Quality Management of food truck Restaurant-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Quality Management of food truck Restaurant. Answer: Introduction In the modern era, delivery of quality products and services is essential for the growth and success of a business enterprise. In simpler terms, quality can be defined as the distinctive characteristic of products or services which satisfy the need and demand of customers in the best possible manner. It can be also expressed that there is a direct relationship between quality and customer satisfaction(Barata Cunha 2017). Low product and services quality can directly result in developing the high degree of dissatisfaction among customers. On the other side of this, good quality of products and services encourage customer loyalty and repeat purchase. However, it can be critically argued that management and improvement in quality, in the long run, is not an easy task for organizations as there are various issues and challenges faced during the same(Tzamalis, Panagiotakos Drosinos 2016). For example, companies are required to focus on areas such as continuous improvement, leadership, c hange management and feedback from stakeholders. The present study is based on A special restaurant food truck, and it outlines, the overall concept of quality management. In addition to this, existing business process and quality management systems within food truck are also mentioned in the study. Concept of quality management In the present scenario, the changing business environment and market needs have resulted in creating obstacles for growth and success of companies. Nowadays, businesses are required to maintain the highest level of quality within their products and services to sustain in the marketplace(Mok, Sparks Kadampully 2013). The latest trend in the restaurant business is of the road food business which is getting more and more popular along with the passage of time. Here, different food products and services are delivered to customers through mobile food truck and portable sustenance trucks. At present, the industrys overall value is more than $1 Billion, and from the year 2007 to 2012, the industry has witnessed an annual growth rate of 8.4%. On the contrary of this, it can be critically argued that along with high growth rate, the industry has also become highly competitive. To attract new customers and retain the old ones, it is required by the selected business which is food truck restaurant to focus on delivering the best quality of food products and satisfactory services to all customers. In todays business world, quality is essential because it helps in meeting the need and expectation of customers in the best possible manner(Pineda 2013). In addition to this, the overall reputation of a food truck in the market can be enhanced by delivering quality products and services. According to the concept of quality management, the overall cost of operations increases when the quality of products and services offered by a company is poor. The food truck is required to emphasize more on the aspect of quality management to reduce operational cost and enhance profit margin. However, it can be critically argued that difficulty i n implementation is the major drawback associated with the concept of total quality management(Augusto, Lisboa Yasin 2014). The food truck is also required to carry out effective monitoring of all its processes and operations to identify loopholes and take corrective measures to improve quality. Customer expectation of processes, services, and product can be met through company operations Nowadays, meeting customer expectations of processes, services, products have become vital for long-term growth and sustainability of companies. Furthermore, the customers want that businesses should opt for a quality process which can deliver satisfactory products and services. It can be stated that implementing a customer feedback system is the best and most potential way through which the expectation of customers can be meet in the best possible manner. The food truck can adopt a feedback system wherein reliable data about products and services quality can be collected through customers(Davis et al. 2013). Based on the information gathered, corrective measures can be taken by the selected food truck business to carry out improvement in the quality and attain the higher degree of satisfaction among customers. However, it can be asserted that the business will need to ensure that the feedback provided by customers is taken seriously and immediate actions for improvement are carried out. On the other hand, customers expectations with regards to processes, services, and products can be meet through the adaption of open communication channels. The key and most important characteristic of service industry are that here employees comes in direct contact with all customers(Chaudary, Zafar Salman 2015). Therefore, the food truck can implement open communication channels where employees can be encouraged to present their views regarding what kind of changes can be carried out in menu and service delivery process. The information provided by staff members can be beneficial in terms of carrying out improvement in areas such as to processes, services, and products. Best Way To Develop Quality Management It can be stated that development of quality management is essential to sustain in the highly competitive service industry. Furthermore, the food truck is required to commit quality to attain a high degree of satisfaction among customers. Even the quality management model present by Deming highlights the fact that quality should be reinforced over and over again and top management must do the same(Bon Mustafa 2013). All the staff members working in food truck should commit quality with an objective to carry out effective management of the same. In addition to this, tracking and monitoring quality is another strategy which can be adopted