Based upon the readings and research from the course, you will develop a Strategic
Quality Management Implementation Plan for Spirit Airlines.
The Strategic Quality Management Implementation Plan (Section 3) is to be written as a
document submitted to an executive team. Due to this, you may present the material in
Section 3 in more of a report fashion rather than as an academic paper. The plan must
be based on current research (including theory and practice) that is appropriate for the
unique context of the organization selected. Think of the plan as a subset of the entire
paper.
In support of your plan, write a 10–15-page literature review that focuses on the basis for
the quality management tool/technique selected. Include at least 15 scholarly peer-
reviewed references. The literature review must be included as an appendix (Section 4 of
the format below); it must not be included in Section 3.
Introduction
A. Topic/focus of the essay
B. Thesis Statement
Body
First paragraph description
A. Summary of first piece of supporting evidence/information
B. Summary of second piece of supporting evidence/information
Second paragraph description
A. Summary of first piece of supporting evidence/information
B. Summary of second piece of supporting evidence/information
Third paragraph description
A. Summary of first piece of supporting evidence/information
B. Summary of second piece of supporting evidence/information
Conclusion
A. Restatement of thesis
B. Concluding remarks
Running Head: STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Strategic Quality Management Implementation Plan
Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 2
I. ABSTRACT
There are different strategies business organizations use to enhance their performance
in the market and keep customers. Quality is one of the most integral elements that
determines a business organization’s success. This paper will be focusing on the general
strategic quality management implementation plan in Spirit Airlines. The main objective will
be coming up with an effective plan to help the company implement the quality management
strategies. The airline business requires the companies to embrace quality in their operations
to help them attract and maintain customers as well as complying with the legal requirements
and policies in the industry. When coming up with a new direction in the business, the
company should embrace strategy and the right plan that will assure the business of success.
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 3
II. INTRODUCTION
The airline industry is one of the most competitive industries in the global market.
The industry is also divided based on different factors and elements an example is that there
are the low-cost and high cost carrier companies in the industry. Spirit Airlines is one of the
companies that has gone deep into the low-cost airline business in the united states. The
competition is so stiff in the airline industry more so in the United States where the company
operates but apparently the company has been doing pretty well in the industry. The effective
strategic implementation plans and approaches that are being used by the company have been
the key factors that have given the Spirit Airline to perform and remain relevant in the
industry. The company has been focusing on quite a number of areas strategically but there
has not been a clear attention given to the quality management. This does not mean the Spirit
Airline gives no attention to the strategic quality management, the company does but there is
need to take deeper look into the implementation plan the company has in line with this
aspect of the business.
Different scholars have come up with different elements business organizations focus
on to ensure and embrace quality management strategically in the business organizations.
Some of the crucial components of quality management that have been introduced into the
economy are the continuous and gradual improvement of the organization products and
services to be in line with the general consumer needs. The general cost of quality in the
company is the next component that has been introduced as well as the projects meant to
bring about breakthrough in the company. A solid plan is integral in ensuring the strategic
quality management implementation in the business organization. In Spirit Airlines the
concept of strategic quality management goes way beyond the fat that everyone does their
best to deliver in the company. The strategic quality management concept is basically the
approach an organization follows to help in the achievement of the established business
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 4
organization goals. In this paper, the focus will be entirely focused on Spirit Airlines and the
approach the organization takes in planning the strategic quality management operations.
Spirit Airline employs different core concepts of strategic quality management which
includes; design quality, the fact-based management, focusing on the customers, organization
leadership and the continuous gradual improvement in the business quality.
III. ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
Spirit Airlines Company Background
Spirit Airlines was founded as a Charter back in 1983 as an American Low-cost
carrier. The headquarters are in Miramar in Florida which is found in the Miami metropolis.
The company operates majorly in the United States and some parts of the Latin America,
apart from these areas Spirits also has buses in the Atlantic City, Orlando, the others are in
Las Vegas and Chicago. Spirit came up with a slogan that was formulated with the nature of
the industry, which says “Less Money, More Go.” This slogan relates closely to the company
nature which is low-cost carrier. Since the establishment in 1983 the company has been
working so well and making significant growth over the years. The company was in position
to extend the services in the new markets an example of the New York City.
