Marketing, Participation and Delight


Prevs

Quality to meet requirements and delight, calls for clear understanding of what customers really want and like. A marketing orientation and market research is essential. The business must also have the capacity and ability to deliver. If a craft pottery wins a big order (deliver in a month a quantity equivalent to the whole of last year's production!) - it is likely to break the company's back. If 50th Wedding anniversary couple want the band to play the Anniversary Waltz then learn it - otherwise turn down the gig! The band's agents (the marketeers) must avoid mis-representing the band and its repetoire to the client.

Players in the Quality Chain

Many players in a Q-chain never see the whole operation or even meet the customer. Their job may be, say, merely to input data into a computer or write a sentence in a brochure so that holiday-makers believe that a quiet, restful holiday, suitable for children, is on offer.

In the Q-chain for a motor car, thousands of highly specified components are brought together and assembled. One or two component or installation failures may result in knock-on problems. The Japanese doctrine of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and the practice of quality circles with member participation along the Q-chain becomes a personal and organisational way of life.

Internal Supply Chain Issues

Often within an internal supply chain, departments or sections may seldom discuss the needs of down-stream client departments and vice versa. These are taken for granted having evolved over time from normal interaction, meetings and conversations. Yet participants in an internal or external supply can improve their evaluation, design and communication of products/services, delivery processes, information and control.

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BOLA is maintained and developed by Chris Jarvis © 2003