by the food truck to manage its quality in the best possible manner. On the other side of this, it can be critically argued that tracking quality in the service industry is the most challenging task for businesses(Doeleman, Ten Have Ahaus 2014). The food truck can adopt techniques such as net promoter score to track its service quality and identify the critical loopholes present in the same. Another effective way which can be used by the selected business enterprise to manage its quality is of investing in employee training and development. The food truck is operating with very few staff members and thus, conducting training programs to enhance service delivery is not going to be a challenging task for the business(Sallis 2014). Implementing quality circles is also a good way which can be used by the food truck to manage its service quality. Another effective way that can be adopted by food truck for enhancing food quality is rendering training to the staff members on different aspects through which they can know the ways through which quality of food can be enhanced easily. Food truck has to build strong relationship with the suppliers so that they may supply quality food item. Figure 1: Quality circle Source: (courses.bus School of Business 2000) The mentioned above diagram denotes a quality circle which can be used by businesses such as Food truck to manage their quality(Mohammad Mosadeghrad 2014). Here, the business will need to focus on four different areas which are plan, do, check and act. This circle is being used by food truck where in the first stage company takes appropriate action with the motive to improve quality of its food item, in second stage planning is done where food truck has to determine its customer need so as to satisfy it, the plan prepared is implemented and at last testing is done. Relationship between customer satisfaction and high quality service Delivering high-quality service is necessary in case of food truck which is a special restaurant. In order to deliver effective service, it is necessary to set some benchmarks where the restaurant has to implement some quality management models in its operations(Dale 2015). There exist the direct relationship between customer satisfaction and high-quality service. In the case when high-quality services are delivered to the target market then it contributes a lot in enhancing customer satisfaction level, and in turn, all the desired goals of the enterprise can be accomplished efficiently(Gharakhani et al. 2013). Apart from this, it is a well-known fact that to deal with the issue of competition in the market it is necessary for the restaurant to ensure that its services are of high level regarding food quality and other additional services that are rendered to the target market. Moreover, quality management is regarded as the act of overseeing all the tasks in order to maintain the de sired level of excellence(Gould 2013). In case if the customer satisfaction level is high then in such case food truck has to deliver high quality service to its target market. This is most significant as the level of customer satisfaction depends on quality like in case if high quality food is delivered to the customer then it enhances customer satisfaction level and vice versa. Further, in case of food truck the company has to ensure that its service quality level is up to the mark and in case if food and another type of facilities are delivered efficiently to the target market, then it can surely enhance the overall performance of the food truck in the market where it operates(Fu et al. 2013). Level of customer satisfaction can only be enhanced if service quality is above the expectation level and this, in turn, can surely act as the development tool for the business in every possible manner. It has been witnessed that businesses offering various kind of services measure service quality through different means such as obtaining views of their customers and other techniques that are most effective(Jurow Barnard 2013). Maintaining service quality on the continuous basis and for long period of time can surely manage long-term performance of the company. Description of existing business process The present business process of food truck restaurant is associated with offering the type of food service to the target market. Therefore, the process starts from the purchase of raw material and different type of food items as per the actual need of the target market. Further, it is a well-known fact that each and every process of food truck restaurant is crucial and for enhancing the overall quality of the service, it is mandatory to implement so quality improvement models so that favorable results can be accomplished easily and in a possible manner(Obeidat et al. 2016). Food quality matters a lot and in case if the food truck is not able to deliver high-quality food service to its target market then it will surely lead to the decline in the level of overall performance and in turn business performance will decline significantly. Apart from this, the food truck business has to identify the most crucial business process that involves preparing high-quality food item as per the need of the target market. The truck restaurant has to ensure that the raw materials purchased for preparing different type of food items are of high quality and this, in turn, can surely assist in preparing high-quality food as per the actual requirement of the target market. No doubt, the real customers of food truck expect high-quality food and due to this reason, it is necessary to deliver them high-quality food(Oakland 2014). All the business processes must be flexible so that changes can be made in each process easily and in short period. Food truck restaurant operates on the smaller basis and due to this reason ensuring quality service will not be difficult for the business. Apart from this, the overall process of the business is very small, and this will provide