Managing Quality and Service

Answer

TASK 1

1.1 Definitions

Product and service companies today make massive profits from the sale of their products and services. One of the most prominent means of gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage in the business industry is to ensure that the quality of products and services remains high. In the contemporary business environment, the concept of quality management has become increasingly important as a strategy. Acquiring the most optimal quality is considered to be a primary element in marketing to improve a company’s sales.

There are currently several definitions of quality in terms of business and service provision. Firstly, the American Society for quality defines quality as: “A combination of quantitative and qualitative perspectives for which each person has his or her own definition; examples of which include, “Meeting the requirements and expectations in service or product that were committed to and pursuit of optimal solutions contributing to confirmed successes, fulfilling accountabilities. In technical usage, quality can have two meanings: the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs; and a product or service free of deficiencies”[1].

Additionally, ISO 9000 defines quality as: “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements”[2]. Essentially, requirement in this context denotes an expectation or a need. Moreover, W. Edwards Deming provided the definition for quality as: focusing on “the efficient production of the quality that the market expects”[3]. The simplest definition of quality was provided by Gerald Weinberg: “Quality is the value to some person”[4]. These definitions clearly illustrate that there has to be a need or expectation that is met adequately by a product or service for quality to become a solid factor.

1.2 Processes of Inspection and Assurance

There are several processes involved in inspection and assurance of quality with regards to products and services. Collectively, these processes combine to establish the actual quality of a product or a service.

One of the processes is quality planning. Quality planning refers to a process that establishes how to meet the specific standards of quality through the identification of the quality standard and the services and product that are produced by a certain company[5]. Quality planning denotes the standards and policies that are used in quality management. Techniques such as design experiment methods, flowcharts, cost benefit analyses, and benchmarking are utilized for the verification of the current quality standards of a product or service and for the purpose of identifying the disparity that exists between the actual quality of a product or service and the desired quality[6]. Ultimately, quality planning establishes a solid quality management plan.

An additional process is quality assurance. Quality assurance denotes the process of evaluation of the general production process to ensure that the quality standards are being met in the process[7]. Quality audits and quality planning techniques and tools are deployed for evaluation of the quality of the product.

Another process includes quality control. Quality control is process whereby services and products are tracked to establish their conformance to the required standards of quality as well as to eliminate indications of poor quality during the production process. The techniques and mechanisms used in this process include: trend analysis, statistical sampling, flowcharts, control charts and pareto diagrams among others[8].

In addition, there is the process of total quality management. This process seeks to perverse the particular standards of quality by implementing quality improvement programs. Total quality management is focused on the entire process of production up to the delivery stage. It concerns the overall quality of a product or service.

1.3 Approaches to Quality Management

There are different approaches to quality management. Firstly, there is a customer-focused approach[9]. This approach adopts the perspective that the customer is the ultimate decider of the standard of quality of a product or service. Despite the extensive efforts that a company may put into quality improvement, eventually it is the customer who will decide whether a product or service has a high quality or a low quality.

An alternate approach is absolute employee participation. The approach of absolute employee participation proposes that when all the employees in an organization work together for the achievement of a certain goal, the outcome is bound to be desirable[10]. In this context, the goal is to attain high quality products and services. For instance, there are several departments involved in a mobile phone company. The production of a single mobile phone requires the integration of efforts from numerous technicians. In the case that all these technicians work together to ensure that the mobile phone has the predetermined features and capabilities, the quality of the product will undoubtedly be high.

Additionally, there is a process-centered approach to quality management. Process thinking constitutes a major component of quality management. In this context, a process denotes a sequence of steps involved in the conversion of inputs into outputs to be used by consumers. Usually, there are definitive steps in the production process. For example, the production of a mobile phone is characterized by explicit and elaborate steps. When all these steps are followed accordingly, the quality is deemed to be high.

Continual improvement is another approach. Quality management is also typified by a process of continual improvement[11]. Essentially, a company is driven to be creative and analytical in establishing ways to increase its competitiveness and to enhance effectiveness in relation to meeting the customers’ requirements. Over the years, this has been the case in the mobile phone industry with companies producing bigger efficient phones with more and more features. 

