Measuring service quality

Going back to the start of this section, it is helpful to have in place measures of performance of service processes. These can be used to monitor performance over time and to compare ( benchmark ) the processes with others. Table 2.6 lists examples of service level measures used in retail supply chains (after Rafele, 2004). 

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Parasuraman A, Zeithaml V, Berry L. 1994. Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality Implications for further research. J Market 58 111. 

Parasuraman A, Zeithaml VA, Berry LL. 1994a. Alternative scales for measuring service quality A comparative assessment based on psychometric and diagnostic criteria. J Retail70 201. 

A less skewed altemative for measuring service quality is the nondifference score for service quality. Brown et al. (1993) report that the nondifference score for service quality is approximately normally distributed. Moreover, several authors have suggested that the number of settle points might have considerably contributed to the skewness of satisfaction measures (Peterson tmd Wilson 1992). Increasing the number of scale points may increase the sensitivity of the scale and consequently reduce skewness. 

According to Parasuraman et al., customer satisfaction (i.e., gap 5) can be expressed in terms of five dimensions tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy (Parasuraman et al. 1988). These dimensions are the basis for the SERVQUAL method, which is an well-known method for measuring the quality of services through assessing customer satisfaction. The following section addresses different approaches for measuring service quality. 

There are two basic approaches for measuring service quality firom the customer s point of view. Both of them are based on assessing customer satisfaction. 

Another group of methods uses the assessment of service encounters or moments of truth (i.e., the contact between customers and the service provider) for measuring service quality. An example of those methods is the critical incident technique (Bitner et al. 1990). This method uses structured interviews to gather information about customers experiences that have roused either very negative or very positive emotions. From those interviews, the most relevant problem areas are determined. This type of method allows the customer to describe the service encounter from his or her point of view instead of assessing it by predefined criteria. The method normally leads to the most significant causes of service failures. 

Process measures (service quality), 1964 Process modeling, 318, 1703 Process organizations, 284-285 Process-oriented enterprise modeling, 286-291 data views, 288-290 function views, 287, 288 organization views, 286-287 output views, 287-289 process view, 290-291 Process performance, 49, 50 Process planning, 448-482... 

Quality Assurance Departments are often formed to provide both customer and management with confidence that quality will be, is being, and has been achieved. However, another way of looking upon Quality Assurance Departments is as Corporate Quality Control. Instead of measuring the quality of products, they are measuring the quality of the business and by doing so are able to assure management and customers of the quality of products and services. 

Subcontractor/supplier performance will be evident from audit reports, surveillance visit reports, and receipt inspections carried out by you or the third party if one has been employed. You need to examine these documents for evidence that the subcontractor s quality system is controlling the quality of the products and services supplied. You can determine the effectiveness of these controls by periodic review of the subcontractor s performance what some firms call vendor rating . By collecting data on the performance of subcontractors/suppliers over a long period you can measure their effectiveness and rate them on a scale from excellent to poor. In such cases you should measure at least three characteristics quality, delivery, and service. Quality would be measured by the ratio of defective conforming products received delivery would be measured by the number of days early or late and service would be measured by the responsiveness to actions requested by you on scale of excellent to poor. The output of these reviews should be in the form of updates to the list of assessed subcontractors/suppliers. 

Inspection, measuring and test equipment Handling, storage, packaging and delivery After-sales servicing Quality records Training... 

A huge demand arose from householders to obtain radon measurements in their homes. This led me to set up a national measurement service, providing high-quality measurements at one-fifth of what had been the going price. Many entrepreneurs visited me to learn the technology, and set up similar measurement services, causing my low price to prevail in the industry. 

Reynoso J, Moores B. 1995. Towards the measurement of internal service quality. Int ] Serv Ind Manag... 

Service quality has been conceptualized to contain multiple dimensions (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, Berry, 1985). One measure of service quality, the SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1988), identifies five such dimensions ... 

