You are on page 1of 9

The implementation of total quality

management in tourism: some


guidelines*
C A Witt and A P Muhlemann
The Mmugenwnt Centw. Uni~~ersity of’ Brudf~ml, Ernm Lmne. Brulfkl BD9 4JL, UK

The importance of total quality management (TQM) has been recognized in Western Europe for
a number of years, since its earlier origins in Japan. Indeed it has had an impact in a significant
number of manufacturing organizations, with some notable successes, as well as some less
publicized failures. This paper examines some of the ‘models’ of the TQM process and the
literature on reported applications in manufacturing to attempt to develop guidelines for
successful application in any type of organization. The key differences between manufacturing
and services provide the basis for establishing how well the various TQM models cope with these
idiosyncracies. Finally an assessment of the effectiveness of the reported TQM applications in
tourism management is used to develop a composite picture of the steps which must be taken if
TQM is to be successful in this environment. These steps will assist organizations in
tourism-related areas in adopting TQM, facilitating the implementation process and reducing
the likelihood of failure.

Keywords: service quality. total quality rnanagcmcnt. aerviccs. tourism

This paper examines the potential of total quality It was born out of a much earlier quest for quality
management (TQM) to improve the competitiveness which can be traced back to the pioneering work of
of the tourism industry. The various approaches to Juran, Deming and others with Japanese industry in
the TOM process are presented, and the experiences the 1950s. They had been largely unsuccessful in
in manufacturing reviewed briefly to identify the introducing the well-established statistical and other
&sons for the service industries. The key differ- techniques to US manufacturers in the era of the
cnccs between manufacturing and services are pre- postwar boom in production. The Japanese were
sented in order to determine the influence of these looking to ‘rebuild’ their industry, and to change
on the successful adoption of TQM. This is used as their reputation for ‘shoddy’ goods. It was natural
the basis for developing three sets of guidelines for that they would look for support from wherever
the successful implementation of TQM in the tour- possible.
ism sector. The success of the Japanese in improving their
quality standards became a major concern for the
remaining manufacturers in the rest of the world.
Total quality management: an overview Attempts were made to identify, catalogue and copy
Total quality management (TQM) emerged as a what were seen as the key features of this success.
philosophy in the UK in the late 1970s and early Generally. the focus was initially on the manufactur-
1980s. However. the term and this attitude towards ing function within enterprises. Statistical techniques
quality is sometimes accredited to Feigenbaum’ for (largely statistical process control - SPC) were used
his work in what he called total quality control to establish what processes were capable of achiev-
(TQC). This required the involvement of all func- ing and to monitor and detect changes. These ideas
tions in the quality process, not just manufacturing.’ were not new and had been in the public domain
since the 1930s (for example. Shewhart’). The base
‘An earlier version of thih paper was prcsentcd at the VIIth
broadened with the attempt to involve the workforce
Gcnernl Conference of the European Association of Dcvclop- more directly in the quality achievement process. In
ment Kcsearch and Training Institutes. Berlin. Scptcmher 1YY3. Japan this had been implemented successfully in part

416 02(11-5177/Y~/0h0~1h-09 0 IYYJ Buttcrworth-Heinemann Ltd


The implementation of rota1 qualiry managemenl in tourism: some guidelines: C A Witt and A P Muhlemann
using quality circles, teams of workers, meeting number of his messages relate to all types of orga-
voluntarily outside normal work hours to identify, nization.
discuss, examine and try to solve work place prob- Deming’ was responsible for a systematic
lems. Frequently these groups had a leader whose approach to problem solving which he originally
responsibilities included training the group in the introduced to the Japanese: the Plan-Do-Check-
analytic tools of quality control. Ishikawa is possibly Action cycle. This is extended in Oakland and
the best known of the pioneers of the quality circle Mortiboys’” to the ‘Helix of Never-Ending Improve-
movement in Japan’ and an interesting discussion of ment’ based around ‘Evaluate-Plan-Do-Check-
the development of this movement appears in Amend’. It is claimed that his famous ‘14 points’
Ishikawa.” At one point these were seen as a major became the basis of the transformation of American
contributory factor to the Japanese quality success industry and were ‘a signal that management intend
story. However, as many attempts at setting up to stay in business, and aim to protect investors and
circles outside Japan failed to deliver the expected jobs’ (p 23). These points cover a variety of both
benefits it became apparent that the issues were strategic and operational issues and, while some
more complex than originally perceived, and that would have universal support, others are more con-
quality was an important issue throughout the orga- troversial.
nization. The need for TQM was beginning to be According to Benda11,2 in order to fully exploit the
recognized in the West. potential of the 14 points, there is a tendency -
TQM has been defined by Oakland” as: indeed possibly a need - to use the tools developed
by other gurus. However, Deming does stress the
a way of managing the whole business process
importance of management coming to terms with
to ensure complete ‘customer’ satisfaction at every
what he calls his ‘Deadly diseases and obstacles’ (to
stage, internally and externally. (p ix)
TQM).
Kanji” shows the following development of the In his earlier work Jurans adopts a somewhat
concept of TQM: qualify: to satisfy customers’ re- analytically based approach to quality. However, in
quirements continuously; total quality: to achieve his later texts” he moves on and looks in more detail
quality at a low cost; total quulity management: to at ‘softer’ issues. Like many of the other writers he
obtain total quality by involving everyone’s daily supports the idea of internal and external customers,
commitment. and claims that the majority of quality problems are
Implicit and crucial to both of these (and other) due to poor management rather than faulty work-
‘definitions’ is that all organizations have chains of manship.
customers and suppliers. The idea of the supplier of Crosby” is probably the most flamboyant of the
materials to an organization or the customer for the quality gurus, and well known for his views on
organization’s product or service is totally familiar; ‘zero-defects’ or ZD. His ‘Quality crusade’ includes
normally these are external to the organization. the ‘Four absolutes of quality’ and a l4-step
What is normally less evident and more important is approach to quality improvement.
the proposal that everyone within an organization Ishikawa” is most usually associated with the
has customers and suppliers and that many of these quality circle movement and the diagram which has
are internal to the organization. Thus the cook in the his name. He is also linked to organization-wide
restaurant supplies the waiter with the meal for the quality initiatives in Japan which started in the 1950s
diner, while the washer-up supplies the cook with (TQM). He claims that quality means not only the
clean plates. This recognition of these chains is a key quality of the product (or service) but the after-sales
building block in introducing TQM. service, quality of management, the company itself
A number of quality gurus have appeared over the and the individuals within it.
years and each appears to have his own unique view The TQM model of Oakland5 pulls together and
of how TQM should be developed within the orga- develops further a number of the aspects and pers-
nization. Some have supported their perspectives pectives of some of the earlier writers. The idea of
with texts: typical examples are: Deming, Juran, managing processes that relate to ‘chains of custom-
Ishikawa, Crosby.3.7m” Most have gone on and de- ers and suppliers’ is central to the model. This is
veloped these themes in subsequent works. The surrounded by what he refers to as the ‘soft’ aspects
practitioner, seeking help and assistance, is faced of TQM: communication, culture and commitment,
with a variety of ‘messages’ from these. What fol- supported by ‘harder management necessities’ of
lows in this section draws in part on the analysis systems, tools and teams.
presented in Bendall.* The philosophy of TQM was developed and im-
Feigenbaum’ originally introduced the idea of plemented originally largely within manufacturing
total quality control to emphasize that the entire environments. However it is increasingly being
organization was involved, not just manufacturing taken up within the so-called service sector. Dotchin
(or operations). Much of his philosophy is biased and Oakland” report some statistics on this, indicat-
towards the manufacturing company, although a ing the rate of growth in reported applications.

