Quality, Quality Management: Meaning and Concepts, Quality characteristics of Products and Services

Definition of 'Quality Management'

The act of overseeing all activities and tasks
needed to maintain a desired level of
excellence. This includes creating and
implementing quality planning and assurance,
as well as quality control and quality
improvement. It is also referred to as total
quality management (TQM).

quality

Quality is important to businesses but can be
quite hard to define. A good definition of
quality is:
“Quality is about meeting the needs and
expectations of customers”
Customers want quality that is appropriate to
the price that they are prepared to pay and the
level of competition in the market.
Key aspects of quality for the customer
include:
Good design – looks and style
Good functionality – it does the job well
Reliable – acceptable level of breakdowns or
failure
Consistency
Durable – lasts as long as it should
Good after sales service
Value for money
‘Value for money’ is especially important,
because in most markets there is room for
products of different overall levels of quality,
and the customer must be satisfied that the
price fairly reflects the quality.

In manufacturing, a measure of excellence or a
state of being free from defects, deficiencies
and significant variations . It is brought about
by strict and consistent commitment to certain
standards that achieve uniformity of a product
in order to satisfy specific customer or user
requirements . ISO 8402-1986 standard defines
quality as "the totality of features and
characteristics of a product or service that
bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied
needs."

Drivers of Quality:

1-Customers.
In a customer-driven organization, quality
is established with a focus on satisfying or
exceeding the requirements, expectations,
needs, and preferences of customers.
Customer-driven quality is a common
culture within many organizations.
2-Products / Services:
A culture of product / service-driven
quality was popular in the early stages of
quality improvement. Conformance to
requirements and zero defect concepts
have roots in producing a product /
service that meets stated or documented
requirements.
In some cases, product / service
requirements originate from customer
requirements, thereby creating a common
link to customer-driven quality, but the
focus of the culture is on the quality of
the product/ service.
If the customer requirements is
accurately stated and designed into the
production / service delivery process,
then as long as the product / service meet
the requirements, the customer should be
satisfied. This approach is common in
supporting the ISO 9001-based quality
management system.
3- Employee Satisfaction:
This concept is that an organization takes
care of employee’s needs so that they can
be free to worry only about the customer.
Employee satisfaction is a primary
measure of success for this type of
organization.
4- Organizational focus:
Some organizations tend to focus on total
organizational quality while others are
quite successful at using a segmented
approach to implementing quality.

Why quality is important to a growing
business?

Good quality helps determine a firm’s success
in a number of ways:
Customer loyalty – they return, make
repeat purchases and recommend the
product or service to others.
Strong brand reputation for quality
Retailers want to stock the product
As the product is perceived to be better
value for money, it may command a
premium price and will become more price
inelastic
Fewer returns and replacements lead to
reduced costs
Attracting and retaining good staff

Concepts/Elements in Quality Management
Or
Quality Mgmt Plan

Quality Planning
Quality Assurance
Quality Control

Quality planning allows quality to be designed
into the deliverables of the project before the
first task has begun. It is therefore done
during the development phase of the project
life cycle. It may involve identifying standards
or best practices. Design of experiments is one
tool that identifies which variables will have
the most influence on the final quality of a
product.
Quality planning for GIS projects may include
several important aspects, some of which
overlap with those identified for information
technology projects, and some of which are
unique to GIS. For example, functionality is an
important aspect of many IT projects. If you
are customizing an mapping interface, you will
need to address similar questions of
functionality. If, however, you are creating
paper copies of maps for botanists to use as
they collect samples, functionality of how the
map will be used remains important.
Quality assurance is what must be done
during the actual tasks to ensure that the
standards identified during quality planning
are met. It is therefore done during the
implementation phase of the project life cycle.
There are several tools available for a project
manager to assure the quality of products. One
is quality audits , a structured review of
quality with an eye towards improving
performance. Another is benchmarking,
comparing methods or products with others of
recognized quality. Thus, a benchmark is not
something created in the project, but
something recognized by the project and used
for comparison with products or methods in
the project. Sometimes, benchmarks may be
recognized throughout an industry. Other
times, they may be identified uniquely for use
in one particular project.
Quality control is used to improve the quality
of products or methods by focusing on such
outputs as rework decisions, acceptance
decisions, and adjustment of processes. It is
also done during the implementation phase of
the project life cycle. Rework means that a
product does not meet standards, cannot be
provided to the end user as a deliverable, and
must have additional work done to it to bring
it up to standards. Acceptance means that the
product does meet standards and can be
provided to the end user as a deliverable.
Process adjustments are made to corrective
actions taken to the methodology in efforts to
increase acceptance and decrease rework.

Quality Characteristics of Goods and Services

Functionality, how well does it work.

Appearance, how is its look, feel, design, colour, etc

Reliability, how trustworthy is it.

