Perception of Quality

As we got into our careers later in life, the quality paradigm changed. Now, we get paid for the goods or services we provide. Depending on the type of work we do (either as business owners, employees, or working for the government or in the public sector) our understanding of quality either grows or shrinks depending on the needs of our clients or the public.

But before we go any further, let's look back at our lives and answer this question.

Quality means something different to different people, whether they make a product, offer a service, or use a product or service. What does it mean to you?

Most of the literature will start by talking about denotations and then move on to connotations. For example, when talking about quality, most of literature, I believe, will first talk about the word's etymology and meaning, and then move on to the connotations of quality. I had the same thought, but there was one thing about quality that piqued my interest, it has to do with the connotation of quality, but I want to locate it first in the context of this article and then move on to the denotation. The part is called Perception of Quality.

Why is that the case? Why it piqued my interest to locate it first before we discussed about denotations of quality?

Quality perception is a very general idea of what quality is. Even people who don't have basic knowledge about quality use quality perception every day,either he realise it or not, starting from the time he wake up in the morning until he go back to sleep at night, and even while he sleep. (It's important to have a good quality mattress, pillow, and blanket while you sleep). In light of this, I believe it is best to first talk about how people see quality before moving on to other aspects of quality.

Quality Perception

There are different ways to talk about and rate the quality of a product or service. Often, it's very important to tell these different perception of quality. In a 1987 Harvard Business Review article (Garvin, 1987), Professor David A. Garvin talks about 8 aspects or dimensions of quality in a very good way. Here are some of his most important points about these aspects of quality (Montgomery, 2009):

1. Performance- Can the product do what it's supposed to do? For instance, if you wanted to buy a cell phone, you might be comparing the technical specs, such as the speed and storage space, to see which one is better.

2. Reliability - How often does the item not work? For example, if you are comparing two brands of cars that you want to buy, you will look for complaints from other customers about parts and components that don't work and how often they need to be serviced. The car that needs less maintenance will win your business.

3. Durability - How long do the goods last? Those who work in the electric and electronic industries know how important this aspect is to most customers.

4. Serviceability- How simple it is to fix the item? In many fields, like online shopping, internet banking, or product service after the sale, how quickly a service can be provided has a direct effect on how the customer sees the quality of the service.

5. Aesthetics - How the product looks? What does it look like? The way a product looks is important, especially when we're buying something that we need to see, like clothes, a car, or a house.

6. Feature - What does the item do? For instance, you might think about a cell phone that has extra features compared to other phones on the market that don't.

7. Perceived Quality - How well-known is the business or product? Customers often choose to use a product or service again based on their past experiences with it, rather than a competitor's product or service. I can't put a price on this "return" value; when people are asked why they keep using a product or service, the simple answer is "I'm used to this organisation," even if competitors offer better quality.

8. Conformity to standards- Was the product made exactly the way the designer wanted it to be? The most accurate measurement that the contractors will be able to understand is this: contractors who were awarded the contract were given a list of requirements, which are called contract documents. The contractors' level of compliance with these documents will be used to judge their level of compliance.

Gavin thought, though, that the traditional idea of quality was based on the idea that goods and services should meet the needs of the people who use them. People have different ideas about what is quality, such as aesthetics, a good design of shirt may not be good to others. The SERVQUAL model is another way to figure out how good a service is. According to De Feo (2017), this model finds five aspects of quality:

• Tangibles: how facilities, equipment, people, and materials look

• Reliability: the ability to do things correctly and reliably

• Responsiveness: offer services on time

• Assurance—having faith and trust in employees

• Empathy, which means giving each customer individual attention

Service quality should be measured differently in different service industries, especially between providers with a lot of involvement (like the tertiary education system) and those with little involvement (like restaurants). Here are some of the quality perceptions that were found through research for some service providers, such as restaurants, networking, schools, designers, builders, and living quality.

The food industry or restaurants

Hanah Haron et al. say that Malaysian street food is famous all over the world. According to Street Food in Malaysia (2022), street food is a main way people in middle-income and low-income countries (like Malaysia) get food because it is easy to get and doesn't cost much. A study by Hemingway (Hemingway, nd) says that we choose restaurants based on familiarity, confidence, and habitual trust, and how good we think the food is depends on the restaurant's standards.

• price-to-value;

• a range of foods to choose from;

• naturalness (in terms of using fresh ingredients);

• well-being;

• portion size (which is linked to value for money);

• taste and how the foods look looks;

• origin of food or raw materials;

• welfare for animals;

• environmental impact (how clean the food preparation area is); and/or

• the use of organic materials.

But this study was conducted in the UK. If it were conducted in Malaysia, I think the ranking and the position would be different, but this is just my opinion and not based on any research. From my own experience, the top four ranking will be origin, environmental impact, taste and looks, and price-to-values.

