Application of QFD for e-Business planning

Abstract

E-Business represents new avenues for sustainable competitive advantage. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now expected to be digital-ready to continue as trading partners for their customers. SMEs require socio-technical skills and organizational skills and know-how to comprehend e-Potentials and transform them into e-Implementation. An e-Business planning framework is proposed here which links both in strategic and operations management by applying quality function deployment (QFD, also known as house of quality). The balanced scorecard (BSC) will be used to provide an organization overview to objectives setting, critical in ensuring e-Initiatives are aligned with organization vision and objectives.The paper presents the pilot stage of this research project, discussing how the proposed planning framework works. Data from a case study are employed, and expert advice was sought to prioritize and rank the system components (the 'whats') and their interrelationships. The paper begins with an introduction to the importance of e-Business to SMEs, and a brief review of the key components of the proposed framework. Next follows a discussion of the case study and how the framework can be applied in this particular situation. The paper concludes with suggestions for proposed future work; the conclusion can also be extended to provide a series of matrices to provide a clear, step-by-step planning framework for SMEs which are planning and implementing e-Business, by converting customer needs into feasible e-Business plans.

The Theory and Development of a Relationship Matrix‐based Approach to Evaluating e‐Marketplaces

“…Other applications of the QFD technique are beginning to emerge in the e-business realm; such as with the development of a methodology for converting internal and external needs into a feasible e-business plan for SMEs (Tan et al 2004), and in measuring customer satisfaction levels in e-banking (González et al 2004), but no such applications that evaluate the appropriateness of an e-marketplace service range have yet materialized.…”

Quality function deployment implementation based on Fuzzy Kano model: An application in PLM system

“…Gerson (2003) showed a modified Kano method to determine the degree to which an attribute is considered attractive or must-be by customers and how to integrate into the planning matrix of the QFD. Tan, Tang, and Forrester (2004) analyzed customer satisfaction based on the Kano model and pointed out the importance of product innovation in exceeding customer satisfaction.…”

A fuzzy-QFD approach to balanced scorecard using an analytic network process

“…Their framework is a combination of SWOT analysis, the BSC, and Sun Tzu's Art of Business Management in Strategic Planning, via the QFD methodology. Tan et al (2004) proposed an e-business planning framework which linked both strategic and operations management by applying QFD. They used BSC to provide an organisational approach to setting objectives and ensuring that the e-initiatives are aligned with the organisational vision and objectives.…”