METHODS OF ASSESSING THE QUALITY IN SERVICES

Transcription

1 METHODS OF ASSESSING THE QUALITY IN SERVICES Isac Florin Lucian Universitatea Aurel Vlaicu din Arad, Facultatea de tiin e Economice, Bd.Revolu iei nr rectorat@uav.ro Abstract: The present study presents the main methods which may help the manager of the service firm to investigate the level of the services which the firm performs. The utility of these methods should be taken into consideration even by the Romanian firms, especially because this branch of economy is in full development. Key words: management, quality, services The GAP model used in expressing the quality of services The objectives of the management of services are not considered as being fulfilled only by fulfilling the clients expectation as regarding the services performed by the firm. The increasing of the quality in services is not only a main aim in the management of services, but it also represents the strategic premises for the development of the firm. The scientific research has developed several models for the assessment of the quality in services. The GAP model elaborated by Parasuraman (1985) has enjoyed special appreciation. The Gap model represents a general framework for appreciating the quality of the services from the point of view of the clients and of the firm as well. It was developed with the help of the interviews with focus groups of customers and discussions between the experts and the service of errors in banking, credit cards, insurance, brokers, and goods repairing. Therefore, there appeared differences (GAP) between the clients perception of the quality of the services and intention of the firm. As a result the following discrepancies have been established: GAP1-the discrepancy between the clients real expectations and the clients expectations perceived by the management of the firm; GAP2-the discrepancy between the clients expectations perceived by the firm and their representation in the quality specifications of services; GAP3-the discrepancy between the quality specifications of services and the performed services; GAP4-the discrepancy between the quality of the performed services and the firm s communication concerning the performed services; GAP5-the discrepancy between the clients expectations regarding the services and their perception of the services performed. The GAP model is based upon the duality in the domain of the performer of services and the client. GAP1 reveals the deficiency that the firms have incorrect representations of the importance of the quality characteristics in its appreciation by the clients. The possible causes of this deficiency are connected with the little attention paid to the market studies or the complete lack of such studies. The discrepancy may also be generated by an unsatisfactory communication between the stuff that comes in direct contact with the clients and the management ( from bottom upwards communication) or by a great number of hierarchy levels. Example: The analysis of the clients expectations from a hotel specialized in organizing congresses concerning the brackets of the organized seminaries revealed the following results: the management of the hotel started from the premises that the participants to the seminary expect firstly a coffee break, secondly fruit and cakes break, thirdly a nice display on the table, and fourthly, flowery displays. The clients survey revealed different expectations and a different order. The participants to the seminary expected first of all a coffee break, then another coffee break, thirdly, proper toilets, and fourthly, the possibility of using the phone. 337

2 GAP2 expresses the discrepancy in applying the clients expectations in concrete quality specifications (for example, in standards for services). This deficiency is more often determined by the following factors: -t he hesitating attitude of the management regarding the improvement of the quality in services; - unclear aims as regarding the quality of services; - the incorrect usage of the instruments and techniques for the standardization of the performed services. Example: following the example for GAP1, GAP2 appears if the employees of the same hotel gets the order to set on the tables fruit and cakes instead of coffee, for the breaks, not taking into consideration the participants preference for the second coffee (the quality standard expressed as type and succession of services wasn t obeyed). GAP3 reflects the situation in which the stuff that comes into contact with the clients doesn t perform the services at the level expected by the management of the firm. Among the factors that determine such a situation we can mention: unsatisfactory qualified stuff; unsuitable criteria for verification and control for fulfilling the tasks; deficiencies in group-working; The conflict of roles, or the misunderstanding of the roles by the stuff implied in services. Example: The rent car firm AVIS established as compulsory standard the answer within an hour to any requests of renting from any client. If an employee, with specific attributions, answered in a few days to a request, we could speak about a discrepancy between the quality specification and the performed service. GAP4 appears when the client s perception upon the quality of the service is influenced in such a way (by exaggerated promises in the advertisements or by the omission of information) that there appears a discrepancy between the service performed and the service promised. The causes are generated either by an unsuitable horizontal communication (for example between the marketing and the distribution divisions) or by the firm s tendency to unfairly advertise the quality of its services. Example: We can speak about GAP4 when bank promises, through the communication means, the consideration of the clients needs, while at the level of the consulting services offered these needs are not wholly taken into account. GAP5 reflects the major deficiency of the model, being greatly determined by the other four deficiencies. According to Parasuraman (1985, p46.) the difference between the expected services and the ones performed, can be reduced by mineralizing the other four categories of discrepancies, obtaining thus, the key for a good service. The client requesting the services makes a certain perception concerning the quality of the services offered by the firm, perception which is conditioned by each situation. This perception may correspond identically with his expectations or it may be above or under his expectations. The last two situations are very important when discussing the quality of services. Example: Excessive offers in the restaurant of a hotel, daily fresh fruit in the hotel room, a delivery one week in advance, the long queuing at the cash desks, an unfriendly representative of the firm. The number of discrepancies (GAP) represents the steps which have to be taken in the design of a new process of services (market exploration, design, conformation, communication, client s satisfaction). As a result of the GAP study, there have been identified the ten dimensions of the quality which are used by the clients The SERVQUAL Model- basis of the quality services measurement The ten dimensions of the quality of services identified by Parasuraman (1985) in the GAP model could be concentrated, due to some analyses processes, into five dimensions of the quality. On the basis of these results, the so called concept SERVQUAL appeared and it now represents an important part in the process of measuring the quality of services in many firms. The five dimensions of the SERVQUAL concept are: 60 - the acceptability of tangible ( tangibles ); 60 M.Bruhn-Orientarea spre client: temelia afacerii de success,ed. Economica, Bucuresti,2001,p

