This chapter addresses elements related to the theme of how to provide quality service to customers, valued from preliminary studies of the state of the art and practice on the subject; what made it possible to develop the theoretical framework of the research.
Recently, many companies have begun to change their definition of quality beyond the narrow description of the characteristics of the product to extend it to the offer. The success or failure of companies depends largely on their ability to identify factors that are important to customers and to monitor that the company operates competitively with those factors.
Conceptual framework on Quality
Current trends in the world denote that an appropriate management style must conceive the mission and objectives according to the client, not only what the company considers important, but also the requirements resulting from the communication process in the field of serving and understand, listen and respond, broadcast and perceive, encode and decode the customer's attitudes that demonstrate their expectations.
The achievement of a satisfactory service, involves all stages of the quality cycle as a whole, it involves all the workers who make up the company and each one is responsible for ensuring the quality of their work.
Customers will stop feeling impressed when they receive what they have ordered; They will consider it an acquired right, so companies that have not repealed the art of explaining why things are not as promised, will have no future. That is why, the client does not care about the cost of the product he needs and if about the quality of it to satisfy his needs.
Given such evidence, the strategy to be followed should consider the implementation, maintenance and control of Quality Systems based on the application of standards that continuously ensure the satisfaction of the client, the organization, the workers and society.
Quality is one of the concepts that organizations dedicated to providing services most want to develop. Quality in any company is desired by both internal and external clients, which means that this concept is seen and analyzed from different angles and points of view.
The main objective pursued by quality is full customer satisfaction. Some common elements of quality can be qualified, such as:
- Achieve customer satisfaction through good service. Know the expectations of the organization's internal and external customers. Level of excellence that a company achieves and that is demonstrated by the loyalty of its customers. Customer satisfaction for receiving a product and / or service of the highest quality.
The fundamental principles of quality management according to ISO 9000 of 2005 are: a) customer focus; b) leadership; c) staff participation; d) process approach; e) system approach to management; f) continuous improvement; g) fact-based approach to decision-making and h) mutually beneficial relationships with the provider.
A first approach to the concept of quality is: The satisfaction of the reasonable needs and expectations of clients (both internal and external) at a price equal to or less than that which they assign to the service based on the value they have received and perceived.
Some authors define quality, such as:
- Feigenbaun (1971). It is the total result of the characteristics of the product or service that, in themselves, satisfy the expectations of the client. Therefore, they are characteristics that allow us to meet consumer expectations. Quality is built from the beginning of product design. Edward Deming (1980) quality is offering low-cost products and services that satisfy customers. It implies a commitment to innovation and continuous improvement. Kaoru Ishikawa (1990) Defines quality as developing, designing, manufacturing and maintaining a quality product that is the most economical, useful and satisfactory for the consumer. Juran (1993). Quality is defined as fitness or fitness for use,which implies all those characteristics of a product that the user recognizes that they benefit and will always be determined by the client, and not by the producer, seller or person who repairs the product. Galgano (1995): Quality is obtained with the participation from all areas of the company. In other words, the quality of the product is the result of the work of all the departments; each of them must carry out their functions and carry them out with quality. In addition, quality is projected mainly towards the inside of the company, but there is also an operational meaning that is projected towards the outside and that represents one of the fundamental pillars of the entire Total Quality Management (GCT) building. Crosby (1996). Compliance with requirements.For his part, Philip Crosby (1997),quality is to conform to specifications, from an engineering perspective it is defined as compliance with precise standards and requirements. Its motto is "Do it right, the first time and get zero defects", confirming that the quality is based on four absolute principles: compliance with requirements, prevention system, its performance standard is zero defects and its measurement is the price of the non-compliance ISO 9000/2000 Quality: ability of a set of inherent characteristics of a product, system or process to satisfy the requirements of customers and other interested parties.confirming that quality is based on four absolute principles: compliance with requirements, prevention system, its performance standard is zero defects and its measure is the price of non-compliance. ISO 9000/2000. Quality: capacity of a set of inherent characteristics of a product, system, or process to meet the requirements of customers and other interested parties.confirming that quality is based on four absolute principles: compliance with requirements, prevention system, its performance standard is zero defects and its measure is the price of non-compliance. ISO 9000/2000. Quality: capacity of a set of inherent characteristics of a product, system, or process to meet the requirements of customers and other interested parties.
