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    Quality in the Public Sector
    Quality in the Public Sector
    Quality in the Public Sector
    Ebook144 pages55 minutes

    Quality in the Public Sector

    By Jennifer Bean and Lascelles Hussey

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Quality in the Public Sector is one of a series of books entitled “Essential Skills for the Public Sector”. It sets out ways in which those providing public sector services can clarify what is meant by quality and how quality can be achieved. It considers issues such as setting standards, measuring and monitoring quality and the cost

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHB Publications
    Release dateOct 1, 2011
    ISBN9781899448746
    Quality in the Public Sector
    Author

    Jennifer Bean

    Jennifer Bean is a highly experienced consultant with an excellent track record of working with non-profit and public sector organisations. She is a UK Chartered Accountants and holds a Masters in Business Administration. Her expertise is in taking business principles and best practice and applying them to public sector organisations in a practical way.

    Read more from Jennifer Bean

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      Book preview

      Quality in the Public Sector - Jennifer Bean

      Chapter 1

      Introduction

      Quality is a major issue for all organisations striving towards continuous improvement. Quality issues have become extremely important in the public sector, as governments around the world place increasing emphasis on the quality of outputs and outcomes from public services. Public sector managers are tasked with the responsibility of delivering high quality services, often within tight financial constraints, with the aim of achieving the best possible value for money.

      The key questions facing managers with respect to quality are:

      • How do we define it? (Particularly as some public sector services are intangible in nature.)

      • How do we measure it?

      • How do we monitor it? And

      • How do we manage it?

      These questions are complicated by the need to become more customer focused, as views on quality are not the sole domain of those delivering the service, but also those receiving it.

      Quality in the Public Sector seeks to demystify many of the issues surrounding quality in public sector environments. It provides techniques for setting quality standards, measuring and monitoring quality and identifying the costs and benefits of implementing quality management. It also addresses some of the difficulties in trying to maintain or improve quality standards in a climate of constrained or shrinking financial resources.

      It is increasingly common for public sector organisations to seek recognition for having a quality service, and there are a number of quality kite marks that can be achieved, some of which are covered in this book.

      The principles described in the text are often illustrated with practical examples and can be applied to most public sector, and not-for-profit services. Self-development questions are given at the end of each chapter to allow the reader to consider how the techniques discussed can be applied to specific service areas within their organisation.

      This book is one of a series of Essential Skills for the Public Sector titles. The series aims to assist public sector managers become more efficient and effective in carrying out their important management responsibilities. We consider this book to be an important part of the tool kit for public sector management development.

      Chapter 2

      What is Quality?

      Defining Quality

      Quality is extremely important for the public sector and is a term that is used frequently with respect to public sector services. Quality is often used in the context of:

      •   Establishing value for money

      •   Setting quality thresholds for service provision

      •   Creating an image

      •   Public perception

      •   Service specification

      Quality, by its very nature, is subjective and will mean different things to different people. It is also accepted that there are different levels of quality. Hence, defining quality in a general way is virtually impossible.

      Despite the difficulties with definitions, there exist a number of standardised definitions of quality, some of which are given as follows:

      Quality is conformance to requirements

      Philip B Crosby - Quality is Free

      Quality is always relative to a set of requirements

      ISO 9000 principles

      Quality is the degree of excellence

      Concise Oxford English Dictionary

      Many authors do not try to define quality, but treat quality as a concept which is interpreted by individuals and organisations with respect to different goods, services and objectives.

      What is clear is that quality needs to be defined if it is to be understood in the same way by everybody. There are a variety of factors that influence the quality definition, and understanding these will help to ensure the most appropriate definition is developed for the organisation or service.

      The types of factors which influence quality include:

      a) The strategic objectives of the organisation with respect to service provision

      b) The organisational value systems

      c) Consumer attitudes and expectations

      d) Employees attitudes and expectations

      e) The market place

      f) The communication methods being applied

      These factors are explained further as follows:

      Strategic objectives with respect to the provision of services

      •   The key purpose of the service needs to be established:

         Long lasting

         Investment

         Life enhancement

         Re-cycling

         Prevention

         Cure

         Protection

         Value added

         Enforcement

         Customer satisfaction

      •   There may be one or a combination of different service objectives that need to be achieved

      Organisational value systems

      •   Usually represented by policies on issues such as:

         Equality

         Customer care

         Health and safety

         Environment

         Sustainability

         Profitability

         Accountability

         Social/community responsibility

      •   The policies may in some cases conflict with one another leading to a confused value system

      Consumer attitudes and expectations

      The consumers of products and services often make assumptions which may or may not be true, for example:

      •   These assumptions may be influenced by a range of external factors such as:

         Family/home environment

         Friends/peers

         Work environment

         Public opinion

         Past experience

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