Introducing management models in service organisations in developed and developing countries

The aim of this paper is to examine the application of the European Foundation for Quality Management model for self-assessment as a means to introduce changes in management in services in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Spain and in Jordan. This paper uses the case study methodology on eight administrative services in a public university in Spain and seven university services in two Jordanian universities, a public and a private institution. The findings show the steps that an administrative service may follow in order to apply the questionnaire approach successfully in a reform process, the difficulties, the benefits and the success factors in both countries and the consequences of the changes introduced. The study provides lessons for decision makers and managers from other universities in developed and developing countries, who wish to introduce the practice of quality management by creative means. This paper extends knowledge on self-assessment (steps, difficulties, benefits, success factors and changes in management) to services in HEIs.     

Operations in banking: the service quality and effects on satisfaction and loyalty

This paper studies the service quality provided by the banks. The objectives are (i) to identify which aspects of the transactions carried out by the banks are important for the service quality perceived by the customers, taking into account some aspects that are sometimes ignored (online channels) and (ii) to observe how service quality influences customer satisfaction and how customer satisfaction affects the loyalty towards the bank. Using a factor analysis, the research identifies the operative, physical, new technologies and human factors. Next, using structural equations models with AMOS, the results show an influence of the operative aspects and the new technologies on service quality, as well as the confirmation of quality as a precedent to customer satisfaction, and how such satisfaction influences on customer's loyalty towards the bank.     

Productivity growth and cyclical behaviour in service industries: the Spanish case

A longstanding basis of empirical economics is that average labour productivity declines during recessions and increases during booms, and thus behaves procyclically. In the short run, in many countries output growth and productivity tend to move together and across a wide range of industries. In recent years, this observation has gained increased prominence as each proposed explanation for the observed procyclicality has important implications for modelling the business cycle and measuring the technical change. By filtering out the influence of business cycles, it is possible to isolate changes in the long run, or structural rate, of productivity growth and so assess the importance of any source for economic growth. Nevertheless, the focus of these empirical works has been the aggregate economy or manufacturing industries, and not the services sector. The novelty of this paper is the focus on the patterns within the services sector. The aim of this paper is to better understand short-run changes in productivity growth within the service sector industries, which are necessarily different from those existing within the manufacturing sector. Another goal of this research is to assess whether this observed procyclicality remains if the service sector is the scope of analysis, and whether this is homogeneous among the different activities within this miscellaneous sector or not. Empirical evidence for the Spanish economy since 1980 is presented.     

Public service quality and customer satisfaction: exploring the attributes of service quality in the public sector

Beyond the existing SERVQUAL-based research, the authors develop an alternative model of public service quality. The various sources of public service quality are explored and a new classification scheme formulated by using critical incidents technique. Four main qualities of public service are identified: process quality, outcome quality, design quality, and relationship quality. The findings suggest that the critical attributes of public service quality for customer satisfaction differ according to the types of customers in the public sector. Final customers (beneficiaries) give priority to the process and outcome qualities, whereas intermediary customers (social workers) have high regard for the design and relationship qualities.     

Online service quality: Content and process of analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to build a comprehensive model of online service quality that confirms both the content of, and process of measuring, this higher-order construct. While the past decade has seen the Internet become a key channel for service delivery, there remains uncertainty around many aspects of both the content of, and process of how to measure, online service quality. We use a large sample of European consumers (n = 3399) of four companies (two pure play and two multichannel) to develop a new nine-dimension model of online service quality. We validate importance as a disconfirmation standard. We find trust in the company to be the most important dimension of online service quality, with customer service also highly rated. Issues of personalisation/customisation were very low rated. We find the online pure-play companies in the sample delivering better performance than multichannel retailers, despite having customers who are actually more demanding. We discuss the practical and research implications of these findings.     

