Analysing Service quality using Gap Model
Gronroos (1982) introduced a service-oriented approach with perceived service quality theory and total perceived service quality model. The research was based on consumer behaviour and performance expectations’ effect on post-consumption assessments. It stated that there will be good perceived quality when the expected quality meets the customers’ expectations. It also said that the expected quality is a combination of factors such as word of mouth, firm image, price, customer needs and values. The customers’ needs as well as values determine customer’s choice and have an impact on expectations. Thus, the total perceived quality level is not simply determined by the technical and functional quality dimensions but by the gap between the expected and perceived quality.
Markovic, Raspor and Segaric (2010) indicated that expectation is what customers feel that a restaurant should offer. The customers’ perception of restaurant service quality derives from the evaluation of dining experience and expected service. Many factors influence customers’ evaluations of restaurant quality. Previous researchers have found that food quality, physical setting and service are the important elements of overall restaurant service quality (Susskind & Chan, 2000). Among these, food quality is the most important component in restaurant experience (Hensley and Sulek, 2004). The most renowned model to identify customers’ perceptions and expectations are the gap model of Parasuraman et al. (1985). The gaps showed service providers to achieve a satisfactory level of service quality (Ghobadian, Speller and Jones, 1994). The gap model can analyse quality issues and help service providers to understand how service qu...
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...e in various sectors. Thus, it added new additional gaps such as management perception versus service quality strategy and policy, service quality strategy and policy versus service specifications, service specifications versus ideal standards, service specifications external communication, customers’ perceptions versus management perceptions, the discrepancy between management perceptions and service quality strategy, customers’ perceptions versus employee perceptions and the discrepancy between employee’s perceptions and management perceptions of customer. Although this paper developed the gaps model on a critical discussion, it is still essential to validate and certify the proposed model. It can be done in two stages such as verifying the new components and gaps by professionals and certifying the developed model in practical studies (Shahin and Samea, 2010).
Saha, G. C., & Theingi. (2009). Service quality, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions: A study of low-cost airline carriers in Thailand. Managing Service Quality , 19 (3), 350-372.
Dave Thomas an American restaurateur and a philanthropist once said, “It all comes back to the basic. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant, and they'll keep coming back.” (thomas). Everyone can agree on Dave Thomas, but I have a couple more criteria to add to his idea of a great successful restaurant. If I go out to eat I might as well pick a place that, though may be expensive, has scrumptious food because why bother going to spend money on food you can make yourself? A great restaurant has to meet three of my criteria’s: the Décor and atmosphere, impeccable service and cleanliness, and most importantly the food.
Many companies have benefited from improvements of quality and service both internal and external aspect in global market which performance in company revenues increasing, higher margins, cost reduction, reputation of the company enhancement and some other positive effects on social or public perception. However, quality is an item that has visible and invisible inherent characteristics which can satisfy customers’ requirements (Dale, 2003). Therefore, quality of product is fundamental to firms, customer satisfaction will affect the profit of companies directly and quality improvement strategy is an effective approach to get financial return. In addition, as another form of definition of quality to exist, service for customers also an important reason for firms’ financial benefits. Using quality service to make customers feel more satisfied or resolve their problems to change dissatisfied emotion usually increase their loyalty (Dale, 2003). As a result, the problem of product often can be made up by quality service even brings new customers. In others words, it can not only avoid the loss, but also get more benefits to some extent.
The Gaps Model of Service Quality was originally developed for application in the financial service sector. The model was designed to measure components of customer satisfaction by using five dimensions of real or potential gaps in service quality of a hotel (Saleh & Ryan, 1991). The model has been applied to hotels, as well as a number of service agencies, including banking, hotels, restaurants, and healthcare. Even though the services differ greatly, the model is easily adapted to any service industry (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985).
