Page 211 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Services Management

Notes are expressing satisfaction. A continuous research is necessary for the improvement of
quality. Service firms should develop quality circles and strategic groups among the
employees, so that they have a bank of ideas for further improvement. Sometimes, very
minor improvements also have the capability to create major quality impressions to the
consumers.
5. Quality does not Cost more: Top managements of service firms often hesitate to enhance
quality standards with a feeling that it costs more. They also feel that the opportunity cost
of employee time also matters when they allocate more time of an employee to each
customer. However, these perceptions does not hold true in the case of services. Quality of
service can be improved with to incurring additional costs. Japanese firms develop a
concept called ZII, elaborated as Zero Investment Improvements. For example, in an
airline service office, the customer quality perceptions differ, if nobody notice his presence
until the introduce himself, if somebody recognize his presence, if somebody receive him
with a welcome wish, or with a wish smile and shake hand, etc. All these changes in
performance does not cost the organisation but influence the quality perceptions
significantly. It is not possible to improve quality always with the additional cost. Yes,
certainly many times quality performance is related to the cost. But the benefits also
would be substantial in the short-run as well as in the long-run. The negligence in quality
on cost parameters leads to loss of customers. Therefore organisations should orient
themselves for the improvement of the quality.
6. Quality Improvement sometimes require Quantum Leaps: Service firms should not hesitate
to introduce major changes in the organisational set up when such changes provide more
quality to the customers. Computerization in nationalized Banks and Insurance companies
was initiated by the top management to offer fast and accurate services to the customers.
Though, such change requires crores of rupees investment, results in major disturbance in
working for some period, employee resentment or adaptability, ears of retrenchment,
and other problems, computerization was taken up keeping view the improvement in
quality services to the customers. Service firms should prepare for such changes anytime.

7. Every one contributes to Customer Perceived Quality: All employees in the organisation
will contribute for the customer perceived quality. Whether an employee is in interaction
with the customer (or) not, whether he is within the line of visibility or not, his contribution
would be there in the quality perceptions. In a bank branch, when a customer is in the
process of depositing his money, some employees, who are not in interaction with the
customer, have suppose picked up quarrel on some work sharing issue, it will have
definitely a bad impact on the customer in spite of the fact that he has nothing to do with
that incident. Further, if a customer is delayed by the frontline employees due to delay in
support services, though contact personnel are positive to the customer, beyond a point of
waiting customer gets dissatisfied.
8. Quality should be monitored by the Employees themselves throughout the Organization:
In a university college, traditional control mechanism can make a teacher to take classes to
the time and leave to the time, but no one can force him to teach well or train well the
students. Only the teacher himself should get oriented. Presence of Head or Principal to
monitor the teaching may further worsen the situation. Therefore, service firms should
keep confidence on their employees and provide such mechanisms to them that provide
feedback of their performance. Based on the feedback, employees try to modify their
performance and a result quality can be provided to the customers.

Did u know? Service employees should perform with involvement and commitment, if
quality is to be delivered. Unlike in manufacturing organisations, supervision by the
angers cannot improve productivity and quality performance in service organisations.

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