Quality Mangement Assignment

QUALITY MANGEMENTSERVICE QUALITY MANAGEMENTSUMITTED BY:GROUP-6DEEP JYOTI SARHMAKAVITA GUPTANANDITA NEGINIDHI RANIRAHUL ACHOLIASEEMAVARTIKA -904875-904875INTRODUCTION In service quality management we understand the similarities between products and services, the types of services, and the various measures of service quality. Also we discuss about the gap model and the SERVQUAL instrument used in service industries. Also we discuss the sequential incident technique of service quality measurement and improvement. -904875-904875INDEX Sr. No. Topics I) Concept of service quality measurement in HOTEL INDUSTRY E.g. CROTIAN HOTELII) An Empirical study to measure service quality gaps in PANTALOON FACTORY OUTLET III) RECOMMENDATIONSIV) CONCLUSION1 Quality2 Service Quality3 Research Model4 Dimensions of Product and Service Quality5 Perceived Service Quality6 GAP Analysis7 Conceptual Model8 Achieving Service Quality9 Deming’s 14 Points10 Case Studies 11 Summary 12 Bibliography -923925-895350What is Quality?
The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.
-Kotler “Quality must provide goods and services that completely satisfy the needs of both internal and external customers. Quality serves as the
bridge
between the producer of goods or services and its customer.”-Johnson & Weinstein “Quality is consistent conformance to customer’s expectations.”–Stack et al “Quality is a predictable degree of uniformity at a low cost with a quality suited to the market.” -Deming “Higher quality has a beneficial effect on both revenues and cost.”-Gummesson -885825-885825 Why Quality Matters?In this increasingly competitive world, customers are in a position to demand forever increasing levels of service and quality. Rather than simply react to their demands, successful companies are proactive in the way they manage quality and continuously seek to improve levels of customer satisfaction. The global market is becoming more competitive every day. Companies continually search for new ways to gain an edge over their competitors around the globe. Global competition and deregulation in a number of industries is forcing companies to turn to quality in order to survive. Quality is our best assurance of customer allegiance, our strongest defense against foreign competition, and the only path to sustained growth and earnings (Welch). Perhaps the most important reason for pursuing quality is that Quality Pays (Deming). Research shows a relationship between quality, market share, and return on investment. Higher quality yields a higher return-on-investment (ROI) for any given market share. Quality also pays in the form of customer retention -- customer defections represent a significant cost to companies. Adopting quality principles strongly correlates to corporate stock and earnings appreciation. -914399-885825 Service Quality Introduction: There are certain service firms who offers identical services under competing with each other in a smaller area like fast food restaurants, banks etc. here the quality of service can be used to differentiate from each other. Service quality is crucial to the customer as well as the service firm. The service firm can be use the service quality in maintaining competitive advantage and the customer can use the service quality for quality differentiation. Measuring quality in services is not a simple task since they are in tangible and cannot be stored. We can define service quality in terms of satisfaction that the customers derives by comparing perception of the service received with the expectation of service desired. Customers also form perceptions of quality during the service transaction - how effectively and efficiently the service was delivered and the speed and convenience of completing the transaction finally, customers evaluate support activities that occur after the transaction, that is post-sale services -923925-885825Definitions of Service Quality: Service quality can also be defined according to both the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of a product or service delivered. Christian Gronroos distinguishes between “technical quality” and “functional quality”. Technical Quality is concerned with the outcome of the delivered product or service. Customers use service quality attributes such as reliability, competence, performance, durability, etc. to evaluate technical quality. Functional Quality has more to do with how the technical quality is transferred to the consumer. Service quality attributes such as responsiveness and access would be important in helping the customer judge the functional quality of the service encounter. Process of Service Quality Management1) Settings The Right Standard: It is necessary to have the right standard for service quality or else the quality assurance process will deliver in appropriate levels of service. Standard quality is not just related to manufacturing, it covers all other functions.2) Implementing Quality Service: The implementation process involves total commitment from all the levels of organization. Team efforts play an important role. Effective implementation of service quality is possible trough excellent internal marketing program one of the approaches is total quality management (TQM).3) Monitoring Service Quality: In order to monitor service quality various tools and techniques are used, they are: 1. Statical Tool2. Quality Function Deployment3. Internal Performance Analysis4. Customer Satisfaction Analysis INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MEASURES OF SERVICE QUALITY Information on internal and external quality can be gathered from internal and /or external sources. Internal data are those generated by staff