What strategic quality issues arise from the case study?

Strategic Quality Management (SQM) has emerged as a comprehensive management paradigm

for enhancing organizational performance and competitiveness. SQM represents a state wherein

the organization’s total Quality Management (TQM) system is tightly interwoven with the

strategy formulation process, thereby contributing to a sustainable competitive advantage. Core

Values of Strategic Quality Management primarily include customer satisfaction and the

company’s operational performance, including cycle time, on-time delivery, defective parts per

million, reliability, employee satisfaction, absenteeism, market share, sales per employee, return

on assets and others. This essay will look at the strategic quality issues arising from the case.

Quality means conformance to requirements. In other words a quality product should be fit for its

purpose or should meet the requirements of the customers. Schweppes Zimbabwe tweaked its

recipe to lower sugar levels and do away with some ingredients in its Mazoe orange drinks,

which was meant to fend off health advocates. Its new recipe came amid global concerns that

calories provided by sugar-sweetened beverages had very little nutritional value and contributed

to obesity. Consumers with a historical memory of the original Mazoe taste felt cheated and

immediately took to social media to express displeasure over the sudden change in their favourite

juice’s taste and formula. If a product does not conform to the requirements of the consumers

then it is not a quality product. Schweppes Zimbabwe tweaked the recipe of their product so that

the product becomes healthy but the customers still demanded their original Mazowe that they

knew.
Any business stays in business because it can serve customers through its products or services.

When designing services or products, firms must start with the end goal. Usually firms would

want to identify what problem they are trying to solve. In this case Schweppes wanted their

product to appeal to the advocates for healthy food. Food which does not cause obesity. They

wanted to differentiate their products from any other product. They thought that introducing the

new product would enhance their sales. Providing customer value must be part of every

company’s mission and firms should work towards that goal.

When quality is defined in accordance with organisations, it is the organisation that has to survey

and classify how quality is defined and perceived by their customers so that they can work

towards meeting these expectations. Scheweppes in tweaking their product they had anticipated

that consumer taste was changing towards less sugars. Nearly everyone would agree that the

quality of a particular product/service is significant, however, not everyone has a similar

impression of what forms high quality.

Irrespective of the industry, customers will not choose a particular product merely based on the

price, nonetheless often on quality. According to some studies, customers are willing to pay a

higher price for a product or service if they consider it as a well-made product that surpasses the

quality standards. If an organisation fails to meet the expectation of its customers, then it will

look for replacements. Quality is essential to satisfy customers in order to retain their loyalty so

that they will be willing to buy in the future as well. Quality products make a significant impact

on revenues in the long run. Quality is what differentiates a company in a crammed market.

Customers complained about the new Schweppes products. A campaign against the company

was swiftly launched on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter calling on

customers to boycott the new product. Others called for the return of the original Mazoe. Then a
week or so later Coca-Cola released a statement defending the new Mazoe recipe, citing several

health implications of excessive sugar in the original drink. “Around the world, eating and

drinking less sugar is an increasingly important issue for many people. Sugar in both foods and

beverages can be part of a balanced lifestyle if people don’t have too much,” Coca-Cola said in a

statement. The statements did little to douse the Mazoe war. In fact, it seemed to have added fuel

to a raging social media war with many attacking the beverages manufacturer for not responding

to customers’ needs. The episode was proving to be a colossal marketing failure. Even though

the company issued a statement on the reasons why they introduced the new products ( which

was justified in any way) however in the eyes of the customers the new products were of poor

quality because they did not meet their requirements.

Quality signals on an organization’s reputation. Customers took their complaints to the social

media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter calling on customers to boycott the new product.

Nowadays, there is an increasing significance of social media which means that the customers

can effortlessly share both positive and negative opinions on the quality of a product/service on

different platforms. Therefore, a sound reputation for quality could be an essential factor that can

differentiate an organization in a market that is highly competitive.

Poor quality products/services can lead to negative publicity and can harm the reputation. If the

organization is constantly delivering what it has promised, then the customers will give positive

and constructive views on social media. This will not only create awareness for the brand but

will also make a wanted effect and they wouldn’t want to be missed out. The user on social

networking sites who view an organisation’s strong reputation will desire to be part of the
product/service being offered that will in turn increase sales the reverse was made true for

Schweppes as customers were not happy.

Though it has not been mentioned in the case, poor quality products escalate costs. If an

organization does not have an efficient quality control system, they may have to bear costs to

assess peculiar products in order to evaluate the main causes. They may have to get rid of poor

quality products and incur extra production costs for their replacement.

Strategic quality management involves carrying out market research to identify, anticipate and

satisfy customer requirements. The organization was able to listen to the requirements of the

customers and brought back the original Mazowe demanded by its customers. The managing

director assured customers that they were re-introducing the original Mazowe back on the

market. This meant an improvement of quality as quality is conformance to requirements.

