A Hybridmodel(Kano –House of Quality) tohear the voice ofthe customeraccording to analytic hierarchical process,Case Study: Saipa DieselCompany
Seyed Abas Mousavi[1]
Seyed Mehdi hoseini[2]
Abstract
Tosustainprofitable relationshipswith their customers, companies have toaccommodatecustomers' demandsand consequentlythetechnicalrequirementsto meettheircustomers'demands. Alsointoday's competitiveenvironment, those organizationswill besuccess undercompetitionwhich outperform in meetingcustomerneeds compared to othermarketcompetitors. Main objective for research is to prioritizeengineering and technicalrequirements based on their combinationmeeting customer's demandsin respect toSaipa company'sproducts. In the presentresearch,to determinecustomerdemandsandtechnical requirementstomeet thedemands ofcustomers,some interviewsand surveysonfivemangersand deputiesof marketingunits' staffs and five MAsalemangersand deputiesofengineeringunitwere undertaken. The Questionswere designed in thetermsoftheKano modelandthreetypes of interested demands.Then,the specifiedelementsto meet customer needsandtechnicaland engineeringrequirementswere incorporated in the form ofaseparate questionnaireforeachstatisticaldistributionoftheseexpertsin given units. Afterstatistical analysis, in both parts of therequirements, numbers of 11 elements were confirmed. Elementsincluded inthecustomer's needs wererankedusinga hierarchicalanalysistechniqueand finally,throughcombining demands,houseof quality engineering, the technicaland engineering needswere ranked. Resultsindicated thatforeign exchangeand bankingfacilitiescurrently are themosteffective factors inmeetingcustomerneeds.
Key words:
integrated marketingcommunications, voice of the customer, quality functiondevelopment, the Kano model, the quality ofhouse
Introduction
Nowadays,WTO (world trade)experiences increasing growing mostly due totechnology breakthroughs along with plenty various products. This in turn has led to morefocus oncontribution ofcontinuingefficiency improvementto asa competitiveand strategicrequirementin many institutions throughoutaround the world. On the other hand, in world trade age, in order to equipped with competitivetools,theenterprises seekto satisfycustomers.One of importantways is todesign of the product/serviceaccording to customer'sneedsand it serves asone of the keyways toattractand retaincustomers inthesuccessful globalcompanies.
The first andmost important step inattractingcustomers is tounderstandcustomer needs and expectationsand respond tomarketchangesandQualityFunction Development QFDisoneof thosetechniquesthatfromtheearly stages ofthe product life cycleof goodsorservices, i.e.design phaseimprovescustomersatisfaction. Additionally,meanwhile, design requirements (DRs)or technical requirementsTRsforproduct areidentifiedin thefirst phase by design teamand applied bythestrategic objectivesidentified for company. QFD is atool forinter sectorial planningtoassist product developmentteam. Other advantages for QFDinclude costs alleviations, lowcustomer complaints, improved communications among various sectorsand increasedteamwork, high engineering knowledge,thedocumentation,determination of the criticalcharacteristics in quality ofthe product, identification of riskinthe earlystagesof design andassist identification ofthe competitiveadvantageincompany. Hence, in light ofabove mentionedcases and the importanceofcustomersatisfaction, this study gives a hybrid model, Kano-House of quality to hear the voice ofour customersin acasestudy inSaipaDiesel company.
Statement of the problem
Today,businessmen are aware onindisputable factthata 5%increase incustomermeans a5 percentgrowth. Intoday's organizations, quality management practiceshave received great deal of attentions and inthis perspective, the customer comesfirst and last word.Customerism andcustomer-orientation in comprehensive quality management thinking, isone of the mainprinciples. To discoverand collect thecustomer'sneedsis unavoidable factand, thus, priortothenext step, these requirements are converted into productbased oncustomerdemand andtastes.
