Measuring Service Quality in a Corporatised Public Sector Environment

ABSTRACT

Using a modified SERVQUAL scale, this paper measures perceived service quality in a corporatised public sector environment. Five factors were identified: personalised proficiency, empathic professionalism, reliability, tangibles and access; explaining 61% of overall variance. Further analysis using multiple regression also indicated that 45% of the variability in customer satisfaction and 43% of the variability in overall service quality was explained by the five factors. The research was conducted in response to calls for the application of this measure and following a review of extant literature that indicated the limited number of studies undertaken within the public sector that assessed service quality.     

Service Quality Perceptions of Customers About Mobile Telecommunication Services: A Case of India

ABSTRACT

 Because of the intangible nature of services, there is always a challenge in front of service providers to find out which dimensions of service quality are more important for customers. The author presents the results of a study in India that assesses the service quality perceptions of customers about mobile telecommunication services. EFA explained 69.694% of variance and extracted eight service quality dimensions. The results of a multiple regression analysis show that customers attributed the highest importance to employee performance followed by transmission quality, competitiveness, support attributes, reliability, credibility, operational efficiency, and convenience. The sample consisted of 411 respondents.     

中国与印度服务贸易国际竞争力的比较研究

近年来,印度的服务业及服务贸易获得了迅速的发展,本文以中印两国服务贸易的国际竞争力为研究重点,对两国服务业及服务贸易的发展现状进行了客观评述,并借助贸易竞争指数和显性比较优势指数对两国服务贸易的国际竞争力进行量化比较,探寻影响中印两国服务贸易国际竞争力的因素,并得出相关结论及建议。     

我国服务贸易国际竞争力弱的成因及对策

服务贸易是国际贸易中发展最为迅速的领域,已经成为国际竞争与合作的重要领域,其竞争实力更昭示着一国未来对外贸易的发展前景。从我国服务贸易的发展现状出发,通过对当前影响我国服务贸易国际竞争力的相关因素分析,以定量测算和因素分析得出的结论为依据,对如何提高目前我国服务贸易的国际竞争力进行探索和思考,认为必须改善服务贸易需求结构、优化服务产业结构、完善服务贸易管理体制等提升策略。     

全球服务贸易10强的服务贸易国际竞争力定量分析

本文运用比较优势指标,对全球10大服务贸易强国或地区1995年至2004年的服务贸易国际竞争力进行了定量分析。通过2004年国际竞争力系数的比较可以得出,在服务贸易国际竞争力方面存在比较优势的国家或地区依次是中国香港、西班牙、美国、英国和法国等发达国家或地区,而日本和德国却是劣势最为明显的国家。本文系统地阐述了其存在的原因及发展趋势。     

我国通信业客户忠诚驱动因素研究

客户忠诚指客户行为的持续性,它对确立企业的核心竞争力具有重要影响。文章认为,客户忠诚是内外部环境因素共同作用的结果。而通讯服务质量、信任、转网成本、员工忠诚是影响通讯业客户忠诚的重要因素。其中,良好的通讯服务质量是维系客户忠诚的保障;信任是客户再购买行为产生的前提;转网成本对通讯业客户忠诚有着不可忽视的影响;员工忠诚有助于客户忠诚的建立。我国通讯运营商要建立客户忠诚,必须以客户导向的营销理念作为企业经营管理的主导思想;加强技术创新,为客户提供全方位的优质服务;与客户之间建立相互信任的合作关系,为长远合作奠定基础;提高转网成本和员工忠诚度,为建立客户忠诚打下坚实的内部基础。     

Operationalizing the Service Quality Construct

ABSTRACT

Previous research works have suggested that, for it to have practical utility, the service quality construct should not only be industry specific, but also be operational (non-global) in nature. This paper builds on that premise and utilizes a methodology suitable to produce operational measures for the service quality construct in the lodging industry. Of the four dimensions (Responsiveness, Recovery, Tangibles, and “Reliability/Trust mixed with Accessibility/Flexibility”) identified by an exploratory factor analysis, the present study finds that the first three appear to be distinct in the minds of the customers. Further confirming the above, regression analyses suggest that the overall perceived service quality in the lodging industry is significantly and positively associated with three dimensions: (1) Responsiveness, (2) Recovery, and (3) Tangibles, in that decreasing order of importance.     

