Service Quality Management: Starbucks - Essay Example

Service Quality Management: Starbucks Initially, I did not anticipate working with Starbucks and Mc Donald’s, knowing it would be a daunting and monotonous task, working from 8 am in the morning to 8 pm at night. However, as I subsequently demonstrate, the experience brought out the best in me; for a change I actually felt like working because work was pleasure. I shall now explore the reasons why this was so. Performance excellence Starbucks The culture of performance excellence at Starbucks is reflected in its people oriented strategy. Its mission statement includes diversity management as an important aspect of steering the company towards its goals. The company seeks operational excellence through the framework shown in Appendix 1 (Storey, 2009). Starbucks has successfully implemented operational excellence by adopting a soft HRM policy and treating its workers as a resource and not a cost. Thus, the operational excellence at Starbucks revolves around the strategic role that HRM has been assigned in the organization. There are a lot of training programs that give details as to exactly which items ought to be used while making the coffee and how they vary with the type of order. Here there is very little flexibility for the employees to something different from the orders given; however, in the department in which I was working, that is the sales department, employees were given a lot of flexibility and opportunity to come up with new ideas and share ideas with each other. The performance excellence framework that Starbucks is following is a sequential process which begins with job description, followed by establishment of work goals and performance review and ends at reward management. However, the process actually does not end here; the company conducts continuous performance management of its employees in order to achieve performance excellence. When I joined Starbucks, I was given a copy of the code of ethics along with the objectives I was expected to accomplish and terms of payment. The USP of Starbucks, according to me, is excellent communication with employees. Memos are circulated and information is constantly updated on the company website and on notice boards. Furthermore, the company conducted 360 degree feedback to ensure that I was assessed from a variety of sources not just the manager. Thus, based on my experience I can conclude that the company demonstrates high levels of performance excellence. Mc Donald’s Much was similar about my experience at Mc Donald’s. The company truly believes that humans are an invaluable resource and that the exceptional performance of Mc Donald’s is the result of its superior HR. Working as a sales representative, I learnt from my manager that the company insisted on flexibility and instructed managers to stick to one aim for only half of a year. Instead of building strategy around structures, the company built structures around strategy. This was very motivating for me and it brought out my best potentials because emphasis was given to what employees could offer rather than accomplishing what they were ‘told to do’. I was not the only one who loved working at Mc Donald’s; 90% of employees around me claimed “I’m lovin’ it”. The best part about the company was that, even though I was working in the sales department, I was initially given induction training about the operational side of the company as well. This gave me a sense of ownership in the company, even though I was a fresh recruit. Therefore, one may infer that the company operates under high levels of performance excellence. How can quality outcomes be improved? Starbucks The company’s quality outcomes have declined over the years as demonstrated by the model on service quality and customer satisfaction used by Starbucks. The main issue with Starbucks is that it is measuring the wrong parameters to gauge customer satisfaction and service quality outcomes; it is focusing on parameters that account for product quality rather than service quality. Thus, the parameters that is using do not fall in the CSI category. Starbucks has not been very successful in Australia with over 600 outlets closed in recent months (Jolliffe, 2010). The company was unable to retain its ‘high-end market, high status’ appeal ; at every nook and corner of Brisbane you would find one Starbucks outlet and customers began wondering why they would pay so much for a product which is not bought by almost everyone (Jolliffe, 2010). The company can improve its quality outcomes by ensuring better interaction with customers. It’s not just the product quality that is declining; the overall experience at Starbucks is declining. It can be termed as the Mc Donalisation of Starbucks typified by workers’, including baristas’, hopeless, demotivated attitude which shows when they interact with customers. The company might find the input of its existing workers useful and group interviews maybe conducted to probe where the problem lies, that is, what had led to demotivated staff. The HRM policies need to be revised; multiple modes of compensation need to be offered rather than just part time or full time contracts. Perhaps, the recruitment and selection procedure is faulty; the criterion for selection needs to be revised in order to recruit people with a pleasurable, humble and co operative personality. Furthermore, customer service needs to be customized rather than standardized. Instead of asking “what would you like to have sir/ma'am?” the question should be less impersonal which creates a sense of attachment between the salesperson and the customer. Another issue is the long wait times for its espresso products which need to be shortened through process improvements. Also, the company undertook uncontrolled expansion in Australia because of which it started employing young and inexperienced workers which did not complement the company’s strategy of catering to the high-end, elite market. The company did not adapt to the local culture by not letting go of ego and taking a product-oriented approach as opposed to a market-oriented one. Even though the company was “thinking global”, it ought to have acted “locally”. Mc Donald’s Although the company meticulously uses the QSCV (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, Value) framework for quality management, its quality outcomes in recent years have been questionable. The main issue has been delayed service times and long wait hours. A person working in office with a 30 minute lunch break would have to wait for at least 20 minutes for delivery. Process