University Of Wollongong

Sydney Business School Quality in Management TBS 950

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

ABDELRAZZAQ A.ABUSHAHOUT 3954808

Word Count: 1841

Page 1 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

1.0 Executive summary

This report represents the idea behind implementing quality management into a public service (Hyde Park Sydney), as an example offered by the government to its citizens.Whereas, organisations differ in term of profitability even though, at the end they all soughthigher productivity and customer orientation. Especially we are in days that critics and radical changesreflect to customer expectations. Therefore , the necessity requiresinternal dynamic modificationsto the organisation operationsto ensure viable options for long term sustainability. Thus, these changes make it possible to maintain the organisation position in highly competitive environment with the private sector, and best utilisation of scarce resourcesfor higher financial return and social responsibility (Edgington, N 2009),bearing in mind achieving high level of customer centricity to understand their needs, and satisfy their desires in same time with least costs, in addition, to ensure consistent improvement and availability to the product or service provided in the market. Nonetheless, the ability to be more flexible in adapting changes in different aspects in the external environment such as technological, economical, social, politicaletc. However, any organisation whether public or private has neglected these modifications in term of extra costs, rather than consider ing it as longterminvestmentsit might distress the daily operations and reputationlater on and it will be hard to stay in the market.

Page 2 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

2.0 Introduction
Hyde Park is one of oldest parks in Australia and the most considerable and visited park located in Sydney, in the sense of itsreasonable location in the heart of the central business district that is much easier to be reached by ma ny people lives in the city and Sydneysiders. The park in general established since 1810 and si nce that time went through huge development stages that match up the usage of the park and its facilities (CityofSydney.gov.au 2011). The park consists of two main sections the North part that contains the famous Archibald fountain and some o ther historical statues and couple of water features in different corners. The South section has the ANZAC memorial building and the pool of reflection with large grass lawns around. Moreover, the park holds a number of cultural, national and international events such as Australian day, Sydney festival and ANZAC dayetc (Whatson.gov.au 2011).Those events are sponsored by different majorities lives in Sydney, whereas its gain the approval and being supervised by the city of Sydney council, that make sure there will be no breach of the rules and government al acts, that might jeopardise the park properties and its worldwide reputation of holding such an event s.

More importantly, the city council had prepared on-going master plan for the park in 2006 (CityofSydney.gov.au 2006), that concern of improving the distinctiveness of the park to suit its international reputation , by appointing the consultation process to (the people for places and spaces) PPS group, to take over surveying the park visitors, surrounding businesses and some other stakeholders ,the results been taken into consideration by the council to take a place within the final plan(PPS consultation group 2005).The cycle(see figure 1.0) has been developed to show the flow of processes needed for implementing quality standardisation for continues improvement to the park that meets visitors expectations. Page 3 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

3.0 conceptual framework of Quality

Understanding that we are managing quality to a public service funded by the government, which is differperiodically based on the budgeted amount of money dedicated to this category of services (see table 1.0), provided for people who optrecreational or tourism purposes, in this manner, the level of quality offered will reflects at the end on different country aspects such as economical, social and environmental (Williams, CH & Buswell, J 2003).And more severelyimpact if ignored on the Australian tourismindustrythat shows a significant growth in the 2010-11 revenues (see table 2.0) from recreational parks and gardens in Australia ( IBISWorld 2011). However, the economic downturn had impacted the growth in household disposal income induced people to reduce their expenditures on recreational travel to become more domestically visits to national parks (IBISWorld 2011),that means more visitors will be expected to the parks.Thus,we need to increase the park tolerance capacity to the demanded service. Accordingly, developing quality standards to be considered in on-going basis, to assure the higher possible satisfaction of those visitorsis critical and maintain sustainability of the public sector service in its different perspectives for future generations, in compatible with the scarce resources of to this sector by using innovative and imaginative approaches and best practises, to be able to cut costs and improving the service at the same (Hearn, A 2010).Besides to avoid any critics that can spread faster between people these da ys about their experience and impacting the Hyde Park reputation.

