TQM Analysis

Customer Satisfaction

Conformance to Specification means applying specific methods and standards in order to consistently provide the same quality, speed of delivery, and service every time an order is placed. The Scarlet Knight is not a piece of any franchise, nor is it sent orders from any corporate headquarter. This does free them up a bit, as there are no benchmarks or rules set in place that the store must meet. The liquor store also does not make any of its own products, which means there is not any standard to be met.

The Scarlet Knight does however require consistent checkout times (delivery speed) and a certain level of customer service (quality). Checkout times are managed by simply keeping a ratio of customers-to-employees behind the counter at roughly 3-to-1. Quality and customer service is addressed in a less scientific manner. When a customer requires help with finding or carrying a product, employees are encouraged to provide that help. This does create a balancing act between speed and quality at times when the store is quite busy.

Value In Society and in the business world, value is seen as an assessment of the quality of a product or service with reference to the cost of obtaining it. In other words, is the product or service, in the mind of the consumer, worth its price? In the case of Scarlet Knight Liquors, the service they provide around the campus has some value to its customer around the area. Although it is not the only store around, when it comes to reliability, quick service, low prices, and quantity, customers perceive the store as a convenient point of getting what they are looking for at a much lower price. 

Fitness for Use focuses on how well the good or service performs based on the users prospective. The fitness for use that Scarlet Knight Liquors focuses on is having a great time. This focus is based off the use of the liquor itself, people drink to relax and have a great time, their store being located on a College Campus, promotes just that. The layout of the store makes it easy for customers to find what they are looking for, such as beer, in a convenient matter. The prices also fit into this category because college students live on a budget making their experience fast, easy and cheap. The liquor store also has staff members to guide the customer in the right direction in purchasing liquor to suit certain needs and comfort levels which will educate them for future purchases.

Support is the ability to further help a customer with a product or service after the sale has been made. The product or service support that is provided by a company can sometimes be just as important as the quality of the product or service itself.  In the event of a product or service quality failure, good support can help reduce the negative effect created. Scarlet Knight Liquors offers support after a customer makes a purchase by offering to help carry large quantity of items to a customer’s vehicle. Sometimes customers may purchase large items such as beer kegs. In the event employees are required to transport the large item from the store to a customer’s vehicle by the use of a hand truck. 

Psychological impression is the atmosphere, images, or aesthetics that create the first impression that people will base their expectations of our product and services. At Scarlet Knight Liquors we know that there is a lot of competition, and creating that first impression while fulfilling those expectations is what sets us apart. Being able to keep a large inventory with low cost helps provide our customers with a feeling that they can rely on us to supply their needs at an effective price. As previously mentioned, Scarlet Knight Liquors is a private business, which allows us to create our own standards to help us be more efficient. Providing a strategic layout along with knowledgeable staff creates an experience that keeps the regular customers while spreading the word to new customers. When someone walks into our store, we want them to feel confident seeing our broad selection, and pleasing them with our competitive prices.

Employee Involvement 

Organizational Culture is an important element in employee involvement. Developing a good culture within a firm can be done when customer is defined for each employee. There are internal and external customers. People or firms that purchase a product or service are considered an external customer. Internal customers are all the employees in the firm. Each employee has one or more internal customer they must satisfy. Internal customers are dependent upon the output of other employees. If all employees can satisfy their internal customers, than ultimately external customers can be satisfied. 

The managers of Scarlet Knight Liquors are responsible for ordering the right amount of inventory at the right time. This is necessary so that internal customers (employees) who stock the shelves can restock shelves as soon as possible to assure that external customers can find what they want. Employees also must be attentive to what liquor is running low in inventory so that they can notify the managers.

Teamwork at Scarlet Knight Liquors is very important to the success of the business. The approach used is most similar to a self-managed team in the sense that they work together as a small group of employees to complete multiple tasks and assist with customer needs. From the product getting to the shelves to the point of check out, it involves a team of employees to make sure that everything is running as it should. Management is of course involved in these processes, but there is reliance on the team as a whole. Decision making is not spread as much as other self-managed teams since operations have become more standardized.

Continuous Improvement

Improvement refers to the ability to better a process as it progresses through time. On the other hand, continuous Improvement is an ongoing effort to achieve a better quality product or service, reduce waste, and the amount of scrap produced in a process while maintaining efficiency and productivity. Many companies promote six sigma techniques, but just a few are able to properly implement and maintain such idea. In the case of Scarlet knight Liquors; there is not defined standard or level of improvement they aim for. The core idea of their business is to maintain their cost as low as possible while gaining as much market share as possible. The only major improvement for Scarlet Knight Liquors was the acquisition of their current warehouse to satisfy customer demand.