Tow-km Management 1994 Volume 15 Number 6 417


Indeed, if the basic frameworks, ideas and concepts l approach - management led;
of some of the key writers are examined they are l scope - company wide;
largely presented in an environment-neutral context. l scale - everyone is responsible for quality;
The central concept of a ‘process’ in Oakland’s l philosophy - prevention not detection;
model applies throughout an organization. It need l standard - right first time;
not be a manufacturing process which produces a l control - cost of quality;
finished product for an external customer. It could l theme - continuous improvement.
be an internal process by which, for example, the
This is complemented by a four-stage process for the
work schedule for a tour company’s representatives
implementation of TQM:
is prepared or the process followed to establish an
organization’s staff training needs. However, l identification and preparation;
according to Dotchin and Oakland:” l management understanding and commitment;
l scheme for improvement;
Deming gives many examples of what might be
l new initiative. new targets and critical cxamina-
studied with statistics in service operations, but does
tion.
not include the less tangible processes which accord-
ing to Morris and Johnson13 are key differcnccs This section has reviewed the philosophies of some
between services and manufacture. (p 139) of the major writers in TOM. In the majority of
cases the broad frameworks are applicable in any
This will be developed in the next section.
type of environment. It is clear that some lessons can
Dale” carried out a survey of delegates at a recent
be learnt from the application of TQM in manufac-
TQM conference. Almost 42% of respondents
turing organizations. Some of the key issues to
claimed to use the teaching of one or more of the
recognize include: (1) ensure continued top manage-
‘quality gurus’ in their organization. It is interesting
ment support; (2) manage the culture change; (3) set
to note that over a quarter of these used more than
realistic expectations (potential improvement time-
one source, this in spite of suggestions that the
scales); (4) provide continued support and training.
approaches/methods of the gurus are in part mutual-
These are equally important to service organizations
ly exclusive.
planning to implement TQM.
This can be contrasted with the comparison of the
It has been observed” that there are some funda-
similarities between the various authors in Dotchin
mental differences between manufacturing and scr-
and Oakland” along a variety of dimensions:
vices which are not addressed fully by many of the
Different authors place their individual emphases, various quality frameworks. The next section de-
and it might be inferred that substantially different scribes these differences in more detail, in order to
philosophies are being represented. A more careful evaluate the situation more fully.
analysis. however. reveals surprisingly similar con-
tent. (p 133)

Kanji” reports an application of TQM in ICI where


Manufacturing and services: the differences
the guidelines from Crosby, Juran and Deming were Lockyer” argues that basically no differences exist
all considered and used selectively. It was com- between manufacturing and services.
mented that certain aspects of Crosby’s approach
The proposal is made that the distinction between
had more relevance to the UK situation than others.
service and manufacturing industries should dis-
Hence not all were used.
appear. since effectively they carry out the same
Dale’” includes an assessment of the reasons for
task ” (PS)
difficulties in starting and sustaining TQM. From his
survey, all the inhibitors identified could apply Operations managers are in both cases concerned
equally to service and manufacturing environments. with the transformation process of inputs into out-
The top five inhibitors to introducing TQM are puts. The nature of the inputs and outputs may be
reported as: (1) lack of top management commit- quite different - clearly the inputs for the manufac-
ment and vision; (2) company culture and manage- ture of steel are not the same as those required when
ment style; (3) ‘flavour of the month’ type attitude; making furniture; the transformation process also
(4) departmental-based thinking and actions; and (5) differs. Lockyer argues that the differences between
poor appreciation of the concept and principles of providing, for instance, a meal and making steel are
TQM. The top five inhibitors to sustaining TQM no more significant than between any two examples.
include, in addition to (l), (3) and (4) above, (a) Other authors’f*‘x would not disagree with the
time pressure, work load and resources; (b) organi- argument that there is a common basic situation
zational restructuring. facing production and operations managers, ic that
Kanji’ presents a set of principles and actions of transforming inputs into outputs. However, many
which will support an organization developing the talk of a continuum with outputs which are tangible
TQM process. These key pairs are: (goods) at one end and intangible output (services)