1.4 Similarities and Differences

The major difference among all the methods that are mentioned above is founded on the focus or rather, the determinants of quality. The customer-focused approach proposes that the customer is the determinant; the absolute employee participation approach holds that the employees are the determinants; the process-centered approach indicates that the steps in the production process determine the quality of a service or product; whereas the continual improvement approach points towards the drive, innovation and creativity of the larger organization as the determinant of quality.

There is a similarity between the customer-focused approach and the absolute employee participation approach. Both focus on people as determinants of the quality of products and services. In essence, the customer’s level of satisfaction will determine the quality of the product of service whereas the efficiency of employees could also determine the quality respectively. The process-centered approach and the continual improvement approach focus on intangibles. In the process-centered approach, the steps involved in the process of production are the ultimate determinants of quality whereas in the continual improvement approach, the innovation, drive and creativity of an organization determine the quality of its products and services.

TASK 2

2.1 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction refers to the magnitude at which consumers are satisfied or pleased with the services or products of a certain company[12]. When customers make the decision to purchase a particular product or service, they often have certain requirements that they intend to fulfil. Requirement in this context denotes expectations or needs. In essence, every customer has a solid idea of what he or she expects from particular product or service. A customer wants value for his or her money and in the cases whereby customers feel that the products or services that they purchased were actually worth the money that they spent on the purchase, customer satisfaction is attained.

Notably, companies normally use various marketing strategies such as advertisements to create awareness about the details of their products and services. Through these marketing channels, a customer may identify a product or service that is perfectly suited to satisfy a particularly need or desire. Marketing creates expectations in customers. They anticipate that the product or service that is advertised will be identical to the purchased one. When a customer identifies a product or service as the solution to a certain requirement, that particular customer expects a fulfillment of that requirement after using the purchased product or service. Customer satisfaction is attained when the customer feels that the requirement has been met by the product or the service[13].

In the mobile phone industry, it is common practice for companies to indicate the product features on the package of a mobile phone. A customer often purchases a mobile phone that meets all of one’s requirements as per the advertised or displayed features. Customer satisfaction is attained when the consumer determines that the mobile phone actually has all the displayed features and capabilities to fulfil his or her requirements.

2.2 Continuous improvement

Continuous improvement denotes a progressive endeavor to enhance processes, services, or products. Continuous improvement efforts may take the form of breakthrough improvement or incremental improvement. Breakthrough improvement is the type of improvement on a process, service or product that occurs instantaneously[14]. Alternatively, incremental improvement is the type of improvement that takes time and occurs progressively or gradually.

There is an unquestionable relation between continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has been established as the degree to which a customer or customers are pleased with the products or services that they purchase from a company. Through customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction, a company may deliberate over whether to retain performance or make further improvements on products and services. Usually, successful companies often seek to acquire customer feedback concerning their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their products. Moreover, in these feedbacks customers have a chance to air their grievances or simply make suggestions for improvements. In accordance with the feedback acquired, a company may make decisions concerning continuous improvement. Low levels of customer satisfaction indicate that a company needs to improve on the particular product or service[15].

In the mobile phone industry, for instance, it is common practice for customers to give feedback to various mobile phone companies concerning their products and services as well as to make suggestions for improvement. In the era when customers wanted smaller phones, mobile phone companies made progressive improvements towards meeting this requirement. When customers demonstrate a need for phones with extensive features, mobile phone companies worldwide compete aggressively to meet these requirements and gain customer satisfaction. The overall result has been the production of considerably similar products from diverse mobile phone companies, which is a result of continuous improvement efforts that are aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction.

2.3 Types of values gained

There are numerous benefits that can be accrued from customer satisfaction. Firstly, customer satisfaction is a form of competitive advantage, particularly through differentiation. It separates a company from its competitors since the company has developed a product or service or a combination of both that meets the customers’ requirements satisfactorily. In the business world, customer satisfaction is arguably the most desirable factor of competition.

In addition, customer satisfaction is imperative because it results in higher sales for a company[16]. When customers are satisfied, the company will be able to increase its sales due to repeat buying. Increased sales are the general benefit of customer satisfaction and eventually translate to enhanced profitability for a company.

Another benefit of customer satisfaction is customer loyalty. Customer loyalty occurs when individuals opt to utilize a particular company’s products or services as opposed to using other substitutes from other companies in the same line of business[17]. Customers normally portray their loyalty by regularly purchasing a particular product or service for a long period of time. One of the cultivators of customer loyalty is customer satisfaction. Fundamentally, when a business constantly satisfies its customers they are bound to return for the same products or services over and over again.