3 - trust, sincerity( reliability ); - competence, certitude( assurance ); - empathy( empathy ); These dimensions have been measured on a double scale with 22 items as can be seen below: INSTRUCTIONS: This survey investigates your opinion concerning the service. Please show the measure in which you consider that the firm which offers the services has the characteristics depicted in each of the statements. If you firmly agree that the firm should have that certain feature, circle 7. If you want to show your disagreement with that feature, circle 1. If your feelings are not very strong, circle a number from the middle of the scale. There is not a right or a wrong answer, we want you to circle a number which best reflects your own expectations as regarding the offer of the firm. Services : E1: The firm should have modern equipment. E2: The physical facilities should be visually attractive. E3: The employees should wear neat clothes. E4: The aspiration of the physical conditions should be in accordance with the type of offered service. E5: When these firms promise to perform something in an established period of time, do they have to keep their promises? E6: When the clients have a problem, the firms should be understanding and reassuring. E7: These firms should be reliable. E8: They should perform their services within the promised time. E9: They have to accurately keep their documents. E10: We shouldn t expect the firms to communicate the clients the exact moment of performing the service. E11: Clients should not expect prompt services from the employees. E12: The employees should not always be ready to help the clients. E13: It is not a problem if the employees are too busy to answer immediately to the requests of the customer. E14: The clients should be able to trust the employees. E15: The clients should feel safe during their transaction with the employees of the firm. E16: The employees should be polite. E17: The employees should be well assisted by their firm in order to do their duty well. E18: We shouldn t expect the firm to pay special attention to each client. E19: We shouldn t expect the firm employees to pay special attention to each client. E20: It is unrealistic to expect the employees to know the clients needs. E21: It is unrealistic to expect the firm to be preoccupied by the most important interests of the client. E22: We shouldn t expect the firm to have a convenient schedule for the clients. INSTRUCTIONS The next set of statements is connected with your feelings towards XYZ. For each of the next statements show the measure in which you believe that XYZ has the characteristic described in the statement. Circle number 7 if you strongly agree that XYZ has the characteristic, and circle number 1 if you strongly disagree. You can circle any number from the middle of the scale in order to show the intensity of your feelings. There are no correct or wrong answers, we want you to circle the number which best reflects your perception of the XYZ. P1: XYZ benefits by modern equipment. P2: The physical facilities of XYZ are visually attractive. P3: The employees wear neat clothes. 339

4 P4: The physical facilities are in accordance with the type of service offered. P5: When XYZ promises a service in a certain period of time, it should keep its promises. P6: When the clients meet a problem, XYZ is understanding and reassuring. P7: XYZ is reliable. P8: XYZ should perform its services within the promised time limit. P9: XYZ should keep its documents accurately. P10: XYZ shouldn t communicate the clients the exact time of performing the service. P11: It is not realistic for the clients to demand prompt services from the employees of the XYZ. P12: The employees of the XYZ shouldn t always be ready to help the clients. P13: The employees of the XYZ are too busy to answer immediately to the requests of the clients. P14: You may trust the employees of the XYZ. P15: You feel safe during your transactions with the XYZ. P16: The employees of XYZ are polite. P17: The employees have the right support from the XYZ in order to do their task well. P18: XYZ does not pay you any individual attention. P19: The employees of XYZ do not pay you any individual attention. P20: It is not realistic to expect the employees to know the clients needs. P21: It is not realistic to expect these firms to be concerned with the most important interests of the clients. Source: J.Fitzsimmons, M.Fitzsimmons, op.cit. 2005,p The double scale used in the SERVQUAL model is used, in the first part, to emphasize the ideal situations (the desired profile), and in the second part, to emphasize the real situations (the real profile). Both scales are based on seven steps of appreciation, from 1 total disagreement to 7- total agreement. From the difference between the desired situation and the real situation, for each item, there is a value between -6 and +6, the quality of the service increasing with the resulted value. The middle separates the high quality services from the low quality ones. In spite of the empiric foundation and of the adequate method of measuring the service quality, this is criticized for the validity of its measurement of the quality in services. The double scale demands the clients capacity of assessment. It was also noticed an exaggeration of the values in the domain of the desirable. The GAP model and the SREVQUAL method offered the premises which were taken by the management in order to improve the quality of services and the orientation towards the clients of the service providing firms. These refer mainly to the management of the stuff, inner and outer communication, the applying of the market studies, redesigning of the organizational structures, using informatics and controlling systems. Example: In order to obtain the optimization of the quality of services in the branches of the detail commerce firm MIGROS in Switzerland, in 1995 a working group was made for the Welcome project with the responsibility of elaborating a tool for the quality in services. The group whose components were people with leadership responsibilities in MIGROS, clients and consultants in the problems of the firms assumed the task of offering all the branches MIGROS help in the improvement of the daily activity services. The result of the project was the suggestion of a broad concept of the services which was applied after A model of the firm from the point of view of the services was the starting point of the concept. The MIGROS model was presented to all the sale points and to the employees, and they generated certain effective measures in the domain of services The Walk-through audit The delivery of a service has to be done in accordance with the expectations of the clients from the beginning to the end of the experiment. Because the client is a participant in the process, his impressions 340

