MGMT report
Assessment 2: Quality Management Tools and Techniques
Report
Name: Student Number: Course Code: MGMT19105 Course Name: Quality Management Campus Lecturer/Tutor: Course Coordinator: Due Date:
1 Executive Summary Peter Alexander (PA) is a luxury sleepwear retailer, who has been creating pyjamas for over 30 years. Given the size of the company, and the number of stores it has nationally, it is expected that there be some challenges when providing quality products and service. The purpose of this report, is to identify quality management challenges within Peter Alexander and provide quality management tools and techniques that will address these issues. The focus of this report will be on the Peter Alexander stores themselves, all other Peter Alexander management departments including the head office, are outside the scope of this report. The quality challenge present within Peter Alexander is the customers not receiving the product they desire, which affects the quality of service. The current techniques used by PA have been unsuccessful in providing the customer what they want, therefore the totally quality management tools have been suggested. The tools suggested in this report are the cause-and-effect diagram, and flowchart techniques. Both address the quality management challenge within the business, and implementation will be successful if management communicates these tools effectively with the whole business. Peter Alexander’s customers have specific expectations when it comes to the product they desire. The current techniques used to retrieve these specifications have not been successful in the past, therefore the total quality management tools mentioned in this report are expected to address the challenge within Peter Alexander, and ensure their customers are receiving exactly what they want.
Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 2
2 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Purpose ......................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Scope ............................................................................................................................. 4
3 Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Quality Management Challenge ..................................................................................... 5 3.2 Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 Quality Management Tools to be Implemented ............................................................. 5
3.3.1 Cause-and-Effect Diagram ............................................................................................... 5 3.3.2 Flowchart ......................................................................................................................... 5
3.4 How to Implement ........................................................................................................ 6
4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 7
5 References ................................................................................................................. 8
6 Appendices ................................................................................................................ 9 6.1 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................... 9 6.2 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................. 10 6.3 Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................. 11
2 Introduction 2.1 Background Peter Alexander (PA) is a luxury sleepwear retailer, who has been creating pyjamas for over 30 years (“About Peter Alexander | Over 30 Years of Pyjamas & Sleepwear.”, n.d.) With over 100 stores across Australia (“Store Locator, n.d.) and that figure continuing to grow, it is expected that there be some challenges when providing quality products and service. 2.2 Purpose The purpose of this report, is to identify quality management challenges within Peter Alexander and provide quality management tools and techniques that will address these issues. 2.3 Scope Although there is a head office for Peter Alexander, a warehouse and manufacturer, the focus of this report will be on the Peter Alexander stores themselves. All other Peter Alexander management departments including the head office, are outside the scope of this report.
3 Analysis 3.1 Quality Management Challenge There is quality present within the products themselves, however producing the right product for the customer is a challenge, therefore affecting the service. So delivering quality of service is the management challenge within PA. The current techniques used within PA to understand the customer, range from feedback on the shop floor, to online feedback/complaints. These are not techniques mentioned in literature, however this is how PA are currently attempting to find out what the customers want. 3.2 Rationale Through discussion with employees of the brand and its customers, it became evident that customers were not receiving the styles, fabrics, or prints that they desire. Based on the current techniques used by PA in their attempt to understand what customers want, it was acknowledged that these techniques are not entirely successful. Therefore, the quality management tools suggested to be implemented are expected to be effective, as they address the challenge directly and more efficiently (Kaynak, H., 2003). 3.3 Quality Management Tools to be Implemented The following tools are suggested to be implemented to Peter Alexander based on the apparent challenges identified by the employees and customers of the business. 