Managers revealed that they are under constant pressure from head office to operate within
very tight budgets especially in cost centres. This creates tension between profit making and
expenditure on quality and performance improvements. One manager commented:
“We bear the brunt of all the budgetary pressures imposed from above. This leaves
us with no choice but to cut costs”.
It was observed that more emphasis was put on implementing cost cutting action plans than
on quality improvement. Managers claimed their work was already cut-out for them in very
specific terms. One manager put it bluntly:
‘It’s either you carry out the instruction or you ship out. As simple as that’
The managers admitted that they could do better in terms of quality and performance but
their hands were tied as budgets did not allow for such expenditure. Managers blamed
corporate leadership for their failure to deliver on the quality and performance fronts. One
manager commented:
“Head office creates this euphoria on quality and performance; allocates meagre budgets
and expects you to deliver the best quality. It will never happen…and the casualties of all this
will be quality and performance improvements which we are trying to champion”
It was also observed that all departments were operating below budgeted staff allocations as
manager acted to cut costs by reducing staff. Service quality improvements became
secondary issues. 16
International CHRIE Conference-Refereed Track, Event 11 [2010]
http://scholarworks.umass.edu/refereed/CHRIE_2010/Wednesday/11