Customer satisfaction of fast food services in kuwait a survy study - Essay Example

Through the collaboration of Japanese scientists, engineers, governmental officials, and policy makers, along with the works of Deming and Juran, the Japanese developed a management philosophy that later entitled Total Quality Management (TQM) (Walton 1986; Powel 1995). In fact, the concept of quality has evolved from basic manufacturing and engineering-related activities to a philosophy that encompasses all organizational activities and processes. What today is defined as TQM has its origin in the ideas of quality gurus (Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa) whose primary goals were customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Despite the number of articles and studies, TQM is an ambiguous concept (Dean & Bowen 1994). The differences between the various frameworks proposed by quality experts and scholars have contributed to the ambiguity of TQM definition, concepts, and constructs. Differences are due to the fact that different people have different understanding of the term “quality,” and, in that regard, the way they define quality may result in different constructs and models for TQM. This chapter presents a review of the total quality management and customer satisfaction literature.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a clear picture of total quality management, its components, and definition as well as overall customer satisfaction. The concept of TQM is explored within a global context and then expounded upon by offering operational definition as well as dealing with the subject within the context of customer satisfaction in the fast food industry. The concept of TQM has the same vagueness as the definition of “quality.” As Reed et al. (1996) indicated, there is no consensus on the definition for TQM.

TQM definitions vary based on the approach taken towards quality. Flynn et al. (1994) defined TQM as: “An integrated approach to achieving and sustaining high quality output, focusing on the maintenance and