How organisations generate and use customer insight

Abstract

The generation and use of customer insight in marketing decisions is poorly understood, partly due to difficulties in obtaining research access and partly because market-based learning theory views knowledge as a fixed asset. However, customer insight takes many forms, arrives at the organisation from increasingly diverse sources and requires more than mere dissemination if it is to be useful. A multiple case study approach is used to explore managerial practices for insight generation and use. Multiple informants from each of four organisations in diverse sectors were interviewed. Findings reveal the importance of value alignment and value monitoring across the insight demand chain, to complement the information processing emphasis of extant research. Within the firm, the study suggests the importance of customer insight conduct practices including insight format, the role of automation and insight shepherding, to complement the much-researched process perspective. The study provides a basis for assessing the effectiveness of insight processes by both practitioners and scholars.     

Loyalty toward online food delivery service: the role of e-service quality and food quality

This study assesses the direct influence of food quality and e-service quality on customer loyalty toward online food delivery (OFD) service and its indirect influence through the mediation of customer satisfaction and perceived value. This study uses a survey of 405 OFD service customers from Bandung, Indonesia. By applying variance-based partial least squares to evaluate the proposed model, this study confirms the direct effect of food quality on online loyalty, but not e-service quality. Further, this study discloses the partial mediation role of customer satisfaction and perceived value on the relationship between both food quality and e-service quality on online loyalty toward OFD services.     

Key service drivers for high-tech service brand equity: The mediating role of overall service quality and perceived value

Abstract

This study investigates how different aspects of service quality could have effects on overall perception of service quality, perceived value, and service brand equity. Based on a survey of active users of mobile telecommunications services in Taiwan, we obtained the following findings. First, we found that empathy, network quality, reliability, and assurance, but not tangibles and responsiveness, have a significant effect on service quality and value perception. Second, the effect of overall service quality on brand equity is partially mediated by perceived value. Third, overall service quality has differential mediation effects on the relationships between specific service quality dimensions and perceived value. Finally, empathy and network quality have direct effects on brand equity. For managers, our study suggests the importance of identifying key service drivers for building strong service brand for high-tech service firms. The identification of key service drivers could then enable these firms to make strategic decisions on services investments. It also demonstrates the importance of the humanisation of technology for services firms. This study is original in that it explores the path from specific services qualities to service brand equity.     

Importance of offline service quality in building loyalty of OC service brand

Customer management becomes increasingly important as consumers have more flexible shopping process and options and competition become intensified in omni-channel (OC) retail environment. OC retailer can facilitate customer communication of OC service with OC service brand. This study evaluates an OC service brand (i.e. SSG OC service brand) to explore the effectiveness of integrated OC service platform which has a standing brand identity, and to determine the importance of selected offline characteristics of OC service on loyalty of OC service brand. Survey of 127 respondents was collected to test Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings show that tangibility and empathy of offline OC service directly affect customer satisfaction and attitude toward overall OC service brand, confirming the importance of offline service quality of OC in the OC service brand management.     

Understanding hospital quality: the case of cumulative and balanced quality

A more precise way to conceptualize and operationalize hospital quality is needed to increase hospitals’ productivity. This paper investigates how hospitals’ conformance quality (CQ) and experiential quality (EQ), in terms of their combined magnitude (i.e. their interaction) and relative balance (i.e. the absolute difference between them) impact hospital productivity. First, we explore the impact of both the ‘combined dimension of quality’ and ‘balance dimension of quality’ on hospital productivity. Second, we investigate quality dominance to analyze its impact on productivity when CQ is greater than EQ, and vice versa. Secondary data (January 2015 to December 2015) were collected from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and American Hospital Directory (AHD) for US acute care hospitals. The results provide strong empirical support for the benefit of minimizing the gap between the two types of quality. In addition, the results suggest that considering quality dominance (experiential vs. conformance) might be useful in shedding light on the inherent tension that exists when firms are forced to allocate resources to provide different types of quality simultaneously.     

