The Total Quality Management Improvement Paper
(Sample Paper)

Select three sectors from the list below: Three different organizations.
1) Manufacturing
2) Service
3) Non-profit
4) Government

Then, research one organization representing each sector (total of 3 organizations).
Explain the value of quality in relationship to customer satisfaction within the three organizations/sectors that you have selected and be sure to include a description of the need for customer-driven quality for each of the organizations. Include a matrix that outlines the differences between the strategic role of TQM within each of your chosen organizations/sectors. Finally, assess the importance of leadership within each of your organizations as it relates to quality.

Total Quality Management Improvement

Money is the driving force behind almost every company’s behavior. Even nonprofit organizations and government institutions require a constant flow of funding, and many behaviors in an organization of any type can be traced back to a basic quest for money. Service companies, like Alltel, must stay consistently ahead of other service providers to maintain a competitive advantage. Similarly, nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross benefit from making donors feel valued so they continue to give blood. Even government organizations, like the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system, first consider students and parents when making organizational decisions. By understanding the best way to satisfy customers through quality, an organization’s leaders are able strategically to plan effective ways of generating more revenue.

As a service based business, Alltel understands that customer satisfaction is a necessity for future growth and success. In order to effectively generate repeat business and customer referrals, Alltel must focus on four main customer demands, the first of which is competitive service plans. These plans must offer consumers an adequate level of freedom, and they must meet industry standards. Customers have grown to expect free nights and weekends, and free in-network calling. To expand on this, Alltel has added the “my-circle” feature, which strengthens customer feelings of choice and freedom. Another common selling point for cellular companies is the strength and availability of phone signal. Customers are unlikely to choose a company that does not provide a strong signal. In the same way, cell phone shoppers expect a variety of phone choices with a sleek appearance and the latest available features. Cellular shoppers expect phone providers to keep up to date with features like cameras, mobile web, and touch screens.

Still, customers have several options for cellular service, and many offer similar phones and features. For this reason, customer service is one of Alltel’s most valuable points of focus. When consumers believe that they have been treated poorly, they begin to look for alternative providers. Examples of poor customer service may include prolonged wait time, incorrect billing, or placing a customer in a service plan that does not fit his needs. For example, even if Alltel offers hundreds of service plans, the responsibility lies in the hands of sales representatives to evaluate a customer’s needs and establish a contract for the plan that will provide him with the best value. If a person travels frequently, and is set up with a plan that does not offer free roaming, when that receives his first bill he will be extremely upset. To prevent situations like this, Alltel must provide both adequate service options and strategic counsel to help customers select the appropriate plan for their needs.

Thus, Alltel must place strategic emphasis on total quality management. This helps to prevent customers from canceling contracts and switching to competitors. Still, the total quality management principle does not suggest that companies simply meet their customer’s minimum requirements. Rather, that they find ways to exceed those customer expectations. Alltel “seeks to provide the highest quality products and services at the best price” (Alltel, 2009). By using this strategy, Alltel gains a competitive advantage that has the potential to generate additional customer referrals and competitor customer acquisitions. Additionally, by maintaining numerable service plans, phones, features, and accessories, Alltel gives itself up sell opportunities and the potential for additional revenue. To meet these goals, Alltel must allocate energy to product development and system maintenance during the strategic planning process. Furthermore, employee training materials and customer service standards must be created.

To do this, upper management must evaluate customer expectations and provide feedback during the creation of those standards. Once employees have been trained in those standards, customer service managers are responsible for supervising wait time, call time, and problem resolution. In the same way, information technology managers are responsible for transforming market research that discovers what new features will be most marketable into usable products. This involves communicating research to engineers and maintaining an effective and efficient workflow. Designating employees to perform reverse engineering is also an important role of I.T. managers. Similarly, engineers must constantly monitor service areas, making sure customers have cellular access from all roads and neighborhoods. This may require developing phones that work from partner towers, adding additional cellular towers, or strengthening the signal of existing towers.

