Sparkle-Clean's Sweeping Success: Overcoming Quality Challenges in Institutional Housekeeping

Sparkle-Clean Institutional Housekeeping (Sparkle-Clean), which serviced the Taradevi Institute of Science, Commerce and Arts (TISCA), suffered a drop in performance ratings following numerous complaints about its subpar housekeeping services at TISCA. This was a concerning trend, as Sparkle-Clean had been a reputable brand in the competitive market, providing a high level of interior cleaning services. Such quality challenges and the threat these posed to the company’s reputation called for close monitoring of Sparkle-Clean’s services. The operations manager at Sparkle-Clean recognized the gravity of the issue and realized it could jeopardize the company's long-standing engagement with TISCA. It was thus imperative that Sparkle-Clean swiftly identify and address the underlying issues that had led to the uncharacteristic decline in service delivery quality, to regain its customer’s trust and restore its reputation as a high-quality service provider within the academic sector. To get to the bottom of the issue, the operations manager asked his team to collect, organize, and collate all the data for the current year pertaining to specific complaints and the ratings given by the faculty, staff, and students who used the buildings at TISCA.

This case can be used at the undergraduate or graduate level in a core course on operations management, service operations management, or quality management to cover topics such as quality control, statistical process control, control charts for variables, and control charting, preferably after students have been exposed to the essential conceptual topics and after a variable control charts module. It can also be effectively utilized in elective courses on process management, lean six sigma, quality management, total quality management, and similar topics. Analysis of the case focuses on using variable control chart techniques, and on the construction and analysis of X-bar and R charts.<br><br>Working through the case and assignment questions will give students the opportunity to do the following:<ul><li>Become familiar with statistical process control and its essential elements.</li><li>Grasp the basics of control chartings.</li><li>Understand the significance of considering the critical variable for quality improvement.</li><li>Use SPC analysis to assess the scope of improvements through charts.</li><li>Understand the various strategies and options available under process improvement.</li><li>Recognize the importance of cost–benefit analysis while deciding on the best service operations and staffing plan.</li><li>Become familiar with the standard steps in implementing and analyzing statistical control measures to improve service quality. </li><li>Understand primary control charting concepts such as the centre line, control limits, upper limits, lower limits, sample plotting, and cost–benefit analysis.</li></ul>

• Service Quality
• Statistical Process Control
• Control Charts
• Cost/Benefit