or management inside an organization while external data gathered by monitoring customer satisfaction. ,[object Object],-923925-895350RESEARCH MODEL Perceived service quality as a customer-based performance measure: An empirical examination of organizational barriers using an extended service quality model was done by A. Parasuraman, Leonard L. Berry, and Valarie A. Zeithaml.Perceived service quality as customer-based performances measure is also known as SERVQUAL Model. This study empirically examines organizational barriers to delivering high-quality service performance as measured by customer perceptions and expectations. Using the extended service-quality model developed by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman as a conceptual framework, five specific propositions implied by the model and by earlier studies contributing to its development were tested. Such testing required a complex research design involving five service companies as well as samples of customers, contact employees, and managers from each company. The results have practical implications and suggest an agenda for future organizational research.SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality: Reliability, Responsiveness Competence Access Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Understanding Or Knowing The Customer And Tangibles. It measures the gap between customer expectations and experience. By the early nineties the authors had refined the model to the useful acronym RATER: Reliability Assurance Tangibles Empathy, and Responsiveness -914400-1194435SERVQUAL has its detractors and is considered overly complex, subjective and statistically unreliable. The simplified RATER model however is a simple and useful model for qualitatively exploring and assessing customers' service experiences and has been used widely by service delivery organizations. It is an efficient model in helping an organization shape up its efforts in bridging the gap between perceived and expected service.Nyeck, Morales, Ladhari, and Pons (2002) stated the SERVQUAL measuring tool “remains the most complete attempt to conceptualize and measure service quality” The main benefit to the SERVQUAL measuring tool is the ability of researchers to examine numerous service industries such as healthcare, banking, financial services, and education. Dimensions of Product and Service QualityWhen it comes to measuring the quality of your services, it helps to understand the concepts of product and service dimensions. Users may want a key board that is durable and flexible for using on the wireless carts. Customers may want a service desk assistant who is empathetic and resourceful when reporting issues.Quality is multidimensional. Product and service quality are comprised of a number of dimensions which determine how customer requirements are achieved. Therefore it is essential that you consider all the dimensions that may be important to your customers. Product quality has two dimensions: 1. Technical Quality: Physical Dimension - A product's physical dimension measures the tangible product itself and includes such things as length, weight, and temperature. Performance Dimension - A product's performance dimension measures how well a product works and includes such things as speed and capacity. While performance dimensions are more difficult to measure and obtain when compared to physical dimensions, but the efforts will provide more insight into how the product satisfies the customer. -923925-8953502. Functional Quality: RESPONSIVENESS - Responsiveness refers to the reaction time of the service. It is the willingness to help the customers. ASSURANCE - Assurance refers to the level of certainty a customer has regarding the quality of the service provided. TANGIBLES - Tangibles refers to a service's look or feel. Intangibility is one of the distinctive characteristics of service. However, the literature also highlights “tangibles” as one of the basic service quality dimensions. Investigates the importance of tangibles and intangibles in perceptions of service quality as assessed by both customers and service providers. Selects four service industries to reflect a range from high level to low levels of tangible components and degree of intangibility in both service process and output. Based on 400 telephone interviews with consumers, shows that the level of tangible components has a positive impact on the perceived importance of the tangible dimension in service quality. However, the second phase of this research, involving a qualitative study with managers in the studied industries, shows that the tangibles dimension is relatively neglected in service industries with high tangible involvement. EMPATHY - Empathy is when a service employee shows that she understands and sympathizes with the customer's situation. Some situations require more empathy than others. RELIABILITY - Reliability refers to the dependability of the service providers and their ability to keep their promises. UNDERSTANDING/ KNOWING CUSTOMER - knowing customer’s needs. COMPETENCE - possess knowledge and skill to perform the service. COURTESY - politeness, consideration, and friendliness of service personnel. COMMUNICATION -keeping customers informed; listening to customers. CREDIBILITY - trustworthy, believable, honest. SECURITY - freedom from danger, risk, or doubt.The quality of products and services can be measured by their dimensions. Evaluating all dimensions of a product or service helps to determine how well the service stacks up against meeting the customer requirements. -904875-1917700Perceived Service QualityCustomer service is about perception. Perceptions are judgments of the customers about the actual service performance or delivery by a company. Since services are intangible, customer search for the evidence of quality in every transaction they have with a service firm.The evidences of service that are experienced by the customer are people, process and physical evidence. The corporate image of the service provider as well as the price of the service can also influence the perceived quality. While comparing the expected and the perceived service quality the following may be the outcomes; 1) Perceive Quality > Expected QualityResult = Delighted Customer. 