IndexIntroductionDiscussionConclusionThe quality of services and operations is an essential component of a competitive strategy in the hospitality industry. However, ensuring high quality of services in the tourism sector can sometimes be complex due to differences in customer tastes and preferences. In the case of a restaurant, the management must always ensure that services and facilities are available to appropriate standards and, at the same time, a high level of employee commitment would improve the comfort and satisfaction of visitors. Furthermore, a communication strategy will also be needed to ensure that customers maintain a good relationship with the restaurant during their visit and even after their visit. Given the importance of customer services in the hospitality industry, this paper explored the impact of total quality management (TQM) processes on the effectiveness of a restaurant's business strategy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The paper used a qualitative approach based on the analysis of past literature on organization and quality management in the tourism sector. From the literature review, it was found that customer service was the most critical success factor in ensuring that a tourism organization achieved a competitive advantage in its industry. The paper identified that improving service quality and career and talent development opportunities will help a tourism organization sustain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, organizational culture has been found to be one of the main determinants of success in the tourism sector. Simply put, the researcher observed that communication, customer service, and employee engagement were crucial to ensuring the company's success in the tourism industry. Introduction The hospitality industry is facing growing uncertainties in different parts of the globe due to social, political factors and economic challenges. Wang, Chen, and Chen (2012, p. 120) highlighted declining people's incomes, slowing economic growth in the developed world, and political instability. In addition to environmental challenges, the poor performance of some tourism organizations can also be attributed to poor internal factors such as service delivery, lack of employee commitment and poor customer service which have negatively impacted some hotels' ability to attract and retain the customers. Furthermore, Basiony, El Sayed, and Abdalla (2014) highlighted that tourism organizations experience a reduction in revenues due to a lack of visitors and customer dissatisfaction. Customer dissatisfaction has been found to be caused by factors such as cleanliness, safety and security of travel destinations. This paper examines ways to improve the quality of restaurant services using Total Quality Management (TQM) approaches. DiscussionThe hospitality industry currently faces a myriad of challenges. These challenges are internal or external. One of the industry's internal challenges is the high employee turnover attributed to the seasonal hiring system and the temporary nature of job opportunities. Furthermore, employees are unlikely to stay in this industry as there are always better opportunities in other industries (Montasser and Al Manhawy 2013, p. 7). In order to improve services and increase the competitiveness of companies in the hospitality sector, management must ensure that the organizational strategy in place is effective in improvingemployee commitment and loyalty, as well as customer satisfaction. Ineffective organizational strategies in most tourism organizations also result in poor organizational performance and reduced competitiveness. Some of the areas of organizational strategy that face different challenges in the industry include human resource strategy and leadership strategy, and the culture of this organization (Yusof et al. 2012, p. 420). The total quality management (TQM) framework is a quality management approach first used in manufacturing industries. However, TQM has been increasingly used in the service sector with considerable success. Fundamentally, TQM can be described as a management approach that aims to realize the organization's goal of customer satisfaction through organization-wide improvement activities (Montasser and Al Manhawy 2013, p. 2). The TQM approach therefore continuously improves the quality of all processes, products and services offered by the organization. In this regard, TQM has the ability to improve the productivity, profitability and overall sustainability of a restaurant thus making it more competitive. TQM is, therefore, an integrated management framework that requires the participation of all stakeholders in the organization to achieve tangible improvements in the processes, products, services and culture existing within the organization (Wang, Chen and Chen 2012, p. 11). Unlike in the manufacturing industry, the TQM framework within a service industry focuses on three main components of the organization's strategy. These components include customers, employees, and service delivery processes. Customer-focused quality management aims to improve the quality of services offered to customers to increase customer retention rates and attract new customers (Milovanovic 2014, p. 118). Restaurants can improve the quality of customer service through employee training programs. Employees can be trained on issues such as customer service etiquette and industry best practices. Furthermore, communication is essential for providing services to customers. Effective communication can have a considerable impact on the quality of customer service. In addition to increasing customer satisfaction, effective communication processes within the organization also improve customer morale and motivation, thus increasing customer engagement and productivity. Total employee involvement is another important component of TQM. Organizations must strive to create a culture that inspires employees to work towards the organization's shared vision and common purpose. Nestoroska and Petrovska (2014, p. 9) indicated that through training of staff members and empowerment, management will be able to create a work environment conducive to employee creativity and innovation. Within a restaurant, there are not always prescribed ways to do certain things as customer tastes and preferences differ from one customer to another. To satisfy these unique and different tastes and preferences, employees should have the ability to be flexible and with the right attitude in dealing with different customers. According to Milovanovic (2014, p. 122), employee flexibility in a service industry is one of the most critical sources for achieving operational excellence and sustaining competitive advantage within the industry. Elsewhere, evaluating the organization's performance is the only way to determine the effectiveness of the measures implemented by management towards the realization of the goals and objectivesof the organization. In the tourism or hospitality industry, management must ensure that there are sufficient tools that can be used to evaluate tourist satisfaction. One of the commonly used models in evaluating tourist satisfaction is the SERVQUAL model. This model includes five elements of service quality, namely tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, safety and empathy (Yusof et al. 2012, p. 422). The tangibility of a service refers to the tangible elements used in the provision of the service such as hotel facilities, workforce presentation and communication materials. Reliability of hotel services is the hotel's ability to provide the service exactly as promised. On the other hand, the dedication and commitment of the staff in delivering the assigned tasks are defined as responsiveness while the guarantee implies understanding and courtesy on the part of the restaurant staff. Finally, empathy refers to customers' ability to be considerate and considerate towards other guests. Evaluating performance based on variables will help management effectively understand whether the restaurant is on the wrong track and whether adjustments are needed or whether the restaurant is progressing as expected (Yassin and Yavas 2008, p. 40). One component of TQM in the hospitality or service industry is the continuous improvement of various organizational processes. Montasser and Al Manhawy (2013, p. 3) highlighted that process improvements involve rethinking the design of processes, service delivery activities and customer service within the restaurant. Additionally, process improvements focus on the tools and frameworks the restaurant uses to accomplish its goals. Since customer satisfaction is the main goal of restaurants, management should be flexible to customize or personalize the experiences of different visitors. Customers should be treated fairly and equitably, but the organization should not assume that all customers are the same (Wang, Chen, and Chen 2012, p. 7). The hotel or restaurant must also strive to offer unique and exceptional services to each customer. Consistency is one of the factors that distinguish exceptional service from good service. According to Yassin and Yavas (2008, p. 37) a restaurant's consistency, service refers to the restaurant's ability to provide exactly similar service to two or more customers. In case of worsening of service quality, the hotel manager should be able to detect the change and implement appropriate actions towards the realization of the organization's objective (Basiony, El Sayed and Abdalla 2014, p. 9) . Regardless of environmental pressures such as climate change or poor economic conditions, the restaurant does not have to change its services. To improve consistency in service delivery, the restaurant can take advantage of the opportunities offered by new social and professional realities, as well as innovative technologies to support the hotel's efforts in ensuring an unforgettable experience for guests in an increasingly competitive market. Customer satisfaction increases restaurant profitability by improving customer loyalty. According to Milovanovic (2014, p. 118), the TQM framework allows the restaurant to objectively measure the quality of customer services based on the evaluation of different customers. For example, TQM uses communication tools that allow the restaurant to maintain interactive communication with the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant should adopt a staff and business performance integration policy to ensure that staff members share a common vision with.
tags