The Term Quality Management - Essay Example

Management and Service Quality in Sports and Leisure Organisations The Term “Management” “The term management consists of the leading and organizing of an organization. The official definition of a management system is: a related set of agreements and methods and an organization structure for the purposes of a methodical and systematic control and improvement of business processes to achieve predetermined objectives”. The process of management consists of four functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The functions are not discrete; they often overlap and influence one another. Although society and business have both changed dramatically since these basic functions were first proposed in 1916, with updates interpretations, they remain the most popular approach to studying management. What is Quality Management? [Online] http://www.opi-inc.com/whatis.htm (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Planning The first management function is planning, the process of determining the organisations goal and then laying out procedures to attain them. When planning, management looks at where the organisation should be in the future, considers alternative strategies for getting there, and then selects and impalements the best set of actions. Organizing The second management function is organizing, which involves establishing, maintaining, or changing a structure to accomplish the organisation’s goals to define and assign tasks, and to coordinate people and resources. Managers usually move into the organizing phase once they have established their goals and developed plans. Leading The third management function is leading, the process of influencing and motivating others to work together to achieve organisational goals. Once the organisational structure is in place and people have been assigned their tasks, managers work directly with all members of the organisation to help them understand their goals and make their best possible contributions. Controlling The fourth management function is controlling, which involves setting the standards, monitoring the progress, and making the adjustments needed to keep the organisation focused on its goals. Typically, managers anticipate control issues during the planning phase, at which time they determine the appropriate controls for measuring and maintaining performance. Management and Quality More than just a business buzzword, quality represents the determination of an organisation to satisfy its customer or constituents. Perhaps no other management issue has received as much attention in recent years as quality, although it is hardly a new issue. In the 1950s, Japanese companies turned to the quality teaching of W.Edwards Deming and J.M.Juran, both of the United States, to rebuild industrial strength by reversing the country’s former reputation of making cheap, inferior products. Ramaswamy (1996) described service as "the business transactions that take place between a donor (service provider) and receiver (customer) in order to produce an outcome that satisfies the customer". The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) At the time, the U.S. and U.K industry generally set the worldwide standard for quality, but within 20 years, Japanese firms had snatched the title of quality leader and were rapidly widening the gap. The proof of Japan’s quality achievements was evident all around the world, as people drove Japanese cars, listened to Japanese stereos, and squeezed the shutter on Japanese cameras. Quality Service and Learning & Decision Making In order to provide quality services, effective learning is vital. Learning provides managers to make decisions according to customers’ requirements. Mangers can take feedback from customers through various methods. This feedback gives them ideas and help in improving quality of their sports or leisure facilities. “The quality of performance provided by recreation suppliers can be controlled by management, while factors brought to the site by visitors are outside a supplier's control” (Brown, 1988; Williams, 1988; Crompton & MacKay, 1989). Journal of Leisure Research: An empirical investigation of the relationships between service [Online] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3702/is_200201/ai_n9081092 (Accessed 7th December, 2005) It is important to understand that effective learning required greater observations, experiences implemented, good interpreting and predictions. To make an effective decision, managers should have to look for perfect and complete information which is required basically to solve any king problem. Identification of the actual problem and its alternatives is also very important while making decisions. It is mandatory that managers should not become bias; otherwise it can destroy the whole process of rational decision making. Moreover, decision timing, critical skills, knowledge and training, experience and expertise are also very important elements to consider. Different Types of Management Systems There are many different types of management systems exist, they include but are not limited to: Quality management Environmental management Occupational health and safety management Logistic management Strategic management Time management Risk management Stress management Knowledge management Integration management Resource management Cost management The differences between the management systems are primarily based on the following factors: The requirements factor: the requirements of market parties and clients as well statutory requirements How critical the task is? Such as environmental impact – occupational health and safety risk inventories to be carried out: contract review, environmental impact analysis, occupational health and safety risk assessment; The nature of work: manufacturing and/or service providing organisations Importance of Management Systems There is no doubt that all the management systems are important and one cannot say that time management or