Total Quality Management in Events Sector †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Total Quality Management in Events Sector. Answer: Introduction In the 21st century`s competitive environment, operational excellence is not an option but a requirement. Without excellence, a company cannot succeed. Total quality management can be described as a collection of companywide effort to apply and maintain a climate in which the firm continuously improves and is able to deliver supreme quality products and services to the ultimate consumers (Dale 2015). TQM efforts draw heavily on the techniques and tools of quality control. The concept of TQM was widely famous in the late 1980s and early 1990s; however, it was overshadowed by techniques like ISO 9000, Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing. This report throws light on the concept and history of Total Quality Management. It discusses the concept of Total Product in depth and applies the concept to an events organization based in the United Kingdom. The limitations of the concept have also been stated. During the 1970s-80s eras, the developed economies of Western Europe and North America were being made to stuffer by the stiff competition it received from Japan. The nation`s ability to produce high end and quality goods that too at a competitive cost was a blow to these developed nations (Goatish and Davis 2014). United Kingdom had become a net importer f finished goods. Unites States started a research on the quality control to find the ways to produce goods similar to the quality of the ones produced by Japan. It was during this era that the TQM concept began to take place. When the scientific management swept through the Us Industry, the processes of planning and carrying out the plan was separated (Asq.org. 2017). The Hawthorne experiments in the late 1920s showed how worker`s productivity could be enhanced or brought down by participation. Edwards Deming taught methods for statistical analysis and quality control to the Japanese. This was the origin of TQM (Oakland 2014). Juran taught the concepts of controlling quality and managerial concepts. Crosby came up with the promotion of zero defects, which paved the way for quality improvement in various countries. Ishikawa`s synthesis of the philosophy made a contribution to Japans success as a quality leader. The Japanese named their approach total quality company wide. The term quality management system came about at this time. The systematic and broad approach to managing the firm`s quality including processes as well as products is known as TQM (Oakland 2014).. Various quality standards such as the ISO 900 series and many award programs like Deming Prize and M. Baldrige National Quality Awards state down principles and procedures that comprise the TQM. Total Product Concept The total product concept can be defined as the bundle of services, which are offered by a service or a product. Taking the example of a fitness product, total product concept can be explained by as all the advantages the consumer receives by making us of that particular product. This benefit can be from good health to the good mental feeling associated with using the fitness product. Also the time saved by purchasing that product online. This concept is used by consumers who evaluate the services and products between various brands and tend to differentiate the benefits received from the product. They then go for products that provide them with the best value for the amount that they have paid (Toivonen 2012). This is the reason that companies make use of this concept to help the consumers to differentiate the competitors products from theirs thus enabling a unique position for them in the market. These are the bundle of functional activities, which consist of all the advantages that a firm promises to deliver to the consumer. These are the core needs, which the customer expects from the firm. The customer wants the company to satisfy all these needs. Customer satisfaction depends strongly on these. The satisfaction from these core needs tends to be the primary need of the consumer and an organization should make sure that these are satisfied. If these needs are not satisfied then, the customer will not be engaging in the service or buying the product again (Bon and Mustafa 2013). This component uses the features that are received by the consumers without paying for it. These benefits are used by the firm to build competitive advantage by making their product different from that of the competitors. Customers tend to consider these features when purchasing the product. If these are not provided, the product or services are sold at low prices in the market. Augmented or value added dimension These are the value added or augmented dimensions of a product where all the features of the service or product which go beyond the basic dimensions of it are to be identified and accordingly positioned. The high price of such products are identified from these attributes These consist of various ideas related to the future of the product. This is what the product could be and consists of the ways they can be improved thereafter (Hollensen 2015). This can be done by analyzing customer needs and conducting market research. Once the benefit becomes the normal feature of the product, it is time to start looking for new ideas. The concept of Total Product concept is often related to the Kano Model, which described that customers have various levels of needs that need to be identified and achieved. These needs need to be understood by the marketers and achieved thereafter. According to the Kano Model, the customer has a basic need, which is fulfilled by the basic components of the products. Fulfilling these needs of the customer comes at the primary level. The second is the performance needs, which are the features of the product. Presence of these needs I a product tends to enhance its value however, the absence of these needs tend to dissatisfy these customers. The last kind of needs is the delighters. These are the needs that a consumer gets delighted by (Hall 2012). If these needs are not fulfilled this does not give any dissatisfaction to the consumer, however fulfillment of these needs provides extreme customer satisfaction, which then differentiates the product from its competitors. Based near Birmingham, The Events Company is a management and organization company, which provides multi services. They design create and deliver evens of all types throughout United Kingdom and even worldwide (Events Company 2017). The company has been operating since