4.2 Quality of goods and services

• How can a business ensure it delivers good quality products / services to customers?

  Recruit good quality employees

  Use good quality suppliers

  Train workers well
• What are the benefits to businesses of giving good quality products / services to customers?

  higher customer satisfaction.

  The business will be able to charge higher prices.

  The employees in the business are likely to be more motivated if they are producing good quality products and seeing customers satisfied.
• What is a product recall?

  when a business asks customers (or retailers) to return products to the factory because there is a safety issue
• Quality Control (QC)

  Quality is checked at the end of the production process
• Quality Assurance (QA)

  Quality is checked throughout the entire production process, and all workers are responsible for quality
• Benefits of QA over QC

  Quality is checked throughout the entire process, so mistakes are less likely to be made.

  Mistakes are found WHEN they are made.

  Staff are motivated because they are trusted and have responsibility.
• drawbacks of QA over QC:

  Staff may require extra training, which can increase the costs of the business.

  Staff may ask for higher wage rates since they have more responsibility.

  It may slow down productivity levels if quality is checked throughout