Customer Participation and Project Performance: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Chinese Telecommunication Service Industry

Purpose: Extant literature has devoted more attention to customer value co-creation and knowledge sharing, not only in business-to-customer (B2C) markets, but also in business-to-business (B2B) markets. This study explores and examines the antecedents and consequences of customer knowledge sharing in the context of B2B markets by applying the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) framework.

Methodology/Approach: This empirical study involves two structured surveys of project managers from both suppliers (n = 213) and customers (n = 312), which were conducted in the context of the Chinese telecommunication service industry. The conceptual model of this study was subsequently tested by developing Partial Least Squares (PLS) based structural equation models.

Findings: It was found that customer knowledge sharing is facilitated by four MOA factors: customer orientation, customer perceived benefits, customer socialization, and customer technological capability. It was determined that knowledge sharing has a direct and significant effect on project performance. Furthermore, the study revealed that such relationships vary across suppliers and customers.

Research Implications: This study extends the existing research stream of interfirm knowledge sharing by examining the antecedents and consequences of customer knowledge sharing from dual perspectives of customers and suppliers, and sheds light on the benefits of customer knowledge sharing. The dyadic perspective embodied in this design facilitates our understanding and management of knowledge sharing between organizations.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This article provides an important contribution to the existing literature of customer knowledge sharing by revealing how to effectively facilitate interorganizational knowledge sharing, particularly knowledge from customers to suppliers, and discovers conditions under which customers are more likely to exchange information, and share knowledge with their suppliers from the dyadic perspective.     

Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions

Abstract

Service-based industries such as hotels and restaurants are spending a tremendous effort to measure and improve the service quality of their businesses. Service quality is one of the key factors in achieving competitive advantages in the restaurant industry since high service quality presumably results in increased customer satisfaction, and thus increased future patronage. The purpose of this study was to examine the two generic service-quality dimensions: physical quality and staff behavior/attitude in restaurants by employing the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The findings indicated that the two-factor model of restaurant service quality was successfully validated and also, the predictive accuracy of the model was established.     

A Pragmatic View of Perceived Service Quality Measurement

Abstract

Service quality measurement has been a central issue to service quality researchers and practitioners. A review of the service quality literature yields several approaches to the measurement of service quality. These approaches each have their strengths and weaknesses, and each may be appropriate under given circumstances. The present paper seeks to offer guidance to service practitioners interested in the measurement of service quality by suggesting which approach may be appropriate in light of various measurement criteria.     

Service Quality Expectations: Exploring the Importance of SERVQUAL Dimensions from Different Nonprofit Constituent Groups

Given the multiplicity of “customers” in the nonprofit sector, the need for nonprofits to ensure that quality service delivery matches customer expectations is difficult yet paramount. Nonprofit organizations serve several constituent groups: the service recipient, donor, volunteer, and general public at large. While each constituent group may not be perceived as a customer in the general sense, each group is making quality assessments that may affect performance evaluations, donations, volunteerism, and brand equity decisions. Hypothesis support was found, distinguishing between the importance of the different SERVQUAL dimensions and the perspective roles played within the nonprofit scenarios. Respondents playing the role of volunteer rated Empathy and Assurance highest and Tangibles lowest. Respondents playing the role of donor rated Reliability and Tangibles highest and Empathy lowest. Respondents playing the role of recipients rated Empathy and Responsiveness highest and Tangibles lowest. Finally, respondents playing the role of volunteer rated Assurance and Reliability highest and Tangibles lowest.     

我国服务贸易竞争力的实证分析

改革开放以来,中国服务贸易虽然得到了迅速发展,但整体发展水平不高,且服务贸易与商品贸易没能做到同步发展,服务贸易在中国对外贸易中的比重偏低,最终将制约中国商品贸易的进一步发展.文章首先建立了测评我国服务贸易国际竞争力的指标体系,并运用该指标体系对我国服务贸易竞争力进行了评价及国际比较,并总结我国服务贸易竞争力不高的内在深层次原因.     

Service Quality in the Postal Services in Turkey: A Canonical Approach

ABSTRACT

This article reports the results and managerial implications of a Turkish study which investigated relationships between service quality, background characteristics and, customer satisfaction and selected behavioral outcomes.     

