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The purpose of this paper is to apply Kano's method in practice in the cutlery industry and test its suitability to the cutlery industry. Furthermore, a Kano‐based process for weighting customer requirements is presented.

By using the example of the cutlery industry, the paper exemplifies in which way companies can use Kano's method to consider customer requirements as good as possible. Thereby, it is discussed how less popular Kano evaluation modes can support the process of prioritizing measures. Rest upon the results of a Kano project, a multistage method for weighting customer requirements is introduced. The method is based on the connection of already existing Kano evaluation modes. It calculates the meaning of a customer requirement by using the percentage dispatch of the requirement on individual Kano requirement categories.

The evaluation of Kano questionnaires – differentiated by age and sex – showed that a low price by itself is not a decisively criteria for a buyer's decision. The main successful strategy is the availability of an extensive service. The analysis of Kano evaluation modes showed that especially the methods CAT and M>O> A> I are conceptual useable for developing a Kano‐based weighting process. Through an adjustment of existing methods and by a variation of the factors of the multistage calculation algorithm it is possible to describe the process of customers' requirement prioritisation.

By calculating the weighted relevance of customer requirements directly from the results of a Kano project, the new method allows to optimize the customer orientation within the companies.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a three‐dimensional service house of quality (HOQ). The new service HOQ adds a dimension of quality economics to solve the problems of economic evaluation in the process of transferring customer requirements into service characteristics by traditional HOQ.

Based on the traditional two‐dimensional HOQ, this paper constructs a three‐dimension service HOQ by adding an economic dimension into the traditional structure, so that the transformation process from customer requirements into service characteristics can be evaluated with quality economic perspective. The key concern of this new model is to balance the quality improvement and economic gain of a service. The other improvement of this paper is that it uses structural equations to present the coefficient matrix in the new HOQ model to avoid human errors in the evaluation. A case study is used to verify the effectiveness of the new model.

Quality gains and costs should be considered in service design and quality improvement. The three‐dimensional service HOQ uses the dimension of quality economics to balance customer requirements and service characteristics, which is more effective than the traditional one.

The method exposed in the paper can be used by service companies for decision making in service design and quality improvement.

This paper establishes a new three‐dimensional HOQ, by which quality economics can be effectively analyzed in service design and quality improvement.

The present study aims to further research the theory of attractive quality for new offers by analyzing the HWWP (Health, Weapon, Wealth, Prospect) model and testing its uniformity. The purpose is to extend and refine the HWWP model based on meridian elasticity curves with the final scope of building a map for better understanding the potential value of the quality attributes in new product or strategic service design.

After a thorough analysis of the HWWP model for prepurchase value judgment, it has been observed that the classical form often presents a concentration of the quality attributes in its graphic representation, which limits managerial decision making. This paper presents a new methodology for testing the uniformity of the current HWWP model and a generalized approach for understanding the potential lifecycle of the new offer's features.

The results of the presented case study validate the novel tool’s applicability and can serve as a reference for managers to adequately classify customer requirements as the first step toward strategic design.

The author’s main contributions are: to have analyzed the current HWWP model and observed the limitations of this approach; to have proposed a statistical simple method used to test the uniformity of the HWWP model; to have developed a generalized new HWWP model that adequately explores each feature value and potential lifecycle base on meridian slices and elasticity orbits.

An effective library management system is essential to the operation of services but the procurement of a system is an infrequent activity with little opportunity for librarians to build on or consolidate their experience. The common activity of specifying the operational requirements of a system can consequently be problematic. The procurement process is also difficult for potential system suppliers who must respond to specifications (or RfPs) which are very variable in terms of content, format and quality. A survey of UK library system suppliers was undertaken in January 2000 as part of the UK LIC‐funded HARMONISE Project to determine their views on the quality and usefulness of the specification in the procurement process. The suppliers indicated a number of problems inherent in specifications produced by libraries, such as a lack of clarity, poor structure, variable in technical understanding and with too great a focus on basic functionality which has been tried and tested. A model specification of system requirements for libraries is recommended.