The increasing technical scientific development has facilitated the globalization process and the existence of more informed, demanding and concerned customers with environmental problems. The market dominated by oversupply, competitiveness, fashion and instability, requires the delivery of products with high perceived value and quality, which enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, in order to maintain market share or gain new ones. customers and increase it; as safe ways to obtain benefits and be competitive.
Within the different areas of the organization, there may be several criteria regarding quality management, for example, the marketing or sales department may seek a transcendental approach to quality based solely on excellence, which develops a competitive image. o User-based criteria that focus efforts on meeting or exceeding customer expectations, delivering products appropriate to their needs.
However, technical or development departments must emphasize technical aspects that guarantee the reliability of the technical characteristics and performance of the products; as well as the aptitude of the processes.
In another sense, the productive departments must prioritize in the fulfillment of the quality norms of the processes and the quality assurance of the same ones developing criteria based on the manufacture and in the fulfillment of the specifications. As well as in the quality management of the resources they consume in the activities they carry out.
- Quality of service
The quality of services is more subjective, making it difficult to establish valid indicators for its measurement, which is determined by customer perceptions. There are subjective factors, which depend on the structure and dynamics of the service itself, but there are others, which only depend on the needs of those who request it. In this sense, it is only possible to measure quality from a qualitative point of view.
Quality of services is the orientation that all resources and workers follow in the graphic company of GEOCUBA to achieve customer satisfaction.
Service involves keeping existing customers, attracting new customers and leaving an impression of the company on all of them that induces them to do business with it. Therefore, the company must seek to increase the number of services to be offered without affecting the quality of the products.
Regarding the perceived quality of the service, the following definitions stand out:
- Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) define it as the judgment that the client makes about the superiority or global excellence of the product, that it is an attitude, related but not equivalent to satisfaction and that is described as the degree and Addressing discrepancies between customer perceptions and expectations. Schrolder (1992): Quality is to include zero defects, continuous improvement and great focus on the customer. According to Galgano (1995), he describes quality as customer satisfaction, affirming that this concept surpasses and enriches other more traditional meanings and insists on its global meaning.
Taking into account that the management system is used to establish the policy and objectives of the company, it can be said that the starting point of all quality management is to capture the demands of customers and analyze how to correspond with solutions that respond to their needs by means of the distance between customer expectations regarding service and customer perception.
The quality of service perceived by customers is based on the following attributes:
Tangibility: The elements that the client can feel, touching it serves as a reference to value the quality of the service.
Reliability: Absence of errors. Receiving the service without errors is a fundamental aspect in evaluating the service.
Empathy: Identifying with the client and seeing through the client's eyes. What Americans call "putting yourself in the customer's shoes." The search for a careful service that recognizes and understands the needs of the client.
Security: Impression of competence and courtesy of the personnel in contact with the client, inspiring confidence. That the client feels that they are attended by a professional who has the appropriate knowledge.
Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and serve them quickly and effectively, giving the customer the feeling that it is important.
Quality management actions are underpinned by indicators, measurements, data collection and analysis, and comparative databases, all of which have been the subject of much debate today.
As observed in these definitions, the meaning of the quality category extends its scope; it no longer refers only to certain characteristics of the product or the process, but rather expands and globalizes throughout the organization, which requires, to author's criteria, of a comprehensive and systemic approach.
Analyzing the concept of quality expressed by the aforementioned authors, it can be summarized that there are elements that are common and are related to the needs of customers as a fundamental aspect in the evaluation of quality, their expectations and their satisfaction.
Addressed the concept of quality in a broad way, we proceed to discuss quality management in the next section.
- Quality management
The concept of quality management encompasses all the activities that determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities, which are implemented by means such as planning, control, assurance and improvement of quality in the framework of a system.
Quality management is the responsibility of all levels of management but must be headed by top management.
