Assignment two 1

Total Quality Management in Harris Teeter McKenna Kimbell University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Assignment two 2 Introduction For a recent English assignment I was required to choose a figured world to study. A figured world can be defined as a social environment with its own way of communication and rules for behavior and manners. For this assignment I choose the Harris Teeter supermarket. This is a large grocery store chain that is mainly in the south. For this paper I had to choose an area within Harris Teeter that I wanted to study and research. I have been an employee with Harris Teeter for three years now. It has not only been a place of work but also a second home. While working there I have seen different managers come in and go out. They each had their own way of managing the store but all had the same goal, keeping the customers happy. Seeing the different managers come in and out made me become interested in how the store is actually managed. Technically there is four managers that are over everyone. There is a store director, store manager, assistant store manager, and for me a customer service manager. With the changing store managers, I have seen a difference in not only how the store is run but also how customers respond. In just one year customers come to know the managers and the associates. Some even get to know each of them by name and get used to talking to them each time they enter the store. Associate and Management attitudes reflect on how the customers are satisfied My interest with the store has become exactly how it is managed. To keep the store running in a smooth way, Harris Teeter uses a Total Quality Management philosophy (TQM). Many companies have their own management style that they use to meet the expectations of customers. This system requires companies to check and maintain products and services to make sure it meets the standards of the company and customers. Another way to define TQM is a unifying approach in management that supports the fulfillment of customer satisfaction through a variety of tools and techniques that result in a higher quality of goods and services. Total Quality Management involves the idea of always improving products and services offered by the company. There are three main goals that are very important, one is have a never ending push to improve products and service, second is require all personnel to be involved, and last is customer satisfaction. Harris Teeters main goal is to satisfy the needs of the customers first, and the strive for the TQM system is exactly that. Throughout this paper I will go into detail about he TQM system and how harris teeter implements the system. The group I am going to focus on is associates as well as others interested in management systems. Literature review For this assignement I was required to conduct research in my figured world. Based on my research I have found out more about the TQM system. Jarrod Richards defined total quality management as an integrative approach to management that supports the attainment of customer satisfaction through a wide variety of tools and techniques that he end result is higher quality of goods and services. A company with a total quality management system listens to the customers and finds out what they want and their complaints. Employee commitment plays an important role in the total quality management system because the employees have to be willing to work to satisfy customers. In the implementation article, it states that total quality management forms a
Comment [K1]: Add in different management styles and which company types fit best with each. Can even state if there is a different style that would work better for Harris Teeter. Comment [ds2]: Good definition of harris teeter.

Comment [ds3]: Main point is clear

Assignment two 3 management system that consists of values, techniques and tools. Depending on the store size the total quality management system is implemeneted in a different way. Some thing that are in common in all systems are continuous improvement, customer focus, supply management and motivated and committed coworkers. Benggtsson and ljungstrom defined three different strategies that put the total quality management system in place. Quality through inspection has detailed routines and narrow areas of responsibility for employees. There is also a definite division between the people doing the work and people who inspect their work. Implementation of quality systems maintains a clear division between work and responsibility. Quality through motivation uses management programs and leadership to help motivate employees and get them involved in the process of improving quality. Employees are required to participate and work everyday to improve the store in a variety of ways. There is no change in the work process or work organization, only self inspection is different. Quality through work development puts an emphasis on work development, goal oriented working group, integration of work, development of competence and decentralization of responsibility and authority. This is a foundation to build interest, involvement, and motivation that is focus on the main goal of constant improvement and quality. It uses an improvement team as a way to improve and develop different processes. The role of trust and ethical core values, such as respect, fairness and honesty in a manager and organizational contest is very important in keeping the store together. It has been sseen that company failure that implement a total quality management system, is a lack of knowledge and understanding about the human dimension. If there is no trust between management and employees, a reward system has no significant motivational effect. Research has shown that a reward system decreases an employees motivation when the management is seen as controlling rather than supporting and listening to people. Research has also shown that brand and company images influence relationship quality. Relationship quality has also shown a significant influence on relationship value. Images and relationship quality affect customer loyalty. Relationship quality is and important in relationship values in predicting loyal customers. It is also a key strategy for managers to consider when establishing and maintaining a long term relationship with customers. Relationship value also shows a significance in customer loyalty. COmpaines should evaluate their cost and benefits in order to develop a relationship with their customers and keep that relationship. The qualified management support, independency and low organizational barriers had a significant positive effect on increasing organization ability to quality improvement. Results from a study showed that communication between employees and management played an important role in employee satisfaction. This showed that communication was an important element in successful and continuous improvement in the total quality management system. In this system, management has to be the first to show awareness of the total quality management system and must attract their employees attention. Better communication between employees and mangers has shown that motivation increased. With increased motivation there was also an increase in employee satisfaction and this leads to higher motivated employees, good work ethic and more efficiency at work. Motivated workers show a

