Overview of chapter 4
In the previous chapter, we learnt about the role of TQM in customer satisfaction. In this chapter, we will explore this dimension a little further and take the model of Six Sigma in moving beyond satisfying customer needs to continuous improvement and adding value to the organisation.
Customers do not only expect products that are defect free, well made, easy to service, are aesthetically pleasing, but also expect to experience good service during the pre-sale, sale and post-sale dealings with the organisation. The expectations of a customer are dynamic and comprehensive, and the organisation must be agile in identifying and meeting them. This is the external focus of quality, which we have touched upon earlier.
Then there is the internal focus of quality: from the perspective of the organisation, the product must have a value which is higher than its cost. This ensures market success of that product. Value can be leveraged by lowering cost to the customer - we talked about this in chapter 3. The other dimension of doing this is by reducing cost of production as much as possible through removing waste in defective production (the "hidden factory", which derives its work from quality failures and which is an added cost to the overall production). Six Sigma is an example of a quality system that addresses this through kaizen - continuously driving improvements to reduce defects.
Topics
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4.1 Customer satisfaction: a broadening base
A comment on customer satisfaction - 4.2 The Motorola approach
The background - 4.3 Implementing Six Sigma
Six Sigma - a panacea?
Innovation, kaizen and Six Sigma - 4.4 Process management
Process improvement tools
Learning outcomes
When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to:
- understand and discuss the construct of customer satisfaction;
- outline the aims of Six Sigma in customer satisfaction;
- relate process control to kaizen .
