Katarzyna Szczepańska

Quality management frameworks implementation in Polish local governments

Quality management frameworks (QMFs) are becoming increasingly crucial in the public administration sector due to the demands and expectations of the stakeholders. Used properly, they provide a structured approach to assessing the current service quality level and the organisational performance and help to identify where improvements can be made. The article analyses and discusses the Polish local government offices experience and involvement in the QMFs implementation, like the ISO 9001 standard, Common Assessment Framework and European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) models. The aim of the article, on the basis of the case-study method, is to present the efforts of QMFs implementation in two selected local governments in Poland – The City Office in Dzierżoniów, and The City Office in Trzebnica, and to confirm that QMFs implementation positively affects overall service quality and the key performance indicators, as well as to confirm that the EFQM model with its general and universal structure can be successfully used by public institutions, such as local government offices.

Loyalty Programs Effectiveness

Loyalty Programs Effectiveness An increasing number of loyalty programs is one of the most common phenomena observed in the practice of marketing companies on the market today. Objectives and tasks of loyalty programs determine the type of use of marketing instruments affecting the attitudes and behaviours of customers, which is aimed at the program. The diversity of factors influencing the effectiveness of loyalty programs should set the scope and object of empirical research. As the results of studies to evaluate the effectiveness of loyalty programs mainly on the B2C market is diverse in terms of the criteria. This article presents the essence of loyalty programs and the factors influencing their effectiveness.

Human Performance Improvement in the Health Care Organizations. Results of Empirical Study in Poland

Abstract Human Performance Improvement (HPI) as well as human aspects in Quality Management (QM) has received strong attention from researches. Many studies investigate the level of health care services and their main determinants. This paper seeks the relationships between the concepts of HPI and QM. The aims are to present the HPI practices on the example of EFQM Business Excellence Model criteria. HPI criteria were measured by EFQM model in Health Care Organizations (HCO) in Poland with use of case study methodology conducted on the basis of self-assessment reports documentation. The study included all HCO which are Polish Quality Award winners in the years 2005-2010. Studied HCO belonged to public sector. Results of study: (1) showed that the rules of HPI apply to all criteria of the EFQM model in Human Resources Management range, (2) justified the role and importance of HPI in the evaluation QM in HCO. The use of the EFQM model to assessment of the quality level of HCO is helpful for implementation of aimed improvement. Building QM awareness contributes to HCO creation of the need for management mechanisms and the development of medical service personnel function which is related to HPI.

Evaluation of the Effects of Quality Management System Improvement

Evaluation of the Effects of Quality Management System Improvement The article presents the tools that enable organizations to assess the effects of improvement of the quality management system, such as internal and external audits; risk management, measures of effectiveness and efficiency of processes, evaluation of customer satisfaction, quality cost analysis; analysis of best practices and self-assessment. The effectiveness use of these tools depends on the progress of the efforts of organizations in activities related to its improvement, knowledge and skills of employees and managers, who should show the positive attitude of leadership and involvement.