5 the quality of services are influenced by several observations. An environmental audit can be a proactive management instrument for the systematic assessment of the clients image regarding the performed services. A walk-through audit (WtA) is a study based upon the client in order to discover the areas which need improvement. Fitzsimmons and Maurer 61 developed such an audit for the restaurants. It consisted of 42 questions which investigated the experience of serving dinner in the restaurant. The investigation starts from the parking area, entering into the restaurant and following the way in which the client is welcomed, the way in which he is waiting for a free table, the way in which he sits at the table, orders and receives drinks and food, and eventually receives the bill and pays it. The questions included two categories of variable terms: maintenance items; person to person services; waiting; placement of the table and of the seats; atmosphere; the display of food; the display of the bill; suggestive promotion and sales; tips; In this way, the whole experience of the client is followed from the beginning to the end. WtA is usually based on the details of the process of service delivery in an effort of discovering the items upon which we can action for an improvement. The first step in designing such an audit is the preparation of the graphs which include the interactions which the consumer has with the system. The following example refers to the way in which parts of the WtA are used by the Art and Drawing Museum in Helsinki. The questionnaire was divided into five major sections connected with the process of the delivery of services (tickets, information, experience, facilities, and satisfaction). Within each section there are several statements regarding the observation that a client would make. The statements should be formulated rather as declarative sentences than questions. In order to catch the clients perceptions, we used a Likert scale with five points (1= total disagreement.5= total agreement). As WtA illustrates, other questions have been included, being of great interest for the management (for example, where have you heard about the event? in order to mark the efficiency of advertising). It is also useful to let the last part for comments which can offer useful opinions of the consumers which haven t been anticipated by the questions already asked. In order to avoid excessive questioning, WtA has to be limited, as length, to two full pages. WtA can be administrated in several ways (via , phone interview or personal), but the most efficient method is the one administrated directly to the person immediately after the experience regarding a certain service. Rewarding the consumer with a gift certificate or a next free visit will increase significantly the degree of participation. WtA is an opportunity of assessing an experience with a certain service from the clients point of view. Tangibility in a service implies providing the consumer certain suggestions, verbal, environmental, sensorial, that can define the service for the client and that can encourage the repetition of the visit. WtA can also be an instrument for the diagnosis in management with the aim of assessing the distance of perception between consumers and managers of the delivery services. The clients visit a certain place less frequently than the managers and, however, they are more sensitive to the subtle changes (old wall painting or old carpets) than the managers. The quality of the service for the client can be diminished and become more difficult to be understood both by the clients and by the managers. In order to test this application of WtA, the same audit used at the Helsinki museum, which has been done for the clients, was also done for the managers and employees. There could be traced differences in the perception of services by the managers, clients and employees. Some of the differences are not surprising 61 J.A.Fitzsimmons, G.B.Maurer- Walk-Through Audit to Improve Restaurant Performance, Cornell HRA Quarterly,februarie 1991,p

6 (as for example There was enough information about the objects, because the employees were familiar with the exhibits). Other differences suggest possible improvements, as follows: It is very easy to get further information from the employees or The employees that help you behave in a friendly manner. It is interesting to mention the points in which there are differences in perception from the point of view of the managers and the employees, as for example The explanations concerning the objects were clear or There is the possibility of interacting with the exhibits. In both cases, the employees agreed in a greater extent with the statements than the clients, the managers occupying the last position. Bibliography 1. M.Bruhn- Orientarea spre clien i- temelia afacerii de succes, Ed.Economic, Bucure ti, Philippe Callot- Marketimg des services, Vuibert, Paris, I.Cetin, R.Brandabur, M.Constantinescu- Marketingul serviciilor. Teorie i aplica ii, Ed.Uranus, Bucure ti, J.A.Fitzsimmons, M.J.Fitzsimmons- Service Management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology, TATA McGraw- Hill, J.A.Fitzsimmons, G.B.Maurer- Walk-Through Audit to Improve Restaurant Performance, Cornell HRA Quarterly,februarie 1991,p