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Unit 10: Service Quality
Quality can be viewed from multiple perspectives: Notes
Product-based
The definition is based on measurable parameters. It is suitable for goods, but becomes a challenge
in services. The number of times a telephone rings before the receiver is picked up by a service
provider can be a basis of measuring responsiveness.
Example: Domino’s Pizza has successfully positioned itself as a firm, which promises to
deliver its fare in half an hour – in other words, giving measurable parameters for quality.
User-based
This definition is from the customer’s perspective, reinforcing the notion that “quality is in the
eyes of the beholder”.
Example: An extremely well-read professor following all the guidelines of teaching can
be condemned with “poor” rating if the students are not able to comprehend the accent, or if the
delivery is uninteresting.
This element of subjectivity raises a challenge: that of finding out:
What the customer expects,
Which attributes to be included for garnering the largest appeal from the largest group of
customers, and
How to differentiate between those attributes that provide satisfaction and those that
imply quality.
This approach begins where product-based quality definition ends.
Manufacturing-based
This is conformance based and quality is perceived as an outcome of production processes.
Output is considered to be of high quality if it conforms to design specifications. This factor is
controllable by the service firm but does not take into consideration customer satisfaction.
Value-based
This definition equates quality with value. The service provider will have to strike a balance
between conformance and performance, evaluating benefits and price to customer satisfaction.
Transcendental
Quality can only be experienced but can neither be described nor documented rendering it
impractical for quality managers. Tourism is one such area where quality can, to some extent, be
only experienced directly.
Task Give examples of some quality issues with some major service firms based on
product, user and value.
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