Total Quality Management

Aims and Objectives

Every academic study requires objectives and it is mandatory for qualitative studies. This section will provide the reader with the aims, objectives and scope of this piece of research.

 

Aim:

The aim of this thesis is to:

– Investigate the Dubai Metro Services (DMS) and how perceived benefits for customers are managed.

– Compare the operating model of the DMS with existing models of Total Quality Management to determine similarities and differences of the DMS approach with models that have been developed between the 1960s and 1980s from predominantly Western manufacturing approaches.

– Investigate the perceived levels of customer satisfaction amongst users of the DMS from 2012 -2014 to see if improved customer satisfaction has been the result of the application (explicitly or implicitly) of TQM Models/features.

 

Objectives:

To provide answers and new insights into TQM when applied to a passenger logistics system, the thesis will:

– Identify the Quality Management Practices (QMP) that are used in the operation process of the Dubai Metro and how these positively influence the customer experience including the measures applied to customer service.

– Identify the most important QMP features that improve perceived customer value from the perspectives of customer feedback (service users) and interviews with the service designers. Also to identify service failures and how the DMS manages this process to avoid the generation of customer dissatisfaction.

 

Scope:

An MBA research programme is subject to a few critical constraints in terms of time and access. This research is a case study involving interviews with designers and customers of the DMS so as to understand the system, its features and the user experience in terms of service quality. The primary data from Dubai residents using the service will be inclusive in terms of gender, nationality, status, (working, tourist) and the users motivation to use the passenger service. Other data will be collected from various organizations who play / played a major role in the R & D of the Metro Quality management system and its design.

 

Methods

This research uses a case study strategy from a realist epistemological perspective. Little is known of how the DMS performs against theoretical models and there are few international studies of passenger logistics systems providers and TQM. The study is therefore an exploratory one – with the intention of developing a model of service quality. The study has several phases:

– A literature review to establish the common elements of Total Quality Models and any models applied to passenger logistics in particular

– To engage with the case study to conduct employee interviews

– To review all phases of work (guided by the research questions) and compare these with the existing literature to form a model based on the DMS case study.

 

The study will:

– Assess the “ServQual” Concept and how the Dubai metro compares with the framework, whether knowingly or not, to the services provided.

– Understand the perception of quality amongst users of the metro with regard to transportation offered.

– Analyse the view of DMS managements in terms of system measures (in place) to monitor and prompt reacions to deviations in quality on the Dubai Metro service.

– To evaluate the perceived customer satisfaction with regard to the creation of Value, delivery of Value, and rectification of Quality Failures.

– To assess the perceived level of customer satisfaction according to Garvin’s’ service quality attributes.

– To assess the perceived level of customer satisfaction according to the SERVQUAL model.

 

Contribution

The study will present a model of service quality which is based upon the DMS case study and will be offered for future generations of student to test and refine.