Unit 17 Quality Management in Business

Task 1: Report

Scenario
The Rose and Crown is an independent 3* star, 100 bedroom hotel located on the outskirts of a city in the Midlands, with close links to the motorway.  It attracts a mixture of mainly corporate guests during the week and leisure guests at the weekend.
In recent years, sales in both markets have been decreasing and customer complaints have been rising. Staff morale is low and staff turnover is high and the hotel is finding it more and more difficult to recruit suitable employees.  Staff complain about poor internal communication between departments, lack of career development, lack of consultation and involvement in decision making and lack of recognition or rewards.
You are the Front of  House Manager and the Owner has asked you to come up with some ideas on how to improve the situation.  Due to declining revenue, there are insufficient funds available for product development.  You believe improving quality is the solution and can be achieved with limited resources.
Submit a brief report to the owners which will address the following:

• Clear definitions of quality in terms of business and services provision (1.1)
• Illustrate the role of quality control and quality assurance in inspection and assurance     processes in  the organisation’s quality management  (1.2)
• Discuss a range of approaches that can be taken to improve quality management (1.3). By identifying those approaches and applying them to find appropriate solutions, you will achieve M1.
• Explain the similarities and differences between the different methods (1.4)

This task covers LO1 to understand the different approaches to quality management appropriate to commercial operations
Please reference your sources of information such as books or journal articles.

Task 2: Information sheet for staff induction manual

Scenario
You have successfully prepared some training material for the operations of the front desk at your hotel and the Manager was pleased with the result. You have been requested by the management to prepare written information on customer service policy to be included in a staff induction training manual. Include details of the following in your information sheet.

• A discussion of customer satisfaction (2.1)
• Explain the meaning of continuous improvement (2.2)
• By using a process of continuous improvement, illustrate the type of added values to be gained (2.3)
• Describe the types of information made available to customers and the importance given to effective marketing (2.4). Provide evidence of convergent/lateral/creative thinking to achieve D3.

This task covers LO2 to understand the benefits of quality management in a business and services context

Report Task 3: Report

You have applied for a position as a manager in a hospitality organisation (hotel, pubs, restaurant etc), you have been invited for interview and as part of the selection process you have to produce a draft copy of an article focusing on quality controls and customer service improvement. Your task is to conduct research to investigate customer requirements and address each of the following points:

•  Explain how quality management can be measured (3.1)
•  Evaluate the benefit of user and non-user surveys in determining customer needs (3.2). If you use critical reflection  here to evaluate your own work and justify valid conclusions, you will achieve D1.
•  List the methods of consultation employed in one quality scheme to encourage participation by under-represented  groups (3.3). To achieve M2, select/design and apply appropriate methods/ techniques.
•  Identify the value of complaints procedures and analyse how they may be used to improve quality (3.4)

This task covers LO3, to understand a range of quality controls and how service to the customer can be improved
Please reference your source of information such as books or journal articles.

Task 4: Report

Scenario
You have been appointed as a Quality Manager in the ‘Holiday Inn’ London group of hotels.  The company is losing profits due to the global economic crisis.  You have been requested by the senior management team of the company to prepare a report explaining the concept of Quality Management Systems to be used as a training manual on management development courses.
Your report should include all of the following points.

•  The role of self -assessment in order to determine an organisation’s current ‘state of health’ (4.1). From your research if  you present and communicate appropriate findings you will achieve M3.
•   An evaluation of  the importance of communication and record keeping (4.2)
•   Show how guidelines should be followed on the stages of staff consultation necessary for effective implementation of a   quality scheme (4.3)
•  Propose new systems or modifications to existing systems that could improve service quality (4.4)
•  Write a paragraph to show how you took responsibility for managing and organising activities in this task to achieve D2.

This task covers LO4 to be able to apply the principles of quality management to improve the performance of an organisation .