support in implementing quality tools for rendering services to the target market. Quality framework Figure 2: Gap Model of Service quality Source: (Verint Customer Engagement 2009) In order to understand the significance of service quality from the point view of food truck restaurant, the gap model of service quality is quite effective(VERINT 2009). Further, this model helps in knowing about the five types of gaps whose description is as follows: Gap 1: It is the distance between customer expectation and what managers think they expect clearly. For example, the customer expects that the food truck restaurant will deliver fact and accurate services to them whereas the manager of the business perceives that customers are only expecting the best quality of food at convenient prices. Gap 2: It is between the actual specification of the customer experience and the management perception. Managers working in the organization are required to ensure that business is delivering high-level service(Habibah Abdul Talib, Anuar Mohd Ali Idris 2014). For example, the manager at food truck restaurant can carry out customer survey to identify the actual specification of the customers experience and can make changes in existing services according to the information collected from those surveys. Gap 3: From the experience specification to delivery of experience where it is necessary for the managers to audit the customer experience that business is delivering at present. Gap 4: It is the gap between delivering of customer experience and what is being communicated to the target market. The manager at food truck restaurant needs to ensure that there is no gap between services communicated and services delivered to the target market. For example, if the food truck restaurant communicates that its speed of services is very fast then it needs to make sure that fast processing of customer order and delivery is carried out within the restaurant. Gap 5: It is the gap that arises due to customer expectation of service and customer perception. Here, food truck restaurant can adopt customer oriented strategy to fill the gap between customer expectations, customer perception and make these concepts identical to each other. So, these are the main gaps that allow in knowing about the significance of service quality, and through this, it is possible for food truck restaurant to deliver high-quality service to its target market as per their actual expectations. Apart from this, it is necessary to understand the different type of gaps that can take place and the overall alternatives through which these gaps can fulfill(Gimenez-Espin, Jimnez-Jimnez Martnez-Costa 2013). The most important aspect that needs to be ensured is linked with meeting customer expectation, and in case of the food truck, it is possible by purchasing quality raw materials that are effective enough in rendering quality food to the target market as per their expectations. Through this model, it is possible for food truck restaurant to meet with the expectations of its customers in terms of quality and it can surely provide the base in dealing with the market challenges that are associated with competition or another form of barriers. Input output model (ITO) of operations management can be also taken into consideration to enhance the overall operations of the food truck restaurant. Here, the model is highly effective as it will support food truck restaurant to defining and analyze mechanism through which outcomes are generated. It can be expressed that the use of this model will allow food truck restaurant with an opportunity to identify the key issues associated with output and processing of the services. For instance, lack of communication or clear roles and responsibilities can be a major reason which is creating restrictions in terms of delivering satisfactory and fast services to customers (Chaudary, Zafar Salman 2015). Based on the information collected through the model, food truck restaurant can make certain changes in its processes to improve overall quality of service delivery. For example, effective communication tools and techniques can be adopted or democratic leadership style can be adopted by food truck restaurant to make the workers clear about their roles and responsibilities. Opportunities for process improvement Different opportunities are present with food truck restaurant so as to improve its process in the proper manner. Firstly, it is required for the business to ensure that all its process is flexible as through this improvement is possible in every possible manner. Apart from this, quality improvement tactics have to be implemented in each and every process so that it can bring favorable results for the business(Augusto, Lisboa Yasin 2014). The main opportunity is that business is operating on the smaller basis and due to this reason all its processes are small. Therefore, it would be quite easier for the food truck business to render quality service in terms of food and this will allow the business to gain the competitive edge over its rivals in every possible manner. Conclusion From the above carried out study, it can be inferred that delivering high quality of services to customers is essential in terms of achieving long term growth and sustainability. The CEO of food truck restaurant can make certain changes in its existing process and can make it more flexible. For example, the CEO of food truck restaurant can use a flexible business process instead of using a rigid process for service delivery. Apart from this, quality management framework such as Gap Model and Input Output Model can be used by the CEO of food truck restaurant to enhance the quality of services and operations. It can be also inferred that open channels of communication can be used by to encourage the views and opinions of staff members during the process of decision making and strategy formulation. 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