Utilising Quality Management to Improve Public Service Delivery in South Africa The wide range of initiatives and programmes aimed at addressing the question of public service delivery in South Africa are based on premise that government should be able to function effectively, with a view of making a larger impact on the quality of life of South Africans (Dawson 1929:220). If the relationship between service delivery and institutional performance is recognised, then the implication is that the better the performance of government, the more likely actual service delivery will match customer expectations (Armstrong & Baron 1998:60). The White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, or the Batho Pele White Paper of 1997 (Notice No. 1459 of 1997) (herein after referred to as the Batho Pele White Paper) sets the foundation that in efforts to transform public service delivery in South Africa, fulfilment on the Batho Pele intentions does not imply replacement or redesign of systems and procedures, or to change prevalent attitudes, but rather that systems, procedures and attitudes be re-oriented in favour of service delivery. If improved public service delivery is thus defined as the transformation of government functions with a view to service delivery which is customer-oriented and customer-centred, quality management, as people-focussed management system that aims at the continual increase of customer satisfaction, provides a methodology that can assist leaders to cope with challenges of transformation. Quality management provides tools for making public institutions dedicated to high performance quality and the satisfaction of customers' expectations (Ovretveit 1992:2). Quality service delivery requires that all aspects of an organisation to be dedicated to the goal of achieving the highest standards of performance as required by the customers. As quality service delivery affects every process, every job and every person, it requires continuous improvement in the entire system. It has been established that quality management is a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that intend to meet and exceed expectations of various external and internal customers (Oakland 1989:10). It can also be defined as the acceptance and pursuit of continuous improvement on standards or goal of attaining quality through the participation of role players in public service delivery (Gaster & Squires 2003:176). As stated, it is not the intention of this article to propose that quality management is the answer to all challenges associated with the implementation of public service delivery improvement initiatives, rather that quality management is a natural progression from a service delivery focus and/or existing attempts to improve services delivered by the public service to citizens as its customers, because the aims, philosophies and principles of service delivery improvement and quality management are so closely aligned. M Kruger.2019. Available at: https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/31725/Kruger_Leading%282012%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Accessed on 07/02/2022]

QUESTION 1 (30 Marks) Critically discuss the role of quality research towards improving the public service.

QUESTION 2 (30 Marks) The theory outlined in the above case study demonstrate that there are various approaches in place as an attempt to improve quality of public service. Identify and discuss these approaches to quality.