Recovery, how well and how quickly may defects be rectified.

Durability - the total useful life of the product or service.

Examples of Quality Characteristics
For Products
Performance
Serviceability
Reliable
Reasonable Price
Ease of Use
Maintainability
Durability
Simplicity of Design
Aesthetics
Available
Safe
Ease of Disposal
For Service
Responsiveness
Credibility
Available
Reliable
Safe
Security
Competence
Understand the Customer
Accuracy
Completeness
Timeliness
Communication

OB and its Nature

Organizational behavior-Definition &
Nature
Organizational behavior- it is made out of
two words “organization” and “behavior.”
What is an organization?
Organization as two or more individuals who
are interacting with each other within a
deliberately structured set up and working in
an interdependent way to achieve some
common objective/s. Organizations play a
major role in pur lives. We possibly cannot
think of a single moment in our lives when we
are not depending on rganizations in some
form or the other. Right from the public
transport that you use to come to your
institute, the institutes itself, the class you are
attending at this moment, are all examples of
organizations.
What is Behavior?
It is the behavior of the people working in an
organization to achieve common goals or
objectives. Organization comprises of people
with different attitudes, cultures, beliefs,
norms and values.
So let us understand organizational behavior
and what it exactly it means. “Organizational
Behavior” cam be defined as the study of what
people think, feel, and do in and around
organizations. The study of Organizational
Behavior facilitates the process of explaining,
understanding) predicting, maintaining, and
changing employee behavior in an
organizational setting. The value of
organizational behavior is that: it isolates
important aspects of the
manager’s job and offers specific perspective
on the human side of management:
• People as organizations,
• People as resources,
• People as people
In other words, it involves the understanding,
prediction and control of human behavior and
factors affecting their performance and
interaction among the organizational members.
And because organizational behavior is
concerned specifically with employment –
related situations, you should not be surprised
to find that it emphasizes behavior as related-
to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human
performance and management
Nature of Organizational Behavior (OB)
Organizational behavior is an applied
behavioral science that is built on
contributions from a number of behavioral
disciplines such as psychology, sociology,
social psychology, anthropology and
economics.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of human behavior
which tries to identify the characteristics of
individuals and provides an understanding why
an individual behaves in a particular way. This
thus provides us with useful insight into areas
such as human motivation, perceptual
processes or personality characteristics.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of social behavior,
relationships among social groups and
societies, and the maintenance of social order.
The main focus of attention is on the social
system.
This helps us to appreciate the functioning of
individuals within the organization which is
essentially a socio-technical entity.
Social psychology
Social psychology is the study of human
behavior in the context of social situations.
This essentially addresses the problem of
understanding the typical behavioral patterns
to be expected from an individual when he
takes part in a group.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the science of mankind and
the study of human behavior as a whole. The
main focus of attention is on the cultural
system, beliefs, customs, ideas and values
within a group or society and the comparison
of behavior among different cultures. In the
context of today’s organizational scenario. It is
very important to appreciate the differences
that exist among people coming from different
cultural backgrounds as people are often found
to work with others from the other side of the
globe.
Economics
Any organization to survive and sustain must
be aware of the economic viability of their
effort. This applies even to the non-profit and
voluntary organizations as well.
Political Science
Although frequently overlooked, the
contributions of political scientists are
significant to the understand arrangement in
organizations. It studies individuals and groups
within specific conditions concerning the
power dynamics. Important topics under here
include structuring of conflict, allocation of
power and how people manipulate power for
individual self-interest etc.

Introduction to ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR (OB)

Organisational Behavior

OB is the study and application of knowledge about the human behavior in order to obtain organisational effectiveness.

As we know that many people come together at the workplace. They come from diverse backgrounds, diverse religions, diverse regions. Different people have different values, beliefs, tastes and ideas. All these factors make up a structure that shapes the behavior of the people. OB strives to understand this structure. OB strives to understand these factors. OB strives to know what makes up a particular behavior in an individual level and how beneficial or detrimental is that behavior to the organisation. OB studies about the behavior of individuals in order to change them favourably. Hence, OB is the study of the various factors that make up the behaviour of individuals and then the application of the knowledge obtained in order to mould their behavior in such a way so as to make it beneficial to the organisational effectiveness.

OB also studies how people behave differently at their individual level and at the workplace or organisational level. OB understands all causes.

OB is a subject that consists of studies varying from Anthropology, Psychology, Industrial Relations, History, Sociology, etc. The roots of OB lie as back as the advent of Scientific Management and Human Relations Movement of 1940. Today, OB is studied at colleges and universities as a full-fledged subject and is practically applied at organisations.