Its application requires the participation of all members of the company. Taking into account that the management system is used to establish the policy and objectives of the company, it can be said that the starting point of all quality management is to capture the demands of customers and analyze how to correspond with solutions that respond to their needs by means of the distance between customer expectations regarding service and customer perception.
Total quality and process management are inseparable, in fact, process management is one of the pillars on which the administration of the company rests according to the principles of total quality.
Total quality is defined as a management strategy whose objective is for the organization to satisfy in a balanced and efficient way the needs and expectations of customers, employees, shareholders and society in general. The needs of the “Recipients” of the company's products / services can only be achieved in a balanced and efficient way through process management.
The philosophy of Total Quality provides a global conception that encourages Continuous Improvement in the organization and the involvement of all its members, focusing on the satisfaction of both the internal and external clients.
Quality management extends to all areas affected by the company's activities (suppliers, external customer, internal customer, etc.), that is, it is understood as the engine of the system that generates an improvement in economic results and quality of life at all levels.
Eight quality management principles have been identified that can be used by senior management to drive the organization toward improved performance. Their goal is to help organizations achieve sustained success.
- Customer Focus: Organizations depend on their customers and therefore must understand their current and future needs, meet their requirements, and strive to exceed their expectations. A client is defined as: "Person who through an exchange product expects to receive a product or service to fully satisfy their needs and desires."
Clients, in turn, want service providers who are good, who know their work, who are friendly, trustworthy, and who have the ability to solve the problems they face. There are different types of clients (See Figure 1), such as:
Internal clients: They are the beneficiaries or those who receive the outputs or results of the work efforts of the internal processes of the organization.
External clients: They are the beneficiaries who receive the service or buyers of a company. These are impacted by the product, but are not members of the company or other institution that produces the product.
Intermediate client : It is the one that mediates between internal clients and external clients, whose function is to establish a link between the two, either through sales management, promotion, guaranteeing that there is a correspondence between what the external client wants with the offer provided, to meet your expectations.
Figure 1. Types of customers and customer needs.
Types of clients and their needs
Source: self made
Client's profile.
- Normally you do not express your wishes, except when you are not satisfied.
- The client is not loyal and always goes to the highest bidder.
- The client does not always know what he wants, but he acquires what he likes.
- The client is demanding and is willing to change at minimum failure.
- The client is considered unique and wants to be treated differently from others.
- When you are not satisfied, you proclaim it and harm the company.
- The customer demands product and services without worrying about the cost that it generates.
Customers in general, can be, objectives that are those who buy the product or receive the service and potentials that are those who are not yet receiving the same, but who could obtain it in the future.
Customers have a series of characteristics that make them quite unpredictable and if an organization wants to distinguish itself for its customer service, if it wants satisfied customers, it must be kept in mind that “the customer is a human being who is always first in the business. ”, And that the company's reason for being is therefore to satisfy its needs
The types of customer needs correspond to three quality expectations:
- The required quality. It corresponds to the essential attributes that the client requests when expressing his needs and that the company can know in all its terms to satisfy them. The expected quality. It refers to those attributes of the good that complement the indispensable attributes, not always explicit, but that the client wants and that usually have a strong subjective component. Expectations are called potential quality. These are the possible characteristics of the good that the client is unaware of, but which, if offered, is valued positively.
There are other elements that contribute to determining a quality, in order to expand the offer of products with new attributes, which make it more adapted to the needs of customers.
- Leadership: Leaders establish the unity of purpose and orientation of the organization. They should create and maintain an internal environment, in which staff can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives. Staff Participation: Staff, at all levels, is the essence of an organization and its total Engagement enables your skills to be used for the benefit of the organization. Process-based approach: A desired outcome is most efficiently achieved when related activities and resources are managed as a process. System approach to management: Identify, understand and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization in achieving its objectives. Continuous improvement:Continual improvement of the organization's overall performance should be a permanent objective of the organization. Fact-based approach to decision making: Effective decisions are based on information and data analysis. Mutually beneficial relationships with the provider: One The organization and its suppliers are interdependent, and such a relationship increases the ability of both to create value.
It is important to carry out a quality diagnosis in the company to find out what situation it is in. In this sense, it will be addressed in this regard in the following section.
