Managing

Service Quality
Professor Musadiq A. Sahaf The Business School UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR

Session Outcomes
To understand the nature of Service Quality;
To Study the measurement of Service quality; To identify the various models devised for the

purpose in the recent past; and To examine SERVQUAL and GAP Model

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Service Quality Conceptual Context

Manufacturing based (Technical)
Quality is the extent to which a product conforms to technical specifications (Standards). Quality is measured objectively by number of deviations from these standards or number of defects ("zero-defect" policy)

User based
Quality is determined by the user Quality is subjective and hinges on the individual perceptions of customers. Quality is high when customers say it is and not always when product conforms to technical criteria.

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Service Quality Models Marketing perspective

Some seminal models we would cover briefly here

Technical and functional quality model Nordic (Gronroos, 1984) GAP model, SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1985,1988) Performance only model SERVPERF (Cronin and Taylor, 1992) Three component model (Rust and Oliver, 1994) Multilevel model (Dabholkar, Thorpe and Rentz, 1996)

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Perceived Service Quality Gronroos (1984)

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Technical and functional quality model Nordic (Gronroos, 1984) Service quality can also be defined according to both the what and how a product or service is delivered. Gronroos distinguishes between technical quality and functional quality. Technical Quality is concerned with the outcome of the delivered product or service. cont..

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Technical and functional quality model Nordic (Gronroos, 1984)---Contd. Customers use service quality attributes such as reliability, competence, performance, durability, etc. to evaluate technical quality. Functional Quality has more to do with how the technical quality is transferred to the consumer. Service quality attributes such as responsiveness and access would be important in helping the customer judge the functional quality of the service encounter.

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Parasuraman et al. (1985)

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SERVQUAL vs. SERVPERF (Cronin and Taylor, 1992)

Servqual Quality = f (Performance, Expectations) Servperf Quality = f (Performance) Better measurement of Service Quality The 5 factors were the same across both models Service Quality is a long-term attitude which is best

measured by just perceptions instead of ExpectancyDisconfirmation

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Zeithaml et al. (1988)

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Rust and Oliver (1994)

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(Dabholkar, Thorpe and Rentz, 1996)

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Parasuraman et al. (1985)

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Mapping Service Quality

Parasuraman and his colleagues found that service

quality is a measure between service perceptions as well as expectations Service quality stems from a comparison of what a consumer feels a service firm should offer (desires or wants) versus their perception of what the service firm actually does offer Ensuring good service quality involves meeting or exceeding consumers expectations

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Measurement of Customer Satisfaction SERVQUAL MODEL (Dimensions)

Tangibles---The appearance of physical facilities,

equipment, personnel, and communications materials. Reliability---The ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness--- The willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service. Assurance---Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Empathy--- caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers
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SERVQUAL
SERVQUAL is a 22-item scale (with five contructs)

developed to assess customers expectations and perceptions concerning a service encounter. SERVQUAL aims to measure a service quality gap that exists between the customers expected level of service and their perception of the actual level of service delivery.

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Gap Model
The disconfirmation between expectations and

perceptions of quality forms the basis for improving service quality through Gap model. On the basis of the disconfirmation Parasuramans team (1985) developed Gap Model that identified five key service provider gaps potentially responsible for poor service. The five gaps are or key discrepancies between expectations and perceptions of customers as shown in Fig in next slide
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Parasuraman et al. (1985)

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Managing Service Quality

Gap1: The Knowledge Gap
Gap between management perceptions and consumer expectations

Gap 2: The Standards (Specifications) Gap

Gap between management perceptions and service quality specifications

Gap 3: Delivery Gap

Gap between service quality specifications and service delivery

Gap 4: Communication Gap

Gap between service delivery and external communication

Gap 5: Service Gap

Gap between expected service and perceived service
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Prescriptions for Closing Service Gaps

Gap 1 Prescription: Learn What Users Expect

Get better understanding of user expectations through complaint analysis and user panels. Increase direct interaction between service provider and users to improve understanding. Improve upward communication from contact personnel to service provider and reduce the

number of levels between the two.

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Prescriptions for Closing Service Gaps

Gap 2 Prescription: Establish the Right Service Quality Standards

Ensure that top management displays ongoing commitment to quality as defined from users point of view. Get Managers and Deputy/Assistant Managers to set and communicate service standards for their work units. Train managers in the skills needed to lead contact personnel to deliver quality service. Clarify to contact personnel which job tasks have the biggest impact on quality and should receive the highest priority. Measure performance and provide regular feedback. Reward managers and contact personnel for attaining quality goals
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Prescriptions for Closing Service Gaps

Gap 3 Prescription: Ensure that Service Performance Meets Standards

Clarify contact personnel roles Ensure that contact personnel understand how their jobs contribute to users satisfaction Match contact employees to jobs by selecting for the abilities and skills needed to perform each job well. Provide service staff with the technical training needed to perform their assigned jobs effectively Teach employees about user expectations, perceptions, and problems Treat users as partial employees'; clarify their roles in service delivery, train and motivate them to perform well in their roles as co-producers
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Prescriptions for Closing Service Gaps

Gap 4 Prescription: Ensure That Delivery Matches Promises

Seek inputs from operation personnel when promises are being made The service provider including contact personnel must preview communications before users are exposed to them Manage users expectations by letting them know what is and is not possible--- and the reason why Identify and explain uncontrollable reasons for shortcomings in service performance

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