-
Customer needs as the top priority.
- Top Management as the leaders for quality.
- Quality as a strategic use.
- Quality as the concern and responsibility of all employees at all levels of the organizations.
- Continuous quality improvement to achieve strategic goals as the function of the company.
- Quality problems are solved through cooperation among employees and management.
- The use statistical quality control methods as a solution to continuous quality improvement.
- Training and education as the basis for continuous quality improvement for the employees.
Deming’s method of quality management supports continuous improvement of the production processes. A successful TQM requires changes in every production process involved in the business: Marketing and R&D, Engineering, Purchasing, Personnel, Management, Packing, Storing and Shipping, After Sales Support.
Marketing and R&D define the quality characteristics of what the end user wants and needs. Identifying these needs will lead the company to produce the best quality products that will give satisfaction to the customers. Marketers must rethink of their role. And that is to gratify a customer and not purely advertise the product/service (Beckham, 1992).
Engineering transforms this quality characteristic of the products that the customer expects. And it needed to focus on all quality even during the design stage. It will require less cost for the company to rebuild everything when it’s still in the design stage.
Purchasing materials and parts to produce this product must be of quality too for it will be as important as the finish product. Personnel must hire employees that have the required abilities to perform a respective function in an organization and must be responsible to train them for an improvement in their performance. TQM requires that all employees all over the organization must be responsible to bring in quality and perform with quality.
Management must implement, monitor and maintain the quality throughout the organization.
Packing, Storing and Shipping makes sure that the finish products will be delivered to the end users with high quality. Therefore, it requires that packaging materials, storage procedures and shipping manners be at equally superior value.
After-Sale Support, also known as Customer Service, must be committed to giving in continuous and high-quality customer support. As a production process, it must be responsible to providing good instruction to the customers as far as usage or consumption is concerned. Once the product does not satisfy the customer, or does not function properly, the company must be responsible for the replacement or repair of the product.
Introduction
Premium brands capture the public imagination when they stand out from the rest. Singapore Airlines (SIA) which is particularly well known for the quality of its product offering and excellence of service standards. Singapore Airlines’ customer service standards are symbolized by the distinctive uniform of its flight stewardess, a sarong kebaya in batik material designed by Parisian couturier Pierre Balmain, reflecting its Asian heritage.
In the modern service economy it is frequently customer service that differentiates one product from another. A prime example is the airline business, where passengers may be traveling for many hours. During these periods people want to relax in comfort, knowing that their individual needs are being catered for. SIA aims to provide the best product for its passengers, plus the best customer service available, offering the best.
Singapore Airlines
After the spilt of Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, SIA was officially launched in 1972. Today, SIA’ s network reaches out to 93 destinations in 42 countries, serving Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, the South West Pacific and Africa. Its regional airline subsidiary, SilkAir, serves 21 exotic destinations in 8 countries. SIA has also created a number of strategic alliances, such as the ‘Star Alliance’ with other major airlines to serve other markets jointly.
Remarkably for the airline industry, SIA owns all its aircraft, unlike many other airlines that lease a substantial part of their fleet. It also has one of the youngest fleets, with an average age of 5 years and 10 months.
Developing a competitive edge
SIA initially needed to carry out an analysis of its operating environment. The traditional business tool for doing this is a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). The strengths and weaknesses are factors internal to the organization. SIA ’s key strength lies in the location of Singapore as an important crossroads of the world.
Singapore is a relatively small country, which has been one of the economic success stories of the last 25 years. As with other Southeast Asian economies Singapore’s success lies in the strong trading links that the country has developed in the global economy. As a former British colony that gained independence in 1965, it had to market its services globally to be successful.
In its early days, the airline was much smaller than its rivals. This was a major internal weakness. SIA, as the national airline, was faced with an intensely competitive global market in which the big players like British Airways operated on many routes with large fleets of aircraft.
Until recently many countries have restricted access to air routes and airports in order to protect their national airlines against foreign competition.
Today all this is changing, as, along with many other areas of international trade, there is strong pressure to open up markets and allow greater competition. However, in the early years SIA had to work very hard to secure the right of access to many important countries and airports. It took many years of struggle to achieve landing rights at Heathrow, followed by Manchester. Most recently SIA is seeking access to transatlantic routes from the UK. SIA is committed to the notion of "open skies", i.e. open access of routes to airlines with the consumer deciding with whom he or she wants to fly. It continues to be a bone of contention for SIA that while Singapore has opened its own airport to other airlines, SIA is still restricted from access to other routes, e.g. transatlantic.
The main opportunity facing SIA was the rapid growth in air transport for both passenger and cargo. Today the globe is a much smaller place, people can move rapidly from one continent to another in a matter of hours and more people have the disposable income to afford this. However, there are threats to an airline like SIA from the major national carriers of much larger countries, and restrictive regulation of air routes.