- Quality diagnosis
An organization, whatever its activity, in order to maintain an adequate level of competitiveness in the long term, must use formal analysis and decision procedures, within the framework of the "strategic planning" process. The function of this process is to systematize and coordinate all the efforts of the units that make up the organization aimed at maximizing global efficiency through the quality of products and services.
Companies need to increase their effectiveness rates by providing a higher quality service; This is forcing their managers to adopt administration systems that take human resources as their central base, and to develop teamwork methodologies, in order to achieve high levels of performance and respond firmly to market demands.
But to be able to implement systems that allow to increase and coordinate the competitiveness of the company, managers must know the conditions and resources they have to draw up plans and strategies, which is called: Diagnosis.
According to Philip Crosby, the diagnosis is the starting point of quality improvement, if it is not carried out, it is not possible to determine the "illnesses" of the organization and consequently these would not be solved, customers would be lost since the products or services that we offer will not meet their needs and specifications.
According to Tom Peters: the diagnosis is of utmost importance since it says where you are and what you must do to get where you want.
Juran expressed “When there is a problem, the starting point is always the same, the symptom, the evidence that something is wrong. What the organization wants is the remedy, a solution that allows solving the failure evidenced by the symptom. However, the remedy cannot normally be obtained until the cause is first discovered. This path will be called a diagnostic tour, which is of vital importance. ”
In this sense, some factors must be taken into account to achieve a good Diagnosis:
- They are not carried out with a systemic approach that covers the three stages of the product quality life cycle, nor is the fulfillment of essential activities of the quality function evaluated. They start from poor quality evaluation methods, typical of a reactive or negative quality management. They are oriented to specific levels of the organization, making it difficult for a comprehensive analysis of both internal and external customers, suppliers and managers. Difficulties in recognizing critical processes and even their interrelation with support and strategic processes. Excessive use of qualitative tools that make measurement and standardization difficult, mainly in service companies. Difficulties in developing teamwork, a requirement demanded by the vast majority of these tools.Little creativity in the application of the tools, without considering that most of them are redesignable depending on the problem to be analyzed.
Diagnosis Objective
The main objective of the Diagnosis is to quantify the current state of maturity of the organization with the national or international standards that the company should handle, identifying in a quick, precise and concise manner the potential areas of development in it.
Obviously, when applying the Diagnosis in an organization, the first thing that is expected is to obtain benefits, whether medium or long term. Although these benefits can be generalized to any type of company, for example:
- Awareness of the current state of the company in a globalized environment. Identification of the potential areas of the company. Comparative qualification of the different areas of the organization against high-class companies. Create elements of analysis for the development of future plans.
Types of Diagnosis
Depending on its scope, the diagnosis can be:
- Previous or prophylactic diagnosis: It is used as the first step to implement a quality program. Analyzes the general elements of the organization, which despite their nature, somewhat subjective and intangible; they are determining and basic to undertake quality management. In other words, it assesses the entity's general health to manage quality.
The fundamental elements that this diagnosis must evaluate are: a) orientation of the entity towards the client; b) existence of quality policy; c) quality leadership of senior management; d) internal customer satisfaction; e) organization - communication and, f) result of the main economic and productive indicators.
This diagnosis is of utmost importance because any problem detected in it can slow down and frustrate the attempt to manage quality in the entity and requires the immediate preparation of an improvement program that solves the diagnosed difficulty.
These difficulties that are determined in the previous diagnosis are mostly complex and in many cases their solution is affected by environmental restrictions.
- Technical diagnosis: It is the one carried out by applying the diagnostic techniques of Quality Management and Industrial Engineering and covers the fundamental activities of the quality function in the three stages of the quality life cycle of a product, forming part of a cycle.
A similar approach can be applied to maintain and improve an existing quality management system. By adopting the previous approach, an organization generates, on the one hand, confidence in the capacity of its processes and the quality of its products and, on the other, the basis for improvement continues. This can lead to increased customer and other stakeholder satisfaction, as well as organizational success.