any other system is the only important system that requires for running an organisations operations effectively. If an organisation does not have any strategy (strategic management system) or time management system then how would it provide quality on TIME? Let’s consider the cost management and resource management systems, if a company or club does not manage its costing process or budget and resources properly (such as men power, financial, and machinery) then it would be ruined soon. Thus, we cannot say, one management system is important and the other one is useless. Every management system is vital; however, the purpose and the use of a management system can increase or decrease its significance over other systems. Strategic Management in Business Most of the business brains agree and accept the vital role of the strategic management in today’s business, but as we know every issue has always usually two or more aspects, this rivalry view says that “Strategic Management” or “Strategic Planning” is nothing but wastage of time, money, and can reduce the productivity and efficiency of the concerned business. Since last few years in many organisations “Strategic Planning” becomes one of the major criteria of success. Almost all the leading organisations of the world are designing and implementing Strategic Plans. This type of planning is more useful and effective for large organisations, small business can also use this but it could be costly for them, they can also use this, but it has to be curtailed and amended up to large scale to make it feasible. Why Quality Management? ”Quality management is for many companies a thing of recent years. But that does not mean that they did nothing about it before. The organization was already working in a way that was known to be largely satisfactory - otherwise the company would have got into difficulties long ago. But methods may of course be incomplete and open to improvement. Once organisations systematically set to work on this improvement, this is called a quality management project. If a consistent package of quality measures is introduced, this is called a quality management system. Primarily it is the customers (clients) of a company who lay down requirements for the quality of the product (or service) supplied. It is therefore necessary for many companies to have a (certified) quality system to maintain their place in the market. The quality system ensures in particular that the quality level for products and services demanded by the customer is reached and maintained. In many cases the government also attached values to the (quality) requirements that a product meets. It lays down requirements for products in the field of safety, health and environment. Products that meet these essential requirements must be given a CE mark. In some cases the CE marking is only awarded if the company manufactures the product with a quality system, set up on the basis of for example ISO 9001.” Eulab [Online] http://eulab.nen.nl/frameset.htm?url=%2Fcontent%2Fenglish%2Fmanagement_kwaliteit_en.htm (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Vital Sports and Leisure Domains The quality of service in sports and leisure organisations is highly demanded since these organizations started playing a vital role in our society. These organisations now require dedicated and committed professionals in all departments – more precisely in quality control or assurance areas. “The most common definition is the traditional notion that views quality as the customer's perception of service excellence. That is to say, quality is defined by the customer's impression of the service provided” (Berry, Parasuraman, & Zeithaml, 1988; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985). The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Nowadays, in this competitive and fast paced world, it is essential to take care of your customers by giving excellent quality services. In sports and leisure organisations, the following areas required quality services: Public recreational areas/facilities Performing and Cultural arts Tourism All areas in sports (amateur, spectator, participant, and professional) By providing quality services organisations can easily increase their business and profits; and non-profit organisations gain and retain their reputation in the market. Service Gronroos (1990) pointed out that “A service is an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, but not necessarily, take place in interactions between the customer and service employees and /or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems.” Yong (2000) looked at service as "a service, combined with goods products, is experienced and evaluated by customers who have particular goals and motivations for consumers for consuming the service". The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Perception of Service Quality “Service quality has been studied for a long time in the field of business management. However, no consensus has been reached among researchers on how to conceptualize or operationalize the construct. The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Service Quality Background “Quality of service has been studied in the area of business management for years because the market is more competitive and marketing management has transferred its focus from internal performance such as production to external interests such as satisfaction and customers' perception of service quality” (Gronroos, 1992). “However, the concept of service quality has only recently gained attention in the sport and recreational literature over the last two decades.” (Yong, 2000). The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Improving Quality Methods of quality assurance and quality control are generally used to establish and monitor quality standards throughout operational areas, but an increasing number of organisations are working to improving quality throughout the organisation. To do so, managers can apply a wide variety of approaches