418
Table I Service characteristics aspects which have been addressed or used as
examples.‘.” The majority of the work has related
I. Services produce intangible output
to manufacturing situations. If only the tangible
1. Services produce wriahlc. non-standard output
3. A scrvicc is pcrishahle: ie it cannot he carried in inventory. deliverables of a service organization are consi-
hut is consumed in production dered, the various aspects of TQM can be accepted
4. There is high customer contact throughout the service without too much concern.
prows5
In the next section, some of the more significant
5. ‘l‘hc customer participates in the process 01 providing II
impacts that the differences have on the imple-
service
6. Skill5 are wld directly to the customer mentation of TQM are examined.
7. Scrviceh cannot be mass-produced
8. IIigh personal judgement is employed hy individuak
pcrl’orming the service Services: the quality problems
0. Service lirm\ xc labor-intensive
IO. Dcccntralitcd f’acilitk arc located new the customers Customer focus is central to all the models; for
II. Measures 01 ellectivcnesa xc suhjectlvc example Oakland’ states: ‘The ability to meet the
12. Quality control i5 primarily limited to proccsx control customer requirements is vital’ (p 3). This is the
13. Pricing option\ arc more elaborate
underlying ethos of TQM and it is here that the
problems start for services. First of all. how are these
.So/rrw: Murdick. R <i. Rcndcr. H and Ruascll. R S Srnkt
Opcru/iorr.t Mrrna,qwrcvr/ Allyn and Bacon. Boston ( IWO)
p 26. requirements identified and incorporated into ;I spe-
cification? The ‘product’ is intangible (characteristic
1). For example: airlines provide a means of getting
at the other. For example, a car would be at the from A to B; tour operators package together an
tangible (goods) end of this continuum. with a small experience. What is an experience? How may it be
element of the intangible - the prestige of a Rolls defined‘? What are the undcrlyin~ attributes which
Royce. the trendy element of a Peugeot 205, the may be incorporated in the design specification?
raunchy image of ;I Ferrari. At the other end of the Much of the work in this arca derives from market-
spectrum, the customer does not buy a bit of hotel ing. Whir and C’hnndrasckar” found that potential
room when purchasing ;I night’s stay - only the use customers are not themselves aware of how they
of the ~lccommodation: nothing is bought which they make their decision to purchase when deciding bc-
can take away with them (except perhaps the unused twcen restaurants. Embachel- and Huttle’3 point out:
shampoo or disposable shower cap!) This leads on
The image of a location ha l>ccn shown to h;l\c ;I
naturally to the idea of providing a ‘bundle of goods
significant impact upon itx selection a5 ;I vacation
and services”” Is or ‘service package”” which tvpi-
destination. Measuring and mxl;lging this imq
tally includes ( I ) supporting facility, (9) facilitating
therefore hc‘con~c~ a maior priority for mxrkcting
goods. (3) explicit and (4) implicit services.
and communic~ltions staff in hotcl5. i-c\ort\. ndtional
Yet other5 would differentiate services from
tourist offices and elseuhtw. (p 3)
manufacturing using the degree of customer
contact “+ “J’ The purchaser of a car does not have They then used repertory grid analysis to idcntifv the
to bc present when a car is made. Not only that, but constructs along which 25 people judged hoiid:ly
the production process is buffered from the custom- destinations. The constructs included built up. man-
er by marketing and dealers/agents. By contrast. the made environment/beautiful countrvside, boring
purchaser of a hotel room for the night has to be destination!interestiIl~ destination, art;ficial ‘tourist:
physically present or the whole point of the opera- culture/genuine culture etc.
tion is lost. Thus, when an operation involves either GartnerZJ is also concerned with image, but he
;I high level of customer contact or has a product used multidimension~11 scaling to try and identify
which is intangible in nature, it may be described as underlying factors. It appeared that in his study
;I service operation. As a consequence of these two cultural based/natural resource based and in group
attributes. services can clearly be seen to have social/out group social were the two undcrlving
characteristics which differ from those of an opera- dimensions along which tourists viewed destinati&ns~
tion located at the tangible and low-contact end of A few studies”~” have sought to confirm the
the scale. The most comprehensive list of character- service-quality dimensions identified by Paraura-
istics of which the authors are aware is presented by man el rd.‘” The problem with all of these studies,
Murdick ct (II”’ and reproduced here in Trrhlc 1. however, is that the information gained is vague.
The presence of these characteristics has implica- making preparation of detailed design specifications
tions for management. On the whole this fact seems difficult.
to have been largely overlooked. or at least not Additionally services produce variable, non-
explicitly addressed by the exponents of TQM. standard output (characteristic 2). The main reason
Relatively little work relating to TQM in services for variable, non-standard output in services is peo-
specifically has been reported and when TQM has ple. Each customer who enters the door of a travel
been discussed in a service context, it is the tangible agency is different. Even the same person entering