We recommend Vikram to use service quality framework (SERVQUAL) as a scale to measure and manage hotel guest’s perception of service quality in terms of five dimensions (session2 slide#45), which are (i) Reliability – OV employee’s ability to dependably and accurately perform the promised service to consistently delight its guests (ii) Assurance – Knowledge and courtesy of OV employees, and their ability to convey trust and confidence. (iii) Empathy – OV’s individualized attention and customized care it offers to its guests and understanding the customer to anticipate guest needs, wants and desires to enlighten the service. (iv)Tangibles – Refers to OV’s lavish tents and other physical facilities, equipment, pleasant appearance of OV personal, etc. (v) Responsiveness – OV’s willingness to help customers and provide prompt
McDonald's Corporation, an American company, is the world's leading food service retailer, with more than 30,000 franchise restaurants in more than 100 countries (McDonald cooperation, 2010).McDonald’s entered the China market in October 1990 and it becomes a popular restaurant which owns 960 restaurants and over 60,000 employees in China at the present day (Liu, 2008). According to the service gap model (Zeithaml, 2009), the problems existing in the servicescape which is the physical environment where the service is delivered (Bitner, 1992) will lead to provider gap 2 (the service design and standards gap) in the gaps model of service quality (see appendix one). In China, although McDonald’s’ acts locally in building the restaurant’s service environment to some extent, there are still some issues existing in its servicecape design. However, have studied customers’ discussions about the service environment in McDonald’s’, the issues existing in its servicescape include the shortage of the ambient condition (such as the inadequate use of music), the insufficiency of the spatial layout design (such as the lake of Self-help sauce pavilion), and the use of symbols and...
Wan Hai Lines, a shipping company was selected as an area for the study of business-to-business service quality because of its growing role in Penang. It is a maritime transportation service widely used by companies for export and import purpose around the world. Moreover, Penang port was seen as ideal location for this study. This study shall include the customer groups of shipping sectors from Penang. Industrial customers shall be selected randomly to participate in the survey to identify and measure their expectations and to what extend Wan Hai Lines the customers’ expectations are fulfilled.
From the viewpoint of the customer, McDonalds has a good and confident tone, they consider the taste of food, cashiers; attitude toward clients, the cleanness of venue, the number of mistakes made by cashiers, and other measures to assess the quality of the McDonalds’ burgers. (Slack, Chambers &Johnston, 2003)
Nowadays, service managers are likely to face many challenges while attempt to manage quality that need to meet the customers’ expectation and perception due to the competitive issues.
I am a customer service representative at a health company funded by the state. I hear a lot and a lot is expected from me. My job description consists of talking to members over the phone. I explain about their benefits, services that we offer, obtain personal information, I verify authorization, look for provider and etc. With being the first point of contact I try hard to deliver the best customer service that I possibly can; so that I can show that I really cares about the members. The three core values that help me work with my customers are respect, honesty, determination, these three values has shaped me into the young lady that I am today, but most importantly they help me provide great customer services.
Customer Service is the act of dealing with the customers needs by giving and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service and help some time recently, amid, and after the customer's requirements are met.
In most careers today, human interaction plays a key role in day to day work. Usually, people work with other people in their line of work. Even one man jobs deal with people at one time or another. In a lot of careers, people are helping other people. Sometimes, it’s hard to help someone when you don’t fully understand how to deal with what they are feeling or going through. That’s why when people are taking the path to many careers through college, they often end up having to take a psychology class of some sort. Psychology helps us better understand people’s emotions and actions. It can help people study others personalities and behaviors and come up with theories or hypotheses. Taking psychology can benefit almost every career out
When entering a restaurant, I usually expect to leave full, satisfied, and wanting to come back again. I believe that many people expect the same thing. The way people react to service can be very different from person to person. Depending on the way the customers are feeling, or the way that the server is feeling can be a big factor for the way service comes across. Service is an important part of everyone’s lives because majority of the jobs that people preform are service related. Poor service is an unfortunate part of life that everyone comes across. The way that I react to the poor service I receive is important and can change in the blink of an eye. Whether I react in an outspoken way, by getting loud and voicing my opinion. Or if I react in a quiet or apologetic way, it can affect my server, and the people around me, and myself.
Service quality is frequently defined as the consumer’s judgement about a firm’s overall excellence or superiority, similar in many ways to the consumer’s general attitude toward the firm ( Parasurman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1988: Zeithaml 1987: Bitner 1988). Service quality plays a key role influencing the perception of the customers either in negative/ positive way, as its one of the intangible means of delivering the firm’s service in right way to the hands of customer’s toward standing competitive in the cluster of the market. Customer-perceived service quality is viewed as the result of two generic types of quality: technical (or output) quality and functional (or process) quality ( Grönroos 1984: Lehtinen 1985). Apparently,
The dimensions of service quality refer to the attributes which contribute to consumer expectations and perceptions of service quality, thus serving as the determinants of consumers’ quality assessment (Rowley, 1998). The most well-known, commonly used service quality scale is the SERVQUAL, a general instrument for measuring service quality developed by Parasuraman et al., (1988). It includes five dimensions of service quality: (1) tangibles: appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials; (2) reliability: ability to perform the promised services dependably and accurately; (3) responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service; (4) assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence; and (5) empathy: caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its