2) Perceive Quality = Expected QualityResult = Satisfied Customer. 3) Perceive Quality < Expected QualityResult = Dissatisfied Customer. GAP ANALYSIS In business and economics, Gap Analysis is a business resource assessment tool enabling a company to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. At its core are two questions: 1. Where are we?2. Where do we want to be?If a company or organization is under-utilizing resources it currently owns or is forgoing investment in capital or technology then it may be producing or performing at a level below its potential. This concept is similar to the base case of being below one's production possibilities frontier.This goal of the gap analysis is to identify the gap between the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs and the current level of allocation. This helps provide the company with insight into areas that have room for improvement. -923925-2141220The gap analysis process involves determining, documenting and approving the variance between business requirements and current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking and other assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in the industry is understood it is possible to compare that expectation with the level of performance at which the company currently functions. This comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or operational level of an organization.'Gap Analysis' is a formal study of what a business is doing currently and where it wants to go in the future. It can be conducted, in different perspectives, as follows: 1. Organization (e.g., human resources) 2. Business direction3. Business processes4. Information technologyGap analysis provides a foundation for measuring investment of time, money and human resources required to achieve a particular outcome (e.g. to turn the salary payment process from assignment based to paperless with the use of a system). GAP Analysis and New Products: The need for new products or additions to existing lines may have emerged from the portfolio analyses, in particular from the use of the Boston Growth-share matrix or the need will have emerged from the regular process of following trends in the requirements of consumers. At some point a gap will have emerged between what the existing products offer the consumer and what the consumer demands. That gap has to be filled if the organization is to survive and grow.To identify the gap in the market, the technique of Gap analysis can be used. Thus an examination of what profits are forecast to be for the organization as a whole compared with where the organization (in particular its shareholders) 'wants' those profits to be represents what is called the planning Gap: this shows what is needed of new activities in general and of new products in particular. -914400-914400The planning Gap may be divided into four main elements: 1. Usage Gap: This is the Gap between the total potential for the market and the actual current usage by all the consumers in the market. Clearly two figures are needed for this calculation: Market Potential: The most difficult estimate to make is that of the total potential available to the whole market, including all segments covered by all competitive brands. It is often achieved by determining the maximum potential individual usage, and extrapolating this by the maximum number of potential consumers. This is inevitably a judgment rather than a scientific extrapolation, but some of the macro-forecasting techniques may assist in making this estimate more soundly based.The maximum number of consumers available will usually be determined by market research, but it may sometimes be calculated from demographic data or government statistics. Ultimately there will, of course, be limitations on the number of consumers. For guidance one can look to the numbers using similar products. Alternatively, one can look to what has happened in other countries. It is often suggested that Europe follows patterns set in the USA, but after a time-lag of a decade or so. The increased affluence of all the major Western economies means that such a lag can now be much shorter.The maximum potential individual usage, or at least the maximum attainable average usage (there will always be a spread of usage across a range of customers); will usually be determined from market research figures. It is important, however, to consider what lies behind such usage.2. Product Gap: The Product Gap, which could also be described as the segment or positioning gap, represents that part of the market from which the individual organization is excluded because of product or service characteristics. This may have come about because the market has been segmented and the organization does not have offerings in some segments, or it may be because the positioning of its offering effectively excludes it from certain groups of potential consumers, because there are competitive offerings much better placed in relation to these groups.This segmentation may well be the result of deliberate policy. Segmentation and positioning are very powerful marketing techniques; but the