419
the same travel agency on different occasions will Additionally Horovitz3’ points out that identifying
not have the same requirements every time. Not ‘defective service’ is difficult because studies indicate
only that, but one person visiting three travel agents that only 4% of dissatisfied customers will actually
on the same day may well have a different attitude in complain, and while a dissatisfied customer will tell
each place - in between the visits they may have had 11 potential customers of the experience, a satisfied
a harrowing experience such that their patience has customer talks to only four. The underlying prob-
worn thin, or the accompanying child has had lems, however, are subjectivity of assessment and
enough and decides to ‘play’ with the brochures on heterogeneity of customers, making measurement of
display. effectiveness and quality extremely difficult.
In addition to the vagaries of the client, the TQM demands study and development of proces-
contact-employee is also an individual who will have ses and systems in order to ensure that customer
good days and bad days. Every interaction between requirements are met but, as already mentioned, as
employee and customer will be different. the customers are not homogeneous, a high level of
These characteristics clearly make not only pro- variability can result. In addition the design of the
duct design and specification difficult, but also make process has to allow for non-employees in the sys-
process design far more complex. tem, with not only differing requirements, but also
As a consequence of characteristics 1 and 2, unpredictability of behaviour: the passenger who
measurement of performance is subjective. If there smokes on a non-smoking flight, the diner who
is no clear design specification there is no bench- drinks too much and becomes abusive to other
mark against which performance can be measured. customers. the child who is travel sick on the coach.
It is easy to measure such things as miles per gallon These factors are not under the direct control of the
and maximum speed of a car, but not so easy to service provider, but need to. be considered when
measure a ‘romantic atmosphere’. How does a man- designing the process.
ager ‘check’ that the customer requirements have Culture change and commitment of employees are
been met? Parasuraman et al” developed the two other facets of TQM. Training is central to
SERVQUAL questionnaire to measure quality ensure success in both these dimensions. Two diffi-
based on the presumption that service quality occurs culties arise in services. First. the customer frequent-
when customers perceive received performance to ly participates in the process of providing a service
equate with prior ex ectations. This has provoked (characteristic 5). whether it is helping to create the
..
much discussion.‘“.“-” P. Crompton and Mackay’” right atmosphere or serving themselves at the break-
write: fast buffet. Thus ‘training’ needs to extend to the
customer. Second, while much of the training in a
Assessing perceived service quality is not equivalent manufacturing setting is largely restricted to the use
to assessing satisfaction. Satisfaction is a psycholo- of the TQM ‘tools’ (eg use of process control charts
gical outcome emerging from an experience, where- etc) and technical skills, in services, when skill is sold
as service quality is concerned with the attributes of directly to a customer (characteristic 6), the posses-
the service itself. (p 368) sion of that skill is not enough. For example. on
tours to Egypt the attendant historian requires inter-
However, attempts to measure service quality usual- personal skills in addition to academic knowledge
ly involve the use of questionnaires.2-,2y In some about the Pharaohs. Similarly, high personal judge-
cases the questions have been compiled as a result of ment is frequently required by individuals perform-
focus group interviews2’.” or from a literature ing the service (characteristic 8). This particularly
search;-’ others do not describe how the questions applies to travel agents. In many cases customers are
were selected. Various techniques have been used to not necessarily aware of exactly what they do re-
analyse the results of the questionnaires includin quire. The agent needs to analyse the needs of the
factor analysis2”.zx p rincipal components analysis,-- 35 client and advise accordingly. Too much information
multiple regression-2.‘6.3’.32,34 and multidimensional will confuse the potential holiday-maker. Skill is
scaling.2” Some researchers22,29,3h used constant sum needed to draw out the relevant information from
scales rather than Likert-type scales in an attempt to the customer. Another example is the ski instructor
overcome some of the problems associated with the who has to judge how hard to push his/her group -
latter (see Crompton and Mackay”’ for further dis- does this group want to win all the races at the end of
cussion). Other analytical techniques used include the week or break the record for the highest number
repertory grid analysis2” and cdnjoint analysis.‘7 of schnapps stops in a week? Training in interper-
However quality is measured and feedback sonal skills and in the use of judgement is much
obtained problems still remain. Dhir and more difficult. This is often aggravated by high
Chandrasekar22 show that relative importance of labour turnover. The tourism industry in particular
attributes changes between time of selection and is susceptible to large fluctuations in demand, in part
time of consumption. Factors which draw new cus- due to seasonality, which leads to the hiring of
tomers will differ from those of repeat purchasers.” non-permanent staff. This high labour turnover also

