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Student Learning Objective 7

Appraise customer satisfaction using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Learning Objective A

Predict customer satisfaction in supply chains.

Slide 2: Customer Satisfaction

  • TQM implies an organizational obsession with meeting or exceeding customer expectations, to the point that customers are delighted.

  • Organizations continually need to examine their quality system to see if it is responsive to ever-changing customer requirements and expectations.

  • Dr. Deming added that quality also means anticipating the future needs of the customer. Customer satisfaction, not increasing profits, must be the primary goal of the organization

Slide 3: Customer Satisfaction, cont.

  • Customer satisfaction seems simple enough, and yet it is far from simple. Customer satisfaction is not an objective statistic but more of a feeling or attitude

  • Whether a customer is satisfied cannot be boiled down to a yes or no answer

  • Since customer satisfaction is hard to measure, the measurement often is not precise

Slide 4: Who is the Customer?

  • A customer can be defined as one who purchases a product or service. There are two types of customers: external and internal

  • All processes have outputs which are used by internal or external customers and inputs which are provided by internal or external suppliers

  • Consider the professor's job

Slide 5

Besterfield (1999) Figure 3-3: Customer/Supplier Chain

Source: Besterfield (1999)

Slide 6

Figure 7-1: Traditional Viewo of Suppliers and Customers showing that Customers and Suppliers are Strictly External Entities

Figure 7-1: Traditional Viewo of Suppliers and Customers showing that Customers and Suppliers are Strictly External Entities

Slide 7

Figure 7-2: Contemporary View of Supplies and Customers showing that Employees are Suppliers and Customers to Each Other

Figure 7-2: Contemporary View of Supplies and Customers showing that Employees are Suppliers and Customers to Each Other

Slide 8: Internal Customer/Supplier Relationships

  • This formula is recommended by Besterfield

  • Contains three basic questions:

  • What do you need from me?

  • What do you do with my output?

  • Are there any gaps between what you need and what you get?

  • Can be applied to more than just internal relationships

  • Leader's role is to process work through the internal customer-supplier chain by helping workers guarantee that the end product or service fully satisfies the end user

Slide 9: Customer Perception of Quality

  • Pricing is often not the distinguishing characteristic when making major purchases.

  • ASQ survey on end user perceptions of important factors that influenced purchases showed the following rankings:

    1. Performance

    2. Features

    3. Service

    4. Warranty

    5. Price

    6. Reputation