- The improvement process
The improvement process is an effective means of developing positive changes that will save money, both for the company and for customers. Likewise, this process implies the investment in new machinery and high-tech equipment that is more efficient, the improvement of the quality of service to customers, the increase in the levels of human resource performance through continuous training, and investment in research and development that allows the company to be up to date with new technologies.
The requirements for quality improvement are a common purpose of understanding concepts and methods so that change translates into improvement. The main goal is continuous improvement in each activity. Improving is more important than considering whether current results are good or bad.
Benefits of Quality Improvement: a) better quality for customers; b) increased market share; c) surcharges for the company; d) prestige in the market; e) cost reduction and, f) improved productivity.
Stages in the Quality improvement process:
- Management commitment.Quality improvement teams.Quality measurement.Quality cost assessment.Quality awareness.Corrective action teams.Action committees.Training. Zero-day defects. the cause of the error.Recognition.Quality advice.Repeat the quality improvement process.
Improvement methods.
Continuous improvement: Always satisfying the customer from the first time leads to a quality-based work style. As the needs and desires of the individuals are always in constant change, the solution to define quality in terms of the client is continually redefining their requirements.
After achieving the bases to develop an organization based on the client and satisfying its needs, we continue to the Continuous Process Improvement stage.
- Quality assessment and analysis
The evaluation and analysis of quality have evolved in conjunction with the meaning of the quality category, passing through various stages that span from the verification stage, in which evaluation and analysis were limited solely to the product and post-production; Statistical quality control extends the scope of these processes and improves evaluation tools, deepening the analysis by studying variability and causal relationships, that is, develops and integrates evaluation and analysis and even conditions the diagnosis, which also complements these processes.
The evaluation and analysis at first were carried out on the basis of quality levels using quantitative methods based on the measurement and comparison of simple or complex quality indices, defined by the producers themselves. Therefore, the evaluation of quality in the manufacturing era was defined as the process of measurement and comparison consisting of determining the level of quality of the product or production (Nelson Espinosa, 1986).
This author states that it is the set of actions that include the selection of the nomenclature of quality indices, the determination of their values, the basic and relative indices with the aim of promoting the best solutions for the purposes of control and quality management.
There is a second moment that starts from the 70s and is maintained today, where the customer's criteria are decisive. Because the demand-supply relationship largely favors the latter. Here it is essential that the organization projects itself towards the client, the market and develops an external operational approach.
The use of quality levels is still useful, but the role of the client is decisive, quality is only evaluated by him and his degree of satisfaction will constitute the level of quality or goal to be achieved. This stage coincides with the rise of service companies, in which due to its intangible and novel nature, it is difficult to measure, analyze and diagnose quality.
Since most of the studies are aimed at evaluating the quality of tangible products, it is important to consider some relevant aspects related to service quality:
For the user, evaluating the quality of services is more difficult than evaluating the quality of tangible products; possibly the criteria they use to assess the quality of a service are more difficult to understand. In evaluating the quality of a service, the only criteria that are really relevant are those established by users. Only they judge the quality, all other judgments are irrelevant.
The perception of the quality of a service is established based on how well the provider performs the service, evaluated in contrast to the expectations that the user had regarding what he expected the provider to do.
- Customer satisfaction
To measure the degree of customer satisfaction with respect to the required or expected quality, two methods can be established: objectively measure the degree of compliance with the specifications that correspond to the required quality, or ask customers, although not always the results of both measurements coincide.
Customer satisfaction is therefore the state of opinion regarding its supplier based on the quality judgment derived from its services. It has a strictly personal basis, because the same service can cause different judgments and evaluations in different clients.
Quality is evaluated and defined by the client, because this is who receives it. It is not determined by the company, but is granted by the client. We must remember that one thing is what the company conceives and measures, and another thing is what the customer receives and values.
The previous criterion coincides with a marketing proverb when it states that the customer is always right.
A customer service oriented company is required to know who they are, what they want and how they appreciate their services. The client is in fact a valuable source of information to improve the services of any organization.
To know what the expressed or unexpressed needs are, as well as the importance that the client gives to each attribute of the product and the degree of satisfaction of the same, the different research methods are applied.