trade-off, to be set against the improved focus, is that some parts of the market may effectively be put beyond reach. On the other hand, it may frequently be by default; the organization has not thought about its positioning, and has simply let its offerings drift to where they now are.The Product Gap is probably the main element of the planning gap in which the organization can have a productive input; hence the emphases on the importance of correct positioning.3. Competitive Gap: What is left represents the gap resulting from the competitive performance. This Competitive Gap is the share of business achieved among similar products, sold in the same market segment and with similar distribution patterns - or at least, in any comparison, after such effects has been discounted. Needless to say, it is not a factor in the case of the monopoly provision of services by the public sector.The Competitive Gap represents the effects of factors such as price and promotion, both the absolute level and the effectiveness of its messages. It is what marketing is popularly supposed to be about.4. Market Gap Analysis: In the type of analysis described above, gaps in the product range are looked for. Another perspective (essentially taking the `product gap' to its logical conclusion) is to look for gaps in the 'market' (in a variation on `product positioning', and using the multidimensional `mapping'), which the company could profitably address, regardless of where it’s current products stand.Many marketers would, indeed, question the worth of the theoretical gap analysis described earlier. Instead, they would immediately start proactively to pursue a search for a competitive advantage. -914400-7865745 -923925-914400SERVICE GAP Service gap is the difference between what customer expected and what they perceived was delivered Types of service gap Knowledge gap Standards gap Delivery gap Internal communication gap Perception gap Interpretation gap Knowledge gap Difference between what service provider believe customer expect and customer actual needs and expectation standard gap Difference between management’s perceptions of customer expectations and the quality standards established for service delivery. Delivery gap Difference between specified delivery standards and the service provider’s actual performance on these standards. Internal communication gap Difference between what the companies’ advertising and sales personnel think are the product’s features, performance, and service quality level and what the company is actually able to deliver -914400-914400Perceptions gap Difference between what is, in fact, delivered and what customers perceive they have received Interpretation gap Difference between what a service provider’s communication efforts promise and what a customer thinks was promised by these communications. Why does Gap 1 (understanding customer) exist? Lack of market survey or incorrect interpretation of survey. Inadequate knowledge of customer needs – the company is too introverted, wrongly assuming “we know what customers want”. Management is so far away from where service is being delivered. We can measure that distance as the number of layers in an organization. Too many layers make the sharing of information very difficult. The companies we have now are still based on some precepts evolved since the industrial revolution – they focus on productivity and division of labor. It has worked very well, in that firms in general have prospered, demand increased, and successful firms have added more people and supervisors. Eventually, they needed to have supervisors of supervisors, in effect building a pyramid structure. It was part of the old social contract: people at the top think, those on bottom do, and those in the middle watch. This structure worked well, but only in a world that moved slowly and where competition was not truly global and trade was not completely free of boundaries and constraints. That pyramid structure has started crumbling as change has happened at a faster rate. Also, the old social contract no longer holds in developed countries. As a response structures are more flexible – we all think and all do – and we have fewer layers. Customer service representatives need to be very well prepared so they can think, do, and take initiative. That is the new contract. -914400-914400What is the reason for Gap 2? Assume we know what customer wants: why do we design an organization that’s not capable of delivering? It’s hard to go from intangible ideas to an actual, physical organization. The industry is not agile enough to keep up with customers. We don’t build a system that has flexible technology. We lack the ability to develop a system with the needs of the environment in mind. Why don’t people execute adequately (Gap 3)? Companies talk about activities but not results. People’s motivations may not be aligned. They may not have the necessary tools or staff. People don’t like change; but change has to be viewed as a renewal; as an opportunity, rather than a hurdle. People have ambiguous jobs or conflicting objectives. People are not selected carefully or trained properly. Why is there miscommunication; both within their organization or externally (Gap 4)? There’s a lack of coordination between different functions of the firm. You cannot fully separate customer service from operations and from development, etc. -914400-914400LIMITATION OF SERVQUAL Cronin and Taylor conclude that the current performance best reflects a customer’s perception of service quality and that expectations are not part of this concept. They performed an empirical test with four alternative service quality models: SERVQUAL: Service Quality= Performance – Expectations