Networking

When it comes to computer networking, quality can be seen in a different way. In this day and age of internet interoperability, most of us have used a network system, whether it was for online shopping, banking, or government apps. A study titled "Users' Perception of Quality of Service Provision" conducted at Staffordshire University Network showed what network users expectation. This includes a lot of different quality perception criteria, such as (Babulak, 2003):

• Reliability (the chance that the network will work without any problems);

• Performance (key network properties like error rate and percentage of use);

• Availability (the network being accessible on different devices, like a PC, tablet, or phone)

• Simplicity (user-friendly and simple enough for people who aren't tech-savvy);

• Serviceability (how fast, politely, and ably the problem is fixed or how the company responds to a user's comment, review, or issue);

• Meeting Specifications (in terms of access and user accounts and rights)

College or University

Tertiary education institutions are set up to offer good education after high school. A study (Sylvester Donkoh, 2022) talks about the quality of higher education mostly from the point of view of different users, such as :

• The government says that an educational institution is good if it meets the minimum standards set by a recognised government accreditation body, such as the Malaysian Qualification Agency.

• The level of engagement between staff and students and the usefulness of that engagement are how staff see quality.

• Students see quality as staff-student engagement and the ability to get a job.

• Employers pay attention to the skills of graduates.

• Parents judge the behaviour of students, value for money, and ability to get a job.

The research also talks about the important roles that leadership, management, and institutional massification play in getting students and staff involved and building a quality tertiary education, as shown in Figure 1. The chart shows that how well-educated graduates are seen starts with how involved and involved the students are. This was made possible by dedicated, qualified staff; a democratic environment (no bullies or racial issues); good employability; a good student support system; and good infrastructure.

Quality of Life

The term "quality of life" (QOL) is subjective and has been defined in different ways by different scholars. Since 1930s researchers from various fields have expressed interests in the definition of QOL, including investigating and measuring QOL using different methods. Numerous factors have been identified that may affect the quality of life of people according to their personal preferences. For example, the quality of the individual work as an businessman may differ with the quality of life of an individual work as a teacher. Nevertheless, how the individual itself measures the quality of life can be different between each other. Definitions of quality of life are as numerous and inconsistent as the methods of assessing it.

A Research by Rosli, Rabe and Osman was done (2018) to identify the current living condition in Selangor and the level of satisfaction towards the quality of living condition in the State. Data was obtained through a questionnaire survey of 500 respondents living in Selangor. From the research, it was found that, indicators such as

• family economic capacity;

• transportation facilities;

• living conditions & environment;

• social involvement;

• public safety, health and physical being;

• daily activities and

• education background

These factors will be the major determination of satisfaction for quality of living towards household income, job position, vehicle ownership; and living area.

Perceptions of Quality amongst Architect and designers

This study intended to identify the perception of quality of life (QoL) among architects, how architecture can impact QoL in their design and planning. The research was done at Danish architectural firms that represent Danish architectural industry. The results reveal that the perceptions of QoL among architects are linked to three primary dimensions:

• Health - health is a a fundamental human need. Physical health is always underprioritized in design and planning, this includes access to outdoor facilities such as balconies, gardens, and good daylight and air circulation, as well as indoor climate, design and planning that promote physical movement, such as attractive stairs and pedestrian and bicycle spaces.

• Sense of harmony - the sense of feeling secure as a very fundamental part of QoL, with some linking it to a sense of belonging. The participants mentioned the importance of linking a sense of security with contact and relation to neighbours and the near community. Some of the participants also mentioned the importance of facilitating this security by providing open views so that the residents can see what happens outside.

• experience of enchantment. The participants perceived that architectural design could impact QoL not just aesthetical aspect of the house but also good room height, and access to the outside

Perception of Quality in Construction

I know that construction will spark a debate on either construction provide service or product to customer? In spite of its pervasiveness and familiarity, the characterisation of the sector is not clearly categorized. It is unique and exists midway between manufacturing of product and service production. That is, its output is physical. At the same time, companies in the sector appear to operate in the manner of classic service firms. Consequently, companies work closely and carefully with individual clients even before project inception. (Jacobson & Wilson, 2012).

Construction projects are embarked upon with multiple but specific objectives to be achieved, one of which is to fulfil the client’s needs and meet their expectations. The findings from a research (Ayegun, Abiola-Falemu, & Olawumi, 2018) revealed that clients relate quality to compliance with specification and design standards. Based on 16 factors the determine clints perception for satisfaction with project quality which is (based on rank):-

1. Durability – the amount of use end-users get from the facility before replacement is preferred to continuing repair.

2. Reliability – The level of confidence with which the end-user may use the facility, to the end of its design life, without failure.

3. Conformance – The degree to which construction operations meet the design standards and specifications

4. Performance - Basic function of the facility meets the end user's needs and intents

5. Understanding - The ability to comprehend the client‟s needs and Requirements

6. Credibility – Honesty trustworthiness

7. Reliability - Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

8. Accuracy: The ability to provide the right service the first time with minimum amount of rework

9. Aesthetics: The level of satisfaction the end-user experiences with the facility‟s look, feel, sound, taste, or smell

10. Serviceability- Speed, courtesy, competence with which maintenance on facility can be carried out

11. Perceived quality- The level of satisfaction the end-user experiences with the facility‟s image and publicity

12. Features- Characteristics that supplement basic functions of the facility

13. Timeliness- Completion of the contract on the scheduled date

14. Communication - Keeping customers informed in a language they can understand and listening to the client when necessary

15. Courtesy - The degree of respect, politeness, friendliness, and kindness of the site and other personnel

16. Security- Physical, financial and confidentiality

The results also showed that factors influencing project quality are (1) management commitment, (2) regular inspections, and audits, (3) skilled workforce.

Reference :-

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