improvement and efficient streamlining of operations could be aimed at. Perhaps, the co ordination between departments is the problem; communication channels ought to be made more efficient so that orders are communicated in ‘real time’ to the concerned people. Ever since the company has introduced the new customized ordering system it is facing a trade-off between customization and speed. Thus, even though food quality has improved, customer satisfaction levels are low because of inefficiency and slow response time. The results of a market research conducted by Mc Donald’s in Australia are shown in Appendix 2 (Australian Financial Review and Australian Business Case Studies Pty Ltd., 2008). Although most Australians ‘perceive’ the brand value and customer service of Mc Donald’s to rank high, an astounding 39% believed Mc Donald’s to have a bad reputation. This is explained by the reasons stated above. The company, perhaps, needs to achieve a better fit with its customers by surveying what they’d rank highest: quality or speed. Perhaps, customers want both of these, for which it would be necessary to introduce an efficient working schedule as far as the new customized strategy is concerned. Most important experiences Starbucks At Starbucks I learned how to interact with customers; by working in the organization and receiving feedback from my customers I realized how important it is to create a favorable brand experience and that it is often more important than the offering(product) itself. Having worked with the organization and having dealt with customer complaints/feedback (one of which asked me to bear a decent, composed, smile on my face); I realized the first thing customers notice about your company is the service not the product. I was constantly asked by the management to display professionalism and in doing so, remain composed and to some extent, indifferent to customer’s experience; however, as things turned out, I learnt that even though the Starbucks coffee was doing very well, the overall brand experience had problems. On the positive side, however, I learnt how to effectively work in teams; there were times when conflicts would arise between me and my colleagues and initially it was very demotivating; however, later with the help of counseling sessions I had with my store manager and the HR manager I was able to overcome my short tempered attitude and allow for greater patience when dealing with teammates. The company constantly evaluated my performance in the team by using the chart given in Appendix 3 (R. Jones, 2002). Perhaps, a more important was customer interaction; I learnt how to communicate effectively, how that added value to the customer’s experience and how to resolve customer complaints effectively which was also a part of my job description (Appendix) (Starbucks, 2003). This was the most critical aspect of my experience at Starbucks as I learnt the skills of organizing, controlling and leading at the same time. The initial 24 hours training time proved to be very productive and I was able to apply the skills learnt to other organizations. Mc Donald’s At Mc Donald’s I learnt a lot about the operations of the company; that is, I was not restricted to one department (my own department) but I was given cross-functional training that enabled me to achieve a good internal fit with the company. For me, Mc Donald’s training translated to mentoring because the induction period taught me a great deal of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. By making myself familiar with the manuals, I was able to know exactly how to prepare a Big Mac as well as how to take orders skillfully from customers and learnt exactly what happened at the 11 workstations of the restaurant. I worked closely with the Restaurant manager and gained valuable leadership skills by observing my role model’s (the Restaurant Manager’s) behavior. This observation taught me crucial skills of how to carry oneself in the restaurant, how to make a good impression on others and, most importantly, how to converse effectively with a diverse array of customers. The company lays emphasis on customer care which is the reason for its remarkable success. Conclusion To conclude, when I reflect about the overall experience I have had in the two organizations, I feel more confident after having learnt how to interact both within and outside the organization. I have also learnt application of important concepts that I learnt in courses of marketing, management and finance and learnt how cross-functional management and interaction is the driving force behind organizational success today. I also learnt that service quality management is not limited to interaction with customers; it entails the entire experience you have with customers, which, although starts from making a product suited to customer needs, does not end at customer service. It is an ongoing process of making necessary improvements after incorporating suggestions from customer feedback; thus, the struggle for high service quality never ends. References Australian Financial Review and Australian Business Case Studies Pty Ltd. (2008, November). Addressing changing food values. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from The Australian Financial Review Case Studies : With Business News: http://www.afrbiz.com.au/page.asp?3646=431708&E_Page=416389&case=431708&3648=431707 Jolliffe, L. (2010). Coffee Culture, Destinations and Tourism. New York: Channel View Publications. Powpaka, S. (1996). The role of outcome quality as a determinant of overall service quality in different categories of services industries: an empirical investigation. Journal of Services Marketing , 5-25. R. Jones, 2002. Manage People's Performance. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/20882933/Manage-People-Performance-Task-1-4-5-Re-submittied-Edition-1#v=onepage&q=performance%20excellence%20framework%20starbucks&f=false Starbucks, 2008. Barista Job Description. Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.co.nz/index.cfm?contentNodeID=267 Storey, J. (2009). Oxon, U.K. Retreived from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=KUOojoVI2TQC&pg=PA351&dq=starbucks+routledge&hl=en&ei=TPCzTei1CYvxrQf3z7HIDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Appendix 1 Source: Storey, J., (2008). Starbucks Coffee. Appendix 2 Source: Australian Financial Review and Australian Business Case Studies Pty Ltd., (2008). What are consumers thinking? Appendix 3 Source: R. Jones, (2002). Manage Peoples Performance. Appendix 4 Source: Starbucks Coffee, (2003). Barista Job Description. Read More