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 5
There were some economic events that brought about a change to the Spirit Airlines
business. The decoupling of the facilities mostly involved in the base ticket price of
traditional carriers was the main event that marked the turning point in the company in 2007.
Between 2007 and 2015, the company experienced significant transition to a low-cost carrier
which was a significant strategic change in the company. This was an issue that was a clear
show of a significant issue of quality management in the company to transform the operations
and enhance the competitiveness. There were challenges that came with the transition, at
some point the company was forced to come up with work adjustment plan and retraining and
there were cases where the pilots were actually laid off to implement the changes in the
company. One of the main changes that too place in the company was the rebranding from
Spirit plus to “Big Front Seat”, this move was also accompanied by the discounting of the
business class service. The one aspect that comes out clear as a show of improvement
initiated by the change took place in November 2014. Spirit Airline was named as the top
growth airline pick for investors by Morgan Stanley.
In 2016 Spirit Airline came up with an invention that has been active since then to
date which is the service refinement. There were several changes that took place in the
company, among them being the change in the administration. The Air Tran CEO Robert L.
Fornaro came in as a replacement for Baldanza as the company chief. Just like any other
organization going through change, the change in Spirit Airline received significant
resistance though the benefits were witnessed. In 2015 the company was ranked the last
among the 13 airlines of flight that arrived on time and later in 2016 the company emerged
the second in as far as on time performance is concerned. The company came after Delta
Airlines which seemed to give stiff competition in the market. The company has been doing
so well since the inception to now despite the hard times. In 2018 Spirit was the only North
American airline that was listed in the 10 safest globally.
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 6
The performance of the company can be presented graphically to give the current
trend taken by the company and performance. The financial and non-financial data gives the
clear indication of the company performance over the years. The graphical presentation
below indicates the performance of Spirit Airlines in the past years.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
2014 2015 2016 2017
Net Profit
Number of
Employs
Aircrafts at year
end
Spirit Airlines Organization Structure
The company structure is a crucial element in the general strategic quality
management process. Spirit Airlines is a large organization which means it has a well-defined
structure which has also been incorporated in the strategic quality management. It is
important to look into the company structure to help come up with an implementation plan
that incorporates all the relevant elements and the organization sectors. Spirit Airline
structure starts with the Chief Executive Officer, Ted Christine at the top. McIntyre Gardner
is the second after the CEO and is also the Chairman of the board. Spirit Airlines’ has quite a
number of directors that oversee different departments in the company. Among the directors
are the company director of operations, the director of flights, the chief finance officer of the
company, the Director of safety, the senior vice president of the Airport Operations, there is
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 7
the manager of the flight operations in the company. The board of directors is also made up
of the director of operations training, director of inflight, the senior director of crew resources
among the others. The company has an impressive corporate structure which should have full
information about the strategic quality management implementation plan in the company.
The figure below is a representation of the general company structure.
There company structure is clearly indicated in the chart and based on the way the
strategic quality management implementation plan needs the support of all the team. Quality
management covers all the company departments it is important to come up with a strategy
that incorporates all the management workforce. The planning of the strategic quality
management implementation goes hand in hand with the management board. Currently the
CEO and the whole board of director have worked to promote the company cultures all over
the years. The structure and the business culture make it quite easy to make adjustments on
the strategic quality management implementation plan.
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 8
The leadership and the culture are the key elements that guide the organization in
coming up with an effective strategy. Spirit Airlines has a very flexible culture that allows for
changes to be implemented. It is therefore important to come up with the plans that are in line
with the business policies and strategies that will enable the company to grow and improve in
as far as quality is concerned. Strategic quality management implementation plan is a wide
subject which need the company to get support from all the possible sources.
IV. SPIRIT AIRLINES QUALITY STATEMENT
The quality element is one of the key forces that push business around in the airlines
industry. Spirit Airlines has a quality management system, which is one of the factors that
have driven the company this far and helped it maintain the competency and consistent
growth in the industry. The company quality management is clear on various areas, the
workforce treatment, the strategy the company uses to handle the customers and respond to
their needs. The quality management is also clear on the state of the company facilities. The
facilities are what ensures the organization is operating well without breakdowns.
