Total Quality Management and Service Delivery in the Local Government System
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study was designed to investigate the efficacy of local government in Nigeria with a view of determining the relevance of total quality management to enhance good service delivery.
Specifically, the study sought to determine:
- The role of local government in Nigeria
- The application of total quality management for effective and efficient service delivery
- The relevance of Adavi local government in socio-economic transformation
- The position of local level for realization of national plan
- How good administration can aid all round development at the grassroot
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEWED OF RELTED LITERATURE
THE CONCEPT OF QUALITY
Quality is a significant element of production or services in keeping the customers satisfied. There are different definitions and competing views of the term quality by different people and the common element of the business definitions is that the quality of a product or service refers to the perception of the degree to which the product or service meets the customer’s expectations. Crosby, (1979) defined quality as the conformance to requirements or specifications and also suggested that to manage quality adequately; it must be able to be measured. ISO 9000: (2000) (cited in Vorley and Tickle, 2001) defined quality as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfil requirements. The American Society of Quality sees quality as being subjective, with different individuals having their own perception of it (www.asq.org, assessed 29/10/08). To them, quality can be seen as having two meanings – the characteristics of the product or service ability to satisfy a particular need or a product or service devoid of faults. It can be defined as a state of conformance to valid requirements where valid requirement are defined as conditions that meets the needs of customers, measurable and achievable. Peters, (1999) defined quality as a ‘magic bullet’ which provides lower cost, higher customer service, better products and higher margins. He also explained that ‘quality is in the eyes of the beholder’, this mean it is what the customer say it is. Kondo, (1997), defined quality as a source of employee’s empowerment. To him, a major aim of a company is to make itself attractive to its employees and customers while making profits for its shareholders George Bernard cited in Stebbing, (1992) noted that two forms of qualities exist in the world, efficiency and inefficiency. To him, efficiency is what every senior manager should strive to achieve and the efficiency in service is what the customers expect to get. He explained that organisations are inefficient because of the inadequate trainings given to employees by the employers or the assignment of task to unqualified workers. Which ever way quality is defined, it is viewed as part of an organisational culture; this should be inclusive of all different facets of production.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Quality management involves the formulation of strategies, setting goals and objectives, planning and implementing the plans; and using control systems for monitoring feedback and taking corrective actions. An organisation’s quality management implementations are of two foldsa) Satisfying customer’s expectation and b) Improvement in the overall business efficiency (Dale, et al (a) 1994) According to Juran (1988), the basic goal of quality management is the elimination of failure; both in the concept and in the reality of products, services and processes. This does not only mean that product, services and processes will fail in fulfilling their function but that their function was not what the customer desire. Failure must be prevented in quality management and to handle this there should be planning, organizing and controlling. Four stages of quality management was treated by Dale et al (1994), this include inspection, quality control (QC), quality assurance (QA) and total quality management (TQM)
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Total Quality Management And Service Delivery in the Local Government System. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges Total Quality Management And Service Delivery in the Local Government System.
Summary
This study was on Total Quality Management And Service Delivery in the Local Government System. Three objectives were raised which included; The role of local government in Nigeria, the application of total quality management for effective and efficient service delivery, the relevance of Adavi local government in socio-economic transformation, the position of local level for realization of national plan and how good administration can aid all round development at the grassroot. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Adavi local government. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
The Local Governments in the Adavi local government , from the respondents‟ perspective have averagely performed the constitutional roles as assigned to them by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In order for this third tier of government to achieve the quest of sustainable development for the grassroots, there is a need for more people oriented and impactful programmes aimed at meeting the needs of the people.
Recommendation
This study recommends adequate training for staff and political administrators of the local governments to align them with their constitutional expectations, and also suggests that more funds should be allocated to the local governments in order to empower them to achieve their constitutional objectives to the people at the grassroots
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