Quality Management Principles in the Fly Emirates Company - Case Study Example

QUALITY CONTROL Name Professor’s Name Course name Date Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Academic Overview 4 Basic Principles and Approaches to Quality 4 Importance of Quality to an Organization 5 Project Overview 6 Fly Emirates United Arab Emirates 6 SWOT analysis for Fly Emirates Company 7 The SWOT Matrix 7 Key Findings of SWOT Analysis 10 Impact of Quality Process and Quality Management Principles on Fly Emirates Company 11 Quality Management Principles in the Fly Emirates Company 12 Optimal Implementation Plan 12 References 14 Executive Summary The concept of quality control recently penetrated the United Arab Emirates and many companies are taking up the opportunity. Quality management has proven to create more opportunities for organizations including the Fly Emirates in the UAE. Quality control in an organization can benefit from a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis provides an important source of information through which an organization can discover and implement the concept of quality control. Discovering external threats and opportunities provides an organization with quality control tips to consider and implement. The Fly Emirates has internal strengths and weaknesses that can be compared against external strength and opportunities. The SWOT analysis provides the Fly Emirates with enough information for strategic planning of quality control measures. There is need for the Fly Emirates Company to implement measures that will enable quality control as well as ISO certification. The Deming’s approach is widely used in quality control processes of many organizations. The approach can prove its relevance to the Fly Emirates Airline. Academic Overview Basic Principles and Approaches to Quality According to Ayyash et al. (2012), organizations with various interests strive to achieve quality in all its operations. There are some approaches organizations can adopt to achieve quality management. An organization can opt to implement quality management systems to achieve the quality of organizational products and services (Barros et al. 2014). Quality management systems involve integrated approaches through which an organization communicates its goals to employees (Ali, 2012). In quality management, some tools and philosophies can be employed for the benefit of an organization (Lal, 2008). Some of the philosophies in total quality management include good vision among leaders, responsiveness, and social responsibility. Other philosophies that enhance quality management include respect for employees and partners, managing an organization basing on facts, the future orientation of organization goals, targeting results and value, encouraging management that enhances innovation and developing a workable system (Manu, 2011). According to Barros et al. (2014), an organization can also use various tools to enhance total quality management. The tool by themselves may not make a decision but provide an important platform upon which decisions can be developed. Prioritization matrices are useful in decision making through profiling tasks, concerns, and recommendations. An activity network diagram involves a variety of management tools useful in project management. Examples of the tools for activity network diagram include Gantt and PERT charts (Lal, 2008). One important strategy that an organization can use to develop quality management is to understand the organization goals and plan. One important tool to plan in this case is the process map that may help determine specific roles of employees within an organization with their related targets. A process map is capable of solving many quality management related challenges. An organization can also make good use of statistical tools to achieve quality control. In this case, the Deming’s contribution towards statistical quality management proves its worth. The tools provide accurate decision platforms that rely on statistical parameters. According to Manu (2011), the most recognized a method of quality control that involves statistical tools is the Statistical Quality Control. Policies and cultural information create useful parameters that can be used to develop force field analysis. Importance of Quality to an Organization Organizations aim to optimize business operations by improving on product quality and services. Total quality management is one important tool for achieving such heights in an organization. Quality management enables an organization to improve the quality of both products and services (Ayyash et al. 2012). With quality management, an organization significantly increases the productivity of an organization. Despite the higher productivity, quality management ensures that the cost of production is lowered and the profitability increased. High profits give a business more financial advantage to expand on its operations and even further improve on quality. With high profits, an organization can attain the benefits linked to economies of scale. Economies of scale strategically position an organization to out-compete others in due to advantages in marketing, production quality and technology. Internal communication and coordination is improved once quality management is integrated into an organization (Khanam et al. 2013). Gradually a company’s leadership increases, commitment to quality improves, organizational systems that support quality are improved and risk prevention strategies are adequately enhanced. Quality improves the reputation of an organization through reputable services and products. Project Overview Total quality management has proven to bring more results to an organization by increasing both internal and external performance. Many organizations can adopt quality control regardless of the products or services they offer to customers. The need for quality control is to enhance products quality that meets the customers’ needs. This section reviews the case of Fly Emirates Company in the UAE. Fly Emirates United Arab Emirates According to Ali (2012), Total Quality Management is a recent development in the management of organizations in the Gulf region including UAE Companies. Many organizations in the United Arab Emirates are exploring the opportunities brought by quality control. During the introduction of total quality management in the UAE, the concept was not adequately embraced. However, after continuous research and several improvements, the new concept of total quality control became a success. Some of the four broad factors that enhanced the use of total quality management in the UAE are