Quality Assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Quality Assurance - Essay Example Causes of shortfall in quality of air traffic control operations will also be identified to enable the management develop counteractive mechanisms to avoid future quality failures. The paper will recognise the role of quality improvement processes in ensuring NATS improves its service delivery. Strategies of managing and communicating quality improvements will be discussed in order to enable the management understand proper ways of creating awareness concerning quality improvements. Service quality primarily compares the expectations of air traffic control operations with its actual performance. The quality of a service determines the extent to which a service is tailored to meet the needs of customers (Summers, 2009). Principles of quality management are relevant to air traffic control operations since they encourage various institutions to focus on service features that can meet customer specifications. The quality of air traffic control services is determined by the strategies that navigation institutions adopt in performing their services. NATS witnessed the biggest shortfall in its service quality on December 7, 2013 caused by a breakdown in IT systems. NATS can address quality service problems through quality management processes including quality improvement cycle, total quality management, business process re-engineering and benchmarking. It is critical for NATS and the industry of air traffic control to ensure proper management and communication of qua lity improvements to both employees and customers using the tools of quality management. NATS has the potential for achieving competitiveness in service quality if the management embeds quality in its organisational culture. NATS has witnessed widespread teething problems caused by catastrophic failures of its software management systems. Passengers experienced 130,000 minutes delay with approximately 1,300 flights facing a severe delay.