J Disney

Competing through quality in transport services

The public transport industry is one of the most competitive sectors in the UK with airlines, rail and bus operators all facing stiff competition not only from their direct rivals but also from other modes and private transport. The response of customers to improvements in quality of service by bus operators is discussed and evaluated using case studies, and proposals are made for future developments.

The case for undergraduate education in quality management

Quality management is still struggling to establish itself as an academic subject in the UK and elsewhere. The IQA is the professional body in the UK but is not chartered; quality management is not a recognized subject area in the HEFCE Research Assessment Exercise and papers published in quality management journals do not carry a high rating in it; there are still very few Chairs in Quality Management in UK universities. A knowledge of quality management is now regarded in many quarters as being as important to any manager as the fundamentals of marketing or accounting, yet it is still an under-recognized subject at undergraduate level in the UK. To many organizations today, quality is still synonymous with quality management systems based upon BS EN ISO 9001, as shown by the DTI Register for Quality Assessed UK Companies. This re ̄ ects the signi® cance placed on its predecessor BS5750 in the quality initiatives launched by the DTI from the early 1980s which moved on to raise awareness of the philosophy of quality gurus such as Deming, Juran, Crosby, Ishikawa and Peters (Bendell, 1991) and the concepts of total quality management (TQM) (Oakland, 1989). However, there has also been an increasing interest in strategic company-wide systems designed to facilitate and promote the continuous improvement of processes, products and services (Lascelles & Dale, 1992). Emphasis has also been placed upon the importance of a strategic customer focus and the need to place customer needs at the heart of the organization (Peters & Austin, 1985; Peters & Waterman, 1982). An example of this approach has been the development and growing interest in the EFQM Excellence model. A consequence of these developments in business practice has been the need for quality managers and practitioners who have knowledge of the alternative strategies and the skills needed to plan and manage the necessary change process. However, as indicated by Dahlgaard (1999), `̀ in the TQM era quality became, for the ® rst time, everybody’s job and everybody’s responsibility’ ’ . Illingworth (1998), Director of Human Resources at Unisys, commented upon `̀ the declining number of organisations which had separate Departments of Quality and the extent to which quality philosophies and approaches, for example via the Excellence model, were now seen as underpinning organisations’ core activities, whilst use of the actual word `Quality’

Rural transport and social inclusion: The DalesBus Initiative

The importance of rural transport in addressing social exclusion has been acknowledged for some time. We report and comment on one particular case in North Yorkshire, a predominantly rural county in England, of how state, non-state and third/societal sectors worked together to market and improve public transport links and reduce social exclusion. The article examines the outcomes of a SIS (Stimulating Innovation for Success) project: a leisure-based public transport network located in North Yorkshire. It comments on the efficacy of this relationship and in particular with one agency, the Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company.

Nottingham Express Transit: The role of green innovation in the drive for sustainable mobility through improved public transport

Traffic congestion at peak times has long been a problem facing cities in the United Kingdom.1 Latterly concern about combating congestion has been hightened by worries over carbon emissions and poor air quality. In tackling these problems, green innovations incorporating new technologies appear to have much to offer, although progress in implementing these sorts of innovation appears to have been slow. This case study analyses the efforts of one city to tackle these problems by pioneering a number of green innovations including the introduction of a light rail system employing trams known as Nottingham Express Transit as well as electric and gas-powered buses. The nature of these innovations is explored together with a detailed examination of how they came to be implemented and the impact they have had.

An availability study for a SME

A case study of an availability analysis for a small commercial company is presented. The analysis was carried out to meet a customer requirement for the availability of an electronic ground-based system in a benign environment. Availability calculations were based on failure data provided and an explanation of the methodology and problems encountered and dealt with are discussed. The methodology includes failure classification according to MIL-HDBK-781A and how it may be used to promote and develop internal processes. A commentary on the background to reliability/availability specification is provided and a number of recommendations for monitoring reliability and availability are given.