organizational commitment and will to adopt the technology, continuous training and education of employees, encouraging teamwork with good organizational behavior and good organizational culture. The UAE also made sure that improvement was constant especially in the quality of UAE products, various processes within the organization, satisfaction of customer needs as well as the satisfaction of employees’ welfare. The main organization of focus in the UAE is the Fly Emirates Company that offers courier services all over the globe. The Fly Emirates Company is a prestigious airline with over 72 destinations around the globe. The airline has proven to be among the top airlines able to change with time and technology for the convenience of its esteemed customers. SWOT analysis for Fly Emirates Company The SWOT analysis is a matrix that is used to compare the internal parameters of an organization against the external forces in the market (Bohm, 2009). When conduction a SWOT analysis, the internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fly Emirates Company are compared against the external threats and opportunities. By doing this, the Fly Emirates can develop total quality management approaches to take advantage of the opportunities as well as cushioning against the market threats. The threats and opportunities that the Airline has to face are similar around the globe. Below is the SWOT analysis. The SWOT Matrix Strength Economies of scale Use of modern technology in information technology Ability to operate in many countries around the globe (72 Countries) Quality management system High profit income Ability to offer quality services to customers Strong Government support Opportunities New fleet of passenger and cargo plane Increasing number of destinations Technological advancement Weaknesses Poor labor policies of the Emirates Limited market share growth Increasing costs of the benchmarks standards Threats Global economic fluctuation Competition from other Airlines Emergent security concerns like terrorism. The changing regulations and policies in Dubai The Fly Emirates Company enjoys huge economies of scale that position the airline company in a strategic position for enhanced growth. Fly Emirates Company can attract many customers with its quality services that translate to increased profit. With enough money and increased profit, the company can improve and enhance the quality of customers’ services. Furthermore, Fly Emirates has the financial and technical capacity to invest in the most modern technology that optimizes quality (Ali, 2012). Fly Emirates Company continuously expands its operations around the globe indicating the impact of the organization’s massive growth. The internal strengths of the company are compared against the opportunities in the market to establish whether the company can grab these opportunities. For instance, the opportunities that exist in the market include a new fleet of passenger and cargo plane. The new fleet comes along with more quality and comfort. There is also an open opportunity to increase Fly Emirates number of destinations from the current 72 countries. The increase adequately provides another opportunity for growth diversification and profit maximization. Technological growth, especially in the information and technology, provides a useful opportunity to enhance managerial functions. New opportunities such as online booking have emerged that can be useful in reducing the inconvenience related to flight booking. The internal weaknesses that the Fly Emirates internally has include poor internal labor policies that might jeopardize the well-being of the Airlines’ employee. Additionally more weaknesses are evident in the limited market share growth as well as increasing costs of the benchmarking standards of the company. The internal strengths of the company compare against the threats that exist in the market. The threats are external, and the Airline Company completely has no control over them. However, the company can take advantage of its strengths to counter the external forces. The external forces include the global economic fluctuation that is heavily determined by the fluctuation of the crude oil prices around the globe. The courier industry also faces stiff competition regarding advancing technology, customer services, and convenience issues. There are also emerging security concerns around the globe. The most recent terrorist attack on a Russian passenger plane in Egypt that was allegedly brought down by terrorism. The security concerns over terrorism are a global issue that the Fly Emirates alone cannot handle. Key Findings of SWOT Analysis There are key issues that can be derived from the SWOT analysis of the Fly Emirates Company. The economy of scale that the company enjoys strategically positions the company to grab the opportunities that exist in the market. For this case in point, the airline has the financial capacity to; acquire modern state of the art planes, the company can increase its destinations around the globe, and the airline can adequately invest in technology to improve on services and other operations (Memon,2008). According to Khanam et al. (2013), the use of modern technology gives the company an advantage to explore many avenues that entail quality management. The airline company will always be ready to take up any new technology that can add to its advantages. Internal strengths such as increased government support provide the company with more muscle power to face the global economy that experiences frequent tides. The company faces a serious threat in case it starts making any losses or, unfortunately, runs into a losing streak. The Limited market share growth and increasing costs of the benchmarks standards makes the company at risk in case any losses occur. Despite the enormous profit, such an internal weakness can pose a significant risk to the prospects of the Airline. The external threats like terrorism are real and a current global concern. The little the airline can do is invest in security measures through technology. The Fly Emirates can also take advantage of the government support to improve the security of its airlines locally. The SWOT analysis provides the Fly Emirates Company provide the company with an important platform upon which quality control measures can be developed. Basing on the Strengths and weaknesses of the company and the external threats and opportunities the airline can position itself to grab available opportunities as well as take measures on the potential and actual risks. The measures can be reactive or proactive basing on the seriousness of the threats. Impact of Quality