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Difference Between Service and Product Quality

Service quality is more difficult to define than product quality. Although they share many attributes, services have more diverse quality attributes than products. According to the textbook author Thomas Foster (p.5), this often results from wide variation created by high customer involvement. Costs of Quality is the attempt to quantify the costs of poor quality in the language of management: money.

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15K views

Difference Between Service and Product Quality

Service quality is more difficult to define than product quality. Although they share many attributes, services have more diverse quality attributes than products. According to the textbook author Thomas Foster (p.5), this often results from wide variation created by high customer involvement. Costs of Quality is the attempt to quantify the costs of poor quality in the language of management: money.

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ferreirae
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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X470.

9 Project Scope and Quality Management


Student Name: Eduardo Ferreira Chapter 1 Discussion Questions: 3, and 11 3. Is there a difference between service quality and product quality? Service quality is more difficult to define than product quality. Although they share many attributes, services have more diverse quality attributes than products. According to the textbook author Thomas Foster (p.5), this often results from wide variation created by high customer involvement. For example, the consumer of a fountain pen probably will not care that the factory worker producing the pen was in a foul mood (as long as the quality of the pen is good). However, excellent food served in a restaurant generally will not suffice if the server is in a foul mood. In addition, a consumer probably will not consider a pen poor quality if he or she is in a bad mood when using the pen. However, food and service in a restaurant could be excellent and still be perceived poorly if the patron is feeling bad. If so, what are the implications of these differences for a manager of a service business, such as a restaurant or a retail store? Service settings are more complex; thus quality is more difficult to define. A customer of a restaurant, for example, evaluates the quality of the restaurant not only on the merits of the food but also on the demeanor of the employees, the speed of the service, the location of the restaurant, the pleasantness of the surroundings, and so forth. A manager of a restaurant or retail store must place as much attention on the quality of the product (food being served in the case of the restaurant) than the actual delivery of the service. 11. What is meant by the phrase cost of quality? Cost of quality is a means to quantify the total cost of quality-related efforts and deficiencies. Armand V. Feigenbaum first described it in a 1956 Harvard Business Review article. Feigenbaum classified the costs of quality into two areas, cost of conformance and costs of non-conformance. The central theme of quality improvement is that larger investments in prevention drive even larger savings in quality-related failures and appraisal efforts. Feigenbaum's categorization allows the firm to verify this for itself. When confronted with mounting numbers of defects, organizations typically react by throwing more and more people into inspection roles. But inspection is never completely effective, so appraisal costs stay high as long as the failure costs stay high. The only way out of the predicament is to establish the "right" amount of prevention. Variants of the concept of quality costs include cost of poor quality and categorization based on account type, described by Joseph M. Juran. He defined these account types as tangible and intangible costs. Once categorized, quality costs can serve as a means to measure, analyze, budget, and predict.

How can this phrase help a firm address its quality concerns? The language of money is essential. Without the quality cost figures, communicating poor quality information to upper management is slow and ineffective. One way to translate quality concerns within a firm and to upper management is to identify and measure the costs of quality. Appendix 1: Armand V. Feigenbaum Quality Cost Areas
Cost area Description

Examples Quality planning Statistical process control Investment in quality-related information systems Quality training and workforce development Product-design verification Systems development and management Test and inspection of purchased materials Acceptance testing Inspection Testing Checking labor Setup for test or inspection Test and inspection equipment Quality audits Field testing Scrap Rework Material procurement costs Complaints in warranty Complaints out of warranty Product service Product liability Product recall Loss of reputation

Prevention costs

Arise from efforts to keep

defects from occurring at all

Costs of control (Costs of conformance) Appraisal costs Arise from detecting defects via inspection, test, audit

Arise from defects caught Internal failure costs Costs of failure of control (Costs of nonconformance) External failure costs Arise from defects that actually reach customers internally and dealt with by discarding or repairing the defective items

Appendix 2: Joseph Juran Variants of the concept of quality costs include cost of poor quality and categorization based on account type Cost area

Examples Materials scrapped or junked Labor and burden on product scrapped or junked Labor, materials, and burden necessary to effect repairs on salvageable product Extra operations added because of presence of defectives Burden arising from excess production capacity necessitated by defectives

Tangible costsfactory accounts

Excess inspection costs Investigation of causes of defects Discount on seconds Customer complaints Charges to quality guarantee account Delays and stoppages caused by defectives Customer good will Loss in morale due to friction between departments

Tangible costssales accounts

Intangible costs

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