Electronic and in-person service quality of hybrid services

The service industries have experienced dramatic changes in service delivery format because of fast-paced innovation in information technology. Hybrid services involve service deliveries through conventional and technology-enabled environments, each of which is complementary and non-interchangeable. However, limited research has examined consumer behavior in response to a series of relevant service episodes in different channels at different points in time. In other words, how customers perceive service quality at each service encounter and how the cumulative effect of these perceptions influences customers’ overall service value assessment and satisfaction remain unclear. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the sequential influence of e-service quality on in-person service quality in a hybrid service format in which interpersonal and computer-mediated services coexist but at different points in time. Empirical analysis shows that e-service quality directly and positively affects in-person service quality, which fully mediates the effects of e-service quality on perceived value and customer satisfaction. The sequence of service encounters matters because in-person service quality perception has a stronger effect than e-service quality on customer metrics. Cumulative quality perceptions significantly influence perceived value and overall customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented in the discussion.     

Measuring Internet retail service quality using E-S-QUAL

Abstract

Despite its acknowledged importance, there are few rigorous empirical studies examining Internet retail service quality. An exception is the development of the E-S-QUAL scale by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Malhotra (2005 Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Malhotra, A. 2005. E-S-QUAL: A multiple-item scale for assessing electronic service quality. Journal of Service Research, 7(3): 213–233. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Whilst E-S-QUAL demonstrated good psychometric properties in the original study, the scale lacks external validation. This paper presents a reassessment and validation of the E-S-QUAL in the context of the Internet grocery sector. Data were collected via a web-based cross-sectional survey using self-administered questionnaires distributed to online grocery shoppers. A total of 491 usable questionnaires were received. The results show that there are potential discriminant validity problems with the Efficiency and System Availability dimensions of E-S-QUAL. Further analysis shows that a second-order, three-factor model of E-S-QUAL, consisting of Efficiency, System Availability, and Fulfilment, provides the best fit to the data in this study. Privacy is shown to be the least important dimension for the data set in this study.     

Operationalisation of service innovation: a systems thinking approach

This paper initialises an effort to explore the impact of an innovative systems thinking approach for service operations design on creating innovation. A qualitative exploratory case study approach in two of the UK’s service sector departments was conducted, using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and extractions from both observations and documents. The results identify that operationalising service innovation is positively linked with applying the Vanguard Method for service operations design. Twelve micro-determinants for service innovation operationalisation have been identified that reside at three different levels in the service organisation, namely employees level (i.e. Micro), the functional level (i.e. Meso), and corporate level (i.e. Macro). The value of this paper is the introduction of a step-by-step guidance on how to build service operations design to operationalise service innovation, the paper also theorises service innovation with systems thinking methodology that emphasises holistic, multi-disciplinary, and integrative characteristics of the service system.     

Female customers' expectation of the service offering and their perception of the service quality in an emerging clothing market

Worldwide, clothing retailers that offer similar merchandise and even the same brands are flanked almost next to one another in shopping centres. Clothing retail therefore appears to be poorly differentiated, and it is not always clear why consumers prefer to patronize one store and avoid another. This study explored female consumers' expectations of the service offering and their perception of the service quality of prominent clothing retail channels in Tshwane, a major urban area in South Africa. The survey involved 243 females that were 20 years of age or older. They completed a structured questionnaire that investigated their (1) expectations of customer service in terms of tangible evidence of the service offering; and (2) perception of service quality using two different instruments by means of a direct measurement approach. Explorative factor analysis was used to reduce the data in terms of relevant dimensions of the respective measuring instruments and to determine the significance of the various dimensions of customer service and service quality in the context of this research. Contrary to what the literature proposes about consumers in an emerging economy, findings of this study suggest that females' expectations of the service offering of clothing retail stores were high. Their expectations were cognitively structured in terms of three elements of customer service, namely (1) physical facilities and product presentation; (2) personnel; and (3) store image and processes. Their perception of service quality revealed an opportunity to augment the service quality through attention to activities that are associated with personnel and the so-called supportiveness dimensions of their service offering. Findings coincided with a prior investigation of Terblanche and Boshoff, although a re-labelling of one dimension of their instrument is proposed to prevent confusion. Recommendations to augment the service quality of clothing retailers are made in terms of tangible evidence of the service offering.     