In comparison, the American Red Cross, a nonprofit organization also works to maintain strong donor satisfaction. Red Cross survives only on the donations of gracious individuals. “Blood is needed for emergencies and for people who have cancer, blood disorders, sickle cell, anemia and other illnesses. Some people need regular blood transfusions to live” (American Red Cross, 2009). Still, if a person has a bad experience the first time she gives blood, the likelihood of that person returning is slim. Consequently, the Red Cross places a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction. In order to accomplish this, the organization focuses on providing an experience that is comfortable and emotionally rewarding. After each donor has finished giving blood, juice and cookies are provided. This not only helps to hydrate and energize donors, but also serves as a gesture of appreciation. Additionally, the people who donate leave remembering the cookies instead of the needle. A more serious expectation of donors is that the Red Cross follows all HIPAA laws regarding privacy. Still, the focus of Red Cross is to make the donors feel like heroes so that they will continue to give the blood needed to save lives.

Although patient privacy is required by HIPAA, the American Red Cross also benefits from providing a confidential experience. Unfortunately, some people with diseases are prompted to give blood through a need for affirmation and recognition. Others want to give blood as a way to learn if they have a sexually transmitted disease. Because the American Red Cross provides several confidential ways to communicate concerns, it does not have to rely on blood tests alone to flag harmful liters of blood. Still, Red Cross needs a constant flow of donors, and preventing a bad experience is not enough to encourage the level of repeat donations needed to keep the blood banks full. Because of this, Red Cross uses strategic planning to form incentives for donors, schedules for blood drives, and call center scripts that remind previous donors when they are eligible to give and where they can donate.

In order to accomplish this, management must take an active role in supervising the quality of service. Upper level management determines what medical supplies are the most efficient and comfortable. They choose items like chairs, needles, tape, and snacks that are used in each donation location. In the same way, desk managers make sure forms are filled out completely, confidentially, then entered into the system correctly. After the prospective donors pass through the paper process and prove iron levels are high enough to support a healthy donation, the lead nurse oversees the careful inserting of the needle and collection of the blood. Once a person is registered through this process, a follow up team is lead by managers who follow a similar process to Alltel’s customer service department. Managers make sure the hold time is low and that employees keep donors esteemed as heroes for their charitable contributions monitor the American Red Cross call center. Through the increase in donations, the American Red Cross is able to sell more blood to hospitals, increase monetary donations, and put that money back into its system in ways that generate even more donations.

Likewise, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system would benefit from using total quality management to help increase the satisfaction of students and parents. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have the goal to “maximize academic achievement by every student in every school” (CMS, 2009). This goal is in line with student and parent expectations, though expectations do not stop there. Parents also expect student development through the availability of extracurricular programs and a safe learning environment. Because the funding available to the school system is limited, the evaluation of total quality management in the strategic planning process is important. To meet the federal regulations required to continue operations, teachers must develop effective lesson plans that will help students attain high end-of-grade test scores. In the same way, the superintendent must strategically budget the money needed to maintain teacher salaries, classroom supplies, building projects, and extracurricular activities. Principles oversee teacher performance, and establish basic behavior guidelines and consequences that students must follow and understand. CMS management is also responsible for careful screening and background checks of all employees in the school system. Child safety is critical, and this process must be taken very seriously. By taking these steps to produce quality students, the government is able to increase the number of educated people taking higher paying jobs. This increases the amount of revenue generated in taxes, and has a correlation with the reduction of crime, which helps reduce the amount of money spent on crime prevention and imprisonment.

Therefore, companies should understand that total quality management can help any type of organization produce more of its desired result. By providing customers value, organizations receive more customers. Additionally, those customers are likely to give a larger amount to an organization that provides them with the perception of a good value. Total quality management is most effective when implemented in the strategic planning process, because proper budget allocations can be distributed. Similarly, short-term objectives can be set to ensure long-term goals are met. To meet these goals, leaders must monitor workers consistently. In the same way, leaders must continue to evaluate customer preferences and to expand their organization’s ability to fulfill consumer desires.

References
Alltel, (2009). Why Alltel?. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from Alltel Wireless Web site:
http://www.alltel.com/wps/portal/AlltelPublic/
American Red Cross, (2009). Give Life | American Red Cross. Retrieved April 16, 2009,
from Give Life Web site: https://www.givelife.org/index_flash.cfm?thisHB=04/16/2009%2010:56:32
CMS, (2009). CMS Home Page. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools Web site: http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/Pages/Default.aspx