420
pur?aauauawyu 30 iunoaae sayal suoyae~~~eMau J! op 0~ ‘slamo]snD mo %u!i”as u! ap!ld aye1 . . a~
30 u%!saa .paInpaqoss! suo~~aw~~eIIE30 ~uawqsg
-.wtja)l~aruu.wdo~d aau~ualu!~~ a+uaAald e uo
ql!~.1aqia8o$ 'yoddnspue ;7u!u~er] aaiCoIdwa'snaoj
s!wawdfnba30 aaa!dAlaAs 'awy WI~JJ~B!.I &I~IOM
lawoisn:, "03paau aqi sazy80aa.Isaug.yv eyseIv
are saIq@uet aql leql Salnsua Iyap 03 uoyuallv .slu!od19~3‘s!leql
-sanb!uyaal luawaikuew suogelado punos pue Flu!
'wu IOU aJe suoyepadxa~aurolsnaaJaqMsuoyenl!s
-u!w uo s!yseqdwa aqA .pI.rom.ilaus!a/pueIAausg
01 peaI qa!qM ssaaoldaqj qi!M swagqold ~u~~3~iuap~
ilq ua>tw hgenb aayas OJ qsgoldde aql ssnasfp
sple~oi pawwp %!aq wjja qi!M ,,‘aa+as ha
lieZsl,s.o~uow.w pue -'alI!m‘pia!jsut'm ‘aue~ -Agap Iaurolsnr, aAolduq 01 pasn uaaq alzuq%!y.~eur
.snao3
-qauaq puv Zuyu!.IdanIq ‘ICpuaaal alon .hessaaau
lamown:, e a/zeq@Essaaau IOU saop I! ‘Ind$no
se puodsal 0~ 33~ %u!~oIle*paldopeSBM hI!q!xaI3
30 hws!suoa alnsua pfnoqs t! q%noqqr! ieqi SJ
pala3sojqa!qtiau0 01 ay2I;3nea2nq wo.r.3aI& ~uaut
osLgs$j q~!~s~a[qo~d aql30auO .p~osse~pu~sa!~ -a;7euw1_130 a8ueqa v *spaau1a~oisnajossaua~eM~
-Ina~33~p~u~pel~paaua!3adxa~alel laloqaql‘IaAamoq
33elspadoIaAap qa!qm paluawaldw! SBM awuIeJ
'Ala~eunvo3un woywpa~aae aql %u!uyqo 30 ssaa
-8oJd %I!u!~.I] jjeise MOLI saqysap ,,aanla 'sogj1
-old aql saq!.rasap ,,ue11e3'OS& S8 u!wo 01 X-l -p!u~ aql u! aurww8oJd JS.IQJaluowyJ aql 8uglnd,
aql u! [WJq lSJ!J ayl SEM ““qpI0 l?? ]aWH lU??A,tr
paz!a?lqndIiaM~~~!ej e paluawaldm! sde~ly qsjglg
‘W
+sod s!~ow~oa ssaaold'payguaplale aauewojlad
30 sa.nwaw aieudo.tddeaauo Icyian9.w iCay1'snql
(SPZd)
~uogezye%o i%gn)xjnueur I? u! ueql sa!grmgtp
. . :sa$outnq paanpowy uaaq ahey $eylsuialsk
1amx2 ou luasald pqf_)J,JO SlxdSR ~U!U!~~~J aqJ. leuo!le~adoaql JO awes saq!wsap ,,et~y waut
~&kup.t033~ apew suo!sgap pue 1xaluo3 pamsww -.taModuiasrql alelg~ae301 apwu alaM qXqmsa%ueqa
yq~ u! paxId aq um pa!pnls %!aq ssam.~d aql IelnlInaaql sassnas!p ,,Yew.yay ,,;saaiCoIdLua
pa~yap sllnsal puu pado[aAap uaaq amq spoylalu pi?np!A!pu!aq] 30 luaLu.IaModluaqi!M alwIns hyenb
guauta.tnseaw asuo .axmaqo3 yx1 sa!qdos t2lojpaau aqljo pue uo~~at?js~~es~a~o1sns~u~~a~qa~
-opqd ~u!~~oddns aql ys!qM ~noq$!~ ‘m”Jt)& $0 $uau u! heid 01 aio~ lu~i~od~! ue scq aakydwa Ienp!A
-odum [e~!n puosasaql s!dais luauwnseatuaqL -!pu!aqi icyi uo!wzgea_iaqt kpeal qi!M pavpalo
uaaqseq'uas1.y)ue~3oaauan13u!aqilapun &svs
'uo~~aejsy~s pue iClyqw!pald .iuauraAo.tdw! Ienuguoa alnsua 01 aaeId
‘(s!a3yas aqi alaldtuosMoq) ih!A?aiu! 'ssauyauy
u! ale sruZ$sk snqA .paAIosuaaq seq .iaile=aqi
:suog_~au~~p Jnoj SSO.IX,salnseaut, Iewalu!doIanap
Moq kjguap!01 i!pneaqi ~aij~" sq~uou3aalqipainq
Iraqi‘Apnlsaql UI .ayaadslad ~o.woa B tu0.1~ aaue
-~~ls!pale SLILIOJaauelnsseiCl!Ienb ‘l!pnv uo palah
-woj~adjoswawa.uwaw 01 saiela1 qa!qM‘pY_IJalu!
-oas!pa.Ieswalqold Jo w.~a~s/Cs aql vpns uaql lo.11
JO 'iCly:nb 30 uogdaalad s‘lawolsnaaql 30 ‘s!lvqt
-UO;Dh!It?nC, I..~I)I.padoIaAapuaaq aAeq sisqyaaqa
‘leu~aixa aq hu 1uaura.uweat.u s!qJ .luauralnseaw
p.wpueis‘pa~jo~u! iou s!Jauio1sn3
aqi alaqfi 5a.+u
jo ~ilna!jj!p aqi u! say sa3+uas UT wf-j~, q*y
-uo!lsanb~a~uass~d~u!sn~ql~~du~s!q~a~oa~aAoo~
walqwd u!eutaql icyipalsaS8nsAay~.*lajoHauey
ldrualleiCaqL.aa+tasSu!.tnseawu! paAc\lo,w! sayins
-sg uoielaqs aqi le yoovapun Aaqi qa!qksiCpnis
-!jj!paql saz!u%oaa.I ~1y *wauwedap %u!~on aql
R 30 sl[nsaJaql IlodaA ,,uwqelf) pur!sJapunes
(E) pur!luauwedap 8u!lay.wu aql (z) 'sla%elaql
,,'uoy?,e3s!les
iaaw 01 spaau qa!qM wawuedap aqi (1) ql!M uog
Isan 30 sawseaw angaalqo 3.8~ ahagaq Aaql
-eiinsuoa u! iasa3e slaifrelasaql .leo2aw.u!iInaq4
ieqM dn $as pue 'sp&?pue$spaie~ua!~o-~a~oisna
st?slsajapOX?. q$!M 'pasn a#2 Gsia4_u?l hlenb luauI
UMO _yaqi ias 01 saaiColdura.yaqi 8u!.IaModlua
-aSeue~, .alq!ssod s! qaeoldde dn-luolloqe aAa!l
‘a.Iniln:, I!aq$ pa8ueqa ‘aa!nlasJO suo!luyaadxa
-aq nay 'a.we~avIaql u! aleymopald sauq.uv
pue sapnlyw aaholdwa pue .Iat.uolsna qloq pa!pnls .Xlisnpu!
ilay 3ay.1~1aq$ u? uoysod pauaql4uallsslyiuy8
w+noi aqi u! SLW!J duew; 30 'MC>& pylaqel iou
OJ, ,aspaa+lgadutoa t:waqr uan!8sf;qAJrqenba+
31uaha 'epual?r? aql uo sjeadde @eata Alyenb ‘laha
-laspa/\olduy.i!aqi ahaqaq [euoy~u~aiu~uoi[!~
-MOH '0% Slt?aiE ZZ JnOqe UIalSk WoJ_ B Sp.IeMO]
,;&t?lSOH icqpcwodal St?Mjjels ]le lo3 s3s.Inoa
aAoul 01 paiws n/v1y Moq saqgsap ,,mepualloa
jo ssaua+uaqaldmoa aqk ~+~a1 IIE me %.IIUIRI~
LIEI\ =~oJ, 8u!ldope iCllsnpu! u.ts!.tnol aql
30aaueyodm! aqlpazgeal%og at\eqslaloH QO~J&F,I
u!qJ!Msuo~i~z~ue~~o JO sllodalMaj h3h ale aray&
(ESId ,,‘~aiw suoyqdda
u! palonb ‘sau!llyeyselv 03-13 ‘!maA f 8)
*s8u+uowoqs WALIO~pm L~guap! iippnb uw no/(
OS suogas!unwwo:, uado u!e~uyeu~ lsnlu oqe no;i
~paamx 01 ruopaa~~ pw lioddns ‘qoo~ %~yml +ana!qae01 ilna!33ip
al0u.t
.wjawfna
aqi saakoidlua moii at@ 01 103 aA,noA ‘Alaqqp e 30 iuawdolahap aql put? ;iIisoa
ifki!u!e~i
saye~u
operational issues. Techniques such as value cn- l The process should be .s~rrr~durtiizecl wherever
gineering are used to improve the design of scat possible to ensure c’on.si.stfwcyy of delivery but not
belts. for example.‘” But the most irnp~~rt~~nt facet is to the extent of losing competitive advantage. or
the tr~jnin~ of the staff: in conflict with the (~r~~llli~~~ti~~il’s strategy.

