Service quality kaizen blitz: the road to improving customer satisfaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s94.2014.14Keywords:
customer, service, quality, lean, ISO 9000Abstract
Purpose of the paper: The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate that university faculty may rapidly deploy valuable ideas derived from academic research to assist in business improvement.
Methodology: Participatory action research.
Findings: This project determined that, at the retail level, ISO registered companies do not support the customer satisfaction measures required by the ISO quality standard. The researchers also found that developing a process map would yield a mechanism for capturing the voice of the customer within a few weeks using kaizen blitz.
Research limitations: The research was limited to one retail unit of a large national U.S.A. firm.
Research and managerial implications: The implications for replicating this research are almost limitless in a country as large as the U.S.A. Company success, economic vitality, and job growth are highly dependent on knowledge of customer requirements such as those revealed by this action research.
Originality/value of the paper: The value of this paper is one of scope: academics may assist businesses of any size.
References
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WHYTE W. (1989) “Advancing Scientific Knowledge Through Participatory Action Research”, Sociological Forum, vol. 4, n. 3. (September), pp. 367-385.
WOMACK J., JONES D. (1994) Lean Thinking, Productivity Press, New York.
AHLSTROM P. (2004), “Improve lean service in service operations: translating lean production principles to service operations.”, International Journal of Services Technology and Management, vol. 5, n. 5, pp. 545-564.
BROWN A., VAN DR WIELE T., LOUGHTON K. (1998), “Smaller enterprises’ experiences with ISO 9000”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 15, n. 3, pp. 273-285
DICK G., GALLIMORE K., BROWN J. (2001), “ISO 9000 and quality emphasis - An empirical study of front-room versus back-room dominant service industries”, International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 12, n. 2, pp. 114-136.
DICK G., GALLIMORE K., BROWN J. (2002), “Does ISO 9000 accreditation make a profound difference to the way service quality is perceived and measured?”, Managing Service Quality, vol. 12, n. 1, pp. 30-42.
ECCLES G., DURAND P. (1998), “Complaining customers, service recovery and continuous improvement”, Managing Service Quality, vol. 8, n. 1, pp. 68-71.
EDVARDSSON B. (1996), “Making service-quality improvement work”, Managing Service Quality, vol. 6, n. 1, pp. 49-52.
HALES D., SIHA S., SRIDHARAN V., MCKNEW, J. (2006), “Prioritizing tactical quality improvement”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 26, n. 8, pp. 866-881.
HINES P., HOLWEG M., RICH N. (2004), “Learning to evolve: A review of contemporary lean thinking” International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 24, n. 10, pp. 994-1011.
IMAI M. (1997), Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Low-cost Approach to Management, McGraw-Hill, New York.
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, (2012), World Economic Outlook Database, April 2012: Nominal GDP list of countries, Data for the year 2012.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO) (2008), Quality Systems Requirements (ISO9001:2008), ISO, Geneva.
JANAS I., LUCZAK H. (2002), “Explorative study of the expected consequences for existing quality management systems due to the revision of ISO 9001 in certified companies in Germany”, The TQM Magazine, vol. 14, n. 2, pp. 127-132.
JONES D., HINES J., RICH D. (1997), “Lean logistics”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 27, n. 3/4, pp. 153-173.
MALEYEFF J. (2006) “Exploration of internal service systems using lean principles”, Management Decision, vol. 44, n. 5, pp. 674-689.
MCNICHOLS T., HASSINGER R., BAPST G. (1999), “Quarterly Quick and continuous improvement through kaizen blitz”, Hospital Materiel Management, vol. 20, n. 4 May, pp. 1-7.
MONTABON F. (2005) “Using Kaizen Events for Back Office Processes: the Recruitment of Frontline Supervisor Co-ops”, Total Quality Management, vol. 16, n. 10, pp. 1139-1147, December.
POKSINSKA B., EKLUND J., DAHLGAARD J. (2006), “ISO 9001:2000 in small organisations: Lost opportunities, benefits and influencing factors”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 23, n. 5, pp. 490-512.
PRAJOGO D., HUO B., HAN Z. (2012), “The effects of different aspects of ISO 9000 implementation on key supply chain management practices and operational performance”, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 17, n. 3, pp. 306-322.
PRYBUTOK V., RAMASESH R. (2005) “An action-research based instrument for monitoring continuous quality improvement”, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 166, n. 2 (Oct 16), pp. 293-309.
PSOMAS E., PANTOUVAKIS A., KAFETZOPOULOS D. (2013), “The impact of ISO 9001 effectiveness on the performance of service companies”, Managing Service Quality, vol. 23, n. 2, pp. 149-164.
SEDDON J. (2005) Freedom from command and control, Productivity Press, New York.
TEEHAN R., TUCKER W. (2008) “Operationalizing the Measurement of Failure Demand in Customer Service”, Quality Management and Organizational Development 11th International Conference, Hesingborg, August 20-22.
TEEHAN R., TUCKER W. (2009), “An Exploratory Research Study: Capturing the Voice of the Customer in a Call Center: Developing a Simplified Method”, 12th International QMOD and Toulon-Verona Conference on Quality and Service Sciences (ICQSS), Verona, August 27-29.
TEEHAN R., TUCKER W. (2010), “A simplified lean method to capture customer voice”, International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 175-188.
TEEHAN R., TUCKER W. (2012), “What the Front Line Employee Needs to Know: Simplified Systems and Protocol for Service Customer Satisfaction”, 15th QMOD Conference on Quality and Service Sciences ICQSS 2012, Poland, September 5-7.
VAN DER WIELE T., VAN IWAARDEN J., WILLIAMS R., DALE B. (2005), “Perceptions about the ISO 9000 (2000) quality system standard revision and its value: the Dutch experience”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 22, n. 2, pp. 101-119.
WHYTE W. (1989) “Advancing Scientific Knowledge Through Participatory Action Research”, Sociological Forum, vol. 4, n. 3. (September), pp. 367-385.
WOMACK J., JONES D. (1994) Lean Thinking, Productivity Press, New York.
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Published
2014-08-29