The SIA Group is Singapore’s largest private sector employer with a 28,000 strong workforce. The airline is committed to the development of its human resources. The airline has been able to develop its distinctive competitive edge in customer service through its people. From an early date SIA recognized the importance of customer service in gaining and retaining customer loyalty. SIA has always placed great emphasis on quality training for staff, which has established its cabin crew as the "hallmark" of efficiency and customer service. This has led to greater competitive advantage.
Extending the product & customer service offer
Product innovation and service excellence form the pillars of SIA ’s operational philosophy. SIA strives to continually "raise the bar", by setting new product and service quality standards for the aviation industry.
In the 1940s, in-flight refreshments comprised a thermos flask of iced water; this was later extended to sandwiches and cold drinks; today customers expect a lot more.
There is a great opportunity for airlines to offer added value for their passengers. This is achieved through a host of additional extras that make up the customer service package. As the industry is so competitive, standards are continually improving.
SIA has been at the forefront of developing new initiatives over the years including:
"Raising the Bar" again
Initial training for SIA cabin crew lasted for four months. It is designed to support staff in learning to anticipate and meet the needs of all passengers, e.g. during the course trainees are encouraged to visit old folks’ homes and to work with children while they are undergoing training. Other aspects of training include grooming and make-up, plus detailed Health and Safety Training.
The main emphasis is on top quality customer service and attention to detail. Language training is important and staff will be able to speak a number of international languages including English. Training encourages team spirit and staffs understand that they are ambassadors for Singapore. For many visitors SIA staff will be their first glimpse of Singapore, so it is vital to create a positive impression. By continually pushing up the level of service SIA is creating a standard which others find difficult to follow. All SIA staffs at all ranks are encouraged making there own work decisions.
SIA ’s policy is that all promotion should come from within the company, so there is plenty of scope for staff development. Programs such as the “ Show you care”, “ Dare to care”, “Be Service Entrepreneurs”, “ Staff-Ideas-In-Action” and “You can make a different”. Scholarships exist within the company to send cabin crew to University. SIA has its own management development center, which employs top quality trainers. (including professors from Harvard University)
Most recently SIA has developed some product innovations, which gives it further competitive advantage:
-
Investment in leading-edge technology has seen SIA achieve an industry leadership position in the field of in-flight entertainment. With KrisWorld, customers have access to 22 video channels, 12 audio channels, 10 popular video games, real-time news, information on popular SIA destinations and a personal in-seat telephone. WISEMEN is a major enhancement of KrisWorld being the first in-flight entertainment system to offer both video and audio on demand.
- SIA customers were the first to experience in-flight surround sound offered by Dolby Headphones. The revolutionary technology brings high quality cinema-style surround sound to in-flight film viewing in all three classes.
- SIA has taken in-flight dining to new heights with the formation of its International Culinary Panel (ICP) and the introduction of World Gourmet Cuisine. Singapore Airlines is committed to offering excellent in-flight meals as part of a holistic flying experience. Customers on SIA can enjoy an extensive selection of wines and champagne from the world’s major wine-producing regions.
-
SIA has also created unbeatable packages in each Class.
- First Class passengers are able to enjoy individual compartments (SkySuites) on 747 flights, providing a private space including sleeper beds. Cabins are fitted out in leather and burr wood to provide a luxury feel. All amenities and linen have been redesigned, mostly was done by Givenchy. To top it off, each individual compartment has a 14-inch personal video screen, specially produced for SIA, by Sharp of Japan.
-
Raffles Class passengers have new seats designed by the Swiss firm Ludeke Design, giving a generous recline and the longest business class seat pitch among major airlines offering three classes. The cabin color scheme is blue and rose clouds with alternating seat fabrics to impart a touch of style and elegance.
- KrisWorld – the most sophisticated range of video and audio entertainment, underlines SIA’s leadership in Economy Class. Seats have been updated to provide more room and comfort. Passengers are able to enjoy World Gourmet Cuisine and even champagne.
Awards Achieved By Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines has achieved many awards for the past few years, including this year. According to the recent ‘Asia-Pacific Readers’ Poll 2001’ conducted by the ‘Business Traveller Asia-Pacific’ magazine, it has won 6 awards. They are:
- Best Airline
- Best Asia-Pacific Airline
- Best Airline First Class
- Best Airline Business Class
- Best Airline Economy Class
- Best Frequent-Flyer Programme
Conclusion
SIA provides an excellent example of continuous improvement in the face of extensive global competition. Staying ahead of the field means that a company can never afford to stand still. SIA is always seeking to improve the service it provides to customers and how it is constantly striving to improve customer service. SIA has been able to successfully differentiate its product by continually providing the benefits to meet the needs of the modern air traveler be it a child, an adult, a tourist, a business traveler, a film star or a Prime Minister. By constantly improving the quality of products and services, and by hiring the world’s best designers and chefs, SIA is able to create the synergistic benefits that stem from working with the best employees in the world. While passengers are invariably delighted with SIA, they can be sure that SIA is working harder to make their next flight a better one.
Reference:
Reference books:
-
The essence of Total quality management, 2nd Edition, written by John Bank
-
Total quality management- the route to improving performance, Asia 2nd Edition, written by John S. Oakland