Today,based ontheserequirements,severaltechniqueshave beendeveloped, amongwhich two techniquesvoice of customer and quality function developmentaregrowing inorganizations today. Voice of the customer is technique for hearingcomments,messages andcustomerfeedbackandtheneeds andexpectations. According this, customer's voice is springboard. Customer expresses his/her feelings andperceptionsoftheircommodity productintowords andsentencesand thenactualneedsare elicited in specificpracticeswithinsuch voices, and to come into valuable results,they should betranslated in to productionlanguage.To satisfy this end there is a urgent need to, anothertechniquecalledQualityfunctiondevelopment- QFD ". Voice of the customeris different fromtraditionalmarketresearch, market study, is a methodbased onnumerical dataand usesstatistical or inference toolswhile thevoice of the customer, is a method based on nominal datasuchasintuition. Not only it play great role for intuitions and perceptions, but also is much more flexible compared to other methods. However to achieve voice of customer,one-dimensional view is not enough. Inan earlier time, customers wereviewedsatisfactionon theone-dimensionalaspect, which means that the higherquality ofthe productreceived by thecustomer, the higherincreasedcustomersatisfactionand vice versa.Notethatitto meet needs ofaparticular product,by far,is notnecessarilyentailan increase incustomersatisfaction.on the other hand, demands type and size affect products qualityand hence customerssatisfactions. ProfessorNoriaki et.al (1984)introduceda modelcalled theKanomodelof customersatisfactionthat this modelis capable to distinguish threethree product requirementswhichwillhavean impactoncustomerssatisfaction. TheKanomodel, divides the quality characteristicsofthe productinto threeclasses, each classrepresentsagiven set of customers' demands.They include basic, functional, attractive andmotivational. According to a surveyconductedstudiesonreceivingvoice of customers it can be concluded thatthewhile eliciting phase,customerneedsdonotfollow a specific patternand thedifferent needs ofthe customers arenotconsidered. One of thepatterns apparently assists us to achieve customeris to adoptKano modeltoextract anddetermine the needsof the customers.In the meantime,customerscan notonlygettingcustomer's views and attitudes not lead usto success intoday'scompetitive marketplace. Sothere is urgent need totake advantage ofother modelstomeet customer needsasconsideredtheirinputand compares it withothers, including the terms andconditionsofengineeringneedsand toidentify needsandprioritiesderived fromthese compounds,to get successfulorganizationsin order torespond tothevoice of the customer. The most promising model usedinthiscontextis house ofquality modelalong with quality function development.The firstplanning toolusedinQFDis house ofquality.House ofquality of serviceforcostumers works based on the customer'srequirements. Manymanagers andengineersutilize house ofqualityas a firstdiagram andtool to foundquality. In addition, oneofthe key areasinwhichindustryplaysan importantrole istheautomotive industry.More successfulautomakers intheir worksthe fastereconomicgrowthwill be.Theeconomydependsheavily onthe performance ofthis industry, and theyplay a vital roleinthisregard.
One of themost important issues inthe automotiveservice is voice of customers. Automotiveindustryexecutivesarein need ofa good model to hear the voice ofcustomers. Given thatseveral differentmodelson hearingvoicecustomers have been purposed(Kano -House of Quality) the combined approach tohear the voice ofthe customeristhe subject of thisstudyandin thisindustry what kind of customer needsand engineering requirementsshould be taken into accounttoachievecustomersatisfaction? What is prioritization for such demands ?Indeveloped countries, permanentcontacts tocustomersis the primary priority and atthe forefrontof allmarketing plansandserviceprovidersof all typesand inthis respect,neversingle selling to costumer is not enough. The important point on process ofcustomer interactionis thatin case of thedissatisfactionandhisrefusaltorepurchasethe goodsall themechanismsinacts in reverse manner in mannerthatdisruptstheproduction planningand reducing suppliersrevenue and profitand eventuallymanufacturerbankrupting. Marketingexpert'ssurveysindicatethat dissatisfiedcustomersoutperform intransferring experiencetoothers.Or it canbe concludedthat theprofitsof the business, requires customers repurchase process. Since thosecustomers whoare proud ofhaving thegoodsor services, encouragetheirrelativestousethoseservices.Hence(the processof customersatisfaction) isofutmost importance.
