Importance of Quality

The Importance of Quality

The two main aspects of a product or service that customers use to make decisions are price and quality. Quality is therefore important for a business that wants to be profitable and compete with rivals (competitors).

What determines quality?

Quality is determined by lots of factors such as:
- The quality of the materials that are used.
- The quality of the production process.
- The style of a product.
- The durability, speed and quality of a service.

Customer expectations

When customers buy a product they have expectations about the quality of the product and service.
For businesses that produce goods, the goods need to be of a certain quality. The product should not break after one use (unless it is a disposable item) and it should be fit for purpose.
For businesses that provide a service, a customer will have expectations about the benefits of the service and the time it will take for it to be completed.

Customer service

For all businesses, it is important to have good quality customer service. If a business fails to deliver a good quality of customer service, customers may buy products and services from competitors instead.

Customer returns

There are costs associated with returns:
- If a customer is unhappy with a good or service then they may be able to return it for a refund. This often means that a product is wasted and the costs of processing a return may be high.
- Businesses like Asos offer free 28 day returns for customers. This is likely to be one of Asos’ largest costs.
- In 2016, the Financial Times reported that it cost retailers £60bn each year to process customer returns.

Lost customers

Customers who think a business does not deliver high quality products or services are less likely to purchase from that business again.

Product recalls

A product may be found to be unsafe for use or may violate legal requirements. A business may be forced to recall all products like this.
In 2015, Volkswagen was found to have cars that exceeded the legal limit for emissions. This meant they had to recall 11 million cars worldwide at a great cost to the business.

1Business Organisation & Environment

1.1Introduction to Business Management

1.1.1Why Businesses Exist & Sectors

1.2Types of Organisation

1.2.1Sole Traders

1.2.2Limited Liability

1.2.3Non-Profit

1.2.4Franchising

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Franchising

1.3Organisational Objectives

1.3.1External Environments

1.3.2Business Mission & Corporate Objective

1.3.3Mission, Corporate Objectives & Strategy

1.3.4SWOT Analysis

1.3.5End of Topic Test - SWOT Analysis

1.4Stakeholders

1.4.1Stakeholders

1.5External Environment

1.5.1Social & Technological Environment

1.5.2Lifestyle & Technological Environment

1.5.3Corporate Social Responsibility

1.5.4Economic Environment

1.5.5Political & Legal Change

1.6Growth & Evolution

1.6.1Growth & Retrenchment

1.6.2Challenges of Growth

1.6.3Growth Models

1.6.4End of Topic Test - Diseconomies of Scale

1.6.5Internationalisation

1.6.6Sourcing Resources & Entering Markets

1.6.7End of Topic Test - Internationalisation

1.6.8Managing Internationalisation

1.6.9Impact of Internationalisation

1.7HL Only: Organisational Planning Tools

1.7.1Organisational Planning Tools

2Human Resource Management

2.1Functions & Evolution of Human Resource Management

2.1.1Setting Human Resource Objectives

2.1.2Human Resource Management

2.1.3Labour Turnover & Retention

2.1.4Labour Productivity

2.2Organisational Structure

2.2.1Organisational Structures

2.3Leadership & Management

2.3.1Managers

2.3.2Management Theories

2.3.3End of Topic Test - Management

2.4Motivation

2.4.1Motivating & Engaging Employees

2.4.2Taylor's Theory

2.4.3Maslow's Theory

2.4.4Herzberg's Theory

2.4.5Different Incentives

2.4.6Evaluating Incentives

2.5Organisational (Corporate) Culture

2.5.1Managing Organisational Culture

2.5.2Organisational Structures

2.6HL Only: Industrial/Employee Relations

2.6.1Improving Employer-Employee Relations

2.6.2Case Study - The Winter of Discontent

3Finance & Accounts

3.1Sources of Finance

3.1.1Internal Sources of Finance

3.1.2External Sources of Finance

3.1.3Factors for Financing

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Debt

3.2Costs & Revenues

3.2.1Costs & Revenues

3.3Break-Even Analysis

3.3.1Profit

3.3.2Break-Even Analysis

3.4Profitability & Liquidity Ratio Analysis

3.4.1Profitability Analysis

3.5Cash Flow

3.5.1Cash Flow

3.5.2Solutions to Cash Flow Problems

3.5.3Improving Cash Flow & Profits

3.6HL Only: Investment Appraisal

3.6.1Investment Appraisal

3.7HL Only: Budgets

3.7.1Cash-Flow & Budgets

4Marketing

4.1The Role of Marketing

4.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives

4.1.2Market Calculations

4.2Marketing Planning

4.2.1Marketing Mix

4.2.2Segmentation

4.2.3Niche & Mass Markets

4.3Market Research

4.3.1Market Research

4.3.2Market Mapping

4.3.3Methods of Market Research

4.4The 4 Ps

4.4.1Product Decisions

4.4.2Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming

4.4.3Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration

4.4.4End of Topic Test - Pricing & Competition

4.4.5Promotional Decisions

4.4.6Promotional Decisions 2

4.4.7Promotional Decisions 3

4.4.8Digital Marketing

4.4.9Evaluating Digital Marketing

4.4.10Case Study - The Marketing Mix & Promotion

4.4.11Place & Distribution

4.5HL Only: The Extended Marketing Mix

4.5.1The Extended Marketing Mix

4.6HL Only: International Marketing

4.6.1International Marketing

4.7E-Commerce

4.7.1E-Commerce

5Operations Management

5.1The Role of Operations Management

5.1.1Setting Operational Objectives

5.2Production Methods

5.2.1Production Processes Overview

5.2.2Production Processes

5.2.3Production Efficiency

5.2.4Technology & Production

5.3HL Only: Lean Prodution & Quality Management

5.3.1Importance of Quality

5.3.2Measuring & Identifying Quality

5.3.3Total Quality Management

5.3.4Evaluating Total Quality Management

5.3.5Case Study - Toyota Production System

5.4HL Only: Production Planning

5.4.1Capacity

5.4.2Productivity & Efficiency

5.4.3Technology & Efficiency

5.4.4Improving the Supply Chain

5.4.5Inventory

5.4.6Outsourcing

5.5HL Only: Research & Development

5.5.1Organisational Planning Tools

Jump to other topics