RESEARCH TOPIC 3

 

Research Project-Week Three

You will receive feedback on the previous week’s assignment by Sunday 11:59pm.  Before you complete your Week Three assignment, please read your instructor’s comments about your Week Two assignment, as well as this week’s lecture. Be sure to include any suggested changes in your project going forward.

In a three- to four- page paper (not including the title and reference pages), provide

• A revised version of your introduction, research question, background research, hypothesis, research design, and sampling plan. These revisions must be based on your instructor’s feedback if your instructor provided additional comments about these sections in Week Two.
• A discussion of the types of secondary data you could use to test your hypothesis, and why this data would be useful. If secondary data would not be appropriate, please explain why.
• The possible measurement and measurement scales you could use in a survey for testing your hypothesis. If a survey with measurement scales would not be appropriate, please explain why.
• A reference list documented in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Running head: SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 1

SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 6

Service Quality Improvement

Ryan Magana

BUS 642 Business Research Methods & Tools

Ashish Godbole

January 8, 2018

Introduction

There is little if no doubt on the significance of service quality. Service delivery is continuously. Providing the highest customer service level and high quality products is imperative to compete aggressively and successfully against corporations promoting the same products or services. In the highly competitive markets, customers are continuously expecting excellent products and services from any company. This research paper investigates how a company or business enterprise can adopt and develop processes to enhance quality management systems. The processes in the investigation are cycles used by a company or an enterprise in enhancing its weaknesses and limit the number of risks and errors in the organization’s operations.

Research Question and Hypothesis

What can an organization or business enterprise do to improve the quality of products and services offered to its customers? Primarily, the research question focuses on the quality management systems or processes that can be employed by an organization to improve the quality of services and products offered to the clientele. The focus is not only meeting the expectations of the customers but also increasing market share and keeping up with the competition. What systems should be implemented or adopted to improve quality management?

Hypothesis: By investing in improved quality management systems and processes, the company will not only improve the services and products offered to the customers but also keep up with increasing competition and increase its market share in the fast-paced business environment.

Background Information

Quality management at its core is the enterprise philosophy that advances the ideas that the long –term success and sustainability of an organization comes from customer satisfaction. According to Goetsch and Davis (2014), the cornerstone of a quality organization is an effective system of quality management. Effective quality management systems should be rigorous systems and processes which are able to continuously increase the quality and economic value of products and services.

For any organization, Kim, Kumar and Kumar (2012) stress that quality management systems work to enhance the experience of the customers, which is essential in ensuring that customers are retained and prospects attracted. According to Kim, Kumar and Kumar (2012), the formation of processes for successful quality improvement in an enterprise is focused on: continuous improvement, managerial involvement, customer satisfaction, measurability and recording of quality, and organizational support.

The Management Dilemma

Most managers want their customers to get the best products or services from their organizations. The dilemma is how to improve the quality of products or services offered to their customers and prospects without spending large sums of money or spending a lot of time implementing quality management systems. In this research paper, a lot of focus is put on how best practice can be incorporated by managers in quality management to improve the operations of an organization.

Apart from focusing on improved quality of products and services, improvement of products and service must be connected to the input of employees. The research paper will evaluate how employees contribute to the process. An example of quality management tools is the Shewhart model of quality assurance; PDCA which means Plan, Do, Check, and Act (Konieczka, & Namiesnik, 2016). Ultimately, the research will address the different stages and phases in a company’s quality management system and propose on the best practice to enhance each of these stages.

Research Design and Sampling Data

In conducting the research, qualitative strategy will be used. Primarily, the study will be using qualitative interviews to gather valuable data that will be used both presenting the findings of the study and interpreting the results for an insightful report. The qualitative research strategy is used in the research because it is very useful in gaining insight into a theory, phenomenon or an issue. In this case, using the qualitative study approach will help in gaining useful insights into the quality management systems for improved product or service delivery.

The qualitative research approach helps in building a narrative about a phenomenon or issue, in this case, quality management systems. According to Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls and Ormston (2013), the qualitative research strategy builds a strong narrative about an issue and helps in understanding the reasons behind the phenomenon being investigated. For data collection, a stratified sample will be used (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls and Ormston, 2013). Since the qualitative interview is for different groups- employees, organizational managers and customers, sales and administrative employees, a stratified sampling strategy helps in achieving objective results.

Ethical Issues

There are ethical challenges or issues associated with conducting research especially in the case of collecting primary data from participants. Firstly, gaining IRB approval is key because respondents will be involved in gathering data. Secondly there is the issue of protecting the privacy and confidentiality of respondents who give primary data for the study. The personal information or details of the research participants, say name, age, work designation and other details cannot be disclosed in the survey. The respondents must be assured a great deal of confidentiality and privacy in the manner in which their data will be handled.

Thirdly, cultural competency is an important element in selecting research participants. Both gender should be equally represented in the study to ensure the gender bias is completely dealt with (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls and Ormston 2013). Lastly, the selection of the respondents will solely be based on the ability and willingness to respond to the survey questions and not on ethnic backgrounds or culture and therefore this addresses the professional and ethical issues associated with collecting primary data.

Summary

ISO 9000:2000 is a quality management system which benefits a company in improving the quality of products as well boost employee performance (Kim, Kumar, & Kumar, 2012). This is a basic tool for any company which wishes to develop its quality management system. I believe that by using this tool, a company can adequately examine the different processes and incorporate some of the ISO 9000 approaches to correct the different management and quality challenges.

References

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Kim, D. Y., Kumar, V., & Kumar, U. (2012). Relationship between quality management practices and innovation. Journal of operations management, 30(4), 295-315.

Konieczka, P., & Namiesnik, J. (2016). Quality assurance and quality control in the analytical chemical laboratory: a practical approach. CRC Press.

Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.

Running head: SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

1

SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

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Service Quality Improvement

Ryan Magana

BUS642 Business Research & Tools

Ashish Godbole

December 18, 2017

Service Quality Improvement

Background information

Quality management is considered as an essential aspect of an organization that ensures consistency of services and productions. This research investigates on how an organization can develop and adopt processes to enhance its quality management systems. These processes are cycles that an organization can use to fix some of its shortcomings and reduce the number of errors and risks in the organization’s operations. The formulation of processes and procedure for a successful quality improvement in an organization should consider five significant sectors. They are; continuous improvement, managerial involvement, customer satisfaction, measurability and recording of quality, and organizational support.

The management dilemma

This research addresses how one can incorporate the best practice to improve an organization’s operation and how it relates to its employees and customers. Some of the processes have described by different individuals and institutions, and they have been practically proven to bring positive results towards quality improvement. An example is the Shewhart model of quality assurance; PDCA which means Plan, Do, Check, and Act (Vasconcellos, 2004). Ultimately, the research will address the different stages and phases in a company’s quality management system and propose on the best practice to enhance each of these stages.

Research questions and hypothesis

Research question: How can you improve the quality and service of goods and services provided to consumers?

Hypothesis: By creating processes and procedures it will allow for better over management of the company’s ability to produce or service the customer.

Summary

ISO 9000:2000 is a quality management system which benefits a company in improving the quality of products as well boost employee performance (Evans, & Lindsay, 2008). This is a basic tool for any company which wishes to develop its quality management system. I believe that by using this tool, a company can adequately examine the different processes and incorporate some of the ISO 9000 approaches to correct the different management and quality challenges.

References

Evans, J. & Lindsay, W. (2008). Managing for quality and performance excellence. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.

Vasconcellos, J. (2004). Quality assurance for the food industry: a practical approach. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.