BUS363: Background In land-Scarce Singapore, a Taxi Service is a Way for Passengers to Travel Comfortably: Total Quality Management Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Background
In land-scarce Singapore, a taxi service is a way for passengers to travel comfortably while minimizing congestion on the road. Taxi service has evolved over the years and it is now facing more competition from other transport services and ride-sharing services provided through mobile apps, such as Grab and Gojek. There is a need for taxi companies to continually improve their service quality to keep up with the constantly changing land
transportation market.

Assume that you are a Quality Management Consultant contracted by an anonymous Taxi Company to study the issues raised in this assignment. You are required to provide recommendations to improve its services. Your research may include websites, field studies, personal/work experience, and public domain resources. You are required to acknowledge all sources of information in the reference list.

Question 1
(a) In the competitive Singapore land transport sector, taxi companies need to incur costs on quality to provide good service to customers. Write an essay to illustrate the Cost of Quality incurred in operating a taxi vehicle by a taxi company and/or the taxi driver. You must derive a list of cost items, such as quarterly vehicle maintenance and educating the taxi driver. Describe and estimate the value of each cost item. Please state your assumptions.

(b) Refer to the BUS363 Study Guide on a Quality Management Guru’s theory on Cost of Quality. Introduce and show the relevance of his theory on the Cost of Quality for providing a taxi ride. Compare his cost estimations in percentages of sales to those that can be derived from your answers in Question 1(a).

(c) Besides supporting companywide philosophies and practices, the principles of TQM can be applied to all facets of a business. Safety is an important aspect of taxi service. In an essay, appraise any four (4) principles of TQM on how they can be applied to improve the safety of taxi service by proposing an action plan for each principle. Provide relevant examples.