Managing Service Delivery : Individual Report Essay

Service quality is referred to a valuation of how good a delivered service meets the customer’s expectation. Upper management

For different types of companies, quality might refer to quality of products or quality of service. Compares with quality of products, service quality is much more difficult to measure because service is intangible and acts and processes only existing in time. In addition, service has unique characteristic which cannot be found in products, such as customer influence, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity, perishability and labor intensity (Nie & Kellogg, 1999). Even though, there are still many practitioners and academics are keen on measuring service quality because it has already emerged as a key strategic issue. Companies want to better understand service quality, and to establish methods for improving quality to achieve competitive advantage and build customer loyalty (Abdullah, 2006). Based on the importance of service quality, an increasing number of literatures and companies pay attention to measuring

Service quality - refers to difference between the level of service that is expected from consumers and the perception of the service that is actually received. (Caruana,

Wang (2010) defined service quality as global judgement or an attitude towards the superiority of a service. Bitner and Hubbert (1994) also define service quality as “the customer’s overall impression of the relative inferiority and superiority of the organization and its services”. Moreover, Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) define “service quality is a focused evaluation that reflects the customer’s perception of specific dimensions of

Hung, Y. H., Huang, M. L., & Chen, K. S. (2003). Service quality evaluation by service quality performance matrix. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence.

The key to ensuring good quality service is meeting or exceeding what the customers expect from services. Judgements of high and low quality depend on how customers the actual service performance in the context of what they expected. Service quality, as perceived by the customers, can be defined as the extent of discrepancy but customers’ expectations or desires and their

(1) Quality of supplies delivered or services rendered, in terms of compliance with adequate specifications and statements of work;

Paraschivescu and Caprioara have interpreted David A. Garvin’s dimensions of quality, arguing, quality is surely a strategic method to compete effectively quality strategy in considering numerous key dimensions like features, conformance, performance, durability, aesthetics, serviceability, perceived quality, and Reliability.

Kotler & Keller (2008) build on this definition, stating that customer satisfaction is determined by “the degree to which someone is happy or disappointed with the observed performance of a product in relation to his or her expectations”. Performance that is below expectations leads to a dissatisfied customer, while performance that satisfies expectations produces satisfied customers. Expectations being exceeded leads to a “very satisfied or even pleasantly surprised customer” (Kotler & Keller, 2003, p. 80).

The ability to provide consistently high levels of service can be the deciding factor for the best customer 's experience. In fact, customer service is the foundation for creating a new, high-performing culture that enjoys a solid level of trust and credibility, securing its position as an integral part of the business.

The totality of features and characteristics of a product/service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.

Quality of a product or services is defined as “its fitness for the use” for which it has been made. Many characteristics of a product determine the quality. They are called quality characteristics. Some of the quality characteristics are shape, weight, size, diameter, strength, colour, hardness, surface finish, reliability and appearance, etc.

Service quality represents a fundamental aspect of delivery, which strongly influences consumer satisfaction and, as a result, loyalty. In today’s global market a customer’s service expectation has to be met and exceeded eventually in order to retain customers as well as achieve success. Perceived quality of a product or a service is becoming one of the major competitive factors in the business world and has led to the innovation of the ‘Quality Era’ (Peeler, 1996). In simple words, the comparison of customer expectations with service performance is service quality. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable fulfilment response toward a good, service, benefit, or reward (Oliver, 1997). Both of these

Service quality is defined as the ability of how well a delivered service conforms to the client’s expectations. Service business operators often evaluate the service quality provided to their customers in order to not only improve their service but also identify problems quickly. In addition, to better assess client satisfaction (parasuraman et al.,1988) interpreted service quality as the gaps between

In general terms quality relates to the feature or characters or value of a product or service or similar offering.