Quality assurance is a continuous effort to improve quality practices. It is a process-based

practice and quality control on the other hand is a product-based process. Quality assurance is

important because it ensures that the production process of a product aligns with the quality

requirements and standards. The significance of quality assurance is that it ensures that the

finished product fulfils the quality requirements.

Another strategic quality issue from the case is the involvement of the organization’s leaders in

tackling the quality challenges which were being faced by the organization. The role of

leadership in quality management forms the backbone of any improvement strategy. Leaders
provide a unity of purpose, while also establishing the direction of the organisation. As such, the

responsibility of leaders consists of creating and maintaining the internal environment.

For a firm to be effective in it quality improvement processes, efficient leadership of people is

necessary. According to Bissoondoyal (2006), human element is one of the core inputs in the

operation of a firm. According to Hartman (2002), it is a prerequisite for the firm’s management

team, unions and leaderships at the various levels to ensure that quality improvement is

successful. This means that quality management which is aimed at improving the quality of a

product is dependent on the entire organization. Therefore, the management team must ensure

effective control of all the organizational departments. Hartman is of the opinion that this can be

attained through effective leadership.

Leadership entails ensuring that all the firm’s employees have a comprehensive understanding of

the entire quality improvement process. In order to achieve this, the firm’s management team

must develop a common vision. Clear communication must be instituted so as to offer direction

regarding the procedures to be undertaken in order to improve quality. Through communication,

there is a high probability of the firm developing commitment and trust amongst the people. The

resultant effect is development of a ‘can do’ attitude.

According to Pfeifer (2002, p.5), total quality management is considered to be an organizational

wide concept. Therefore in order to achieve effective TQM, all the relevant areas of the

organizational (internal and external) must be involved. For example, the TQM must integrate all
the firm’s employees, customers and suppliers. In pursuit to attain quality management,

management teams are increasingly emphasizing on the importance of the human factor in

addition to the technological and other organizational aspects.

According to Hakes (2013), one of the core concepts of total quality management entails

continuous quality improvement. Quality improvement entails the various activities which are

undertaken within an organization in an effort to enhance effectiveness with which various

processes and activities are undertaken. The concept of quality improvement is aimed at

benefiting both the organization and the customers. Alternatively, quality improvement can be

defined to include all the activities whose resultant effect is a beneficial change with regard to

quality performance.
Reference

Bass, M.B. & Avilio, B., 1994. Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational
leadership. New York: Sage.

Bauer, J.E, Duffy, G. & Westcott, R., 2006. The quality improvement handbook. New York:
ASQ Quality.

Bissoondoyal, U., 2006. Total quality management: a practical approach. London: New Age
International.

Carey, R. & Lloyd, R., 1995. Measuring quality improvement in healthcare: a guide to statistical
process control applications. New York: ASQ Quality Press.

Charantimath, C., 2007. Total quality management. Sydney: Pearson Education India. Chao, S.,
2007. Advancing quality improvement research: challenges, opportunities-workshop
summary. Washington: National Academies Press.

Dahlgaard, J., Kristensen, K. & Kanji, G., 2006. Fundamentals of total quality management: a
process analysis and improvement. London: Routledge.

Evans, J.R. & Lindsay, W.M., 2008. The management and control of quality. New York:
Thompson South Western.

Hakes, C., 1991. Total quality management: the key to business improvement. New York:
Springer.

Hartman, M., 2002. Fundamental concepts of quality improvement. New York: ASQ Quality
Press.

Heldman, K. & Baca, C., 2007. PMP project management professional example study guide.
New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Hoyle, D., 2009. ISO 9000 quality systems handbook. updated for the ISO 9001:2008 standard:
Using the standards as a framework for business improvement. London: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Kanji, G., 1995. Total quality management: proceedings of the first world congress. New York:
Springer.

Liew, J., 2009. Employee training: a study of education and training department in various
corporations. Sydney: General Books.

McLaughlin, C. & Kaluzny, A., 2006. Continuous quality improvement in health care. Oxford:
Jone and Bartlett Learning.

Peratec, L., 1994. Total quality management: the key to business improvement. New York:
Springer.

Pfeifer, T., 2002. Quality management. London: Hanser Verlag.

Rahim, M.A., 1994. Common barriers to implementation and development of a TQM

program. Journal of Industrial Management. Vol. 4, issue 8. New York: Epson Print.

Richardson, T.L., 1997. Total Quality Management. Washington: Delmar Learning Schiller, R.,
Kovach, M. & Miller, M., 1994. Total quality management for hospital nutrition services. New
Jersey: Jones & Barlett Learning.