An additional benefit of customer loyalty is new customers. Often, satisfied customers are normally eager to spread the news of their satisfaction with a particular product or service to other people in their circle. The resultant effect is that a business will most likely acquire new customers who are eager to experience a similar level of satisfaction with a product or service. Naturally, this creates a ripple effect to the advantage of the company.

2.4 Types of information

Marketing effectiveness denotes the measure of how effective a particular market strategy is in terms of meeting the predetermined objectives of marketing. There is an undeniable relationship between marketing effectiveness and information provision. By providing certain necessary information to the market, a market is able to inform the customers of all the element of a particular product or service and resolve any concerns that they may have about the specified product or service; hence, customers would be at ease to purchase it without any apprehensions. Customers have a right or a privilege to be provided with certain information about the products or services that they may be interested in purchasing. Naturally, individuals are usually curious about different aspects of a product before making a purchase. This mandates companies to provide customers with as much information as necessary.

Firstly, companies ensure to provide customers with information concerning the features of a particular product[18]. For instance, mobile phone companies should inform customers of the various features that different types of mobile phones under their production have. Such information may include the memory size, quality of the camera, and the various capabilities of the mobile phone among others. Secondly, companies inform customers of the benefits that are associated with the use of a particular product. This is important to enable customers to decide whether the products’ benefits along with the features actually fulfill one’s requirements. Additionally, it is imperative for companies to provide customers with information on various risk factors or precautions associated with a particular product[19].  For example, many mobile phone companies inform their customers to keep their mobile phones away from water in order to prevent damage. Similarly, customers need guidelines on the usage of a product to avoid making damaging errors.

The importance of effective marketing is its ability to appeal to customers and actually convince them to purchase a company’s products and/or services. Effective marketing gains the curiosity of the customers or potential customers and prompts them to purchase a product or service to determine whether it is in fact satisfactory or not.

TASK 3

3.1 Measurement of quality management

In every endeavor, it is imperative to establish an evaluation technique to assess effectiveness. Similarly, it is possible to evaluate the success of the implementation of quality management in a company using a diversity of criteria. This section will address a few of the most important criteria for evaluation of quality management. Firstly, customer feedback is a solid measure for quality management success[20]. The company can establish a platform that would enable customers to assess the quality of the company products and services and provide their feedback concerning the same. Positive feedback indicates success whereas negative feedback indicates failure. Secondly, another criterion for evaluation relates to the increase or decrease of sales. Essentially, in case the company registers an increases in sales there is a high likelihood that the quality management strategy is effective; a decrease in sales would likely indicate failure in quality management.

Additionally, customer satisfaction is another criterion for evaluation of quality management success[21]. When customers are satisfied with the company products and services, it is indicative of efficient and effective quality management strategies. Customer satisfaction can be measured by factors such as the number of return customers and the demonstration of customer loyalty in the market.

Benchmarking is another method of evaluating the quality management of the company. Fundamentally, the company would compare its quality management to that of its biggest competitors. The top companies in the mobile phone industry likely have successful quality management, hence their success. Therefore, comparing one’s quality management to that of an alternate successful company may indicate the areas of success or failure in quality management.

The ISO 9000 are also a major standard of evaluation for quality management in a company. ISO 9000 are established to aid companies in ascertaining that they meet the requirements of the consumers among other stakeholders[22].

3.2 Benefits of user and non-user surveys

User and non-user surveys are imperative in informing a company’s service quality. Users refer to the company’s customers whereas non-users are those individuals in the market who opt to use substitutes instead. User surveys provide a company with invaluable information about its services[23]. One benefit of user surveys is it helps in gauging the level of satisfaction among the company’s customers. Through user surveys, the company would be informed as to whether customer satisfaction is high or low. Moreover, user surveys help a company to acquire information on the requirements that is needs and expectations, of the customers. Notably, customers have dynamic preferences and tastes that are constantly changing. Therefore, it is beneficial for a company to keep up with the changing requirement of its customers to maintain their satisfaction. Additionally, user surveys help companies to acquire general feedback from customers. This would include information such as their most preferred aspects of the company and their most disliked aspect as well. The feedback would help the company to assess the success of quality management. Furthermore, user surveys provide customers with a chance to suggest areas of improvement for the company in order to enhance their satisfaction.

