Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

ISD357
INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT
Matilda Kokui Owusu-Bio
Supply Chain & Information Systems Department
School of Business
CoHSS
mkobio.ksb@knust.edu.gh / mowusubio@gmail.com
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UNIT 5
QUALITY MANAGEMENT

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ISD357/MKOBIO 2
UNIT OVERVIEW
 What is Quality
 Dimensions of Quality
 Importance of Quality
 How is Quality Measured?
 Quality Control
 Total Quality Management (TQM)
 Quality Standards www.knust.edu.gh

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WHAT IS QUALITY ?
 A distinctive attribute or characteristics
possessed by something.
 The standard of something as measured
against other things of similar kind.
 The degree of excellence of something.

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 WHAT IS QUALITY ?
 Quality means conformance to specifications
and fitness for use – i.e. just what you need and
not more.
 W. Edwards Deming defined quality as follows:
‘Good quality means a predictable degree of
uniformity and dependability with a quality
standard suited to the customer.’
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 QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 Quality management tries to manage all aspects of
the organization in order to excel in all dimensions
that are important to “customers”
 Is an act of overseeing all activities and tasks
needed to maintain a desired level of excellence by
an organization

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 DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT QUALITY
1. Performance: Basic operating characteristics of a
product.
2. Reliability: The degree of dependability and
trustworthiness of the product for a long period of
time.
3. Conformance: Degree to which a product meets
pre–established standards or specifications.
4. Durability: measures the time a product performs
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before a replacement becomes necessary. 7

DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT QUALITY
5. Serviceability: Ease of getting repairs, speed of
repairs, courtesy and competence of repair
person
6. Features: those characteristics that
supplement their basic functioning.
7. Aesthetics: how a product looks, feels, sounds,
tastes, or smells—is clearly a matter of personal
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judgment and a reflection of individual 8

preference.
 DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT QUALITY
8. Perceived Quality: Consumers do not always
have complete information about a product’s or
service’s attributes; indirect measures may be
their only basis for comparing brands

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TEN (10) ORIGINAL DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY
1.TANGIBLES
2.RELIABILITY
3.RESPONSIVENESS
4.COMMUNICATION
5.CREDIBILITY
6.SECURITY
7.COMPETENCE
8.COURTESY/ASSURANCE
9.UNDERSTANDING/EMPATHY www.knust.edu.gh

10. ACCESS
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 CLASS EXERCISE
Using the supplementary material given on the
Ten (10) original Service Quality Dimension;
• Fill the table provided with the specific
definitions or questions that customers would
ask with regards to Service Quality Dimensions
associated with the indicated organization or
firm or service provider
• Indicate three (3) for each Dimension indicated.
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 FIVE (5) KEY DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY
1. TANGIBLES-Appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
personnel, and communication materials
2. RELIABILITY-Ability to perform the promised service
dependably and accurately
3. RESPONSIVENESS-Willingness to help customers and
provide prompt service
4. ASSURANCE-Knowledge and courtesy of employees and
their ability to convey trust and confidence
5. EMPATHY-Caring, individualized attention the firm provides
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its customers 12
 WHY IS QUALITY IMPORTANT?
Quality helps determine a firm’s success in a
number of ways, such as :
 Customer loyalty
 Strong brand reputation
 Retailers want to stock the product
 Attracting and retaining good staff
 Fewer returns and replacements lead to
reduced costs www.knust.edu.gh

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 HOW IS QUALITY MEASURED?
Firms can measure certain quality aspects such
as:
 Failure or reject rates
 Level of product returns
 Customer complaints
 Customer satisfaction – usually measured
by survey
 Customer loyalty
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MEASURING QUALITY
Some areas for evaluation challenges;
 Quality is subjective, it’s a matter of personal opinion.
What contributes to an acceptable level of quality will
vary form one individual to another.
 Not all aspect of qualities are tangible. Eg. the degree
of assurance given by a firm’s name or reputation.
 Quality is always evolving because of things like
improved technology, better materials and new
manufacturing techniques. www.knust.edu.gh

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1.QUALITY CONTROL

 This method checks the quality of completed

products for faults .
 Quality inspectors measure or test every
product or samples from each batch or random
samples (as appropriate to the kind of product
produced.)

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1.QUALITY CONTROL
Advantages
 Inspection helps to prevent faults from
reaching the customer.
 This approach means having specially trained
inspectors rather that individuals being
responsible for his or her own work.
 Inspectors may be better placed to find wide
spread problems across the organization.
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1. QUALITY CONTROL
Disadvantages
 Individuals are not necessarily encouraged to
take responsibility for the quality of their own
work.
 Giving workers responsibility for their own
work helps to improve motivation by
increasing the interest and variety in the job,
so quality assurance tends to be preferred for
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this reason. 18
2. QUALITY ASSURANCE
 This an the approach that aims to achieve quality
by organizing every process to get the product
‘right first time ’ and prevents mistakes ever
happening.
 This is also known as zero defect approach.
 In quality assurance there is more emphasis on
‘self checking’, rather than inspectors
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2. QUALITY ASSURANCE
Advantages include
 Costs are reduced because there is less
wastage and re-working of faulty products as
products are checked at every stage.
 It helps improve workers motivation as
workers have more ownership and recognition
for their work.
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 3.TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

 This is a specific approach to quality that aims

to develop a quality culture throughout the firm.
 That is Commitment to quality throughout the
organization.

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 3. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 In TQM all stakeholders of the organization are
involved in the attainment of quality delivery. This
approach therefore encompasses;
 The processes involved in producing the goods or
service
 All the organizations internal customers
 Suppliers and
 Customers/End users
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 3. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Principles of TQM
 Customer-oriented
 Leadership
 Strategic planning
 Employee responsibility
 Continuous improvement
 Cooperation
 Training and education www.knust.edu.gh

 Statistical methods 23
4. QUALITY BENCHMARKING
 Benchmarking is a general approach to business
improvement based on the best practice in the industry,
or in another similar industry.
 It can provide useful quality improvement target for a
business .
 This can be helpful for services as well as products.
 In some cases, firms can use internal benchmarking in
which best practice may be set with reference to
another department, or by a similar factory in a different
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location.
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4. QUALITY BENCHMARKING EXAMPLES
 COCA-COLA COMPANY
 SHELL
 KNUST
 JP MORGAN CHASE
 WGHS - CAPE COAST
 GHANA OIL COMAPNY
 TOYOTA COMPANY- GLOBAL
 WALMART
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 KASAPREKO COMPANY LTD 25
5. QUALITY STANDARDS
Legislation: In many products and services, quality
standards are set by health and safety legislation and
enforced by Trading Standard Officers .
British Standard and ISO: Publishes standards for
many kinds of products and services
CE Mark: In electrical products, the CE make signifies a
standard of safety
Branding as a mark of quality: Many firms rely on their
own brand to signify quality. Eg. Apple, BMW, Sony and
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Rolls-Royce. 26
QUALITY STANDARDSSYMBOLS

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QUALITY BRAND LOGOS/SYMBOLS

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 Any
Questions?
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End of
Lecture
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