The reports the company has been releasing in the recent years indicate clearly that
quality is an integral issue in Spirit Airlines. The board of directors and the management have
made it clear that they have a mission to maintain the company competitiveness up and
continue embracing the low-cost business approach. The quality management is given key
consideration when serving the customers. Spirit Airlines business culture is built on the
belief that when the customers are given quality services and products, the goodwill of the
company is enhanced.
The graphical presentation below shows an illustration of how Spirit Airlines has been
working to increase the number of departures in the different cities in United States.
Customers are one of the main approaches the company is using to come up with a way to
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 9
enhance the general quality management and implementation plan system. The company is
now pushing to get to six million passengers in their weekly passenger records. Cities like
Atalanta seem to give the company a very large number of customers/ or passengers. It is
therefore important to evaluate the data in making the quality management in the
organization.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Departures
Atlanta
Baltimore
Atlanta
New York
Chicago
Boston
Orlando
Baltimore
Dallas
New Orleans
Spirit Airlines takes a proactive approach in the general move on improving the company
operations and efficiency hence the customers’ service quality. The quality management
efforts are directed on several areas among them the customers services to enhance the
general company growth. The facilities have been well organized right from the customers’
check-in systems which has been efficiently organized to ensure quality and effective process
in the company.
The other approach the company uses to handle the quality management issues is proper
repair and maintenance system in the company. Quality management includes ensuring that
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 10
the various facilities and assets of the company are in the right state. Spirit Airline has a solid
quality management system, this makes the implementation of the plan relatively easy and
manageable by the company.
The quality management of Spirit Airlines is well developed and covers most of the areas
of the company operations. One of the most effective approaches of ensuring the employment
of quality management policy in the business is by ensuring it is embraced by everyone. All
the employees and the departments should be made sensitive to the issues dealing with the
quality management. Research studies have been carried out to evaluate the state of the
company quality management and one factor has come out. There is need for the organization
to come up with a sound strategic quality management implementation plan for the company.
The below diagram is a simple explanation of the business policy and the elements that make
up the implementation plan. The focus is clearly increased on the quality improvement. It is
important to ensure they work together to achieve the business goals.
Quality
Improvement
Influencing
Organization
culture
Training need
effective
implementaion
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 11
V. SPIRIT AIRLINES QUALITY PROBLEM TO IMPROVE
Quality improvement is an ongoing practice in the business organization, a business is
never at any time doing too well to improve. It is evident form the reports and the various
literatures that the company has been doing way so well in the quality management. There is
some sloppiness in the system which makes it important to critically examine the company
system. The system needs proper evaluation to ensure the company is well structured to
handle any issue dealing with the quality management. Spirit company is very large and
requires a comprehensive system that will cover the whole organization and the various
places of operation.
Identification of the company problems with the quality management is quite wide and
needs to be subdivided into several parts. The first area that needs to be improved is the scope
of the general company quality management plan. One of the problems that comes out clearly
is the fact that the company management system is limited and could not cover all the
company areas. The current system is quite fixed and does nit get to handle the other areas of
the company operations which is a serious problem. The first aspect of the quality
management that need improvement is the scope of the system to widen the area it covers.
The quality management objectives and the related goals have been made a completely
management subject. The junior employees do not have so much information about the
company quality management implementation plan. The problem with this issue is that the
junior employees are not well informed with the issues that relate to the company quality
management. It is important therefore important to make all the company professionals and
the personnel into the implementation plan.
Quality management for a company like Spirit focuses on the level of the consumer
satisfaction with the service offered. It is therefore important to have an effective way of
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 12
getting the customers feedback to know how they actually feel about the company services.
The customers feedback collection system of the company is not so effective. This makes it
quite difficult for the company to get the response of the company and act on them in the aim
to improve the company service quality.