Non-user surveys are also informative. A company can acquire information from non-customer such as the reasons why they are not using the company’s product; their expectations of the company; the substitute products that they actually use (this denotes the company’s competitors), and suggestions for the company to change certain aspects to win them over as customers[24]. All this information could be useful in the company strategies concerning quality management.

3.3 Methods of consultation

It is important to ensure that non-bias response is avoided. There, under-represented groups should be encouraged to participate in the consultation for the company. One method of consultation is through telephone survey. This is whereby various individuals in under-represented groups are addressed via the phone to gain insight on various factors related to the company’s quality management. Telephone survey is convenient for the participants and has unlimited geographical reach[25].

Additionally, the company could use individual interviews with individuals from variable under-represented groups as participants. Individual interviews would encourage members of under-represented groups to participate since they are not placed within a context whereby they feel as minorities due to the number variation. Moreover, one can also conduct group interviews that include only members from under-represented groups. This would prompt group discussions among them concerning the respective issues.

Another method of consultation is mail surveys. Mails are rather conventional means of communication in a world that is wholly digitized[26]. However, the mailing system is an effective method of reaching individuals from under-represented groups. One way to encourage them to participate is to use pre-paid envelopes with simple questions that require simple answers.

Furthermore, another method of consultation is through conducting electronic surveys. Notably, this method almost resembles the mailing system surveys although it is much more convenient than the mailing system. Electronic systems denote the electronic mail (e-mail) system. The company could send questionnaires to random individuals from under-represented groups and seek their responses to short and simple questionnaires.

3.4 Value of complaint procedures

A complaint in this context arises when a consumer is dissatisfied with the product or service received from an organization. “A complaint procedure is a systematic method used by organizations for receiving, recording and responding to complaints made by their customers to ensure that complaints are responded to efficiently and effectively learnt from”[27]. Complaint procedures are largely valuable in a company. Firstly, they provide a means for consumers to air their grievances or dissatisfaction with the products or services of a company. Secondly, complaint procedures also provide the management with important information concerning the effectiveness or products and services that the company provides to its customers. In addition, complaint procedures aid in the enhancement of communication between a company and its consumers. It establishes a platform for them to interact and for issues to be addressed. Moreover, complaint procedures indicates that the company is concerned about what its consumers think about the business and is eager to learn from its mistakes. Complaint procedures also provide assurance that the company adopts a reliable approach to tackling customer complaints.

Complaint procedures are useful in aiding the improvement of quality in a company’s processes, services and products. In essence, through complaint procedures a company is aware of all the errors that it has made to cause dissatisfaction among its customers among other stakeholders[28]. As a result, the company will be able to adopt productive means of resolving the situation by acting on the stakeholders’ grievances. For instance, with regards to customers, many of their complaints are often about the inadequacy of the company’s services or the faults in the company’s products. The company can improve the quality of these products and services by addressing these complaints practically.

TASK 4

4.1 Role of self-assessment

Self-assessment refers to a regular, systematic, comprehensive and cyclic review of a company’s activities and outcomes against a business model of excellence[29]. Self-assessment is crucial to the overall success of a company. One of its fundamental contributions is that it enables the management of a company to assess the business’ ‘state of health’ in order to establish whether the current business practices are effective or amendments are necessary. Self-assessment also helps a company to determine the performance of all its operations. Through self-assessment, the company can determine which of the company’s activities are thriving and productive and which are failing or unnecessary. Ultimately, the businesses processes and operations are the foundation of the entire establishment. The efficiency with which these processes and operations are conducted will determine the success or failure of the entire business.

Another important role that self-assessment plays is that it enables the management of a firm to make solid connections between quality management and the business’ objectives. Through self-assessment, a manager would be able to determine whether the quality management objectives of the firm are being met or not. Therefore, this will enable a comprehensive and informed perspective on the current health of the organization in relation to quality management. Furthermore, self-assessment plays the role of helping the identification of opportunities for improvement. Through self-assessment an organization would be able to determine the opportunities that it can take advantage of to improve its ‘state of health’[30]. A pertinent role of self-assessment is that it forces a company to compare itself with its competitors who are performing better and to identify the internal faults that may be the cause of the variation. Subsequently, a company would be aware of its ‘state of health’ in comparison with its competitors and effectively tackle the internal issues in the company.

