Description
Quality. Most organizations claim to have it. Yet many have difficulty grasping its many dimensions. Quality and quality- control measures have long existed for tangible goods, yet quality is especially difficult to define, describe, and measure for services. Just what is service quality? How do you develop, implement, and assess it? These questions form the basis of this outstanding book.
This useful book provides a multidisciplinary and multinational view on service quality. The contributors, well- known international professionals in marketing, operations management, linguistics, sociology, economics, political science, and psychology, share their practical experiences with service quality in industries such as banking, insurance, budget motels, health care, grocery stores, and pest control. Chapters not only define service quality, they also provide strategies for developing, implementing, and assessing service-quality commitments.
Organized into four sections with introductions by the editors, section one defines service quality from theoretical, practical, and economic perspectives, illustrating the interrelatedness of quality, productivity, and profits. In section two, the design of a quality offering is discussed, demonstrating the importance of analyzing service from both the provider and consumer points of view. The development issues of service quality, as well as the factors that may impact customer perceptions, are discussed at length. Implementing service quality involves matching customer desires with provider capabilities. A closer examination of the customer/provider dyad is undertaken in section three in order to develop an understanding of the elements required to implement good service quality. Topics examined include organizing for service delivery, the role of customers in the delivery process, and how to select good contact personnel. In the final section of the book, alternate methods of assessment are presented, illustrating the many facets of quality that need to be measured to ensure a comprehensive and accurate assessment of service quality.
ISBN:0669211524
