An initial survey on the use of costs of quality programmes in telecommunications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an initial survey on the implementation of costs of quality (CoQ) programmes in the UK telecommunications industry and to discuss the findings in the context of sustainable competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach – A postal survey was employed in order to investigate the breadth of use of CoQ programmes in the sector. A questionnaire was developed and distributed across a sample of companies with a UK SIC code of “6400 Telecommunications”. Findings – The survey results revealed little interest in implementing such programmes in the sector. The most frequently cited reasons were: having a costing system that is already capable of monitoring quality costs; and not yet introduced to the concept of CoQ. Research limitations/implications – The results presented are limited by two factors: the low response rate; and the range of data gathered. Since the majority of the respondents were service providers, the results could be indicative of this type of company only. Practical implications – The survey findings indicate that training and education in quality management should employ a more focused approach to the introduction of the concept of CoQ tracking. Originality/value – To the knowledge of the authors the study presented is the first investigation performed to determine the breadth of use of CoQ programmes across the UK telecommunications sector. In addition, a new aspect of researching the capabilities of information systems in processing CoQ data has been identified.