WhiletheCustomerismlife and customers orientation date back to five decades, this phenomenonhas becomea major concernoforganizationsworldwideand isresponsible forthe dailymanagement andThat'swhycustomer orientationisstrengtheningandToday,thenumber ofcompanies thatputcustomer satisfactionasan indicator ofperformanceare enhancing as well. Asmore companies selected customersatisfactionandcustomer loyaltyrateas an indicator ofthe performance ofthe productorservice oftheirchoiceandinmany organizationsitis usedas anindicatoroffuturecorporation status(Whittle andLofgern2005page15).Inrecentdecades,in manycompanies a strategyof market share ofcustomer satisfactionand loyalty, have been changed, as mentioned earlier, to attracta newcustomers costs5 times for maintainhim/her. Thischange isstrategic thinkingbased on theconcept thatcustomersatisfactionisthebest indicatorforfutureaccess tothecustomer's satisfaction in turn led to more loyal customers for organization. So given thetheoretical principlesstudied inthis researchwe aimed toinvestigateandprovide a modelto meetcustomer needsbased onthe voice of customer.
Research Objectives
(1)The identification ofcustomers' demands on SaipaDieselcompaniesbasedon the triplerequires oftheKano model.
(2)The identification ofrequirements andengineeringneedsto meetto customer needs.
(3) Weightingand rankingcustomer needs ina hierarchicalanalysismethod.
(4) To prioritizebased on a combinationoftechnicalengineeringrequirements andneedsinresponding tocustomer needsin respectto customers' demands forSaipaDiesel Company.
Methodology and measurement tool
The study was adescriptivesurvey,and in case of nature is appliedin terms of aim in which populationinclude59salesand technical expertsofthese28experts were belonged to marketing departmentand 31expertswere involved intechnicalunitsofSaipaDieselcompany.
In thisstudy,dueto limitedstatistical subjects, the censussamplingwas considered. To literaturereview, library method such as booksandscientific journals, and to extract theparametersand optionsin addition tothe study ofliteraturereview, expert opinionson subject was used. To determineThecustomerneeds and technical requirementsneeded tomeet thedemands ofCustomersprimarilythrough interviews andFeedbackfrom5Ma (managers and assistants) commercial unitand5Ma (managers and deputies) from theengineeringwere used to determinethe needsand requirements, wherenumber of 13 questions were designed.It should be notedthat thesequestions aregivenintermsofthreetypes ofrequirementsposed bythe Kano model.
Accordingtoexperts, the mainconsumerunit 4asthe major needsand5otherelementsas wellasfunctional requirementsandotherrequirementsforthefourtypesfor themotivationalneedsofthecustomerswereconsidered.Determinethe basic elementsandrequirements forresponding tocustomers' needsdevelopedbybusiness unitwas usedbased whichtheir viewsand10 elementsfor meeting these demandswere consideredandthentheelementstomeet customer needsand engineeringrequirementsin the form ofaseparate questionnairesforeachstatisticaldistributionoftheseunits(experts) were developed.
Andfor eachoneofquestionsforexpertsto whatextentelementsobtainedare significantin therangeof 5optionsLikertscalesystemshave been usedintheoptionsfrom completelydisagree tocompletely agreewiththe5options, with scoresof1to 5.