However, implementing quality standardisations into an existing public service will be facing many challenges in their customer service management. The reason behind that is that the customers are getting more sophisticated in demands they direct at

Page 4 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

organizations, the ways they express their needs, the choices they make and their reaction to service quality (Nwankwo, S & Richardson, B 1994, p.36 ). Which required some changes operationally and physically to attain the degree of flexibility required adaptingthe changes in the internal and external environment. On the other hand, will be facing restrain factors of change such as the limited annual budget, city council employees job security as we might automate some processes that will lead to downsizing. Furthermore, having said as we know people needs never end as trends of purchasing/lifestyle frequently changes, thus, changes in products and services need to be tailored to meet their expectations, therefore, we have to take into consideration to introduce monitoring system to measure visitors satisfaction level regularly, in sense to reduce the negative expectation gap between what customers expect and what they actually receive(MORI 2002).

4.0 Valuing up at minimal Costs

As at start we have to identify our customers segments which mostly as what have been recognized that we are dealing with all kind of people such as workers during the lunchtime, tourists, families, elderly and disability people, passer people, some people are concern of outdoor fitness and students. Therefore, its necessary to understand their needs of using the park facilities and spaces that looks apparently as common needs for relaxation and relieving life stress, recreation and tourism. In this manner, we must provide the atmosphere that achieves the core of the visitors requirements bearing in mind keeping the op erational cost at minimal and eliminating as possibl e all disconfirmation factors for the park visitors (Ryu, K and Han, H 2010). Though, Seeing that from the public lens those who are paying taxes and charges to the government, thus, they will be always expecting always improvement in the value added to the

Page 5 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

Publicfacilities that in somehow it will facilitates their daily lifes, for that reason, Design, development and management of open space s should responds to environmental values and conditions, community aspirations and economic

considerations and must remain viable and sustainable in the long term (Thompso, S 2008).Consequently, Mostly people goes to the park in summer were the peak usage hour during the lunchtime for business workers. Hence, the city of Sydney council should take some views into account for future park development plan. Hence, some observations have been made through a site visit, which it could make a difference in fulfilling the visitors expectations as followed:

Public Space Convenience

Firstly,adding some leasable kiosks for some drinks and other confectionary items in different strategic locations would be valued by visitors, under a conditional yearly lease contract, which in return we are able to use their receivables to cover some of the park running cost, in addition, increasing the competition between the existing providers to decrease their prices that will reflect to the visitors satisfaction.Secondly, enhancing the overall cleanliness level of the park by designing dedicated bins to prevent the white native Ibis to rummage the trash (Naturecall.com.au 2011 ), As wellthe automated toilet amenities exterior decoration that camouflages the main purpose of it for something contemporary, and adding more in the south part of the park, beside rising the using cost to 1$ instead of 50cent (CityofSydney.com 2011).

Accessibility
Thirdly, it had been identified that one of the visitors groups is elderly and disability people,whereas the Australian population toward demographical change as expected in the aging population to double over the next 30 years from 13% in 2010 to 23% in 2040 (Treasury.gov.au 2010), thus, the availability ofadequate ramps and paths and information signage in both parts of the park is necessarily for effortless entry for them Page 6 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

as well it will assist families with prams to use the park facilities, however, in sense we having limitedbudget we might at least provideadequate direction signs to those available paths would be helpful for visitors with special needs, that in which it means encouraging Regular daily physical activity which is required to prevent chronic diseases and can provide a wide range of other social and mental health benefits (NSW department of health 2002) , in addition, some attention to the surrounding sidewalks and pedestrian cross lines t o the main entrances and lower speed limits in surrounding streets reducing by that the noise pollution .

Safety
Fourthly, in term of safety and security of park users it is an important aspect, while we are encouraging people to use the park in different times a day, though, increase the number of CCTV cameras, enhance the lighting in some areasthat whatwill make vandals away from the park and the visitors enjoying much saferatmosphere, in term of cost that would be efficient if we take advantage of solar system lights and motion sensor cameras for long term electricity bill saving.

