analyse and discuss how the Total Quality Management philosophy can be implemented in Dominos

what total quality management of domino s pizza

Today's competitive market is characterized by accelerating changes, innovation, and massive amounts of new information. Much of this rapid evolution in markets is fueled by changing customer needs. Significant customer behavior and market changes happen almost overnight. Changes in market preference or technology, which used to take years, may now take place in a few short months.

As the pace of change accelerates, it becomes more difficult to maintain stable relationships with suppliers, customers, brokers, distributors, and even your own company personnel. "Putting out fires" and reacting to new emergencies is unfortunately the norm for many large and small companies caught in the whirlpool of technological change.

A new company or a small business has limited financial, personnel, and capital plant/equipment resources and is especially vulnerable to instability brought on by rapid changes in customer behavior. Breaking out of this reactive method of operating is essential if your business is to thrive.

One of the best ways to do so is to focus on the delivery high quality service to every customer. Commitment to quality and customer satisfaction programs are essential if a small business wants to successfully compete against larger competitors. A quality experience, from beginning to end, reinforces a customers' buying preferences for your products and services for their current and future purchases!

Evaluate the Role Quality Management Can Play in Your Business

Continuous quality improvement is the hallmark of successful companies, worldwide. For example, Proctor and Gamble is famous for consciously developing and introducing improved versions of its own current products under different brand names as a method for continuous quality improvement and significant technological advances. But continuous quality improvement does not always mean a limited quality improvement. Entire new product categories can be created by exploiting anomalies in quality and customer satisfaction. P&G created the disposable diaper industry with a significant advance in technology. Federal Express created the overnight letter and package delivery industry, now over $30 billion worldwide, by a significant advance in quality and customer satisfaction.

Does your company need to consider significant changes to provide improved quality and customer satisfaction? Is your company a leader, follower, or niche competitor in your industry category? Most small companies do not compete head-to-head or just follow larger, better-financed competitors. They usually seek a specialized niche of products or services.

A key insight into the need for significant change in quality or customer service is to examine:

the history of the company: how it first became successful
the history of the category: how it grew or changed
the history of competitors: how they grew or changed
the behavioral needs of customers: have they evolved?
What factors made your company successful? Does your company still have this edge? For example, many small companies are successful because they specialize in a small-volume category segment that a larger company could not make money on or would not commit resources to. Many small snack food companies exist because larger competitors, such as Frito-Lay, will not consider entering a business that does not have the potential for a minimum of $50 million in sales per year.

Or a small company may focus on a narrow segment of specialized customers. For example, think about a machine shop that produces only high-tech machinery for analyzing exotic metals for the aerospace industry. There may not be enough business for more that one or two such supplier companies in the country (or world). Being sensitive to changing customer needs, wants, and evolving technology or service requirements is critical for such a small company to survive.

What has happened to the product category you compete in? Has it changed, grown, shrunk, or evolved with changing end-user needs and wants? What is driving the evolution of the category? Is it new technology, changing customer behavior, or the advent of new information systems? How do you evaluate your company's ability to compete in its current categories? Is your company still successfully occupying its specialty niche? Or is it eroding or changing?

The rapid pace of information systems and technological advances may not only create new competitors, it may provide substitutes for your category's products and services that did not exist a few years ago. For example, it is becoming more common for fast food providers to compete head-to-head with local "standard restaurants" in business areas via fax orders. In the past, fast food restaurants did not consider regular restaurants as direct competitors because of their larger and slower menu preparation. However, standard restaurants now advertise directly to businesses for "fax-ahead menu" selection, so that customers' meals can be ready within minutes of arrival, exactly like a fast-food place.

If your company has lost its niche, is less distinctive in its products and services, or is contemplating starting a new business, significant improvements in quality and customer service or satisfaction may be required to survive. At the same time, do not overlook the possibility of small improvements in company functions.

Small Businesses Have Edge in Implementing Quality Improvements

Larger companies committed to total quality management (TQM) programs may appoint a special manager or VP of quality. In smaller companies, this task is usually undertaken by the chief executive officer (CEO) or the owner. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, a small company has great potential advantage over larger companies in implementing a TQM program with employees. There are fewer people to communicate with, and the manager in charge of implementing the TQM program is generally the owner or CEO. The CEO can make timely, binding decisions about TQM programs.

Personnel in all jobs must understand and commit to the TQM program and work as a team. Company personnel must have permission to go beyond the normal barriers between functional jobs (or departments, if you have them) to communicate in a timely manner on behalf of providing quality and customer satisfaction. All employees, regardless of job, status, or tenure, must understand and commit to customer satisfaction as a number one priority.