Despite long‐standing interest in the quality movement by marketing scholars, marketing managers have not seized opportunities to provide leadership as the quality movement has centered attention on customer satisfaction. Significant corporate investments in quality programs suggest that the recent revision of the ISO 9000 standards to focus on collection and use of customer satisfaction data may provide marketing managers an invitation to meaningfully enter the quality dialogue. Collaboration between marketing and quality management is problematic because the two functions are highly differentiated. This article draws on work in organizational learning and organizational behavior to identify criteria for successful collaboration between marketing and quality management and to propose a process for meeting the new ISO 9000 requirements.

Discusses the implementation of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) for both product design and process control. FMEA is implemented in two ways to ensure that the reliability requirements are met for the production of an airbag inflator. Design FMEA is performed to generate a process control plan, visual aids, and a process verification list. Design FMEA and process FMEA are integrated through reliability prediction and supplier PPM reports. The supplier PPM reports contain the information that can be employed to update the probabilities used in design FMEA. The results of reliability predictions are fed back to eliminate the design weakness. Demonstrates the integrated procedure of the FMEA approach and discusses the relationships among useful tools.

Academicians and practitioners alike recognise that logistics services and operating systems are an integral part of the overall marketing strategy of firms. Consequently, there is a need for an ongoing, interactive review of actual logistics system performance, so that firms can achieve operating systems improvements as well as select and implement the most profitable corporate strategies.

Companies needing to establish competitive advantage must ensure their products are brought to market quickly, with the quality features sought by potential customers. Concurrent Engineering techniques can reduce time scales, but quality issues are more difficult, as customers’ needs are not readily available to the project team throughout the design process, so design effort may focus on satisfying a functional specification, imperfectly translated from customer requirements, rather than on satisfying the real customer needs as perceived in the market. The research reported here demonstrates how a Concurrent Engineering environment and Quality Function Deployment techniques can be brought together to provide an extended design team with valuable, shared information throughout the design process.

A library management system is a significant investment for libraries, but the procurement of a system is an infrequent activity with little opportunity for librarians to build on their experience. The procurement process is also difficult for potential system suppliers who must respond to specifications which are variable in content, format and quality. The HARMONISE project aimed to determine the feasibility of developing a model system specification which could be used to assist libraries in the procurement of library management systems. Specifications collected from libraries which had recently acquired a library management system were analysed. The results demonstrate that the functional requirements specified for each of the core modules had strong similarities both within and across library sectors. A survey of UK system suppliers was also undertaken to determine their views on the specification as a procurement tool. Suppliers expressed frustration with the tendency for specifications to be dominated by lists of functional requirements which were present in all library management systems on the market today. In conclusion, a model specification incorporating basic functions, which can be expected in all library management systems, should be developed.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an empirical study of the impact of motivational factors underlying ISO 9000 certification on several aspects of organizational performance.

An extension of a typology based on motivational factors is proposed and four integration rationales (quality enthusiasts, ISO integrators, ritual integrators, and dissidents) are exposed. The paper then evaluates how each of these four rationales related to potential organizational problems and benefits. Various statistical analyses were conducted on data obtained from a sample of 872 certified Canadian firms. A factor analysis was completed to develop an instrument allowing to develop a typology distinguishing between the four integration rationales.

The results demonstrate that the nature and intensity of motivations behind a decision to adopt the ISO 9000 standard play a key role in the success of the implementation process and the emergence of organizational problems arising from certification.

The main contribution of the study was to develop a typology of certified organizations based on a theoretical framework explaining some paradoxes and pervasive effects of ISO 9000 adoption.

The typology helps characterize certified firms and anticipate potential consequences ancillary to the certification process; it can assist firms in evaluating whether they should go forward with the certification process.

Contrary to many studies focusing on traditional performance criteria only, this study sheds light on organizational problems and the possible ineffectiveness of ISO 9000 certification depending on their integration rationale. This approach led to a more comprehensive and tempered vision of ISO 9000 impacts.