It is my opinion that if we haven’t yet, then we will be receiving a loud wake-up call for pretty soon. "Doomsday" is neigh. The experience of Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad is not that far off. But the alarm apparently hasn’t sounded loud enough. We are still rolling over in bed, stagnated, complacent, full of old ideas, oligopolistic, dependent, inoculated as consumers with low service expectations, and we an possess an insatiable appetite for what is foreign. I believe that unless the public and private sectors get out of bed, cloth such nakedness, and begin an aggressive strategy of re-engineering the St. Lucian economy, a recession and its accompanying hardships will be here all too soon. It won’t be long before Mr. IMF step in.Any firm or organization requires a net inflow of capital for its survival. There is a direct relationship between the size of the net inflow and the success of the competitive strategy of the firm. In North America and Europe, firms that are unable to compete are going out of business by the hundreds, and to a large extent, the Japanese are at the core of their suffering. Simply put, the Japanese have been able to out-compete North Americans and Europeans. It is evident that the Japanese have learnt and mastered the art of survival through competition. In fact, they have redefined the competitive environment to the extent that Americans and Canadians are now playing catch up. Now a huge trade imbalance exist between Japan and the USA in Japan’s favor.
At the heart of the Japanese strategy is philosophy called total quality management. While there are variations on its the definition, most suggest that "total quality management is an alignment of the entire operations of a firm or organization to satisfy and even exceed customer expectations at the best possible price". In effect, the entire organization is driven by what satisfies the customer, since the customer is the reason for the existence of the firm. When properly and successfully implemented, total quality management results in improved quality, a stronger competitive position, lower production costs, greater customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and higher profits. Implementation, however, is a major challenge which explains why many attempts end in failure, or why few organizations have even bothered to consider it. It requires a change in management philosophy, culture, and models. One point that is becoming increasingly clear, however, is that without a quality strategy, a country or company cannot gain or maintain a competitive advantage.
What does this have to do with St. Lucia? The livelihood of St. Lucians depend on St. Lucia’s ability to compete in a global market place. Hence, by default, St. Lucia must and does have a competitive strategy, albeit good or bad one. What products and services does St. Lucia offer the world? What is unique about its products and services? How does St. Lucia separate itself from the rest of the pack? Who are the customers? Does St. Lucia meet and exceed its customers’ expectations? Does St. Lucia provide the best quality of product and services available? Is St. Lucia achieving its fullest potential? If not, what are the barriers to achieving full potential? If the prevailing answer to these questions is no, St. Lucia is in a lot of trouble. These questions form the basis for a diagnosis of St. Lucia’s competitive position - and at the earliest convenience, they must be dealt with.
It is evident that St. Lucia has a service-based rather than a manufacturing-based economy, and that the services provided to the world such as tourism and port facilities for shipping, are not unique to St. Lucia. To out-do the competition, St. Lucia must provide superior quality in services at the best possible price. Superior service quality must have the following characteristics: it must have good value for money, it must be courteous, it must be reliable and dependable, it must be unconditionally guaranteed, it must be delivered promptly, it must be delivered in a caring way, and it must be done right the first time. Can St. Lucia achieve that?
It is my belief that one can only project outwards what is inwards. St. Lucia’s ability to provide quality of an international standard must be matched by our ability to provide quality services at a local level. Do you get excellent service quality from your the bank, the telephone company, the grocer, department stores, government offices, the bakery, the mechanic, the police, hair dressers, schools, the hospital, the doctor, and your employer? If quality cannot be achieved at a local level, it will not be achieved at an international level. A quality audit of service quality in St. Lucia will reveal disappointing results. In all of my frequent visits to St. Lucia, I am yet able to single out a firm or organization that epitomizes good service quality. Customer service is analogous to "doing you a favor". Why should anyone pay hard currency for poor products and services? Unfortunately, St. Lucia’s survival strategy has been based on hand-me-downs, begging for aid, and asking for special treatment. It has nothing to do with providing excellence in service quality. In short, the old adage "charity begins at home" is not working here.
There is a need for a radical paradigm shift in the way St. Lucians do business, but commitment and leadership must come from the top! One must lead by example! If St. Lucia is to embark on a quality journey, then the St. Lucian government must provide top quality government - it must be a shining example, and it must meet and exceed its customers’ (the populations’) expectations.
In my opinion, St. Lucia has great potential to compete and nudge ahead of the pack. This potential has to be harnessed in a systematic way. I would like to recommend the following ideas for consideration: A National Quality Council should be formed with the mandate to promoting and advancing quality initiatives in St. Lucia. The idea of quality should become entrenched in our education system at all levels. All institutions including government need to adopt a philosophy which is customer-focused and customer-driven - the customer is always right! All institutions need to train their employees in the new philosophy. All institutions must develop an understanding of total quality management and use it as the basis for aligning their operations and services. A public education campaign on raising customer expectations is sorely needed. I strongly believe the nature of service quality in St. Lucia is directly related to low customer expectations and a non-existent coordinated consumer advocacy lobby.
Our only hope to avert doomsday and to competitively position St. Lucia in the 21st century, is to adopt a massive national campaign to provide the best quality products and services both at the national and international level. Can St. Lucia compete? I most certainly think so. But first, we must begin the transformation journey!