3.3.1 Cause-and-Effect Diagram Cause-and-effect diagrams, or “Ishikawa Diagrams” were created by Dr. Ishikawa, who is an expert in quality (Goetsch, David, Stanley & Davis, 2014). These diagrams were developed to be used with any challenge, and are intended to locate factors that cause a problem. The diagram is simple enough for the brain to understand, as it shows the root causes of an issue, which enables management to make the necessary changes quickly. Cause-and-effect diagrams requires management to consider all the possible causes of a quality challenge (Syduzzaman, Rahman, Islam, Habib, & Ahmed, 2014). As shown in Appendix 1, the main causes that result in product that the customer is not satisfied with, are mainly surrounding communication of feedback. The customers feedback on product is not communicated to the design team for months, and by that time the customer may not want that product anymore. Using a cause-and-effect diagram, Peter Alexander can not only improve this process, but find out what is causing the challenge to begin with. 3.3.2 Flowchart A flowchart is the second tool recommended for Peter Alexander to implement. Flowcharts can be as simple or complex as needed, and they are created to show a process (Goestsch, et al., 2014). The process shown in Appendix 3, is a flowchart that
will ensure Peter Alexander produces product based on customer feedback, which then leads to the end result of the customer being satisfied with the product. Flowcharts show a clear image of how a process works, and can be used to identify possible issues (Syduzzaman, et al., 2014). Although Goestsch, et al., (2014) states that for a flowchart to be effective, it must show how the process currently works, not how it should work, in this case Peter Alexander already has a flow chart showing the process and it has been unsuccessful. Therefore, the flowchart shown in Appendix 3, is the improved process that could be implemented. The outcome of the flowchart can often lead the business to other totally quality tools (Goestsch, et al., 2014), such as the cause-and-effect diagram. If the updated flowchart is followed, the causes shown in Appendix 1, will be eliminated. 3.4 How to Implement The implementation of the tools mentioned above, begins with the management team. The cause-and-effect diagram in Appendix 2, shows what Peter Alexander can do to ensure their quality challenge is addressed. For this to implemented, management must play a role in communicating these changes with all involved (Goestsch, et al., 2014). Business process management (BPM) will ensure the new process is documented, and that PA is ready for the implementation (van der Aalst, La Rosa & Santoro, 2016). Appendix 3 shows an updated flowchart that PA could implement, which would address their challenge. Management must communicate the new process with rest of the business, and demonstrate that by implementing these two total quality management tools, the challenge will be addressed. Through implementation of these tools, PA must consider that the cause-and-effect diagram shows items that must be continually improved if the implementation is to be successful (Goestsch, et al., 2014). The flowchart implementation will only work if Peter Alexander first understands why their current flow chart process is not working (Goestsch, et al., 2014), before they can fully implement the new method shown in Appendix 3. To maintain these new processes, and to ensure that the customer satisfaction is on- going, Peter Alexander must be consistent (Strevel, Pulido & Stone, 2014). Consistency is one of the main factors that results in customer satisfaction, and when implementing these tools Peter Alexander must ensure continual improvement is in place after implementation has occurred.
4 Conclusion Peter Alexander’s customers have specific expectations when it comes to the product they desire. The current techniques used to retrieve these specifications have not been successful in the past, therefore the total quality management tools mentioned in this report are expected to address the challenge within Peter Alexander, and ensure their customers are receiving exactly what they want.
5 References About Peter Alexander | Over 30 Years of Pyjamas & Sleepwear. Retrieved from
https://www.peteralexander.com.au/shop/en/peteralexander/our- history?promo_name=AuroraLaunch&promo_creative=OurHistory&promo_po sition=AboutPeter
Goetsch, David L. & Stanley, Davis, 2014. Quality Management for Organizational Excellence Pearson New International Edition: Introduction to Total Quality, Pearson Education M.U.A.
Kaynak, H. (2003). The relationship between total quality management practices and their effects on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21(4), 405-435.
Store Locator. Retrieved from https://www.peteralexander.com.au/shop/en/peteralexander/stores
Strevel, J., Pulido, A., & Stone, D. (2014). The three Cs of customer satisfaction: Consistency, consistency, consistency. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-three-cs-of- customer-satisfaction-consistency-consistency-consistency
Syduzzaman, Rahman, M., Islam, M., Habib, A., & Ahmed, S. (2014). Implementing total quality management approach in garments industry. European Scientific Journal, 10(34), 341+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/apps/doc/A397579628/AONE?u =cqu&sid=AONE&xid=83058ada
van der Aalst, W., La Rosa, M., & Santoro, F. (2016). Business Process Management. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 58(1), 1-6. doi: 10.1007/s12599-015-0409-x
6 Appendices 6.1 Appendix 1
6.2 Appendix 2
6.3 Appendix 3