Quality management in urban local government in Bangladesh : a study of the Chittagong City Corporation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the quality management aspects of the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC). The CCC is one of the major urban local government units in Bangladesh. This investigation is guided by the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) model, which is a quality assessment tool to evaluate an organisation’s level of quality management. In order to answer our research questions, mix-method i.e. both quantitative and qualitative research methods, were adopted to gather information. Data for this study were collected from a total of 142 participants using a structured questionnaire and 26 in-depth interviews, which were conducted to better understand the dynamics of the issue under investigation. Respondents and participants for the study were selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Our data revealed that the CCC leadership plays a positive role in terms of its interactions with customers, partners and various representatives of the society. However, they exhibit a pattern of failure in conveying to their subordinates the message that all of them are responsible for quality service delivery and management. In addition, CCC leadership showcase a lack of interest in the empowerment and work autonomy of their subordinates. There is in fact a persistent lack of proper and regular training of staff and officials that inhibit them from contributing to the achievement of the continuous quality improvement agenda of the CCC. It was also found that there exists an institutional lack of co-ordination between the CCC and various internal and external departments of the organisation, which can be attributed as one of the causes for work repetition and delay, which ultimately affects quality management. It is also clear from our study that the employees do not have a clear understanding of the mission, vision and quality objectives of the CCC. Similarly, the CCC leaders are not aware of the necessity to disseminate among all staff the mission, vision, values and ethics of the quality management protocols of the organisation. A lack of commitment is also found to be prevalent among the leaders who are to be meant the role-models to develop a culture of excellence and facilitate continuous improvement. However, it was also found that the CCC had managed to improve the level of its customers’ satisfaction; it has had a positive impact on society in terms of the provision of services such as sanitation, drainage and education for city dwellers, though it could not control the environmental pollution problem to the degree expected by the city`s residents. The CCC does not have adequate measures to keep and maintain city streets clean, provide better quality public health care services and implement long lasting solutions to the water logging issue plaguing the city. This study thereby suggests that the CCC needs proper planning and adequate funding to rid the city of the water logging and stagnation problem. The continuous improvement processes of an organisation solely depend on requirement of a systematic and performance-based assessment system of its staffs’ performance, which CCC is yet to develop. Furthermore, CCC should take measures to acquire alternative sources of income generation such as the introduction of higher levies, particularly on the port authority and port users. Furthermore, more dealings with Development Projects for Procurement (DPP) to get more grants from the central government so that its quality service delivery mission will be accomplished is also necessary. We therefore hope that the Chittagong City Corporation will take into consideration the assessment of the outcomes of this study to achieve the quality management objectives of the organisation.