At Disneyland the rodwcepers have ;I 5-day train-


ing course - 10 minute\ on how to use ;I swcupcr and
the remainder on how to give information to guests
(Lallc, 4” ,’ Sj)

ancf

sweepus are not just cleaning


Main Street. they are helping to create an atmos-
phere of happiness . (I Iolst as quoted in Miller,”
p 192)

Total quality management in tourism:


guidelines
A nntiiher of authors have ~;Ic~L’ suggestions as to
how some of the prohlcms of implementing TOM in
scrvica generally may 13~ h;tncllecl.~i.~S.“~“~ ‘Ibe
guidelines proposal here for the successful imple-
mentation of TQM in services, cicvclopecl in part
from thee suggestions. arc prc\cntctl below,
group1 into three cla~.~ based on:

( I ) clemcnts of the product/service package:


(2) the human aspects of the delivery system:
(3) ~~~~~~sut-~~~i~iit issuf2s in service quality.

While this classification maq’not hc unicluc. it rclntus


to smie of the liey differences identified earlier in
7irhl~ /. and facilitates prcscntation of the following
guidelines.

l‘he orgnization should have ;I clear .srr~tq~ in


terms of tho kc? feature\ of ttic service. 170th
rir~rgihl~ ;ind itrtr7rigildc (quantifictl) and the spcci-
fit niarkc‘ts scrb.cd. This should hc wideI\ cont-
ntunicatcd and without the ~~r~~l~,i~~~~ti~3,,
within SO
all c‘xpcctations (intermrl and cutcrnal) arc dear.
‘i’hc concept of jiwrs c;Ill help.
The the ser-vice p;ickagc should hc
tlc.sigt7 of

