1. Define Quality.

What are the factors that have led to Quality becoming so important in today’s
context?

 Quality is the ongoing process of building and sustaining relationships by assessing, anticipating,
and fulfilling stated and implied needs.

Quality is Critical to Satisfied Customers. Quality is critical to satisfying your customers and
retaining their loyalty so they continue to buy from you in the future. Quality products make
an important contribution to long-term revenue and profitability. They also enable you to charge and
maintain higher prices.

2. Explain the various Quality dimensions of a Product? Why they cannot be applied uniformly in case
of a Service?
 Eight dimensions can be summarized as follows:

 Performance: Performance refers to a product's primary operating characteristics. This dimension of

quality involves measurable attributes; brands can usually be ranked objectively on individual
aspects of performance.
 Features: Features are additional characteristics that enhance the appeal of the product or service
to the user.
 Reliability: Reliability is the likelihood that a product will not fail within a specific time period. This is
a key element for users who need the product to work without fail.
 Conformance: Conformance is the precision with which the product or service meets the specified
standards.
 Durability: Durability measures the length of a product’s life. When the product can be repaired,
estimating durability is more complicated. The item will be used until it is no longer economical to
operate it. This happens when the repair rate and the associated costs increase significantly.
 Serviceability: Serviceability is the speed with which the product can be put into service when it
breaks down, as well as the competence and the behavior of the service person.
 Aesthetics: Aesthetics is the subjective dimension indicating the kind of response a user has to a
product. It represents the individual’s personal preference.
 Perceived Quality: Perceived Quality is the quality attributed to a good or service based on indirect
measures.

3. How Products differ from Services? What are the Quality dimensions that can be applied to judge the
quality of any service?

 Products differ from Services in the following ways:

 Products are tangible – they are physical, you can touch, see, feel and smell them. Services are
intangible. Often part of the challenge of marketing services is creating tangible elements that
connect the consumer to the service brand.
 Need vs. Relationship. Products tend to fill a need or want for the customer. Marketing services is
more often about building relationships and trust. When you buy a car, you leave with the car and
continue to see it and use it. When you leave your doctor’s office, you might not have anything to
take away from the transaction.
 One vs. Many. Physical products usually come in many formulations. Clothes come in different
styles, colors, sizes. Dog food comes in different ingredient combinations. Services typically do not
 offer multiple formulations. As a doctor’s visit is a doctor’s visit, whether you are going for tennis
elbow or diabetes. (You might choose different service providers, but the basic elements will be the
same.)
 Comparing Quality. It is much harder for consumers to evaluate the quality of the service received
than the quality of a product purchase. If you buy an anti-dandruff shampoo and you have less
dandruff, it works. But did you lawyer draw up a good divorce for you? You might not know until you
get down the road (or back in court.)
 It is much easier to return a product than a service, because a service is consumed as it is
offered. It can be done, but it is usually much harder for the consumer.
 Every day that a service is offered and not consumed is lost forever. If I don’t sell my hotel room
tonight, I cannot ever sell it – it is gone forever. Products on the other hand have a longer life. If I put
a box of cookies on the shelf and don’t sell it today, I can still sell it for some period of time beyond
today.

Quality dimensions that can be applied to judge the quality of any service:

 CHARACTERISTICS OF SERVICES

 SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS

 CUSTOMER HAS NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

 SERVICE ENCOUNTER

 CUSTOMERS EXPRESSING DISSATISFACTION

 MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY GAPS

4. What do you understand by Corporate Social Responsibility? How do CSR activities benefit an
organisation?
 Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be
socially accountable — to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social
responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact
they are having on all aspects of society including economic, social, and environmental. To engage
in CSR means that, in the normal course of business, a company is operating in ways that
enhance society and the environment, instead of contributing negatively to them.
The potential benefits of CSR to companies include:

 better brand recognition

 positive business reputation
 increased sales and customer loyalty
 operational costs savings
 better financial performance
 greater ability to attract talent and retain staff
 Organizational growth
 easier access to capital

5. What is the ‘Change’ that a Manager has to always cope up to? What is Incremental Change and
 Discontinuous Change?

 The Change that a Manager has to always cope up to are:

 Involve employees in the change process.
 Interview employees regarding their feelings.
 Concentrate on effective delegation.
 Raise levels of expectations.
 Ask employees for commitment.
 Expand communication channels.
 Be firm, committed, and flexible. 
 Keep a positive attitude.
Discontinuous change focuses on the technological substitution and design competition. Incremental
change focuses specifically on which companies innovate and lower costs to improve the functioning and
performance of the dominant technological design.

6. What are the factors that can cause changes in an organisation? How should a manager equip
himself/herself to cope up with change?

 The factors that can cause changes in an organisation:

 Create a plan.

 Understand the end goal.

 Communicate clearly.

 Identify key players.

 Delegate tasks.

 Set realistic objectives.

 Manage expectations.

 Hold people accountable.

7. What is Need based Change and Opportunity based Change? What is Resistance to Change and
how can it be overcome?

8. What are the characteristics of an efficient management information System? Why an organisation
should have a MIS?

 The characteristics of an efficient management information System are:

 MIS is management oriented:
 MIS is developed under the direction of management:
 MIS is an integrated system:
 Common data flows:
 MIS is based upon future needs of the business:
 MIS is composed of sub-systems
 MIS requires flexibility:
  Distributed data processing:
 MIS is mostly computerized:

The corporate environment is dynamic involving uncertainties and risks. These uncertainties and risks
drive business organizations to take complicated decision to survive in the market. Since the primary goal
of any organization is to improve its profitability and sustain in the long run. Hence, any business
establishment cannot afford to ignore the importance of MIS.

9. What are the major challenges faced by the professional manager today?

 Major challenges faced by the professional manager today are:

 Achieving a Stretch Goal
 Bringing Out the Best in Your Employees
 Dealing with Under-performing Employees
 Dealing with Outstanding Employees
 Hiring the Right People
 Responding to a Crisis
 Continuous Improvement