Process of customer interaction during new service development in an emerging country

Globalization has a major impact on the practice of innovation across a wide range of service industries. Yet, only limited attention has been paid to the issue of service innovation in a global context. To address this critique of the literature, a case study of new service development and customer interaction was conducted in a multinational financial services firm based in the USA. The case study investigates the development of new services with inputs from company's customers in India. It also traces the roles of local Indian subsidiary and local managers in developing and managing the overall service innovation process.     

The influence of guanxi on physical distribution service quality availability in e-commerce sourcing fashion garments from China

The purpose was to investigate the influence of guanxi (personal relationships) on availability within physical distribution service quality (PDSQ) for sourcing high street fashion garments from China via e-commerce. The research reviewed articles on guanxi and although it is still widely considered important its contribution and nature appears to be changing as Chinese business practises and sourcing policy have matured over time. Qualitative research was used in two Chinese based case study companies with detailed access through semi structured face-to-face and telephone interviews. The findings suggest that personal relationships through guanxi can facilitate e-commerce availability of fashion product, particularly where there is limited lead time in the sourcing activity, although its form and application in each case study company and their respective supply network was not as widespread as had been previously reported. The form of guanxi was observed as personal relationships but some aspects of co-operative relationships were also found. Since the paper is based on a phenomenological ontology the findings are largely exploratory. Future research should focus on understanding physical distribution service quality and personal relationships in other sectors. Guanxi by definition is an unstructured array of socially-based relationships without a simplistic rationale or logic. By understanding how guanxi is applied in a supply chain management context will aid those practitioners involved in an e-commerce Chinese business practise.     

Promotion of service industries by means of entry restriction: the case of operators in the slot machine industry

Deviant service behaviour (DSB) is examined among employees of a cinema chain in the Netherlands. Behaviours that were reported in interviews with 47 employees of one theatre were phrased as items and were used in a survey conducted in three other theatres of the same chain (n = 115). Virtually all employees reported some DSB, but overall the frequency of incidence was low. Younger employees and those who had a negative attitude towards management reported it more frequently. Gender; education; full-time study; tenure; contract hours; location; and attitudes towards the company or co-workers were not related to DSB.     

Increasing hotel customer value through service quality cues in Taiwan

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how service quality cues and customer value are related, and explores the internal composition of this relationship. Samples were collected using a questionnaire, which had assessed the quality of the researcher's measurement efforts by investigating reliability and validity. Functional value is found to be affected mainly by reliable cues and accuracy of service quality, whereas conditional value is influenced by responsiveness of service quality. Furthermore, emotional value is found to be affected mainly by empathy of service quality, whereas social value is influenced by tangible cues of service quality. Finally, epistemic value is affected by responsiveness service quality. For future research, other external cues may influence perception of customer value with extrinsic information should be discussed. In practice, hotel managers can hone the relevant cues and optimise investments to raise service quality. Finally, this study provides a new shape of ‘structural’ relationships among five service quality cues and five types of customer value.     

Transformative service research and service design: synergistic effects in healthcare

ABSTRACT

This conceptual paper answers the question: How do we design service experiences in whole to increase the well-being of all participants in the healthcare system – patients, families, and caregivers? In order to do so, we position service design as an essential tool and even a mindset needed for transformative service research success. We discuss the transformative role service design plays in improving service and consumer entities’ well-being with a focus on how this approach can lead to improved healthcare service outcomes. We also add to the conversation surrounding service and consumer entities’ well-being by broadening the concept and application of service design to consider social, existential, psychological, and physical well-being. We particularly explore how healthcare services can benefit from further consumer engagement and collaborative patient–provider relationships, two key factors essential for redesigning the industry.     

The interrelationships among service quality,customer satisfaction,and customer loyalty: Examination of the fast-food industry

The purpose of this study was to use customers’ perspectives to develop a conceptual model for improving service quality and enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The 197 samples were selected from customers of leading fast food franchise enterprises in Taiwan. The research results indicate that service quality positively influences customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Service quality positively influences customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. The research findings indicate that managers need to ensure they have efficient service quality to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty levels.