2. Strategic Quality Management And Customer Satisfaction Paper

"It was the summer of 1969: Man took his first walk on the moon. Nearly 450,000 people gathered in upstate New York to witness the historic Woodstock concert. And Doris and Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in San Francisco" (Gapinc.com 2007). Today, Gap Inc. is one of the world's largest specialty retailers, with more than 3,100 stores and fiscal 2006 revenues of $15.9 billion. Gap Inc. operates four of the most recognized apparel brands in the world -- Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime. Every day, Gap Inc. looks for new ways to connect with customers around the world, providing value to their shareholders and to make a positive contribution in the communities where Gap Inc. does business. Gap Inc brands have a simple, common purpose: "to make it easy for people to express their personal style" (Gapinc.com 2007). Gap Inc. constantly evolves each brand to better meet their customers' needs -- through innovative and inspiring design; through convenient and engaging store experiences; and by communicating with people in a way that connects to how consumers live, work and play. Gap Inc. involves total quality management through out policies and procedures. In the following information explains how Gap Inc. uses TQM (total quality management), what made Gap Inc. the way it is today, and implementations on total quality management.

When Gap was founded in 1969, Gap was unique and new. Gap's target customers were younger generations. Gap's hottest seller at the time was its "basic" look, which consisted of signature blue jeans and white cotton t-shirts. Gap founders realized that jeans were becoming popular among the younger generation of customers. Nevertheless, the company recognized that despite Gaps popularity among the youth, there were not enough assortments of jeans in the clothing outlets. Capitalizing on this deficit was merely the next step in expanding. Gap's founders were sure that jeans could be sold through a chain of small stores devoted solely to that product. As Gaps business idea became successful, Gap expanded their line of offering and now Gap offers a range of clothing for men, women, and children. As Gap's business began to boom, Gap also began to expand. Gap Inc. added two new entities to the company, Banana Republic and Old Navy. All three chains have their own target markets. Banana Republic is known for their casual luxury, with high-quality apparel. Banana Republic tailors their store to appeal to the unique market of pleasing the most fashion conscious consumers. Old Navy has redefined value-priced apparel retailing by making shopping fun and fashion affordable for customers of all ages. Old Navy focuses on the value driven segment of the fashion conscious population. Recently Gap has added a new addition to the family and is offering an online shoe store called Piperlime, selling trendy shoes for all ages.

All three brands have a distinctive management matrix structure. Out of all of the brands, Old Navy and Banana Republic have the least amount in common. Old Navy runs their management staff of five managers. Old Navy consist of a general manager, logistics manager, customer service manager, and two supervisors. However, Banana Republic only has two managers, a general manager and an assistant manager. Old Navy's management style gives the company a better total quality management than that of Banana Republic. By breaking down the management staff in two sections, the management staff has a better opportunity to find out mistakes that lie within the production. Not only does breaking the management staff in sections, helps the management staff to communicate to one another. Everything a manager does involves communicating. "Not some things, but everything!" (Fundamentals of Management 380) A manager cannot make a decision without information. Information has to be communicated in order for a management staff to operate. Once a decision is made, communication must again take place. Otherwise, no one on the management staff will know if a decision has been made. The best idea, the most creative suggestion, or the finest plan cannot take form without communication. That is why Old Navy does a better job of communication between there management staff. Banana Republic does have a good running store, but Banana Republic lacks the communication between employees. Bananna Republic does have a position that is called a keyholder. A keyholder is designed to open/close the building and to help with the management staff, but keyholders are not considered on the management staff. Having those key important individuals on the staff help run the store properly, but