Validity and reliability of questionnaires
The both questionnaire's validity was confirmedby unit's senior experts and In order to assess the reliability of the questionnaire the alpha Cronbach coefficient was calculated.The 20 copies of each questionnaire designed to test the statistical population.SPSS software output forCronbach's alphaonboth variablesshowed thatcustomers' needs andengineering requirements wereconformed, tocoefficientsof0.83and0.72. Afterthisstageand extractingmain elements, theHouse of Qualitymatrixwascompleted foroptions assessment. The Specifiedrequirementsinclient's demands section,according tothe experts, numbers of 13 items weredetermined, and then items were dividedbased on the Kano modelinto threespectrumsof needsasthe following:
Requirements type / Questionnairesto determinecustomer demandsFunctional requirement / Products diversity is low
Functional requirement / High price
Functional requirement / No environmental pollution in long term
Basic requirements / Suitable interaction to customers
Basic requirements / Returnsor fixpossibledefects
Motivational requirements / Cheap leasing facilities
Functional requirement / Low fuel price
Functional requirement / post-sales servicequalityand golden warranty
Motivational requirements / Installment trucks
Basic requirements / Updated sale information or service delivery
Basic requirements / Truck delivery according to schedule
Motivational requirements / Golden card
Motivational requirements / abroad Vehicletraffic
Table 1customerdemands for SaipaDieselcompany Alsoin requirements foran appropriatemeetingto thedemands ofcustomers, 10criteriawere describedin Table 2: Table2: EngineeringRequirementsData AnalysisIn thisstudy,data analysisfocusedonfour main categories:demographicanalysisof2-descriptive statisticalanalysisandquestionnairesinferentialdata analysis3-weightingandratingcustomerneeds4- -completing house of quality and AHP data analysis. Based on this, thedescriptiveanalysisof the questionnairedatawereinvestigatethe central anddistribution indicesaccording tocustomerneedsand single sample T test was considered to oftheapproval ordisapprovalformulatingquestionsin the questionnaire.AlsoAHPanalytichierarchicaltechniques were used expertsinthebusinessunitsusingpairedcomparisonsandsetofelementsbased onspectral9 Saatchi spectrademandsratingwereprioritized, and thefinalstep istocomplete aquality homematrixto prioritize engineeringrequirementsto meet customerdemands.
Findings
1-Demographic specifications: Sociologicalcharacteristics of thestudy sampleintheseparation ofbusiness andengineeringunitsare givenin Table3.
Table3: Demographic specifications
Engineering unit / Business unitvariable / frequency / percent / frequency / percent
gender / male / 19 / 67.85% / 31 / 100%
female / 9 / 32.14% / 0 / 0%
age / 3 / 10.71% / 5 / 16.1%
10 / 35.7% / 10 / 32.25%
8 / 39.6% / 12 / 38.70%
4 / 14.28% / 4 / 12.9%
education / diploma / 0 / 12% / 0 / 0%
Associate / 0 / 15% / 0 / 0%
B.SC. / 19 / 67.85% / 20 / 64.5%
M.S.c / 9 / 32.14% / 11 / 35.48%
5 / 17.85 / 6 / 19.35%
N / Questionnairesto determinetechnical and engineering demands
1 / Technology transfertothe ItalianFiator FordAmerica
2 / Exchange facilities
3 / Feedbacksystem
4 / Hundred percentinspectionworkstation
5 / Bargain withbanksto reducefees andinterest rate
6 / Hire skilled experts
7 / Banks facilities
8 / Offering integrated informing system
9 / Applying comprehensive schedule
10 / ISO 14001 and international standards
9 / 32.14% / 9 / 29%
7 / 25% / 11 / 35.48%
7 / 25% / 5 / 16.13%
2Descriptiveand inferentialanalysis ofcustomer demands
In thissection thedescriptive and inferential statisticalanalysison the questionnairewere adopted
N / Mean / S.dQuestion 1 / 28 / 3.48 / 1.025
Question 2 / 28 / 3.69 / 0.875
Question 3 / 28 / 1.236 / 2.91
Question 4 / 28 / 1.044 / 3.45
Question 5 / 28 / 1.191 / 3.53
Question 6 / 28 / 1/074 / 3.93
Question 7 / 28 / 1.026 / 3.07
Question 8 / 28 / 1.087 / 3.44
Question 9 / 28 / 0.960 / 3.75
Question 10 / 28 / 1.022 / 3.43
Question 11 / 28 / 0.916 / 3.55
Question 12 / 28 / 0.820 / 2.63
Question 13 / 28 / 1.052 / 3.47
Results ofa descriptiveanalysisof thecustomerrequirementsispresentedin Table4
The followingdescriptionis given: Table4: Descriptiveanalysisof customer needsscores
According to Table4,it becomes clearthatthose questions3, 7 and 12scored less thannumeric value3, the averageoptioni.e.it seems that participants in this study did notapprovedby the businessdepartment.Toinvestigatethisinferentialanalysiswas used.