the past fifteen years and has a name for providing good quality services. Their dedicated team of experts who are skilled at bringing vision and ideas to reality. Their activity type ranges from occasions and events associated with large national or international companies. They are skilled at working under a restricted budget. The event process of the Events Company can be described and divided into four major steps. These steps are as follows: Listen Respond Deliver Delight The company prides itself on their capability to understand the needs of the clients. From the initial meeting to the concluding consultation. The company makes sure that it is listening and understanding all the needs of the client in order to provide proper delivery. An accountant manager works with the client during the initial days to understand the objectives, outcomes and budget requirements. In the next step of the process, the accounts manager of the firm works with the architect of the company in order to design the event in response to the brief provided by the client. They offer all solutions with respect to the event cycle (Armstrong et al. 2015). They set points hold the venue and create visuals in this step. The team starts working for the event in this step. Even if it takes a lot of time, the client is always informed about the proceedings and the work schedule is kept a track of. The company always works to improve their services. Even after the event is over, using data captures and other techniques and analysis is made regarding the event success. Event Management in UK Conferences Live Events Company Fun Days Corporate Entertainment Parties Themes Team Building Application of Total Product Concept in the Events Company. The core concept- The core concept of an events firm is the events that they have to offer. Events organization companies tend to adhere to client requirements by creating and organizing the events, which are wanted by them. Thus, the basic core values of the service are implementation of the basic idea and the happening of the event (Huang 2015). The centre theme of event management and organization centers on the happening of the event. The expected components are certain features of the event, which are expected by the clients, and these basic features should be delivered by the organization in order to help the client attain the proper level of satisfaction (Mair 2012). If these features are not provided then the client tends to remain dissatisfied. This component is something, which is offered by the organization to delight the consumers (Buswell ,Williams and Sutton 2017. These are not asked for by the consumer but delivery of this shall enhance the satisfaction of the consumer and help the firm in differentiating their services from that of its competitors. These are those components of a service, which could be improvised in the future by proper analysis. There is always scope for improvement, hence, it is required that the firm improvises its services regularly in order to provide client satisfaction. The events company has been asked to organize a birthday party for a client. The party is of a 25-year-old girl who is being surprised by her parents. The parents come up to the company and ask them to plan this party for them. The theme of the party is decided as Halloween. The following states how each product or service concept of the services offered by the event company can be used to enhance the quality of service for the client. Core- The core value is the basic requirement of an event. In this, the delivery of the event on the required date is itself the core product (Khanam, Siddiqui and Talib 2016). The core is not associated with any additional features. The mere delivery shall be the aspect. Expected- The expected component are the various features of the services offered. In the given example, as the party is a Halloween themed party. Hence, the events organization has to deliver the required party (Bienstock, Mentzer and Kahn 2015). All the specifications of the party as given by the client need to be followed and implemented. They need to make a checklist and ensure all the goods and decoration in the party is Halloween based. These services are what differentiate one firm from another. If the events organization is unable to deliver the required specifications then it shall lead to dissatisfaction Augmented- These are the add on specifications that the events organization might offer the client. If the client has asked for simple cutlery (Flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz. 2017). Then to delight the client, the organization might provide Halloween based cutlery for the same range. These value added features absence does not affect the client, however the presence of it enhances the clients satisfaction tenfold. Potential- As previously stated in the text above, the process of the Events Company involves a post event analysis (Calabrese and Corb 2015). This is similar to the Potential concept of the total product concept where the delivery of the particular event needs to be improvised in order to provide better services in the future. This can be done through up gradation of technology and faster implementation of ideas. The concept was essentially designed to suit the needs to a product and adhere to the needs of the consumer. However, application of this concept can also be done on a service, which is an event in this case. This has certain disadvantages. Many times the basic features, the expected features and the augmented features cannot be differentiated (Dhar 2015). The client irrespective of the fact that he has been provided extra, tends to behave under delivered. It can also happen that when the events organization in order to delight he consumer applies certain ideas but the client does not like the idea. This will lead to dissatisfaction. Conclusion Therefore, from the discussion it can be said that total quality management is a key concept whose application in the daily processes can enhance the quality of the product or the service. The concept was developed in the 1950s and has been replaced now by other new customized concepts. The total product concept enhances the quality of the service offered by providing the firm new ways in which they can meet as well as exceed the needs of the client. Thus, this concept should be applied in the daily operations to make the business a success. References Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015.Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education. 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