effectiveness of the quality management system of Coca-Cola: A Case Study
Key Learning Outcomes
By the end of the case, students should be able to:
- Understand the concept of a quality management system and its effectiveness in meeting consumer needs and product demand.
- Apply the concept of quality management to a real-world business
- Understand the purpose of the quality management system
1.0 INTRODUCTION
As the business environment continues to become more challenging, competition fiercer and costomers' expectations become higher, superior product quality has become vital for the survival of businesses. In order to deliver superior quality products and servicse to the customers, organizations are re-engineering their systems, operations, and culture and adopting customer-focused strategies. Quality has emerged to be the key component and critical success factor in most manufacturing as well as service organizations.
Today, the operational performance of the beverage industry, has become imperative in providing customer satisfaction because the quality of products directly affects customer satisfaction, loyalty and most of all, the financial profitability of businesses. There is growing awareness among senior executives of the fact that quality is an important strategic factor, which must be implemented at all organizational levels.
For total quality management, effective management is essential in ensuring that employees obtain timely, reliable, accurate, consistent, and necessary data and information in order to do their job effectively and efficiently. TQM is concerned with continuous improvement in all the processes of design and operation, from the levels of planning and decision-making to the execution of work by the front-line staff.