Spirit Airlines’ quality management system is not made on the continuity basis which in
some way makes the process relatively vulnerable. Customers keep on adjusting their quality
desires with the changing trends in the market and the industry. The current system is quite
rigid and does not have room for future adjustments in the strategic quality management
system. The problem that has come with this process not being significantly continuous is the
fact that the company cannot identify the weaknesses and fix them as early as possible. The
late identification of the quality management
Goals and Objective
When it comes to issues like the quality management and implementation plans in an
organization, every company normally have a system which basically outlines the goals and
the objective the company management has put in place. Spirit Airlines seems to have sound
opinions when it coms to the design of goals and the formulation of the business objectives.
This implementation plan is a serious project in the business organizations. The main goal in
this case is to come up with an improvement on the quality of goods the company offers to
the consumers.
When the achievement in the general company quality management implementation
goal has been attained, it comes quite easy to make other relevant plans in the organization.
All the other business organizations and goals are tied to the quality management. The
implementation plan covers both the objectives and the goals of the business (Cook & Billig,
2017).
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 13
The above diagram is a simple explanation of the general outlook of the business
objective of Spirit Airlines and the factors tied to the process. The implementation plan is
well stipulated to ensure the company remains in the current position or a better state after the
project.
Spirit Airlines also has this goal to ensure the implementation plan of the strategic
quality management process works out effectively in the company. The company is putting
up the right resources to ensure that the project is a success. The quality management has
been well outlined using the Wheel of seven core concepts to make the project look relatively
simply and sound the company management. The system outlines the various goals and the
Company
Resources
Quality
Objective of
the Company
The
management
Policy
Customers
Satisfaction
Quality
Management
Goals &
Objectives
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 14
points of focus that have been laid by the company to ensure there is success (Abratt &
Bendixen, 2018).
LDR= leadership CF= Customer focus PP& P = People participation and partnership
FBM= Fact based management SQP= Strategic Quality Planning
The various quality management elements and tools have been properly outlined in the tool
and the design is clearly meant to achieve the business goals. Spirit Airlines has been in
operations for quite a long period of time the experience in the industry has been the driving
force over the years.
The other objective is connecting the business culture to the general strategic quality
management implementation plan. Spirit Airlines has had one of the best business cultures
which has been integral in the company success. When the plan is actually connected to the
general business culture, it will be quite easy to work out the plan and the business goals. The
business culture of the company is quality based meaning it is clear the company has invested
resources in ensuring it works out the quality management goals. The connection of the
Figure 1.
The wheel of seven core
concepts
CF
FBM
LDR
SQP
DQSP
PP&P
Core values
Customer
satisfaction
indicators
Operational
performance
indicators
Financial
performance
indicators
Core concepts
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 15
agenda and the strategy to the business goal is one of the most effective moves the company
has.
Model and Methodology
The strategic quality management and implementation plan is a wide subject, it is therefore
giving the researcher a wide scope of ideas to choose from in the decision-making process.
Considering the State of Spirit Airlines, the Six Sigma seem to be the most appropriate to be
used in the process. The six sigma focuses on five critical areas of the improvement process.
The areas are control the plan, improve, define, measure and analyse.
This model has effective elements that when followed accordingly, it will be quite
easy to attain the business objective at Spirit Airlines in the company. Initially the Six Sigma
DEFINE
IMPROVE
CONTROL
MEASURE
ANALYZE
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 16
was referred to as the Total quality management which was very key in the different quality
management projects by the business organizations.
Different Scholars have tried to come up with different definitions all trying to come
up with a sound quality management system. The definitions were variant based on the
direction their studies were taking. Out of the many scholars two individual Rowland Hayler
and Michael D. Nicholas in 2007 came out. These scholars connected the origin of Six Sigma
to the Motorola Company back in the late 1980s. The business organizations were employing
this approach in trying to enhance their manufacturing systems (Sadeghifar, Jafari., Tofighi,
Ravaghi & Maleki, 2015).