Weighted SERVQUAL: Service Quality= Importance X (Performance – Expectations) SERPERF: Service Quality= Performance Weighted SERPERF: Service Quality= Importance X Performance Service quality construct is distinct in different domains and it is impossible to obtain a global measurement approach. The data collected by these methods can’t be completely reflecting the customer perception. A comprehensive listing of all quality aspects would involve questionnaires by far exceeding the normal customer’s willingness to answer. The respondent is forced to aggregate their quality experiences in problematic way. -914400-914400Recommendation for Improving the Service Quality: Parasuraman , Berry and Zeithaml who are academic research pioneers on service offer 9 lessons that they maintain are essentials for improving service quality across service industries:1. Listening:Understand what customers really want through continuous learning about the expectation and perceptions of customers and noncustomers E.g.; by means of service quality information system2. Reliability: Reliability is the single most important dimensions of service quality and must be a service priority3. Basic Service: Service companies must deliver the basics and do what they are supposed to do keep promises, use common sense, listen to customers, keep customers informed and be determine d to deliver value to customers.4. Service Design: Develop a holistic view of the service while managing its many details.5. Recovery: To satisfy customers who encounter a service problem, service companies should encourage customers to complain (and make it is easy for them to do so) respond quickly and personally, and develop a problem resolution system.Surprising customers although reliability is the most important dimension in meeting customer’s service expectations process dimensions.E.g. assurance, responsiveness and empathy are most important in exceeding customer’s expectations for example by surprising them with uncommon swiftness grace courtesy competence commitment and understanding.6. Fair Play: Service companies must make special efforts to be fair and to demonstrate fairness to customers and employees.7. Team Work: Teamwork is what enables large organization to deliver service with care and attentiveness by improving employee motivation and capabilities.8. Employee Research: Conduct research with employees to reveal why service problems occur and what companies must do to solve problems.9. Servant Leadership: Quality service comes from inspired leadership throughout the organization from excellent service system design from the effective use of information and technology and from a slow to change, invisible, all; powerful, internal force called corporate culture. -923925-5207635 -904875-923925Benefits: 1. Provides access to a greater customer base (to those who require quality standards). 2. Enhances competitive position. 3. Improves customer service and overall satisfaction. 4. Establishes a method to gather and Measure quality and performance data.5. Demonstrates a commitment to product Quality and customer value (focus on cycle-time reductions; on-time deliveries; return Rates; reliability; defect elimination). 6. Demonstrates the company’s accountability and focus on continuous improvement. 7. Enables the development of stronger customer/supplier relationships.8. Decreases costs of product life cycle management, audits, supplier management expenses, and general operations.9. Delivers improvements in: Performance (manufacturing and service) Productivity Reliability of processes and production Life-cycle management Supply chain efficiencies Employee teamwork 10. Increases the efficiency of external audit and site visits.11. Ensures operational consistency. 12. Quantifies performance results. -923925-914401ACHIEVING SERVICE QUALITY Best Practices of Service Quality Management:Various studies have shown that well- managed service companies share the following common practices : a strategic concept , a history of top-management commitment to quality, high standards, self service technologies, systems for monitoring service performance and customer complaints, and an emphasis on employee satisfaction.1. Strategic Concept: Top services companies are “customer obsessed”. They have a clear sense of their target customers and their needs. They have developed a distinctive strategy for satisfying these needs.2. Top Management Commitment: Organizations such as Marriot, Disney, Xerox, Apollo, Hospitals, Infosys and Wipro have a thorough commitment to service quality. Their senior and top management look not only at financial performance but also at service performance.3. High Standards:The best service providers set service quality standards. Citibank aims to answer phone calls within 10 seconds and customer letters within 2 days. The standards must be set appropriately high. A 98 percent accuracy standard may sound good, but it would result in FedEx losing 64,000 packages a day; 6 misspelled words on each page of a book; 400,000 mis-filled prescriptions daily; and unsafe drinking water 8 days a year. One can distinguish between companies offering “merely good” service and those offering “breakthrough” service, aimed at being 100 percent detect-free. -904875-914400Pre-Requisites for Achieving Service Quality Quality is not an event, it is an ongoing process. As far as service organizations are concerned, quality is not the responsibility of the quality control department only; rather it is a matter to be taken care of by the entire business system. The following are the pre-requisites for achieving service quality.1. Visionary Leader: Presence of a Visionary leader at the top is a necessary element for achieving quality. The vision of the leader guides the organizational effort into achieving high standard of service quality. A visionary leader through his verbal and symbolic communication shows where the future lies and off-course his vision has to be shared by each and every employee of the organization.2. Setting High Performance Standards: Champion of high quality always emphasizes 100% quality, thereby ruling out possibility of defects and shortfalls. Everything right the first time and always is a typical expression of this psyche. It must be made clear to every employee that one is expected to give one’s best during each ‘Moment of Truth’. ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude won’t work and won’t be accepted in any case.3. Management’s Commitment and Support: The process of quality improvement has to be taken as an integrated management process. Only Top management has the position and clout to design a Vale System that has at its core the total customer satisfaction.4. Preparing the Employees: The organization needs to prepare their employees first so that they are capable of and feel like delivering quality services. Organizing Employee Training Programs to cultivate and have their technical and inter-personal relations and communication skills need to be undertaken as and when the need arises. It is very important to note that employee satisfaction precedes customer satisfaction. Only satisfied employees can deliver quality services. However, it cannot be taken for granted that high employee satisfaction automatically gets translated into quality, the employees needs to be motivated enough to meet and exceed customers expectations. -914400-13233405. System for Addressing Customer Complaints: The major problem today is that unsatisfied customers hardly complain, they simply stop buying such goods and services without testing the marketer know even a shred as to what went wrong and where. There should be a system of complain and suggestions and appropriate action should be taken. The customer should be informed about the action taken and thanked.6. System for Monitoring Service Quality: Commitment to quality also means that services delivered must be continuously monitored to assess as to what extent the customers are satisfied with the service offering of the firm. Internal performance analysis, customer satisfaction analysis and specialist marketing Research are the improvements are included where needed. -914400-1028700Recommendations ,[object Object]

Focus your improvement programs outward, on market "break-points".

Create a tangible representation of service quality.

Use teamwork to promote service excellence.

Create a “service-bias” based on these service quality determinants: Professionalism, Attitudes/behaviors, Accessibility/flexibility, Reliability/trustworthiness, Service recovery, and Reputation/credibility.

Employee selection, job design and training are crucial to building customer satisfaction and SQ.

Reward total quality efforts in marketing.

View service as a process, not a series of functions.

Integrate customer information across sales channels.-904875-914400Deming's 14 Points Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business effectiveness. In summary: 1. Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs.2. Adopt a new philosophy of cooperation in which everybody wins (“win-win”) and put it into practice by teaching it to employees, customers and suppliers.3. Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality. Instead, improve the process and build quality into the product in the first place.4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Instead, minimize total cost in the long run. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, based on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.5. Improve constantly, and forever, the system of production, service, planning, of any activity. This will improve quality and productivity and thus constantly decrease costs. 6. Institute training for skills. 7. Adopt and institute leadership for the management of people, recognizing their different abilities, capabilities, and aspiration. The aim of leadership should be to help people, machines, and gadgets do a better job. Leadership of management is in need of overhaul, as well as leadership of production workers.8. Drive out fear and build trust so that everyone can work more effectively. 9. Break down barriers between departments. Abolish competition and build a win-win system of cooperation within the organization. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of production and use that might be encountered with the product or service.10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets asking for zero defects or new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.11. Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives. -914400-914400Substitute leadership 12. Remove barriers that rob people of joy in their work. This will mean abolishing the annual rating or merit system that ranks people and creates competition and conflict.13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody’s job. -914400-914400CONCEPTS OF SERVICE QUALITY MEASUREMENT IN HOTEL INDUSTRY Summary The quality of service in hotel industry is an important factor of successful business. The existing trend of complete quality management in hotel industry ensures the achievement of competitive advantage of hotel companies and is therefore the subject of contemporary research into service quality in hotel industry. The concept and the conceptual model of service quality is indispensable if we wish to understand the genesis of service quality and gaps in