Airtel MD challenges service providers to exceed customers' expectations

This year’s Festival of Ideas conference held in Accra was graced by the Managing Director (MD) of leading telecommunications giant, Airtel Ghana, Lucy Quist, who spoke on the topic ‘Standards and Quality Assurance’ drawing impressive commendations from the audience.

Lucy Quist was among a host of top Chief Executive Officers (CEOs,) business leaders and professionals who shared their experiences at the 9^th edition of Festival of Ideas conference hosted by human capital development consultancy, Legacy & Legacy firm.

The Managing Director of Airtel Ghana advocated in her presentation that expectations of customers set the standards of quality and it should be the goal of players in an industry or business to meet these expectations.

Lucy Quist further explained that the various aspects of products and services offered by individuals, businesses and institutions should be constantly monitored and evaluated by preventing defection and adoption of quality control systems. She however indicated that customer feedback is an essential element to be factored in standard and quality systems because of the rapid change in trends and consumer taste.

Relating her presentation to the theme of the festival, she stated that “In the contemporary business world, integrity is one of the most sought-after qualities not only of individual employees, but of the management and board of the companies. Qualities of integrity such as honesty, strong moral principles and consistency should never be compromised as they are essential to business success.”

She noted that when businesses act with integrity, it affords them the opportunity to display their beliefs about what is right and wrong as ground rules for organizational behaviour and in all decision-making processes which improves the quality of their product offerings.

“It requires us to walk our talk and to make decisions as corporate entities that are consistent with our corporate and ethical values and also meet industry standards, this is a critical cornerstone upon which a business would thrive,” she reiterated.

The Festival of Ideas which is in its 9th year has in the past featured notable personalities like Prof.Pikay Richardson of Manchester Business School, Mrs. NdidiNwuneli of LEAP Africa and Prof.VikramMansharamani from Harvard University.

Originally known as the Infopreneurship Conference, Festival of Ideas is widely acknowledged as Ghana’s most prestigious business conference that brings together CEOs, top management officials from corporate institutions, and professionals from diverse sectors of the economy under one roof for insightful presentations, corporate training, brainstorming and networking.

This year’s theme “Business with Integrity” anchored on five main pillars; Compliance & Systemic Integrity, Corporate Governance, Quality Assurance, Leadership by Example and Corporate Values & Ethics.

Lucy is an international business leader and a trailblazer in the telecommunications industry who has received much local and international recognition. She is the first Ghanaian woman to lead a multinational telecommunications company and the first female Chief Marketing Officer of a telecom company in the Democratic Republic of Congo.