The Six Sigma methodology has worked effectively in the different business set ups
which makes it clear that the system is pretty good and can be employed in the case of Spirit
Airline and the strategic quality management implementation plan. Motorola came out one of
the quality leaders in the industry it operated, it is therefore clear it can actually work out for
Spirit as well. The Six Sigma has the standard of 3.4 problems coming up in million
opportunities which is quite relevant to this kind of business where errors have to be
minimised and the organization image improved (Parvadavardini, Vivek, & Devadasan,
2016).
Scope of the Project
Strategic Quality management is a very wide subject, it is therefore clear the company
will be covering a very wide field in this plan. Spirit policy that deals with the quality
management and the improvement process is one of the key areas that need to be covered in
this study. Spirit Airlines has been doing good and so to ensure the success of the
implementation plan, there is need to come up with reliable steps that can be followed by the
various stakeholders to help the company attain efficiency in the process. This scope is
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 17
intended to help the company define and design the strategic aspect and the effective
implementation plan that will see the company through the field (Bowen, Bowen, Headley,
Fink & Kuhn, 2017).
There are different stakeholders that are incorporated in this whole project of the
implementation plan. It is therefore clear that the general policy that will be used in guiding
the stakeholders in the project is key. The goals of the strategic quality management
implementation plan should be a clear definition of the resources that have been invested in
the project by the management. The stakeholders involved in the project should come up with
training strategies that will help all the team members to be well absorbed in the system and
ensure effective operations.
This structure/scope will also cover the company corporate business strategy. Making
the total quality management an integral part of the business plan, obtaining results is
relatively inevitable. There is need therefore to make sure all the employees in the
organization have clear report of the goals and the objectives of the company based in the
strategic quality management and the implementation plan for the whole process. The
management and the employees should be motivated to make quality one of their key priority
in the operations and the company plans (Shahrokhi, Nasserabadi & Babaei, 2017).
Performance Measures
It is not easy to have a clear picture of the progress and the potential of the project if the issue
of performance measurement is not given key consideration. The company has been doing so
good in terms of performance, though this requires some element of proof to establish. There
are different approaches that can be used to establish the company performance
measurement, the first one is the Key performance indicators which are important at
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 18
identifying the elements that elaborate more about the company performance (Davis, Dworak
& Armstrong, 2019).
This process will follow some specific procedures to ensure the success of the
process. There will be KPIs identification and selection in the company operations and the
system. In this case the Spirit Airlines system will be evaluated and the performance of the
company based on the business quality management is concerned will be established. There
will be the data collection and interpretation to find out the effectiveness of the company in as
far as quality management is concerned (Foster Jr. & Editorial Board Members, 2019).
The picture above has given complete illustration on the approach tat will be used in the
performance measurement to ensure the company operations come out a success. The
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 19
strategic quality management implementation plan is an integral process. It is vital for the
performance measure to be effective and focus on the details. Spirit Airlines has been
performing quite well and over the years since its inception. In order to ensure the strategy
works out and the consumers of the company services are satisfied with the duality they
receive from the company. The performance of the company will be evaluated over some
specific period of time. It will be quite easy to establish if the company is actually in a
position employ an effective quality management strategy that will also prove easy to
implement. (Rothaermel, 2017).
The total quality management is as well an important part of the measurement in the
corh=ganization.
Time Frame
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 20
The element of time is part of the strategic quality management and implementation plan.
This aspect will be evaluating the time management strategies used to ensure the strategy is
actually working out effectively. Spirit Airlines has an inclusive strategy that help the
company manage the element of time effectively in the project. When time is giving a
priority in the implementation plan, it becomes quite easy to work out other elements of the
project. The company has a time line for the various operations. The project has been given a
specific time frame which ensures the various business objectives are working appropriately
(Austin & Pinkleton, 2015).
Summative Comments
Strategic Quality management implementation plan is a very wide and complicated
process. It is important to come up with an effective approach that the company may use to
handle the strategic issues in this line. Spirit Airlines has been working quite well in time
management and the general business quality management. The efficiency of the system has
enabled the company to perform well in the company throughout the years, it is important
therefore to establish an effective system that ensures the company customers get quality and
the business remains competent (Cassidy, 2016).
STRATEGIC QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 21
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