that extend beyond traditional operations management techniques and that involve managers and employees inside as well as outside the operations function. Among these approaches are quality circles and quality-improvement teams, total quality management, and benchmarking. In addition, organisations can apply for national quality awards or use award standards to improve quality. Bounded Rationality of Managers’ in Organisations – One of the Service Quality Problems The concept of bounded rationality suggests that a manager’s ability to make completely rationale decisions is limited by time constraints and but the cognitive capacity to absorb, retain, and analyze a great deal of information. Following are the factors of bounded rationality: Managers may have only incomplete information about the problem, the alternatives, the decision criteria, or the impact on the organisation. Time and money constraints often limit the quantity and quality of information available. When more information is available, managers may not use it productively because of the added complexity or because of inexperience. Managers may inaccurately assess the importance of the consequences of individual alternatives being considered. Human attention and money are limited, so managers can store only a relatively small amount of information as they consider a problem. The ability to weigh and select the optimal choice from among all alternatives is limited by a manager’s intelligence and by personal perceptions. Due to these major cognitive distortions/limitations, managers do not always make rational decisions that represent the optimal choices for their organisations. Instead, they make decision by satisficing. Manager should have to eliminate all the above factors or at least try to eliminate earnestly. Satisficing – A Common Approach When managers stop looking for alternatives as soon as they find one that is acceptable, they are satisficing. Rather than searching extensively for alternatives, the satisficing manager selects the first one that meets the minimum criteria of the solution, even if it is not the optimal choice. Quality Leadership Importance “Some organisations have always pursued a strategy of quality leadership, differentiating themselves sufficiently through high quality to occupy a high quality/high price market niche. As the implications of quality management and its relationship to business performance have become better understood, many organisations are now beginning to see quality as an important strategic issue. An organisation can outperform its competitors only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. It must provide greater value to customers than its competitors, or offer the same value at lower cost, or both. Today, customers have identified quality issues as a basis for differentiating between competing suppliers. Surviving in this environment necessitates the development of a culture of continuous improvement to outperform the competition”. Quality Management [Online] http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/stratcom/quality.html (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Quality Management with Other Management Systems – Quality and Strategic Management “As organisations become more adept at adding value, they blur the boundaries between themselves and their customers. Closer customer/supplier relationships have the potential to offer competitive advantage by raising the barriers to competitors wishing to service the same customers. In this environment, customers and suppliers build strategic linkages which enable opportunities for improvement to be more easily identified and implemented in customer terms. Similar strategic linkages will be formed with an organisation's own supplier network. Organisations that have the capacity to create and sustain strategic partnerships with their customers and suppliers, and use these to enhance their delivery of quality products and services, will be better placed to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment”. Quality Management [Online] http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/stratcom/quality.html (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Conclusion As discussed, there are many management systems exist. But with regard to management in sports and leisure organisations, the quality management system is more important than any other system. These organisations principle activity is to provide quality service. If there service is not good they would not survive. For example, if a manufacturing organisation does not produce a good product, it would not survive. Similarly, a sports club core business is to provide service, if the quality of service is not good then it would certainly lose its business – and cannot compete in this cutthroat competition. Thus, the quality service management is much more important than any other type of management systems in sports and leisure organisations. References What is Quality Management? [Online] http://www.opi-inc.com/whatis.htm (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Eulab [Online] http://eulab.nen.nl/frameset.htm?url=%2Fcontent%2Fenglish%2Fmanagement_kwaliteit_en.htm (Accessed 7th December, 2005) The Sport Journal: Volume5, Number3,Fall 2002:A Review of Service Quality in Corporate and Recreational Sport/Fitness Programs [Online] http://www.thesportjournal.org/2002Journal/Vol5-No3/service-quality.asp (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Quality Management [Online] http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/stratcom/quality.html (Accessed 7th December, 2005) Journal of Leisure Research: An empirical investigation of the relationships between service [Online] http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3702/is_200201/ai_n9081092 (Accessed 7th December, 2005) F.R.David. Strategic Management (Concept and Cases) - (Seventh Edition). Prenhall Inc. Bovee, Thill, Wood, and Dovel. Management - International Edition. McGraw-Hill Inc. Read More