<p>Many technical and business papers have been written
proclaiming that companies which provide high quality
products and high quality service will market share
and profitability. Although the theory of the positive
relationship between quality and profitibility (i.e.
higher product quality and service leads to higher profits)
is commonly accepted, few studies have attempted to
quantitatively justify this theory. The overall goal of
this report is to present a quantitative framework that
supports this commonly accepted positive relationship.</p>
<p>
Two major difficulties arise when attempting to assess
this relationship quantitatively. First, the relationships
which link product quality and service to profitability are
interdisciplinary and often imprecise. These relationships
involve the social behavior and feelings of customers, the
competitive marketing environment, the service policies and technical competence of the producer, and of c:6urse the
economic evaluation of improvements to quality and service.</p>
<p>
Second, to accurately assess the impact of product
quality and service on profitability the assessment must be
done over time. This is very important, because the
improvements in product quality and service are strategic
policies for improving long-term profitibility. Evaluation
methods which measure the short-term effects and/or the
static effects of product quality and service on
profitibility will be inaccurate.</p>
<p>
To overcome these difficulties, first an extensive
review of the literature on· product quality, service and
customer satisfaction was performed. This research led to
the development of the many interdisciplinary cause-andeffect
relationships which link product quality and service
to profitibility. Then the interaction of these causal
relationships was evaluated by using a dynamic modeling
language (DYNAMO III).</p>
<p>The model results support the literature, indicating
that companies providing both high quality products and high
quality service will reap higher profits. Furthermore, the
model provides a framework which, if further refined, could
be used to help optimize the design of specific products.</p> / Master of Science
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/41141 |
| Date | 16 February 2010 |
| Creators | Field, Daniel James |
| Contributors | Systems Engineering, Drew, Donald R., Blanchard, Benjamin S. Jr., Fabrycky, Wolter J. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master's project |
| Format | BTD, application/pdf |
| Relation | LD5655.V851_1991.F534.pdf |
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