In Table5thesingle-sample T-testanalysiswasstudiedIn thisanalysis wherethedecisioncriterionisequal to3.
Null hypothesis: The data average forthe studyquestionsare≤ 3.
Alternative hypothesis: The data average forthe studyquestionsare3.
Table5: inferential Analysis ofcustomer needs scores
Decision criterion-3Question 1 / T value / df / significance
Question 2 / 2498 / 27 / 0.019
Question 3 / 4222 / 27 / 0.000
Question 4 / -0375 / 27 / 0.711
Question 5 / 2.324 / 27 / 0.028
Question 6 / 2373 / 27 / 0.025
Question 7 / 1926 / 27 / 0.045
Question 8 / 0.478 / 27 / 0.636
Question 9 / 2.182 / 27 / 0.038
Question 10 / 4.130 / 27 / 0.000
Question 11 / 2.264 / 27 / 0.032
Question 12 / 3.206 / 27 / 0.003
Question 13 / -2.384 / 27 / 0.064
Question 2 / 2.382 / 27 / 0.024
According to theresults in Table5,it is clearthat thesignificance level ofthe testresultsfor needs of7, 3, and 12 aremorethan thestandarderror islarge(p> 1815)isthereforenull hypothesiswasconfirmed. In other words,in termsofaudienceresearchquestionsdid notapproved bytheBusiness unitand cannotserves as asdeterminantquestionsforcustomer needsforthe companyduring this period. Thus ineach of thesectionsor Kano modelis not taken into account in this interval.The numbers of main elements for 10 elements arediscussed inthis section.
3-Descriptiveand inferentialanalysis ofengineering requirements
Descriptiveanalysisforengineering requirementsand technicalmeasuresintendedtoseparate theitemsconsideredin the tableis as follows.
Table6: Descriptiveanalysis engineering requirements scores
N / mean / SdQuestion 1 / 31 / 4.001 / 0.925
Question 2 / 31 / 3.803 / 0.872
Question 3 / 31 / 3.672 / 0.041
Question 4 / 31 / 3.754 / 1.137
Question 5 / 31 / 3.879 / 0.909
Question 6 / 31 / 4.103 / 1.018
Question 7 / 31 / 4.048 / 0.851
Question 8 / 31 / 3.866 / 0.919
Question 9 / 31 / 3.630 / 0.894
Question10 / 31 / 3.767 / 1.062
According to Table6,it is clearthatthe totalaverageratefor Questionnaire questions toengineeringdemands isgreater than3, and to controlthereliability, results obtainedfrom analysisandstatisticalanalysisare used.Similar tocustomer needs in Table7,inferentialstatisticalanalysisbased onsingle-sample Studentttestwas considered wherethedecisioncriterionequals to3.
Null hypothesis: The data average forthe studyquestions on engineering requirements are≤ 3.
Alternative hypothesis: The data average forthe studyquestions on engineering requirements >3.
Table7: Descriptiveanalysisofengineering requirements score
Decision criterion-3Question 1 / T value / 30 / significance
Question 2 / 6.024 / 30 / 0.000
Question 3 / 5.124 / 30 / 0.000
Question 4 / 3.962 / 30 / 0.001
Question 5 / 5.382 / 30 / 0.001
Question 6 / 6.029 / 30 / 0.000
Question 7 / 6.853 / 30 / 0.000
Question 8 / 5.247 / 30 / 0.000
Question 9 / 3.926 / 30 / 0.000
Question 10 / 4.025 / 30 / 0.000
According tothe a significance levelof0.05calculatedfor the engineeringrequirements issmaller than 0.05 it becomes clearthatalldevelopedquestions inthis sectionhave been approvedby thetechnicalexpertsand hence are used in house ofquality model.