Teas, R.K. (1993) Consumer expectations and the measurement of perceived service quality. Journal of Professional Services Marketing 8 (2), 33-53. 

How will outsourced service quality be measured and reported ... 

Patient satisfaction is a commonly used measure to help assess how well healthcare providers are meeting the needs of their patients. Donebedian states that satisfying patients is one important indicator of quality care, because it demonstrates the ability of the provider to meet expectations and values of the patient. Industry reports on managed care organizations include patient satisfaction as one measure of service quality.However, the science of measuring patient satisfaction is yet in its infancy. 

The consensus statements that were drafted identified several needs in pharmacy Create a mission statement, develop standards for pharmacists to apply in managing pharmaceutical care, demonstrate and communicate the value of pharmaceutical care to healthcare, measure the quality and outcomes of services, strengthen political action, and convince the public and payers of the benefits of pharmaceutical care. The obstacles facing practice were also noted. The overarching conclusion was that pharmacy had to actively demonstrate and communicate its value to healthcare. 

To be objective, the measurement of quality must be neutral and well publicized. If the voucher scheme incorporates accreditation, the process needs to be repeated periodically. Certain health services need more... 

Random fluctuahons and normal error in measurement can account for some variation in results. One should therefore take action only when these results lie outside the limits of what might be expected as a result of such variation. The frequency with which one reviews the quality indicators is a matter of judgment. If monitoring is done too infrequently, one may miss some serious problems with service quality that could affect the impact of the scheme. Monitoring too frequently increases the administrative burden, however, as well as the random variation. 

In ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003, measurements and quality requirements for measurements or tests are required. Therefore, analytical chemists employed in industries or services pursuing ISO 9000 certification will see their analytical activity audited and controlled. 

In Section 2, we will explore the nature of services. In Section 3, we wUl discuss the service encounter, which is at the heart of the majority of service organizations. During the service encounter, service quality is rendered to the customer in the interplay among customer, customer-contact service employee, and service organization. In Section 4, we will focus on defining service quality and discuss the conceptual model of service quality, a framework for the management of service quality. In Section 6, we will describe a measurement instrument, SERVQUAL, that has been derived from this model. In Section 7, we will present a critical review of the conceptual model of service quality and the SERVQUAL instrument. 

GAPS (perceived service quality) is multidimensional in nature. Parasuraman et til. (1985) distinguish 10 underlying dimensions of perceived service quality. These dimensions are summarized in Table 1. Using these original 10 dimensions, Parasuraman et al. (1988) developed a measurement instrument for perceived service quality SERVQUAL. 

Moreover, several empirical concerns have also been raised with regard to the conceptued model of service quality, particularly with regard to the measurement instrument SERVQUAL instrument. The dimensionality of the SERVQUAL instrument is a well-researched issue (Asubonteng 1996 Buttle 1996 Paulin and Perrien 1996). 

Empirical evidence indicates that the majority of the respondents locate their service quality score at the right-hand side of the scale (Brown et al. 1993 Parasuraman et al. 1988 1991 Peterson and Wilson 1992). This distribution is referred to as negatively skewed. A skewed distribution contains several serious implications for statistical analysis. To begin with, the mean might not be a suitable measure of central tendency. In a negatively skewed distribution, the mean is typictilly to the left of the median and the mode and thus excludes considerable information about the variable under study (Peterson and Wilson 1992). Skewness also attenuates the correlation between variables. Consequently, the true relationship between variables in terms of a correlation coefficient may be understated (Peterson and Wilson 1992). Einally, parametric tests (e.g., t-test, F-test) assume that the population is normally or at least symmetrically distributed. 

Because most definitions of service quality are derived from marketing problems, they reflect more or less the customer-based approach or vrilue-based approach. There are several reasons for this one-sided view of service quality. In general, services do not bear attributes that can be measured physically. Furthermore, the customer is involved in the service-delivery process, so process standards are difficult to define. Additionally, the understanding of quality has moved from the product- and process-based view towards the customer- and value-based view in almost all industries, equating... 

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