Empowering Customers and Quality Assurance in Europe Proposal

Proposed Research Topic

An analysis of why there is no client empowerment and quality assurance in the world today.

Purposes

Best Value reports or Quality Indicators are being used to determine the quality of work offered by social care services in the UK (Dowling 2008, p. 217). It however measures regular performance, not the overall client performance. This process also usually demands a survey from the user where they evaluate whether they are satisfied or not by the services or goods offered by the company (Pfeffer & Coote 1991, p. 110).

This means that the user will not get the opportunity to react holistically regarding the services offered to them. This is clear evidence that shows a lack of client empowerment and quality assurance in organizations. In this project, I will give out clear evidence to back up my proposed research topic on why client empowerment and quality assurance do not exist in the world today. What I hope to accomplish with this project is to expose the reality and give clear insights concerning client empowerment and quality assurance.

For a long period, many people have believed that clients are empowered in the United Kingdom and that the quality of services offered to them is assured. After conducting an interview and a study on career and user experience in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe, I believe that the outcome of my work will be convincing enough.

Background

I will carry out my study in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe whereby the old, young, children, parents, able, and disabled people will be involved in the study. My findings and conclusion will be based specifically on career and user experience in the two nations. Each day I will visit two organizations to monitor and have a personal encounter with the clients to determine whether they are empowered or not and whether they are quality assured.

At the same time, I will observe how clients are being treated in organizations. Each day, I will interview two or three potential clients in different organizations for about 10-15 minutes concerning their user and career experience on empowerment and quality assurance. This study will take approximately six weeks since there are many organizations in Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom. My main focus will be to view and observe the interaction between the clients and the organization and determine whether the clients are empowered or not. Interactions with the clients will also give me the chance to accomplish my stated purpose with the study.

Scope

My study on client empowerment and quality assurance will commence from 20^th July to 31^st August and it will run for approximately 6hours per week beginning from 9 a.m with tea and lunch break. In the morning hours before the tea break, I will visit one organization and after that go to another organization before lunch break. Basically, during these periods, I will typically observe how clients are being treated in organizations. Afternoon sessions will mainly be for interviews. I will interview three potential clients from the organizations I visited in the morning sessions. I am planning to interview 500 individuals; 250 from Eastern Europe and another 250 from the United Kingdom.

Theoretical framework

I will be guided mainly by the user and career experience and my own experience as a person and observational approach. The user and career experience will make me aware of what clients go through and whether their opinions are valued or not valued in the organization. I will also be able to determine whether client empowerment and quality of services offered in different organizations in different nations are the same or they vary depending on gender, class, age, disability, ethnicity, and education (Dowling 2006, p. 182). This is why I am out to interview different kinds of people in the two worlds. The interaction and observational approach will enable me not only to certify user and career experience but also to have firsthand information on the reality that exists in the organization.

Method

• Carry out a literature review on client empowerment and quality assurance in Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom.
• Evaluate user and career experience by conduction interviews and interacting with clients who differ in class, age, gender, disability, ethnicity, and ability. These groups of people will enable me to know how they are handled in the organizations they go to; whether they are excluded or their opinions are taken seriously or looked down upon because of age or class. The interview will not be structured or formal. I will ask general questions but specifically on empowerment and quality assurance. Some of the questions I will ask are:
  • What kind of relationship do you have with the company?
  • Do you enjoy shopping here?
  • Are the services good and what of the goods offered?
  • Have you ever given an opinion to the company about a particular product that did not meet your requirements and did they listen to you?
• Observe the way clients are being treated and served in different organizations focusing mainly on the way they are handled, the quality of service they are offered, and whether their opinions count (Dowling1997, p. 210).
• In the end, I will write a research report that combines my personal experience, what I observed and user and career experience in the two nations. I will compare the results before I make my conclusions and answer the research question.

Timetable

• Come up with a research proposal by 30^th July
• A complete full literature review by 15^th September
• Complete fieldwork by 18^th October
• Complete analysis by 30^th October
• Confer the presentation on 12^th November
• The complete final report by 1^st December

Limitations

Some clients may not give me relevant information especially those who value the company. Time constraints; I will have to carry out my research and at the same time attend my regular classes. This will indeed be strenuous leading to exhaustion (Whyte 1984, p. 126). I may not be able to get enough information within four hours. This means that I will miss out on some important issues like how the organization responds to consumer complaints.

The fact that I am an outsider may also limit my chances of getting the real facts and information concerning client empowerment and quality assurance. The limited-time and tight schedule may deny me the opportunity to carry out proper observation and interaction with the clients. Some consumers may feel threatened since they do not know me.

Delimitations

I am choosing to use open questions and be free with those clients I interview to increase the closure between us and make them feel at ease to give me correct and appropriate information that I require for the study. I am choosing not to observe and interview one particular group of people since this issue affects everyone whether rich, old, poor, white, or black.

List of References

Dowling, M 2008, ‘Client Empowerment and Quality Assurance’, The Public Sector Innovation Journal, vol. 13 no.1, pp. 210-220.

Dowling, M 1997, Measuring Quality in Personal Social Services in Developing Quality in Personal Social Services: Concepts, Cases and Comments, Evers, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Dowling, M 2006, Translating Theory into Practice: The Implications for Practitioners and Users and Carers, Abingdon: Routledge.

Pfeffer, N & Coote, 1991, Is Quality Good for You? New York: Institute for Public Policy Research.

Whyte, F 1984, Learning from the Field: A Guide from Experience, London: Sage.