;rpl31-oachd in :I structured and systematic man-


~CI- so that quality c;in hc dcstgned into the
provision. In tlusiping the service both tangihlo illld intangi-
l‘hc service paCkage shoulci bc ~i~~otil~3os~~l into blc aspects sf1ot1lrl hc ~]f~~7tlf~~~~,~~.

~~~~~~xY.s~~.s
and each stuciicci to clevelop the hcst l‘hc CXCLISC‘
stto~~id not ttc accq3teci that intangible
approach: this should be coniplctcly docunientcd aspcets cannot t3c quantified ~ /imr.s-gro7rp qiws-

and rluantificd where 13osbihlc. ~iru7~7uirc~.s can t3c LIXCC~to establish cxpcctations
The key skills rrrrtl (‘f)/lri)(‘tr)7(‘i’.s rcquirCd for each and set standards in thcsc areas.
process should he clearly identified. C’lear stm~7clrlrfht riocci t(> he set and ct,mmuitifntc’di
In designing clclivcry systems and ~x~i~~illi~~~ pro- to 130th customer and pi-ovidcr.
cesses, the key problem arcas should bC icicntified Rt~lic.l7r,itrrl\irrg should 13~ uscrl to compare pcr-
and mrlri,?gfvrc:\ plans tlcIdo/?“d. formancc with the competition.
Delivery systt‘nis should he r.obrr.st and rrr7&- Staff should hc responsihlc for @tihrrcli on xcr-
irtilizrrfiotr of’ rcsourcc’s accepted as ii consquencc vice pcrforni;rncc: clu;illti,fy factors - use of qua-
of fast rcsponsc. tionnnircs. conimcnt cards.

422
The implemenlulion of tolul quulity munugemml in rourism: some guidelines: C A Win und A P Muhlemunn

Feedback should be seen as an opportunity not a ‘“Murdick R G, Render. B and Russell. R S Serr,ice Ojperutions
Munugemrnt Allyn and Bacon. Boston (1990)
threat.
17Sasser. E W. Olsen. R P and Wyckoff, D D Munugetnem of
All negative feedback should be followed up and Service Operutions Allyn and Bacon. Boston (197X)
appropriate action taken. “Shostack, G L ‘Breaking free from product marketing’ J o/
Teum work can be used to evaluate and support Murketing 1987 (April) 13s 139
resolution of problems identified through feed- ‘“Fitzsimmons, J A and Sullivan, R S Service C~perutions Munup-
menf McGraw-Hill. New York (lY82)
back. “‘Chase, R B and Aquilano. N J Production und Operu/iott,s
All difficulties which have arisen should be re- Munugement 4th edn, Irwin, Homcwood, IL (IYXS)
corded and unulysed and appropriate corrective “Clark. G ‘Managing the intangibles of service quality’ Tmul
action established. If necessary procedures musf Q&i/y Munugetnen~ Muguzine lYX9 I (2) HO-92
V
be modified/changed.
Systems should be in place (questionnaires/ Shaw. M and Croffoot. (eds) The Pruc/ice
follow-up interviews) to monitor customer ex- IYXh)
pectafions: changes in these may require mod- “Embacher. grid analysis
ification to delivery systems, processes and so on. image as a summer vacation
IYXY (3) .%7
“JGartner. state
Summary and conclusions tourism products using multidimensional
IYXY XXVIII (2)
scaling techniques’

This paper has reviewed the various approaches to “Fick, G R and Ritchie,
IYYI XXX (2)
the TQM process, with specific reference to their
2-Y
impact on the key differences between manufactur- ““LeBlanc,
ing and services. This has facilitated the identifica- of
tion of three sets of factors which should contribute 19Y2 XXX (4)
significantly to the successful introduction of TQM “Saleh, F and Ryan, C ‘Analysing service quality in the hospita-
ity industry using the SERVQUAL model’ Service Industries J
to the various sectors of the tourism industry. There 1991 II (3) 324343
is a need for further in-depth studies and “Parasuraman. A, Zeithaml, V A and Berry, L L ‘SERVQUAL:
documented implementations of TQM in tourism in a multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of
order that the industry can learn through this pro- service quality’ J of Reluiling IYXX 64 (I) 12-40
“‘Crompton, J L and MacKay, K L ‘Users’ perceptions of the
cess. This should focus on the generic issues rather
relative importance of service quality dimensions in sclccted
than anecdotal evidence. public recreation programs’ Leisure Sciences 1989 11 (4) 367-37.5
“‘Moores, B ‘Management of service quality’ in Jones. P (cd)
Munugemem in Service Induslrirs J Pitman, London (1989)
References “Oberoi, U and Hales. C ‘Assessing the quality of the confcrencc
hotel service product: towards an empirically based model’ Scr-
‘Fcigenbaum, A V Told Quulily Control: Principles, Pruclices vice Industries J 1990 IO (4) 700-721
und Administrufion McGraw-Hill, New York (IYSJ) “Geva, A and Goldman, A ‘Satisfaction mcasuremcnt in guided
‘Bendall. T The Ouulitv Gurus Department of Trade and Indus- tours‘ Annuls of Tourism Reveurch IYYI 18 (2) 177-1X.5
try, London (19X:) ’ 72Kloppcnborg, T J and Gourdin, K N ‘Up in the air about
