Refining Kano's Model－Three improvements and applications

• Main Authors: Wang, Ya-Li, 王雅麗
• Other Authors: Lee, Yu-Cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05424586189296956599

博士 === 中華大學 === 科技管理博士學位學程 === 100 === The traditional Kano’s model is widely used by industries and researchers, but some controversy still exists surrounding the classification of quality attributes. The main controversy is that the model neglects variations in attribute strengths of the 25 possible outcomes in Kano’s evaluation sheet, thus preventing enterprises from using it to evaluate precisely the influences of quality attributes on products. Furthermore, the resultant Kano category is not a true quantitative measure. The Kano’s model does not consider the degree of importance accorded to certain quality elements by customers. Consequently, the traditional Kano’s model cannot precisely reflect the extent to which the customers are satisfied. Additionally, the Kano’s model cannot directly analyze improvement effects and prioritize quality attributes, and consequently must be refined. To mitigate the disputes and limitations of the traditional Kano’s model, this study proposes three improvement methods. Firstly, this study is to measure the quality attribute strength of 25 possible outcomes in the evaluation sheet to develop a new Kano’s evaluation sheet to improve the accuracy of the classification of the quality attributes. This study defines the canonical and non-canonical judgment of the evaluation sheet based on a novel “similarity” calculation which calculates the response frequency and the distance between canonical judgment and non-canonical judgment. Through the case study, the quality attribute strength is probed and compared with the traditional Kano’s evaluation sheet, the new Kano’s evaluation sheet is more practical because it supports a precise judgment of the category of quality attributes. Empirical results also demonstrate the new Kano’s evaluation sheet is practical. Secondly, Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is frequently used to discuss improvement effects and prioritize quality attributes. However, when nonlinear effects exist, the IPA model cannot accurately analyze the importance and prioritize improvements, potentially leading to inaccurate decision making. Several problems must be resolved. The resultant Kano category is not a true quantitative measurement, nor is Kano’s model able to analyze improvement effects and prioritize quality attributes directly. Considering the limitations on the assumptions of IPA, this study integrated the revised analytical Kano model and traditional IPA to present a novel analytical Kano-IPA model to mitigate the disputes and limitations of Kano’s model and IPA. Quantified methods were used to identify the priority of improvements precisely. This study also discussed the nonlinear relationship between quality attributes and customer satisfaction by employing the revised analytical Kano model. Finally, the revised analytical Kano model was used to adjust the importance and performance of quality attributes to improve the analysis of traditional IPA. Through the case study, the analytical Kano-IPA model is probed and compared with the traditional IPA, the analytical Kano-IPA model is more practical because the improvement order is gained more precisely and enterprises can gather even more valuable information on quality decisions. Empirical results also demonstrate the analytical Kano-IPA model is practical. Finally, to simplify the analytical Kano-IPA model in practical applications, and to consider the degree of importance given by customers to certain quality elements, this study used IPA to refine Kano’s model, improving the traditional model and addressing the concerns surrounding IPA. First, this study proposes a novel classification of quality attributes by incorporating the concept of importance into the Kano’s model. Second, the categories of quality attributes are determined based on regression analysis using dummy variables to estimate the impact of attribute performance on the overall satisfaction. Finally, the concept of performance is incorporated into the novel classification of quality attributes, thereby refining the Kano’s model using IPA. According to the case study, using the refined Kano’s model with IPA allows enterprises to gather even more valuable information on quality decisions. The three preceding case studies verified the feasibility and effectiveness of these methods. The three improvement methods are not only practical tools for industries but are also theoretical methods for academic research.