The use and impact of local quality management in the UK telecom business sector - Essay Example

?Definition of the Research Area/Topic: This research study have been undertaken on the topic ‘the use and impact of total quality management in the UK telecom business sector.’ Total quality management have gained rapid popularity in the last few year. Organisations all over the world are implementing different quality management tools and techniques in order to improve different business processes and provide the customers with high quality end products. There have been several research study conducted in order to highlight the importance of the total quality management for the success and performance of the organisations. In order to make sure that the total quality management has been implemented in right manner and is beneficial for the organisation it is important for the top management to first understand the implications of all this process. In this research project an attempt will be made in order to explore and comprehend the impact of the total quality management on the performance of the business so that the managers can come up with appropriate strategies in this regard. Aim and Objectives of the Research Study: The aim of the research study is ‘to identify and explore the impact of the total quality management on the businesses operating in United Kingdom with special focus on the telecom industry. The research objectives which will be tried to accomplished through this research study are as follow: 1. To understand the use of the total quality management by the telecom business sector in United Kingdom. 2. To explore the implications of different total quality management practices and tools on the performance of the business. Literature Review: Dale (1994), has presented the idea that it is really important for the organisations to manage the quality of the operations and business process. At the same time Omachonu and Ross (2004), defined the total quality management as one the widely used management approach by the organisations in order to reduce the defects and wastages from the business processes. This in turn allow the organisation to provide the end customers with the high quality products and satisfy them. There are several factors and elements which should be considered before implementing different total quality management techniques and methods. It is important for the organisations to understand different factors which directly influence the process of total quality management. Only in this way, the organisations will able to reap the benefits of total quality management. Jonier (2007), in his research study have highlighted the role of organisation and co-worker support in the process of total quality management implementation and have showed its impact on the organisation performance. According to him, the support from staff and top management is required in order to make sure that the full advantages of total quality management can be enjoyed by the organisation. The total quality management is also directly related with the workplace attitudes. The research study of Sommer and Merritt (1994), presented that the intervention by the total quality management techniques and methods considerably influence the workplace attitudes of the employees. It is important for the top management to involve the employees in the process of change and implement the total quality management with their consent. In this way there will be less resistance on part of the employees and there will be high possibility that the implementation of the total quality management technique will be a success. In the similar manner, Yue, Ooi, and Keong (2011), presented the idea that the people related total quality management practices allow the organization to improve the job satisfaction among the employees and in turn reduce the turnover ratio. Because of increasing job satisfaction the employees tend to give their best performance and this as a result increase the overall performance and growth of the organisation. It is important to identify the appropriate steps of the total quality management and the process of change should be smooth in order to avoid any resistance and errors. Another important concept in the field of total quality management is of benchmarking. With the help of benchmarking the companies are able to identify the best practices in the industry and come up with different strategies and tactics in order to achieve the best performance. Organisations should strive to increase the quality of all business operations and processes in order to strive in this highly competitive world and creating clear competitive advantage over other competitors in the industry (Omachonu & Ross, 2004). Methodological Paradigm and Research Philosophy: In order to make sure that the research is done in effective and efficient manner it is important to clearly identify the research approach and research philosophy (Sekaran, 2006). This particular research study has the purpose or aim of identifying and exploring the current total quality management practices and their impact on the performance of the organisation or business. Hence, it can be said that the research purpose of this research project is ‘descripto-explanatory’ (Saunders, Thornhill, & Lewis, 2009, p.140). ‘Descripto-explanatory’ is a mixture of the descriptive and exploratory research. In descriptive research the aim of the research is to define and comprehend the existing situation or condition in order to provide the complete overview and picture of the prevailing conditions (Aanstoos, 1983). With reference to this research study the descriptive research will be used by the researcher in order to comprehend and understand the use of the total quality management tools by the telecom businesses in United Kingdom. On the other hand, the purpose behind the explorative research is to explore and investigate the relationship between different important variables (Patton, 2002). With reference to this research study, the explorative research will be used by the researcher in order to explore and identify the relationship between the implementation of total quality management and business performance in the telecom sector of United Kingdom. The research philosophy which will be best applicable in this case is of positivism. In this research philosophy the objectives regarding the research study are described which is then followed by the process of elaborating important theories related to the research topic, and finally these theories are applied on the data gathered in order to come up with positive results (Jankowicz, 2005, p. 111). In reference to this research study the research will gather the data through different primary and secondary sources and will apply the already established theories on this data in order to identify and explore the impact of total quality management practices on the performance of the telecom sector in United Kingdom. Research Method: In order to make sure that the research objectives are accomplished in effective manner and the researcher is able to come up with relevant and comprehensive findings, the mix research method will be implemented. The researcher will initially try to build a strong conceptual or theoretical framework with the help of secondary research and literature review. This in turn will allow the researcher to identify relevant variables. After identifying relevant variables the researcher will gather primary data through online administered questionnaires. This method of online administered questionnaire will allow the researcher to gather significant data within the limited budget and time span. Justification of Sampling Strategy: The questionnaires will be get filled by the employees and management of some of the telecom companies operating in United Kingdom. The researcher will select the sample by the using the simple random sampling. This will allow the researcher to increase the generalisation of the research study. The proposed sample size is of 100 participants. It is being perceived that the confidence interval is around 95 percent, the confidence interval is of +/-5 percent, and the cooperation rate will be around 50 percent. Hence the total number of respondents in this case will be 200 (100/0.5). Limitations: Due to limited availability of time and budget the research project is of limited scope. It was not possible and practical to include sample of other business sectors because of the less budget, time, and other resources. This is the main limitation of the research study as it does not incorporate data and examples from other sector. Apart from this, there is high possibility that the respondents will not be willing to give all details and accurate information while filling the questionnaire which will affect the validity of the research study. Ethical Considerations: It is essential that researcher should ensure that the research project is carried out according to the ethical values and norms (Maylor & Blackman, 2005). In this research project, the research will make sure that the privacy of the respondents is maintained and no information is passed on to any third party. Conclusion: It has become important for the organisations to make sure that the end product delivered by them is of high quality. Customers are giving high preferences to the high quality products. This in turn has resulted in placing huge pressures on organisations. For this purpose, organisations are using and implementing different total quality management techniques. The research project will make an attempt in order to identify the implications of the total quality management on the telecom business sector in UK. List of References Aanstoos, C. (1983). ‘The think aloud method in descriptive research’, Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 243-266. Dale, G. (1994). Managing quality, 2nd edition. London: Prentice hall. Jankowicz, A. (2005). Business Research Projects, London: Thomson Learning. Joiner, T. (2007). ‘Total Quality Management and Performance: the role of organization support and co-worker support’, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 617-627. Maylor, H., & Blackman, K. (2005). Research Business & Management, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan Omachonu, V., & Ross, J. (2004). Principles of Total Quality. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press LLC. Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Inc. Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., & Lewis, P. (2009). Research Method for Business Students, London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Sekaran, U. (2006). Research Methods for Business, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sommer, S., & Merritt, D. (1994) ‘The Impact of a TQM Intervention on Workplace Attitudes in a Health-care Organization’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol, 7, no. 2, pp. 53-62. Yue, J.-W., Ooi, K.-B., & Keong, C. (2011). ‘The Relationship between People-Related Total Quality Management (TQM) practices, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Intention: a literature review and proposed conceptual model’, African Journal of Business Management, vol. 5, no. 15, pp. 6632-6639. Read More