Assignment two 4 higher organizational commitment and are more likely to stay with a company and experience higher satisfaction with their job. From this, employee satisfaction and process quality are directly influenced. If employees are not happy at a store, then it can not be expected that customers are happy. To keep employees happy, effective management practices can consist of effective meetings, education and training, performance appraisals, and recognition. This can all be summed up as participation, development and motivation. For effective meetings, there has to be a definite need for the meeting and a clear purpose. Performance appraisals are important to provide constructive and developmental feedback; it should focus on positives, be encouraging and rewarding, and should not blame individuals. Recognition has proven to be an important way to keep employees happy. This can be provided through nominations, simple thank you notes, or celebration. Employees who suggestions show a positive impact can be recognized and rewarded. This shows the importance in employee satisfaction. If employees are happy, they will be more likely to work together and help improve the quality of the store. In a job standardization article, a closer look was taken on how total quality management was implemented. It stated that high service quality can increase customer satisfaction, reduce customer complaints and service costs, secure greater market share, and attain maximum possible profits. There is a turnover of managers in pub lic organizations and this results in managers not being able to be involved in improving the store. From my observations, Harris Teeter does not allow a manager to stay in one store for more than a year. I have always believed that managers never stay in one place because if they show improvement at one store they are taken to another store to help improve that one. Using a total quality management system can help to provide more commitment from managers. Since managers do not stay in one place for very long, using this system can help keep the store on track and improve service quality. From assignment one I observed how people interact in Harris Teeter. Each day people interacted differently. The three managers that we have at the store each have their own managing style. All together, the managers follow the same style of keeping the store running; they each just interact differently with customers. Steven Beck, the assistant store manager, showed from the observations that he works hard to keep the customers happy. He was always busy stocking the shelves with products and helps out assisting customers with their problems. Different managers have their own way of keeping the store running

Comment [ds4]: Add in what makes Harris Teeter different from other stores.

Comment [ds5]: Add in enter the conversation part and conclusion.

Assignment two 5

Works Cited: Richards J. Total Quality Management. Business Management & Strategy (BMS) [serial online]. December 2012;3(2):36-42. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 30, 2013. http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7f9c25e4-0177-4db6-9c8ed6224524b35b%40sessionmgr112&vid=4&hid=106 Farahmand N. Quality Improvement by Qualified Managers. Business Management Dynamics [serial online]. January 2013;2(7):28-43. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 2, 2013. https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bt h&AN=86682336&site=ehost-live&scope=site Zelnik M, Maleti M, Maleti D, Gomiek B. Quality management systems as a link between management and employees. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence [serial online]. January 2012;23(1):45-62. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 2, 2013. https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bt h&AN=70466966&site=ehost-live&scope=site Dahlgaard-Park S. Core values the entrance to human satisfaction and commitment. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence [serial online]. February 2012;23(2):125-140. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 2, 2013. https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bt h&AN=70903447&site=ehost-live&scope=site Elg M, Gremyr I, Hellstrm A, Witell L. The role of quality managers in contemporary organisations. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence [serial online]. August 2011;22(8):795-806. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 2, 2013. https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bt h&AN=65216308&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Chen C, Myagmarsuren O. Brand equity, relationship quality, relationship value, and customer loyalty: Evidence from the telecommunications services. Total Quality Management & Business

Assignment two 6 Excellence [serial online]. September 2011;22(9):957-974. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 2, 2013. https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bt h&AN=66553763&site=ehost-live&scope=site Kimbell, M. (2013, September). Assignment One Second Draft. Moodle. Lecture conduced from Charlotte, NC. https://moodle2.uncc.edu/course/view.php?id=17616 http://www.slideshare.net/Isahito/tqm-1-presentation http://ehis.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=1ac9b4e0-2428-451a9443d716a346399d%40sessionmgr198&hid=116&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1 zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=8906832 Cole R. From continuous improvement to continuous innovation. Total Quality Management [serial online]. December 2002;13(8):1051. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 15, 2013. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=26bec594-f943-423797130d730d3baac9%40sessionmgr4&hid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaX Rl#db=a9h&AN=7558655 Hsieh A, Chou C, Chen C. Job standardization and service quality: a closer look at the application of total quality management to the public sector. Total Quality Management [serial online]. November 2002;13(7):899-912. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 16, 2013. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=26bec594-f943-423797130d730d3baac9%40sessionmgr4&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1za XRl#db=a9h&AN=7175529 Ljungstrm M, Klefsj B. Implementation obstacles for a workdevelopment-oriented TQM strategy. Total Quality Management [serial online]. August 2002;13(5):621-634. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 16, 2013. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=7&sid=26bec594-f943-423797130d730d3baac9%40sessionmgr4&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1za XRl#db=a9h&AN=8906892

Assignment two 7 Vora M. Business excellence through quality management. Total Quality Management [serial online]. December 2002;13(8):1151. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 16, 2013.