4.2 Importance of communication and recordkeeping

Communication is one of the most important elements of a company. It affects all aspects of the business, including quality management. For instance, in the case that a company wants to implement effective quality management, it is mandatory that it establishes solid communication channels both internally and externally.  Internal communication serves the purpose of coordinating company efforts among other employees and the various departments to ascertain proper quality is maintained throughout the processes of production and service delivery. In addition, external communication enables the company to remain updated with all the quality management standards that are established by overseeing bodies. Furthermore, through external communication a company would be able to conduct efficient benchmarking at another company to enable internal improvements of various processes[31]. Communication is also highly important because it facilitates an interaction between a company and its customers. The customers determine whether a company succeeds or fails simply by purchasing or refusing to purchase its products and services. Therefore, it is in a company’s best interest to communicate with its customers to gauge their level of satisfaction and address their grievances in order to remain competent in the market.

The importance of recordkeeping lies in its facilitation of company processes. For example, in quality management there are several processes involved such as quality planning, quality control and quality assurance among others[32]. Recordkeeping enables a manager to ensure an alignment among all these processes by making comparisons. For instance, by comparing the quality plan with the current quality of products, a manager is able to determine whether the quality management is effective or not. Recordkeeping serves the purpose of ensuring that the company is able to track its plans, objectives and goals and compare it with its actual performance.

4.3 Stages of staff consultation

The implementation of a quality scheme reflects a major change in the way that the company functions. Naturally, change is not usually a welcome concept among the members of an organization, and particularly the staff members. The status quo is always preferred. However, there are ways to ensure that the transition is smooth. Most importantly, staff consultation is mandatory for the success of the quality scheme. There are three primary stages involved in this.

Plan

The planning stage is the first stage of staff consultation. It incorporates various activities and functions that an organization must perform in order to ensure the entire process is ultimately successful. Firstly, the staff members provide useful insights concerning the consumers’ requirements. Furthermore, the staff members are able to provide insight concerning the various strengths and weaknesses of an organization[33]. In addition, the staff members can give their opinions on the effectiveness of the company’s management. The staff members can also aid in then collection and analysis of various forms of data.

Do and Act

The second stage is do and act. This is whereby the staff members undergo training to enhance their skill set in different areas. In this stage also, the organization should consult the staff members concerning the methods of implementation as well as potential barriers to successful implementation. Moreover, the organization should strive to motivate the staff members become active participants in the company.

Check

The third and final stage is ‘check’. In this stage, the company should collect feedback from the staff members concerning work issues and situations. Additionally, the company should also collect information from the staff members concerning customer feedback[34]. Lastly, the company should consult the staff members concerning how to initiate additional improvements.

4.4 New systems or modifications to existing systems

In order to improve service quality, the company must adopt an entirely new system. There is a necessity to adopt a quality management system that is more effective. The involvement of the company stakeholders should be enhanced[35]. For instance, customers’ feedback on the service quality should be consulted more often and the employees should be consulted on the various operations of the firm. Additionally, it is imperative to establish a more solid coordination among the various departments of the company along with their employees. The system whereby each department operates completely separate from the rest should be eradicated. In addition, the company should partake in benchmarking[36]. It is necessary for the company to compare notes with its competitors and determine the areas of distinction that may result in failure on the company’s part. This requires the establishment of a more open line of communication with other companies in the industry.

The company should also adopt a function of self-assessment. Self-assessment aids a firm to check the quality of its products regularly and internally to ascertain that it meets the company’s pre-established standards of quality before delivering it to the market. Through self-assessment, the company can ensure that it does not deviate extensively from the intended quality. Moreover, the company should also adopt the ISO 9000 guidelines of quality in relation to its products and services. These standards are universal and provide sufficient measures for quality.

Conclusion

Conclusively, as companies tackle quality management, they seek methods of describing and evaluating the variable facets of quality in their endeavors to enhance organizational performance. Effective quality management is a form of competitive advantage in the business world due to the numerous advantages it accrues such as customer satisfaction and loyalty. Advisably, companies should make considerable investments in quality management to accumulate long term benefits.