Gardening
Fifthly, the irrigation system was found is not effective and water reuse plan is not implemented, therefore, in sense of becoming water wise and achieving higher efficiency in compatible with Sydney water sustainabilityplans by installing automated water sprinklers system, which have been found the most cost-efficient method for irrigation to reduce the amount of water, and reusing treated water from pools and fountains in parks(WA Department of water 2011), Sixthly, landscaping is another essentialstandpoint in increasing the visitors experience and reducing running cost, by wise plantation of Australian drought tolerant species that need less water/maintenance and gives extraordinaryview in metropolitan area.

Page 7 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

Generating Revenues from Existing Resources

Finally, taking advantage of the park lack infrastructure that can be improved over time in term of power/water/toilets that disrupt launching events effectively, rather thanspending huge amount of money focusing to increase the park capacity to host such an events, which in return we can earn money from leasing such equipments (power generators/ water tanks/ moveable toiletsetc), to remain feasible to cover the maintenance of amenities and lawns recovery costs later on.

Page 8 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

5.0 Conclusion

In summary,the level of product or service quality offered either by public or private sector to the customers determines the level of customer satisfaction will be. As a result, its more likely to notice dropping in customer satisfaction and less demand over time as customer expectation about the service changes. Thus,as long as we are achieving higher customers satisfactionas it become more harder to improve the quality of service we provide,which increases the service quality gap between what the customer expect and what they receive (MORI 2002). Hence, closing this gap apparently would be by constant data collection and documentation from different sources such as word of mouth, people views about public sector, explicit information and previous visitors experience, hence, we need to increase our organisatio nal competences to deal with the available data to convert into viable options to increase customer satisfaction. Even though, some modification added to the product or service by the time it does help to satisfy the customers, but its also induce us to have adjustment to employees or organisational culture, by providing theleader who is able to offer the right mixture of incentives and recognition to its subordinates, to increase their productivity and work commitment, by delegation and empowerment that reduce the managerial processes time, whichis in return leads to lower operational cost and release innovative ideas to bubble up and turned into viable options to increase service quality (Harter, D , Krishnan, M and Slaughter, S 2000) .

Page 9 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

6.0 Appendices
(1) Assessment to

(10) Applying Monitoring and control system for new service quality effectiveness.

the exist Quality offered in compatible with org. mission.

(2) Identify Org.

Customers.

(9) Implementing the new modifications.

(3) Analysing users needs and expectations.

(8) Developing contingency plan.

(5) Suggestions for improvemement with minimal cost to become as baseline for benchmarking.

(7) Responsible stakeholders agree on the plan stages and requirements.

(6) Internal modification to increase adaptability to external changes.

(Figure 1.0):Continues Enhancing level of Quality Offered to an Existing Product/Service Cycle

Page 10 of 14

(Tabl

t f

: IBIS

. . Y . . . . 7. . .
(Tabl . A t li i i t

EVE .

EG illi . G 7. . . . . . . . . . . . .
: IBIS l

t %

. . 7 7

, , . , . , . , . , . ,7

. . . . . . .

Page 11 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

7.0 References:

1.CityofSydney.gov.au 2011, Parks, Playgrounds&

th

ardens: Hyde Park, retrieved on

11 , July 2011. http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Residents/ParksAndLeisure/ParksPublicOpenSpac e/HydePark.asp 2. CityofSydney.gov.au 2006, Park and Leisure: Hyde Park Plan of Management and Master plan, retrieved on 11 th, July 2011. http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Residents/documents/ParksAndLeisure/POMs/Hyd ePark/Volume1/Vol1_HydePark_PoMAndMasterplan_Oct2006.pdf 3. Edington, N 2009, Determining Best Use of Resources for Sustainable Social Impact, retrieved on 12 th, July 2011. http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/06/determining -best-use-of-resources-forsustainable-social-impact/ 4. Harter, D, Krishnan, M and Slaughter, S 2000,Management Science: Effects of Process Maturity on Quality, Cycle Time, and Effort in Software Product Development, Information Technology Industry, Vol. 46 , No. 4, (Apr., 2000), pp. 451-466, retrieved on 1 th, July 2011. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2661595 5. Haren, A 2010, Structuring feeling: Web 2.0, online ranking and rating, and the digital reputation economy, retrieved on 16 th, July 2011.