Rankingcustomer requirementsbyAHP
In thisstudy, the questionnairepairedcomparisons are used to ranktheimportance ofcustomerneedsbyfiveMScexperts in Business Unit.Ranking bypairedcomparisonsofthe present studyto determine theimportance ofcontactsandcustomers' needs arepresented in Table8.
Table8: Results ofcommonspairedcomparisonsincustomersatisfaction.
Given thattheinconsistency rateissmaller than0.01, sotherankingseems to be validandreliable. Accordingly,suitable priceandTiming and truck delivery according to schedule and post-salesqualityof servicewere ranked in first tothirdin comparison to otherelementsin higher difference. Then, accordingto theweightingtothe customer's requirementsconsidering customers' requirements toSaipaDieselandengineeringfactorsneeded tomeet totheseneeds,we cancombine theseneeds witheach other through thematrixto determineprioritiesas well as integrate combined prioritize voice of customers.Accordingly,thefinalstepis toassess thequality ofthe house. CompletingHouse of QualityMatrixfor10 customers' demands, 10technical characteristics were determinedandthe relationship matrix betweenthemwas formed according to figure 1.
Left and upper row representmatrix for house ofquality and technical requirements.Also, right columnshowsweightmatrixcalculatedbased ona hierarchicalanalysistechniquepresentedto eachcustomer'sneeds. For house of quality three symbols and characterized with 1.3 and 9 are used to representstrong, moderate and weak relationship between customers' demands and technical; requirements.For example,if engineering requirements do not meetcustomer needscompletely it scored with 9.Todetermine theabsoluteimportanceofengineering and technical,EngineeringRequirementsweightis multiplied to eachcustomerdemands in matrix column bycustomer needsweight(right column matrix).Accordingly, theTable1for thecalculation ofabsoluteimportance(AI)requirementsiscombined withcustomerneeds as following:
AI=[0.308*9)+(0.509*9)+(0.019*1)]=7.538
Hence, thecombinedrankingis asTable1. When theabsoluteimportances of re-calculated values are equalizedthe relative importance(RI)becomes:
RI=[7.538/(7.538+9,27+1,864+0,768+7,566+0,762+8,894+3,855+4.3+0.502)-16.62
Table1: quality of houseMatrixbased oncustomer demandsandtechnicalrequirements
Concluding remarks
According to theresults ofresearch, Saipa Diesel Company should use quality of house matrixtoprioritizeand meet the needs oftheir customers. Accordinglyengineeringpriorityare suitable to satisfySaipaDieselcompany demands in engineeringunitin order to achievecustomer satisfaction and loyaltyto following should be taken into account: Technology transfertothe ItalianFiator FordAmerica- Exchange facilities- Feedbacksystem- Hundred percentinspectionworkstation- Bargain withbanksto reducefees andinterest rate- Hiring skilled experts- Banks facilities- Offering integrated informing system- Applying comprehensive schedule- ISO 14001 and international standards
Suggestions
- Given thefindings ofthis research someperspectives are offered in order to achievesatisfactionand loyaltyof customers inSaipaDieselCompany:
- To providegreater convenienceand easier facilities topersuadecustomersto buyproducts.
- Prices setting orclarificationsinthisregardto improvetrustandcustomerloyalty
- To develop guidelines andrulesof clientrights
- To presenta planforfacilitiesservicescommunityby
- To makerelationshipswithcustomers.
- to present integratedinformationmanagementsystems-
- To employexperiencedandprofessional forces
- to meet safety and environmentalstandards
- To offer guaranteeof service
- Todiversifiedproducts
- Tofixdefects andreturnspossibility
- To province leasingservices
- to pave the way forthe conditionsinstallment purchase
- updated information within site
- Vehicle deliveryscheduling
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[1] Corresponding author: M.Sc. on business administration, Islamic Azad university
[2] Department of management , firoozkooh branch , Islamic azad university ,firoozkooh , iran