The satisfaction of the clients will be given to the benefit obtained when receiving the service. These can be of two types:
Explicit benefits: Those that are clearly requested (required) from the provider.
The implicit benefits: are not mentioned during the negotiations, but are required in the final evaluation. Generally implied means that it is customary or common practice for the service provider organization, its customers and other interested parties.
Customer satisfaction is achieved if there is real and true communication, and it is highly probable that the service will have the expected success in reaching the objective of effectiveness and efficiency. Which leads to a forced triangulation between: effectiveness - efficiency - effectiveness.
Efficacy: If it satisfies the needs and desires of the client, both established, explicitly stated, and implicit.
Efficiency: If it has been provided with the minimum resources and internal costs. In this regard, it is important to be very careful not to fall into a detriment in the quality of service provision and the service received, by resorting to lower costs. Efficiency also requires detailed knowledge of the service delivery process in order to achieve the best performance.
Effectiveness: It is the sum of efficiency plus effectiveness, that is, meeting the goal, satisfying the customer with the minimum consumption of resources.
To achieve quality management with efficiency, we must speak of process management. Therefore, in the next section this topic will be addressed.
- Process Definitions
You cannot ignore the quality management of process management. Since the latter leads to a set of activities to be carried out that guarantee the quality of the organization's service.
Some authors have dealt with this topic, among them are; Lorino (1993), Harrington (1993), Zaratiegui (1999) and others, referred to in Medina León & Nogueira Rivera (2001). Below are some definitions given in recent times (See Table 1.1).
| Author | Definition |
| Amozarrain (1999) | Process is understood as… ”a sequence of activities aimed at generating added value on an input to achieve a result, and an output that in turn satisfies the Client's requirements”. |
| Zaratiegui (1999) | … ”Orderly and logical sequences of transformation activities, starting from some inputs (information in a broad sense - requests for data, specifications, more material means (machines, equipment, raw materials, consumables, etc.), to achieve programmed results, that are delivered to those who have requested them, the clients of each process ”. |
| Medina León and Nogueira Rivera (2001) | "Ordered sequence of repetitive activities carried out in the organization by a person, group or department, with the ability to transform inputs into outputs or scheduled results for a recipient (inside or outside the company that has requested it and which are the customers of each process) with an added value ". |
Table 1.1 Process definitions. Source: Ramos Alfonso, 2005.
However, the definition given for the term “process” is enriched, after reviewing the criteria set forth above, being defined as follows:
- Process: “Orderly and logical sequence of repetitive activities carried out in the organization by a person, group or department, with the ability to transform inputs into outputs or programmed results (outputs) for a recipient (inside or outside of the company that has requested it and who are the clients of each process) with added value. Processes generally cross functional boundaries repeatedly, forcing cooperation and creating a distinct company culture (more open, less hierarchical, more results-oriented than privilege-keeping). ”
Other terms related to Process Management, and which need to be considered, are the following (Amozarrain, 1999):
- Key process: They are those processes extracted from the relevant processes that have a significant impact on strategic objectives and have a strong impact on customer expectations or consume a significant part of the company's resources and are therefore critical to success. of the business.Process of Support or Support: One that, not being essential for satisfying the needs of external elements, may be necessary to make it viable.Operational Process: Processes aimed at carrying out the actions that allow the development of policies and strategies defined for the company to serve customers. These processes are carried out by the functional directors, who must count on the cooperation of the other directors and their human teams.They are well defined parts of a process. Its identification can be useful to isolate the problems that may arise and allow different treatments within the same process.
There are several benefits of quality management, but they must always be demanded in the medium and long term. Aiming for short-term results has been the fundamental cause of the failure of many improvement programs, since quality management is a strategy that enables rework, reprocessing, reinspection, waste, claims, attention to complaints and claims, among others) that cause an increase in productivity, leading to the delivery of products of greater value to customers, which logically will increase sales and consolidate the image of the organization, in the medium and long term.
Initially, the priority should be the achievement of efficiency, taking customer satisfaction as a fundamental indicator. The sustained increase in this indicator will have an impact on the efficiency and performance of the organization, which will stimulate the increase in the medium and long term. of management effectiveness.
