Quality (AQA A Level Business): Flashcards
Exam code: 7132
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Define quality.
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Define quality.
Quality is the extent to which a product's characteristics and features satisfy the needs of customers.
What features make customers see a product as good quality?
Customers see products as good quality if they look good, are sold by a reputable brand, and are reliable, durable, safe and fit for purpose. Good customer service, including after-sales service, also matters.
Many businesses set quality _____ to focus staff and resources on meeting customer expectations.
Many businesses set quality targets to focus staff and resources on meeting customer expectations.
How can high quality give a business a competitive advantage?
High quality can be used in promotional activity and can provide a unique selling point. The positive reputation it creates can also ease expansion into new markets.
True or False?
High-quality products can usually command a higher price than lower-quality products.
True.
Customers are usually willing to pay a high price for high quality. Lower-quality products may need to be sold at a discount to persuade customers to buy them.
What two broad types of cost can poor quality create?
The costs of poor quality can be financial, such as refunds, or reputational, such as lost trust and negative publicity.
Why do scrapped or reworked products increase a business's costs?
Faulty items must be discarded or corrected before sale, which wastes materials, labour and machine time.
How do returns and refunds affect a business?
Customers send back faulty goods, which reduces revenue and increases administration costs.
A business may need to pay __________ to customers who are harmed or suffer loss because of a faulty product or service.
A business may need to pay compensation to customers who are harmed or suffer loss because of a faulty product or service.
Why can poor quality lead to legal costs?
Breaches of consumer protection law or product liability claims can lead to fines or court costs.
True or False?
Handling complaints about poor quality costs a business nothing, because staff are paid anyway.
False.
Staff who spend time resolving complaints are not serving new customers or improving the business, so poor quality still has a cost.
How do negative reviews and word of mouth affect a business?
Poor experiences are shared online or between customers, which discourages future sales.
True or False?
Once a quality fault has been fixed, customers' confidence in the business quickly returns.
False.
Once confidence is damaged, customers may switch to competitors even after the fault is fixed, so lost trust can be hard to regain.
Define quality control.
Quality control is a traditional method of checking quality at the end of the production process, using quality inspectors to find faults.
True or False?
Quality control needs a lot of staff training, because workers check their own work.
False.
Quality control needs little staff training, because specialist inspectors check quality rather than the employees themselves.
Why can quality control be wasteful?
Rejecting finished goods wastes resources and creates high costs of scrapping or reworking. The cause of defects is ignored, so problems may continue.
Define quality assurance.
Quality assurance involves inspecting quality throughout the production process, with workers checking their own work at various stages.
What are the advantages of quality assurance?
Quality issues are identified early, so products may be reworked rather than rejected. The focus is on the cause of defects, so future quality issues may be prevented.
Quality assurance needs staff training and a skilled workforce, so ____ costs may increase.
Quality assurance needs staff training and a skilled workforce, so labour costs may increase.
Define Total Quality Management (TQM).
Total Quality Management (TQM) involves organising the business with quality at its core and with every worker responsible for quality.
What are the drawbacks of TQM?
All employees must be fully committed and need regular training to keep quality high. TQM also needs strong leadership, with managers monitoring progress and leading by example.
Define quality circles.
Quality circles are groups of workers who meet regularly to solve quality problems identified in the production process.
How can quality circles benefit a business?
Workers feel valued and motivated when they are included in decision-making. Their knowledge of daily processes leads to relevant, effective solutions, and engaged workers raise productivity.
Define benchmarking.
Benchmarking involves a business comparing its quality and performance with market leaders within the same industry.
______ benchmarking compares different functions within the same business, such as finance and marketing.
Internal benchmarking compares different functions within the same business, such as finance and marketing.
True or False?
Best practices copied from market leaders may not suit the unique needs of a specific business.
True.
Best practices from market leaders may not be directly applicable, because each business has its own unique needs.
Why can it be difficult for a business to improve quality?
Improving quality brings high up-front and ongoing costs and may face staff or union resistance. Higher costs can push prices up and lose price-sensitive customers, and the push for quality can strain resources.
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