quality. The aim of this assignment is to show the importance of service quality in hotel industry from both the conceptual standpoint and that of service quality measurement. The assignment describes the most common criteria for measuring service quality, namely the model of internal service quality and the SERVQUAL model. The show results are those of quantitative and qualitative application of such models in hotels. -914399-914400INTRODUCTION The domination of the service sector today is confirmed by the fact that 70% of the world GDP is realized in the service sector. The same sector sees the concentration of 70% of workforce. In order to ensure and keep the quality expected by today’s customer/tourist, we need to differentiate two aspects of quality in general with particular attention to tourism, namely: design quality and the quality of conformity with design. The design quality is a concept implying the presentation of products/services directed to the needs of the clients. The hotel company can satisfy the demands of the client (tourist) only if they are included in its design, i.e. in order to do that, his demands need to be included or “built into” the product/service of the hotel. The hotels do market research in order to determine who their customers are and which of their demands require special attention. The quality of conformity with the design completes the first aspect because it represents the level to which the product/service meets the demands of the market. The quality represents the satisfaction of the client’s needs and in order to achieve it and keep it in time, we not only need a continuous research into the demands of the clients but also of our own capabilities. Such an approach would ensure the pursuing of constant improvements according to the demands of the clients. The harsh competition on tourist market requires the development of a new approach to management known as TQM – Total Quality Management. When introducing the quality management system, hotel companies use various approaches adapted to their business conditions. The following part of the assignment describes the most common service quality measurement criteria, in particular the model of internal service quality and the SERVQUAL model. The assignment presents a detailed analysis of arguments that have contributed to a high positioning of the SERVQUAL model among the various ways to measure service quality. GENERAL ELEMENTS OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE QUALITY Dimension Definition Availability Product or service is easily availableGuarantee The personnel is polite, kind and educatedCommunication Clients receive information on all products and services and their changes in the language they can understand Expertise The personnel has the necessary knowledge and skills to produce and sell products or provide servicesStandard Products and services are up to the standardBehavior Kindness, good manners and care of the personnel towards clientsFlaw Each quality that is not defined and affects the satisfaction of the clientDuration Performance, service result or product last longerEngagement The personnel shows understanding and gives individual attention to each clientHumanity Product or service are provided so as to preserve dignity and self-respect of the clientEffects Product or service produces the expected effectReliability Capability to sell products or provide services in a discreet and reliable mannerResponsibility Definite duration of product sale or providing of servicesSafety Product or service are provided in the safest possible way, without any kind of risk or danger SERVICE QUALITY MEASUREMENT IN HOTEL INDUSTRY -923925-914400Conceptual model of service quality When analyzing the quality of service it is desirable to analyze the largest possible number of companies supplying the same type of service. As we already mentioned, if a company carries out a research and finds that the results are negative, it can interpret this information in the wrong way and conclude that it provides services in a totally wrong way. On the other hand, when analyzing a large number of companies, it is possible to compare data and obtain a realistic picture of the position of an individual company compared to others regarding quality. The upper part of the model includes phenomena tied to the consumer, while the lower part shows phenomena tied to the supplier of services. The expected service is the function of earlier experiences of the consumer, their personal needs and oral communication. Communication with the market also influences the expected service. Experienced service, here called perceived service, is the result of a series of internal decisions and activities. The management’s perceptions of the consumer’s expectations are the guiding principle when deciding on the specifications of the quality of service that the company should follow in providing service. If there are differences or discrepancies in the expectations or perceptions between people involved in providing and consuming services, a “service quality gap” can occur, as shown in model. Since there is a Direct connection between the quality of service and the satisfaction of clients in hotel industry, it is important for the company to spot a gap in the quality of service. The first possible gap is the knowledge gap. It is the result of the differences in managing knowledge and their real expectations. This gap can lead to other gaps in the process of service quality and is, among other things, caused by: − Incorrect information in market researches and demand analysis; − Incorrect interpretations of information regarding expectations; − Lack of information about any