Question

Case Study:

JLB Services, a 200-person organization that services and repairs residential and commercial heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in the greater Phoenix area, has been losing customers because of recurring complaints about shoddy equipment, poor workmanship, and slow service. This is an extremely competitive industry with many challenges. First, the city is growing rapidly so HVAC firms are all trying to capture market share. Second, that rapid growth is causing HVAC firms to compete for trained employees, sometimes having to accept under-qualified people. Third, employees often move from firm to firm seeking higher wages. Fourth, the previous CEO at JBL had cut back on vehicle maintenance and equipment replacement so that he will be able to report increasing profitability Now there is a serious backlog of needed purchases. In short, things are not going well for JLB Services.

Question:

Imagine that you have very recently become the general manager of JLB Services and have been tasked to “fix the business”. You have been given two years to do so. Describe (250 – 500 words) your approach to creating a culture of quality and performance excellence as a part of “fixing the business”. Consider the time available. Consider what you would want to learn and how you may go about doing so. Consider who are the customers and how they may define quality. Consider what the customer requirements may be and how they may influence the key processes. Think about the key processes that you hope exist and how you would manage them. Think about the various approaches to quality (TQM, ISO, Baldrige, Six Sigma, Lean, etc.) and which one(s) you would consider.

Answer 1

The challenges facing the CEO and the appropriate approaches by which these problems can be mitigated are set out below:

Competition emerging from other HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) companies: The quality of services and the equipment supplied to consumers will help to reduce competition. This can be done by supplying the workforce with extensive training on how to deliver outstanding services. Equally, the workers must be inspired by appreciations, if the customers valued their services above par. Efficient and service-oriented workers can help to significantly reduce competition.

Eliminating the backlog of required purchases: It is an issue which must be addressed as a priority, because the most annoying customers are shoddy equipment / products. A customer's dissatisfaction with the product can not be met with any level of quality of service. Servicers therefore have the best quality of their equipment at their disposal. In order to provide excellent customer service, the service staff are also inspired.

Attrition of employees: It is very important to maintain skilled professionals because of the highly competitive market. This goal can be accomplished periodically by supplying high-performance individuals with cash incentives and similar benefits. Their activities should be regular team building / relating, so that they are considered a part of the family by the staff. The organization will maintain qualified personnel through emotional cooperation with its fellow employees and daily advantages.

Serviceman efficiency: Recruitment of men of quality service is an important task for HVAC companies. As the market is massive, the organization can sometimes have to hire poorly skilled employees. Such qualified people, however, can also become a business advantage if they are trained by high quality, professional professionals within the company. In the current work environment, training and experience acquired from these practitioners is similar to no other training programmes.

In this case, ISO would be the best quality solution. ISO standards are well established around the globe and almost all customers know ISO standards. The consumer is assured that any ISO standardized product or equipment would be of very good quality.