability”), and availability. Because quality in perception represents the
subjective feeling of customers, service quality may change over time and
therefore is a very elusive concept. As such, some service providers may not be
aware of the common needs of their customers. If they are, some customer
needs may be outside the scope of service due to the economic burden of
expanding the scope of service.
As shown in Figure 3.5, service quality is typically composed of three elements:
service product, service environment, and service delivery, which may or may not
involve a physical product (Rust and Oliver, 1994).

The service product is the service as it is designed to be delivered (Rust and

Oliver, 1994). For example, high-speed broadband Internet service that allows
customers to browse and search through a variety of websites and communicate
with their friends and families is a service product.

The service environment includes the ambience, space, function, surrounding,

and facility to facilitate and enrich the service delivery process. An example is a
restaurant’s dining tables, internal layout, design, and atmosphere, all aiming to
enhance the dining experiences for customers.

The service delivery is the way the service is presented to customers. For
instance, the transportation of airline passengers to the destination of their
choice, on time, and in a professional manner that conforms to their expectations
illustrates service delivery.
 SERVICE GAPS
Due to the inherent difficulty in conceptualizing and evaluating service quality, it can fail.
Service quality is often the indicator of differences between expectations and perceptions
on the part of management, employees, and customers. Such differences are called
“service gaps.” According to Parasuraman et al. (1985), there are four possible service gaps
(see Figure 3.6):
Gap 1 is the most common difference between what customers actually
want and what managers think their customers want. For example,
hotel guests may prefer a clean and quiet room over plush furniture
and a fast broadband Internet connection, which hotel managers think
hotel guests would appreciate.

Gap 2 may occur when managers fail to develop the appropriate

method of measuring service quality, because they do not know which
specific elements service quality is composed of.

Gap 3 often occurs when there are variances in the skills, experiences,
and aptitudes among the employees of service providers that lead to
inconsistency. For example, a waitress in a restaurant may be very
courteous to you on a certain day, but on your next visit another
waitress may be somewhat rude and blunt. This is a reason why the
amount of tip left by the restaurant’s customers could vary from one
visit to another.

Gap 4 is often termed the “promise gap.” It lies between what the
service provider promises to deliver in its communications and what it
actually does deliver to the customer. For example, if the local pizza
restaurant promises to deliver its freshly baked pizza to its customer
within 15 minutes of ordering but ends up being half an hour late, the
pizza restaurant has created gap 4. Another example of gap 4 is a