Customer-Oriented Quality Management in the Automotive Industry

Master's Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: 2,0, Linnaeus University (Business), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:§In times of severe competition, it is of crucial importance to create a competitive advantage to differentiate from the competitors and to sustain the business of the company. This thesis intends to show that a customer-focused quality management is one way to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Quality controls along the whole value chain -before, during and after production- leads to failure free products, which save costs on the one hand and have thus a positive influence on the company s revenue. On the other hand failure free products that meet the customers expectations lead to satisfied customers who build up a brand loyalty and conduct retention sales, which have a positive influence on the company s sales, market share as well as the overall image.§Furthermore, this thesis points out that it is important to listen to the voice of the customers and get an insight in the customer s needs and wants. To fulfil or even exceed their expectations leads to customer satisfaction, which is a key to success in today s business world. In addition, the customer demands in regard of quality are growing continuously and new technologies are appearing on the markets on a regular basis. Therefore the producers are forced to keep to the latest technology developments and to get hold on the changing customer needs. But even without this external pressure, quality improvement is justified from a cost point of view.§The applicability of a customer-oriented quality management is shown in the practical part of this thesis, when the quality of the Saab models is analyzed from the customer s perspective.§Due to the arguments, outlined in this thesis, it can be summarized that a quality management with a focus on the needs of the customers in should become a core strategy of any company producing and selling products in order to create customer satisfaction and sustain the business.§This thesis deals with the field of quality management in the context of customer satisfaction. To show the practical applicability of quality management, this thesis is looking at how quality management is conducted in the automotive industry, as we compare the Initial Quality Study (IQS) from the market research institute J. D. Power with a survey that was internally conducted at the Saab Automobile AB.§Today s business environment creates a growing need for quality management. Tougher competition leads to the demand for cost savings and higher profitability. These days the consumer can choose from a variety of similar products, which are often exchangeable in the eyes of the customer. If they are not satisfied with a product s performance, they switch to the competitors brand. Thus the focus on the customer s needs and wants in line with quality is one way of differentiation from the vast number of competitors. Satisfied customers are likely to build up a brand loyalty and this helps to ensure long term sales. The explosive growth of technology led to a higher product complexity and thus favored the quality movement.§Some technical products bear threats to human safety and to the environment which resulted in an expansion of governmental quality regulations as well as warranty laws in order to protect the consumers. In addition, the product life cycles are shortening along with the technological development and producers have to be prepared for increased quality requirements from the customers side as well as to respond to fast changing customer wants. Especially, on such a competitive market as the world market for passenger cars, the contenders are forced to reduce costs and to fulfill their customers wants and satisfy their needs to be succ...