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[2] Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson, 2014

[3] Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson, 2014

[4] Singh, Pramendra Kumar. "Management of business processes can help an organization achieve competitive advantage." International Management Review 8.2 (2012): 19.

[5] Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson, 2014

[6] Wang, Cheng-Hua, Kuan-Yu Chen, and Shiu-Chun Chen. "Total quality management, market orientation and hotel performance: The moderating effects of external environmental factors." International Journal of Hospitality Management 31.1 (2012): 119-129.

[7] Singh, Pramendra Kumar. "Management of business processes can help an organization achieve competitive advantage." International Management Review 8.2 (2012): 19.

[8] Oakland, John S. Oakland on quality management. Routledge, 2012.

[9] Kim, Dong-Young, Vinod Kumar, and Uma Kumar. "Relationship between quality management practices and innovation." Journal of operations management 30.4 (2012): 295-315.

[10] Dale, Barrie. Total quality management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015.

[11] Becker, Jörg, Martin Kugeler, and Michael Rosemann, eds. Process management: a guide for the design of business processes. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.

[12] Mok, Connie, Beverley Sparks, and Jay Kadampully. Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge, 2013.

[13] Lo, Qin-Qin, and Kah-Hin Chai. "Quantitative analysis of quality management literature published in total quality management and business excellence (1996–2010)." Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 23.5-6 (2012): 629-651.

[14] Reijers, Hajo A., Jan Mendling, and Jan Recker. "Business process quality management." Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 167-185.

[15] Wang, Cheng-Hua, Kuan-Yu Chen, and Shiu-Chun Chen. "Total quality management, market orientation and hotel performance: The moderating effects of external environmental factors." International Journal of Hospitality Management 31.1 (2012): 119-129.

[16] Rolstadas, Asbjorn, ed. Performance management: A business process benchmarking approach. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

[17] Lo, Qin-Qin, and Kah-Hin Chai. "Quantitative analysis of quality management literature published in total quality management and business excellence (1996–2010)." Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 23.5-6 (2012): 629-651.

[18] Rolstadas, Asbjorn, ed. Performance management: A business process benchmarking approach. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

[19] Reijers, Hajo A., Jan Mendling, and Jan Recker. "Business process quality management." Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 167-185.

[20] Kuei, Chu-hua, and Min H. Lu. "Integrating quality management principles into sustainability management." Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 24.1-2 (2013): 62-78.

[21] Kim, Dong-Young, Vinod Kumar, and Uma Kumar. "Relationship between quality management practices and innovation." Journal of operations management 30.4 (2012): 295-315.

[22] Rolstadas, Asbjorn, ed. Performance management: A business process benchmarking approach. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

[23] Reijers, Hajo A., Jan Mendling, and Jan Recker. "Business process quality management." Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 167-185.

[24] Mok, Connie, Beverley Sparks, and Jay Kadampully. Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge, 2013.

[25] Oakland, John S. Oakland on quality management. Routledge, 2012.

[26] Singh, Pramendra Kumar. "Management of business processes can help an organization achieve competitive advantage." International Management Review 8.2 (2012): 19.

[27] Mok, Connie, Beverley Sparks, and Jay Kadampully. Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge, 2013.

[28] Kuei, Chu-hua, and Min H. Lu. "Integrating quality management principles into sustainability management." Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 24.1-2 (2013): 62-78.

[29] Rolstadas, Asbjorn, ed. Performance management: A business process benchmarking approach. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

[30] Reijers, Hajo A., Jan Mendling, and Jan Recker. "Business process quality management." Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 167-185.

[31] Becker, Jörg, Martin Kugeler, and Michael Rosemann, eds. Process management: a guide for the design of business processes. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.

[32] Oakland, John S. Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases. Routledge, 2014.

[33] Reijers, Hajo A., Jan Mendling, and Jan Recker. "Business process quality management." Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. 167-185.

[34] [34] Lo, Qin-Qin, and Kah-Hin Chai. "Quantitative analysis of quality management literature published in total quality management and business excellence (1996–2010)." Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 23.5-6 (2012): 629-651.

[35] Dale, Barrie. Total quality management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015.

[36] Kim, Dong-Young, Vinod Kumar, and Uma Kumar. "Relationship between quality management practices and innovation." Journal of operations management 30.4 (2012): 295-315.

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