Short and medium term benefits.
- Costs reduction. The costs of non-conformity are minimized Greater possibility of evaluating results and guaranteeing the correct use of resources Improving the organizational climate. Fewer internal conflicts and greater interrelation between different areas. Greater forecast of compliance with the objectives set by Law, guarantee of use of the concepts of ethics, citizenship, sustainable production and reduction of environmental impacts. Planning, organization and control of training actions Professional.Measurement of customer satisfaction. Increased customer satisfaction
Long-term benefits:
- Increase in the number of clients. Increase sales. Confidence in the institution's products. Improvement in the institutional image and its credibility.
Quality management begins from the very moment that the quality of the resources that will be consumed in the production process of the different areas of the organization is managed with the suppliers. After that, the quality is measurable given the degree of preparation and professionalism that the employee has in developing or providing the service to the external client. Finally, the quality is evaluated with the degree of satisfaction that said client has for the service received.
Some indicators that measure these results are:
- Response time to customer complaints. Quality of service received. Kindness in customer service. Degree of customer satisfaction.
Processes can be managed and measured using indicators. In this sense, in the next section the general characteristics of the general indicators that are related to the processes will be addressed.
9. Basic conceptualization of Indicators
An indicator is a piece of data or set of data that helps to objectively measure the improvement of a process or activity.
The general indicators of compliance or performance must take into account the following criteria:
Obtainable: there is always a difference between the desirable and the achievable.
Measurable: what cannot be measured cannot be considered a criterion.
Observable: when a parameter cannot be observed by means of the senses or the measurement equipment, it cannot be used as a criterion.
Understandable: it is essential to understand the terminology and the meaning of what the criteria express.
Reasonable: they must appear reasonable to the colleagues of the activity, administrators, etc., although they do not share the responsibility for its fulfillment.
There are different methods to evaluate the quality of services, these can be found divided into different categories: the structure indicators, measure the quality of the characteristics of the framework in which the services are provided and the state of the resources to provide them, the indicators of The quality of the process or process indicators measure, directly or indirectly, the quality of the activity carried out during customer service, and the indicators based on results or result indicators measure the level of customer satisfaction. Indicators that measure the efficiency that complement these quality indicators are also used (See Table 1.2).
| Quality indicators | Definition |
| Structure Quality Indicators | Structure evaluation involves material resources, human resources, and other institutional or managerial aspects.
De Geyndt establishes four categories for the structure indicators which are: physical structure, occupational structure, financial structure and organizational structure. |
| Process Quality Indicators | Indicators that measure the quality of the process occupy an important place in quality evaluations.
Variables related to customer access to the different areas of the organization are analyzed, as well as to measure the quality and speed with which customers are served in those areas. |
| Results-based Quality Indicators | They are indicators that allow knowing the degree of satisfaction with the service received during your stay in the organization. The analysis of the results allows evaluating the efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of the attention that the client receives. Within the results indicators, two large groups can be identified, the so-called "Sentinel Indicators" and the "Indicators based on proportions or grouped data", although Aranaz later introduces a third type of result indicator: the tracer. |
Table 1.2 Quality Indicators. Source: self made.
The aforementioned indicators lead to suggesting that they are the basis for achieving: effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness.
Partial conclusions of the chapter.
- Quality is the set of characteristics of a product or services that satisfy or exceed the needs and expectations of consumers.
- Quality assessment is defined as a measurement and comparison process that allows the determination of the quality level of the product or service and that is closely related to customer satisfaction. Permanent diagnosis is the basis for improving the Management of the quality.
"Referred in Ramos Alfonso" (2005)
«Referred in Jiménez Paneque, 2004»
«To deepen De Geyndt W. Managing the Quality of Health Care in Developing Countries. 1994. (World Bank Technical PapersNo. 258) »
«Gilmore CM, De Moraes H. Quality management manual. Washington DC. OPS PALTEX; 1996: 36-54. »
«Referred in Chassin MR. Quality of Health Care, Part 3: Improving the quality of care. Editorial. NEJM, 1996, 335 (14): 1060-63. »
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