http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/10 -3/10-3hearn.pdf 6. IBISworld 2011, Recreational Parks and performance, retrieved on 15 th, July 2011. ardens in Australia: Industry

http://clients.ibisworld.com.au.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/industryau/currentperformance.aspx ?indid=64

MORI 2002, Public Service Reform: Measuring and Understanding Customers Satisfaction, retrieved on 16 th, July 2011.

http://www.ipsos.com/public-affairs/sites/www.ipsos.com.public-

Page 12 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

affairs/files/documents/measuring_and_understanding_customer_satisfaction.pdf 8. Naturecall.com.au 2011, White Ibis Management: roblems Caused By Over Abundant White Ibis Populations , retrieved on 16 th, July 2011.

http://www.naturecall.com.au/white -ibis-management/

9.

NSW Department of Health 2002, Walk it: Active Local Parks: Promoting Walking and Physical Activity in Local Parks, retrieved on 18 th, July 2011. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2002/active_parks_flyer.html

10. Nwankwo, S and Richardson, B 1994, Managing Service Quality: Measuring and Achieving Quality Customer Service in the Public Sector, Vol.4, No.6, pp.32-36, ISSN: 0960-4529, retrieved on 18 th, July 2011. http://ey9ff jb6l.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.882004&ctx_enc=info%3Aof i%2Fenc%3AUTF8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions. com&rft_val_fmt=info: ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Measuring+and+Achieving+Qua lity+Customer+Service+in+the+Public+Sector&rft.jtitle=Managing+Service+Quality &rft.au=Nwankwo%2C+Sonny&rft.au=Richardson%2C+Bill&rft.date=19940101&rf t.issn=09604529&rft.volume=4&rft.issue=6&rft.spage=32&rft.epage=36&rft_id=inf o:doi/10.1108%2F096045294100 4135&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDoc ID=10_1108_096045294100 4135 11. PPS Consultation roup 2005, Hyde Park Plan of Management: Round One Community Consultation, retrieved on 16 th, July 2011. http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Residents/documents/ParksAndLeisure/POMs/Hyd ePark/Volume2/CommunityConsultation/KeyInstitutions.pdf 12. Ryu, K and Han, H 2010, Influence of Physical Environment on Disconfirmation, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalt y for First-time and Repeat Customers, retrieved on 1 th, July 2011. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=149 &context=refereed&seir edir=1#search=%22effect%20atmosphere%20satisfying%20customers%22

13. Thomposn, S 2008, Design your Open Space, retrived on 1 http://yourdevelopment.org/factsheet/view/id/ 2

th

, July 2011.

Page 13 of 14

ABUSHAHOUT

39548008

Enhancing Hyde Park Quality

th

14. Treasury.gov.au 2010, Australian Aging Population, retrieved on 1 http://www.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/Overview/html/overview_04.htm

, July 2011.

15. WA Department of water 2011, Water efficiency: Increasing water use efficiency is the most cost-effective and immediate way to conserve water, retrieved on 16 th, July 2011. http://www.water.wa.gov.au/Managing+water/Water+efficiency/default.aspx 16. Whatson.gov.au 2011, Hyde Park Events, retrieved on 15 th, July 2011.http://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/search?search%5Border%5D=&search%5Btitle_or_ summary_or_description_like%5D=hyde+park&search%5Bdate_label_placeholder%5D=&search %5Borigin%5D=2000&search%5Bwithin% 5D=1&search%5Bcost%5D=&commit=Filter+results 15. Williams, CH and Buswell, J 2003, Service quality in leisure and tourism, retrieved on 1 th, July 2011. http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0zyt SBkhCMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR &dq =sustainability+of+service+quality&ots=K uJMgC6LA&sig=0ucuj0VUyN19lOd4od k5TIKhU0#v=onepage&q=sustainability%20of%20service%20quality&f=false

Page 14 of 14