Developing a Website Service Quality Scale: A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

The surge in online consumers and their preference to buy over the Internet is nudging marketers to embrace e-commerce, but mere online presence without distinct user experience may not help attract and retain customers. Research suggests that website service quality is a determining factor in Internet buyer behavior. Several measurement tools have been used in the context of developed economies to measure e-service quality. The very few empirical researches in emerging economies, including India, motivated the researchers in the present study to refine the WEBQUAL 4.0 scale developed by Barnes and Vidgen (2002 Barnes, S. J., and R. T. Vidgen. 2002. An integrative approach to the assessment of e-commerce quality. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 3 (3):114–27. [Google Scholar]) to measure the service quality at shopping websites. The present study employs tools like SPSS 20.0 and AMOSS 20.0 to analyze the data through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Study results suggest a 14-item WEBQUAL four factor (Ease of Use, Information Quality, Reliability, and Empathy) scale that is appropriate for Indian settings.     

Gender Differences in Service Quality Expectations in the Fast Food Industry

Abstract

Services marketers can influence the evaluation of service quality by “managing” customer expectations. Expectations can also provide insights into market segmentation strategies. Gender is often used as a segmentation variable since it is easily identifiable, accessible, and profitable. The purpose of this study was to examine if there are any gender-based differences in the expectations of service quality in the fast food industry. Hypotheses on gender differences in expectations were tested by an ANOVA, where the composite scores of each of the five dimensions of fast food service were used as dependent variables. The expectations of women were significantly higher than men in four of the five dimensions of fast food service quality.     

我国服务业利用外国直接投资现状及其对服务业发展的启示

随着国际服务贸易的迅速发展和服务业对外开放的日益加深,全球经济的焦点已从货物贸易转向服务贸易,FDI与服务贸易的联系也日益密切。选取1993-2005年服务业FDI和服务贸易相关数据,用回归分析、格兰杰因果关系检验等方法对所取数据进行实证分析,结果表明:我国服务业FDI是推动服务贸易发展的一个因素,但引进明显不足,且服务业各行业利用FDI对服务贸易的贡献程度有较大差异,在此基础上提出了一些相关的建议。     

Service quality delivery in a cross-national context

Consumption of a broad range of services ranging from tourism to hospitality by an increasingly global mix of customers, especially from the new millennium of the emerging middle class, is creating an interesting challenge for service providers. What are the macro-environmental (cultural, historical, economic, political etc.) influences on service culture and on service quality delivery? Drawing on the expectancy-disconfirmation theory, this qualitative study provides insights on profound macro-environmental drivers of attitudes towards service quality delivery from a cross-national context. Based on comparative, country-based industry insights that highlight employee attitudes from advanced and emerging markets, we discuss the impact from a cross-national service quality delivery perspective. By examining comparative country contexts in growing service sectors, as in hospitality and tourism, we develop and present a conceptual model of cross-national service quality delivery.     

中国服务业的区位分布与地区专业化

本文基于LQ指数、RCA指数和K-spec指数,分析了中国服务业及其分部门的区位分布与地区专业化.总体上看,整体服务业及其分部门的地区间差异要小于地区内差异即省际差异.各服务部门的区位分布与地区专业化表现不尽相同,其原因不仅在于服务本身的"非贸易性",还在于各服务部门的地区专业化与分工倾向的差异性.因此,不能像对待制造业那样,过分强调服务业的地区分工与专业化,而应该根据各服务部门的特性及其在国民经济和社会发展中所扮演的角色,促进服务业的部门与地区协调发展.     

汽车服务业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客忠诚度的实证分析

为了探讨汽车服务行业服务质量、顾客满意度与顾客认知、情感、意向、行为等四类忠诚度之间的关系,我们对广东省7家汽车4S店进行实证调查,结果发现:服务质量对顾客的认知、情感和意向忠诚度有直接的影响;顾客满意度对顾客四类忠诚度都有直接的影响,且顾客满意度对态度忠诚的影响大于其对行为忠诚的影响;在顾客四类忠诚度中,对顾客行为忠诚有直接影响的是认知忠诚和意向忠诚,其中意向忠诚的影响程度较大。     

国际电子信息产业集群模式的特征及对我国的启示

目前,电子信息产业呈现集群发展态势,属于产业集聚度较高的行业之一。国外电子信息成功的产业集群模式具有技术创新能力强、本地创新网络初具规模、集群产业间良性互动、竞争优势集群化等特点。我国电子信息产业以东莞模式、长三角模式和天津模式为代表,具有各自特点和面临的问题。产业集群是提高区域经济竞争力的重要战略方式,具有巨大发展潜能。我国在电子信息产业集群发展过程中应充分发挥政府的作用,通过宏观上的合理规划和政策支持,促进产业集群的发展。