Quality Training and Management (Essay Sample)

The impact of TQM on Training and Development on Costumer Services staff in Saudi Airlines
Name
Institution
Abstract
Quality management involves the overseeing of tasks and activities that are necessary to maintain the level of excellence any organization desires. In the rapidly growing and highly competitive airline industry, quality management is essential in ensuring that the quality of service delivered to the customers is up to the expected standards. Being one of the major players in the region, Saudi Arabian airlines has an established quality management framework that monitors and evaluates the quality of service offered to the customers? Quality management in this firm has several impacts on the development and training of the customer service staff. The impacts include innovation in terms of service delivery and application of the latest technology in the training process and the whole process of human resource management.
Background
Each organization treats quality as an important aspect of its operations. To build a brand name, quality management is a very crucial component. In the aviation industry, quality in service delivery is essential in ensuring the success of any airline. Quality management in airlines involves customer satisfaction, growth and learning. It can be defined as the overseeing of tasks and activities that are necessary to maintain the level of excellence any organization desires. In the airlines industry, areas where excellence is desired include delivery of services, customer and employee safety and customer satisfaction. What impact does Quality management has on training and development of the customer service staff? Better quality management models ensure higher levels of excellence. Training and development aims at ensuring better performance of an organization by focusing on the individuals within it and bettering their skills. It thus follows that quality management has a positive impact on the development and training of employees. Additionally, both human resource management practices and quality management practices affect the performance of an organization.
Statement of the problem
Quality management practices are important in all competitive industries. They ensure that an organization improves and maintains the quality of products they offer. The available literature in this area mainly focuses on the integration of quality assurance and strategic management. The airline industry is very competitive and in recent years, it has become an important player in the global economy. Given the importance the industry plays in the global economy, it is necessary to conduct a study that looks into how quality management has affected training and development especially in customer service staff.
Research questions
The main research question this study aims to answer is what effects does quality management practices have on training and development of employees in Saudi Arabian airlines? The study will further address the following research sub-questions.
1 What quality management practices do the airline has in place?
2 What qualities / characteristics of employees does the airline aim to achieve?
3 How has quality management, training and development affected the airline's performance and delivery of service?
Dissertation outline
The dissertation is divided into four parts. The 1st part will provide a brief background in the area of quality management and the airline industry, the rationale for the study, the rationale for qualitative research methods applied, problem statement and the study's research questions. The 2nd part will be dedicated to literature review and will analyses related studies carried out in this area. The third part will discuss the research methods used. This will include forms of data collection, case selection and how analysis of data will be done. The last part will focus on the results of the study, strengths and limitations, the implications and a conclusion.
Literature review
The airline industry is important in the global economy in that it is required in the transportation of goods and people around the world. It is a sensitive industry in that many factors influence it. The factors that influence the airline industry include competition, wars, global business cycles and government regulations (Vaara, Kleymann&Seristoe, 2004). Three main characteristics of the airline industry influence Human Resource Management in one way or another. The three are high competition levels in the industry, service orientation and the industry's safety sensitivity (Appelbaum & Fewster, 2002).
The airline industry is highly competitive and over time, has become exposed to competition (Gudmundsson, 2002). Deregulation by various governments, which has been taking place in recent years, is the main reason why competition has stiffened (Eaton, 2001). The industry has transformed from being non-labor-sensitive to being very labor sensitive. This has had several impacts on labor-management and relations to it such as part time positions and redundancies (Gil, 1990). In addition to that, deregulation has enabled privatization of most functions and the entry of private airlines. It has made it possible for Low cost carriers to enter into the industry thereby increasing the price pressure (Lawton, 2002). Low Cost carriers have resulted to an increased competition given the cheap fares they offer. These carriers are able to offer the low fares by operating in second tier airports, leasing of aircrafts as opposed to purchasing them and by selling tickets through direct channels, especially the Internet (Blyton et al. 2003).
The market in the airline industry is highly competitive and the key to success in most of the airlines is exemplary customer service (Wang, Evans, & Turner, 2004). All airlines have an objective of providing their customers with the highest level of service. This is not only due to profitability, but also to improve customer satisfaction and the airline's brand name.
Over time, Customers have increasingly continued to demand better services from airlines (Appelbaum & Fewster, 2002). Blyton et al. (2001) is of the view that since most leading airlines offer a near same level of service, most of the airlines are now seeking ways of having a competitive edge over their rivals. Most of the airlines now focus on their employees to deliver quality service. This means that the employees are the representative of the firm's core competence as opposed to products, machine procedures, which were the representatives in the past. In addition to that, service delivery has become an important evaluator between airlines that offer the average products and the airlines whose products are excellent (Appelbaum&Fewster, 2002). Service delivery is crucial in the airline industry given the frequent and close interaction between the cabin crew staff and the customer. This type of interactions usually calls for high levels of professionalism in most instances (Eaton, 2001).
Gitlow (2001) defines quality as a predictable level of dependability and uniformity, which is suited to the market and at low cost. To achieve greater quality levels, management needs to optimize various stakeholders who depend on each other; they include customers, employees, regulators and investors. There are three main types of quality essential, quality of design, quality of performance and quality of conformance (Gitlow, 2001). Quality of design focuses on the characteristics of the services of products that best suit the market at a given product. It focuses on the trends and the needs of customers. Quality of performance on the other hand involves areas such as consumer research and performance analysis. Study of after sales services; reliability of the employees and maintenance trends helps study quality of performance. Quality of conformance describes the extent to which a business offers the services that are uniform and dependable.
Quality management provides a competitive approach that focuses on customer satisfaction. Its main aim is success in the long term. Quality management involves every employee in the organization and their endeavor to enhance the services or product offered by the organization. Total quality management enables the business process to be streamlined so that the customers are provided with an improved experience. In the service industry where airlines fall under, service quality and pricing plays a crucial role in ensuring customer satisfaction (Suhartanto & Noor, 2012).
The increasing pace of globalization has led to an increased demand for transport across the globe. The airline industry provides a quick and efficient mode of transportation across different continents. Over the past few years, the airline industry has experienced exponential growth especially with regard to the number of players and importance. The industry plays an important role in supporting tourism activities, world trade and international investment (Suhartanto & Noor, 2012). Their exist high levels of competition between different airlines in the industry. In addition to that, an increased number of customers value exceptional service quality. Various governments, in response to the fast pace at which the industry is growing, have come up with various measures that aim at deregulating the industry. The measures include enabling the formation of private airlines and applying of stringent rules on flight safety. This has made various players in the industry continuously evaluate their processes and innovate their products and the technology used in delivery of services.
In the airline industry, profitability is mostly determined by customer satisfaction (Fojt, 2006). Business expansion is only possible if an organization is able to retain business through customer satisfaction. Quality m...