Process and Quality Management Principles on Fly Emirates Company Total quality management is an important tool for the Fly Emirates Airline Company. Total quality management is an integrated loom that enables the company to quality and increase on output. With total quality management, the Emirates Company is able to improve its services to achieve customer needs. Fly Emirates can achieve quality management through some steps that are recommended by the Deming (Memon, 2008). The company has to develop a need to improve its customer services in order to gain competitiveness (Bahri et al. 2012). The Airline has to go ahead to develop and adopt a new philosophy that match with the new technological advancement and current issues. The Fly Emirates Company must get rid of inspection as a means of gaining quality. Equally, the Airline must get rid of awards basing on price but aim to minimize total costs. According to Bahri et al. (2012), improvement of various systems that assure customer service satisfaction will be necessary. An institute of training, instituting leadership, driving out fear, and eliminating departmental barriers are necessary. Poor slogans, workers numerical quotas and barriers that derail the workforce should be eliminated. Fly Emirates Company has to develop dynamic educational programs before finally task the workforce to implement the transformation of quality management. Quality control is an important tool that enables an organization to collect and store quality records that an organization can use for management purposes. Quality control enhances accountability of all processes and activities within the organization. Accountability ensures that all the customer services are enhanced, customer complaints addressed and quality decisions developed. Quality Management Principles in the Fly Emirates Company The main aim of Fly Emirates Company’s main goal is to enhance customer service to win more customers (Memon, 2008). The improved customer services come in packages of modern technology and necessary comfort needed by customers. Fly Emirates has a full developed ICT department that integrates all activities of the Company. The Airline can collect and use it to produce useful information needed for strategic planning. Total quality management with the use of modern technology in various processes makes it possible to offer quality and convenient services to customers. With the acquisition of modern Airplanes indicates the continual improvement efforts by the Fly Emirates. Statistical parameters form the basis of many decisions made by the Airline Company. All employees are involved in the quality control process by the Airline. The airline exhibits excellent qualities of leadership and equally plays an active role in corporate social responsibility such as conservation of wildlife and sponsoring top football clubs. Recently the airline has taken a broad step to develop a wildlife brand on its new liners. Optimal Implementation Plan Implementation of quality management strategies is an important step for any organization aiming growth. The Fly Emirates equally stands a profitable ground if it acquires an ISO 9000 certification. The implementation timetable for ISO 9001:2008 suggests that steps that an organization can adopt to attain ISO certification (ISO, 2008). The company has to get all information concerning the ISO 9000 standards to enable further clarification. Identification of the difference between the former interpretation of ISO 9000 and the clarification is necessary. The Airline Company has to communicate to all its internal and external parties before implementation. Fly Emirates will then develop necessary actions and make use of the Plan-Do-Check-Act to implement the chosen actions. The optimal implementation plan should ensure that the top management is at the core of formulation of all policies. The management should equally dedicate resources to relevant technologies that can ease all activities of quality management. Fly Emirates management bust ensure that it reviews its labor policies in order to develop policies that encourage its employees to deliver quality services. Poor labor policies can lower the morale of workers and can jeopardize the quality of service. Fly Emirates ought to dedicate resources to training and development of its employees to equip its staff technically for quality control. References Ali E.A (2012). Total Quality Management Implementation: A Study to Critical Success Factors and Continuous Improvement to UAE organizations. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in Project Management. http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/bitstream/1234/374/1/110036.pdf Ayyash A, Al-Fayoumi N & Abuzayed B (2012). The application of quality management in the financial services sector in Jordan. Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 10, Issue 3. http://businessperspectives.org/journals_free/ppm/2012/PPM_2012_03_Ayyash.pdf Bahri S, Hamzah D & Yusuf R.M (2012). Implementation of Total Quality Management and Its Effect on Organizational Performance of Manufacturing Industries Through Organizational Culture in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) ISSN: 2278-487X. Volume 5, Issue 1, PP 10-24. http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol5-issue1/C0511024.pdf Barros S, Sampaio P & Saraiva P (2014). The Relationship between Quality Approaches and Their Impact on Portuguese Companies´ Quality Performance. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Bali, Indonesia, January 7 – 9. http://iieom.org/ieom2014/pdfs/470.pdf Bohm A (2009). The Swot Analysis. GRIN Verlag. Khanam S, Siddiqui J. & Talib F (2013). Role of Information Technology in Total Quality Management: A Literature Review. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering &Technology (IJARCET) Volume 2, Issue 8. http://ijarcet.org/wp-content/uploads/IJARCET-VOL-2-ISSUE-8-2433-2445.pdf Lal H (2008). Organizational Excellence Through Total Quality Management. New Age International. Manu M (2011). Quality and Customer Satisfaction Perspective in Organisations by Gap and Total Quality Improvement Methods. Universitas Wasaensis. http://www.uva.fi/materiaali/pdf/isbn_978-952-476-337-0.pdf Memon S.A (2008). Total Quality Management: Implementation in Pakistan International Airline with comparison of Emirates Airline & Saudi Arabian Airline. A Case Study of Pakistan International Airline   https://www.scribd.com/doc/71010938/5/Emirates-Airline-Company-Background ISO (2008). Implementation Guidance for ISO 9001:2008. ISO/TC 1762/N 836 http://www.iso.org/iso/06_implementation_guidance.pdf Read More