Characteristics of a Contract of Guarantee

Characteristics or essentials of contract of
guarantee
Following are the characteristics or essentials
of contract of guarantee:
i. Tripartite agreement: In a contract of
guarantee, there are three parties namely:
principal creditor, creditor and surety. Under
this contract, three separate contracts are
made among them and consent of all the three
parties is necessary. The contracts connecting
each-other as contract between:
a. the principal debtor and creditor,
b. the creditor and surety, and
c. the surety and principal debtor,
ii. Liability: Under such contract the primary
liability is of the principal debtor and only
secondary liability is of the surety. As a
conditional contract, liability of the surety
arises only when the principal debtor
(primarily liable) defaults.
iii. Essentials of valid contract: It is also as
same as other general contract in respect of
essentials. All the requirements for valid
contract, i.e. free consent, consideration,
lawful object, competency of the parties etc.
are necessary to form this kind of contract.
But, in respect of consideration, no direct
consideration in the contract between the
surety and creditor. Consideration of principal
debtor is considered to be adequate for the
surety.
iv. Written form: A contract relating to
guarantee must be concluded in writing in
Nepal and England. But, the Indian legal
framework does not compel to form such
contract in written form. Both written and oral
is valid in India.

Parties to Contract of Guarantee

A Contract to perform the promise, or
discharge the liability, of a third person in
case of his default is called Contract of
Guarantee . A guarantee may be either oral
or written.
The person who gives the guarantee is called
the Surety
The person on whose default the guarantee
is given is called the Principal Debtor
The person to whom the guarantee is given
is called the Creditor

Contract of Guarantee, Meaning and Definition

A Contract of guarantee is a contract to
perform the promise, or discharge the liability,
of a third person in case of his default. The
person who gives the guarantee is called the
surety; the person in respect of whose default
the guarantee is given is called the principal
debtor, and the person to whom the guarantee
is given is called the creditor. A guarantee may
be either oral or written. [section 126]. - -
[Person giving guarantee is also called as
guarantor. However, Contract Act uses the
word surety which is same as guarantor]. - -
Three parties are involved in contract of
guarantee. Contract between any two of them
is not a contract of guarantee. It may be
contract of indemnity. Primary liability is of
the principal debtor. Liability of surety is
secondary and arises when Principal Debtor
fails to fulfill his commitments.

Channel Management

Product distribution (or place) is one of the
four elements of the marketing mix .
Distribution is the process of making a product
or service available for use or consumption by
a consumer or business user, using direct
means, or using indirect means with
intermediaries.
The other three parts of the marketing mix are
product , pricing and promotion.
Channels and intermediaries
Distribution of products takes place by means
of channels. Channels are sets of
interdependent organizations (called
intermediaries) involved in making the product
available for consumption.[1] Merchants are
intermediaries that buy and resell products.
Agents and brokers are intermediaries that act
on behalf of the producer but do not take title
to the products.
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Channel design
A firm can design any number of channels.
Channels are classified by the number of
intermediaries between producer and
consumer. [1] A level zero channel has no
intermediaries. This is typical of direct
marketing . A level one channel has a single
intermediary. This flow is typically from
manufacturer to retailer to consumer.
Types
Category
Definition
Intensive distribution
the producer's products are stocked in the
majority of outlets. [1] This strategy is
common for basic supplies, snack foods,
magazines and soft drink beverages.
Selective distribution
means that the producer relies on a few
intermediaries to carry their product. [1] This
strategy is commonly observed for more
specialised goods that are carried through
specialist dealers, for example, brands of
craft tools, or large appliances.
Exclusive distribution
means that the producer selects only very few
intermediaries. [1] Exclusive distribution is
often characterised by exclusive dealing where
the reseller carries only that producer's
products to the exclusion of all others. This
strategy is typical of luxury goods retailers
such as Gucci.
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Channel mix
In practice, many organizations use a mix of
different channels; in particular, they may
complement a direct sales-force, calling on the
larger accounts, with agents, covering the
smaller customers and prospects. In addition,
online retailing or e-commerce is leading to
disintermediation. Retailing via smartphone or
m-commerce is also a growing area.
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Managing channels
The firm's marketing department needs to
design the most suitable channels for the
firm's products, then select appropriate
channel members or intermediaries. The firm
needs to train staff of intermediaries and
motivate the intermediary to sell the firm's
products. The firm should monitor the
channel's performance over time and modify
the channel to enhance performance.
Channel motivation
To motivate intermediaries the firm can use
positive actions, such as offering higher
margins to the intermediary, special deals,
premiums and allowances for advertising or
display.[1] On the other hand, negative actions
may be necessary, such as threatening to cut
back on margin, or hold back delivery of
product.
Channel conflict
Channel conflict can arise when one
intermediary's actions prevent another
intermediary from achieving their objectives.
[1] Vertical channel conflict occurs between
the levels within a channel and horizontal
channel conflict occurs between intermediaries
at the same level within a channel.