Shewhat?, W A Economic Conlrol of Qualily of Munufuctured quality’ Quulily Pr0gre.x~ lYY2 XXV (2) 31-35
Products Van Nostrand, New York (193 I) “Lewis, R C ‘Predicting hotel choice. the factors underlying
‘Ishikawa, K Whut is TQC? Prentice Hall, New York (1985) perception Cornell Hotel und Resluurunt Admini.slrution Quurler-
‘Oakland, J S Torul Quulify Mutqemenl 2nd edn, Heincmann, /y 19X.5 25 (4) X2-96
Oxford (1993) “Saleh, F and Ryan,C ‘Client perceptions of hotels’ Tourism
“Kanji, G ‘Total quality management: the second industrial Munugemenl I992 13 (2)
16>lhX
revolution’ Total Ouulitv MunuRement 1YYOI (1) 3-12 ‘“WhippIe. T W and Thach, S V ‘Group tour management: does
‘Dcming. W E &udir~, Prod&tivity und C&tetilive Posilion good service produce satisfied customers’?’ J of Truvel Reseurch
MIT Press. Camhridgc MA (lYX2) 1YXXXXVII (2) 1621
‘Juran, J M Our of the Crisis: Quulily, Plunning and Anulysis “June, L P and Smith, S L J ‘Service attributes and situational
McGraw-Hill, New York (lY70) effects on customer preferences for restaurant dining’ J of Truvrl
“Crosby, P B Quuliry is Free McGraw-Hill. New York (1979) Reseurch 1987 XXVI (2) 2&27
“‘Oakland, J S and Mortiboys, R Total Quulily Munugement and “Horovitz. J ‘How to check the quality of customer service and
Effective Leudership London, Department of Trade and industry raise the standard’ In1 Munagemenl 1987 42 (February) 34-35
( IYYl) ‘“Van Borrendam, A ‘KLM strives for customer satisfaction’
“Juran, J M Jurun on Plunning for Quality Free Press, New York TQM Magazine l9XY I (2) IOS-IOY
(19X8) ““Lane. C ‘Putting people first ~ a company-wide approach to
“Dotchin. J A and Oakland, J S ‘Theories and concepts in total good service’ in Moores, B (ed) Are They Being Served Philip
quality management’ Totul Quulity Management I992 3 (2) 13.q Allan. Oxford (19X6) S&S3
I45 “Leirvaag, S 0 ‘The human factor or how do we organise SAS in
“Morris, B and Johnston, R ‘Dealing with inherent variability: the future’!’ SAS, Oslo (March 1988)
the difference between service and manufacturing explained’ In1 J “Lilja, 0 ‘The SAS approach to quality‘ TQM Mupzine IYXY I
of 0perurion.s und Producrion Management 1987 7 (4) 13-22 (3) 17_%17h
“Dale B G ‘Starting on the road to success’ Totul Q&i/y “Bruce. L ‘British Airways jolts staff with a cultural revolution’
Munugiment Magazine 1991 3 (2) 125-128 Int Munugemenl 19X7 (March) 3&3X
“Lockyer. K ‘Service - a polemic and a proposal’ Int J of ‘JDavies, R J ‘Mapping out improvement’ TQM Muguzine 1992 4
0perutions and Production Management 14X6 6 (3) S-9 (3) 181-1X3

Tourism Munugemrnl 1994 Volume IS Number 6 423


“Miller, B W ‘High flyer’ Munuging Service Qdify lYY2 2 (3) compnrcd’ Public Momy urzd Mumrgc~mrr~/ lYY2 12 (4) GY
153-156 “Gummcsson, E ‘Nine lessons on scrvicc quality’ 7h/tr/ Qditv
““Hostage, G M ‘Quality control in a service busincsa’ Har~~urri Mum+wzcvz/ Muguzine IYXY 1 (2) X3-89
Hitsines ReLicw 1075 53 (4) 9X-106 ‘“Hildebrandt. S. Kristensen. K. Kanji. G and Dahlgaard, J
“Hirst, M ‘Newer and better way&’ Manqing Service Quulir? ‘Quality culture and TOM’ Torul Quu/i/y Mutqymrn/ IYY I 2 ( I)
lYY1 l(S) 247-2.51 I-IS
lXSaunde~s, I W and Graham, M A ‘Total quality management in “Horowitz. J and Cudcnnec-Peon. C ‘Putting service quality Into
the hospitality industry’ J of Tofu/ Quulily Mumqcrnerll lYY2 3 (3) gear’ Cluulirv Pro~rrs.s 190 I (January) 53-58
243-2.5s “Johr&n.~R ‘A ‘rramework for d&loping a quality \tratccy in II
“‘Callan. R J ‘Quality control at Avant hotels - the debut of BS customer processing operation /rlt J of C)uu/irF (Jtzd J%/i;rhi/il)
57.50’ Service Indu.srrics J lYY2 12 ( I ) 17-33 M~J~ZU~~WWI~I YX7 4 (4) 37-46
“‘Mansfield, S ‘Key in tU visitor satisfaction’ Lasure MCJ~IU~W “‘King. C ‘A framework for, a service quality assurance system’
lYX7 6 (3) X-Y Qrtu/ilr Progrcxs I Y87 (September) 27732
“Miller, B W ‘It’s a kind of magic’ Munuxitlg
. . .Sert,rw C)rto/i/v lYY2 ““Kogurc, M ‘Some basic problems of qualitv assurance in service
2 (4) IYI-19.7 industries’ TO/CJ/ Quulily ~umrpwwzr iYY2 j (I) Y-17
“Stratton. B ‘How Disneyland works’ Qnuliry Progre.~ 190 I “‘Schvanevcldt. S and Enkawa, T ‘Variability and quality 10s in
XXlV (7) 17~30 services: concepts and counter mc‘asurcs’ Tofu/ Qw/i~y McJ~~,~P
5’Asher. J ‘Quantifying quality in service industries’ To/u/ QurJ/ity metIt 1~~2 3 (3j 233-211
MUNJ~:P~OI~ 1990 I (I) XY-Y4 “‘Tcboul. J ‘De-industrialist scrvicc for quality’ /rl/ J OJ Operu-
“‘Brockman. J ‘Total quality management: the USA and UK rior2.s lJm/ Prodcccliot~ ,~Wl~J,~~WfWt I YXX 8 (3) 39-45

424 Tmrrr,sm Munupnetll 1994 Voiume 1-7 Number 6

You might also like