feedback between the company and the consumers directed to the management; − Too many organizational layers that hinder or modify parts of information in their upward movement from those involved in contact with the consumers. -914399-914400The second possible gap is that of standard. It is the result of differences in managing knowledge of the client’s expectations and the process of service provision (delivery). This gap is the result of: − Mistakes in planning or insufficient planning procedures; − Bad management planning; − Lack of clearly set goals in the organization; and − Insufficient support of the top management to service quality planning. The management can be right in evaluating the client’s expectations and develop business methods to satisfy these expectations, without the employees being correct in providing service. For example, a restaurant can order the waiters to serve the customers in two minutes after they sit at the table. Nevertheless, the waiters can ignore that specification and talk between them on the side. The fourth possible gap is the communication gap arising when there is a difference between the delivered service and the service that the company promised to the clients via external communications. The reasons are: − The planning of communication with the market is not integrated with the services; − Lack or insufficient coordination between traditional marketing and procedures; − Organizational performance not in keeping with the specifications, while the policy of communication with the market abides by the given specifications; and − Tendency to exaggerate in accordance with exaggerated promises. Hotel companies try to detect the “service gap” with survey questionnaires. Gap analysis is the fill conducer for the management to find the causes of problems regarding quality and to find suitable ways to remove such gaps. For this reason the first four gaps are also called organizational or internal gaps. The conceptual model of service quality presented the frame for the development of a model of internal service quality – INSQPLUS. The authors of INSQPLUS model saw the need to add a 5th gap in the model of internal service quality – the rating gap, because it is necessary to have supervision over control, or better, the evaluation of service delivery before its consumption. Theoretical model of internal service quality -914400-914401SERVQUAL MODEL IN CROATIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY The Faculty for Tourist and Hospitality Management in Opatija constructed an empirical model for the measurement of service quality in hotel industry on the model of hospitality on the Opatijska Riviera. Its use shall be simple and effective in hotel. The aims of the research were: a) Evaluate expectations and perceptions of hotel guests on the studied sample, b) Evaluate and calculate the SERVQUAL gap, c) Test the reliability of the SERVQUAL model in hotel industry, d) Determine the dimensions of service quality in hotel industry by applying the method of factor analysis. From a practical point of view, the research intended to test the adapted SERVQUAL model for the measurement of service quality of hotel guests The survey among hotel guests was carried out in 16 hotels on Opatijska Riviera during Christmas and New Year Holidays 2001/2002, in the period from Dec 28, 2001 to Jan 8, 2002. The SERVQUAL gap was calculated on the basis of what is shown in Conceptual model of service quality. It represents the difference between the average ratings of perceptions and the average expectations ratings. The wider the gap, the greater the difference between expectations and perception. SERVQUAL GAP TABLE-1 Dimensions Expectation(SERVEXPscale)Perception(SERVPERC scale)SERVQUALgap= Perception-ExpectationTANGIBLES6,365,70-0,66RELIABILITY6,446,00-0,44RESPONSIVENESS6,385,99-0,39ASSURANCE6,386,00-0,39EMPATHY6,025,70-0,32TOTAL SERVQUAL GAP6,325,88-0,44 Note: Rating scale from 7 to 1, where 7 represents the highest rating and 1 the lowest. The higher the rating, the greater the expectation and the perception Table 1. Shows that the average ratings for expectations are higher than the average perception ratings in all dimensions of service quality. These results in a negative total SERVQUAL gap. The widest gaps are those in the dimensions of “reliability” (-0, 44) and “tangibles” (-0, 66). Hotel guests are more satisfied with the response of the hotel personnel, therefore the gap in the dimension of “empathy” is the narrowest (-0, 32). The results of the quantitative application of the SERVQUAL model in Croatian hotel industry show that the expectations of hotel guests are higher than their perception. This proves the existence of a negative SERVQUAL gap. Table 2. Below shows the results of the expectation of service quality in hotel industry in different countries. It is visible that tourists from Great Britain have the highest total expectations, followed by guests from Australia and USA, while the Japanese tourists have the least expectations. Research shows that the expectations of hotel Guests, who spent their holiday on Opatija Riviera in the observed period, were much higher than the results of research shown in table 2. Compared to clients in other services, “reliability” and an “impeccable” service is important to all hotel guests, regardless of their country of origin. Hotel guests prioritize this dimension, and so should hotel managers and personnel. Dimensions of service quality CountriesUKJAPANUSA AUSTRALIATAIWANALL COUNTRIESSAMPLE SIZE(65)(75)(38)(44)(31)(253)TANGIBILITY5,514,645,625,625,835,44RELIABILITY6,686,236,616,616,656,56RESPONSIVENESS6,576,056,436,526,416,40ASSURANCE6,656,166,416,466,566,45EMPATHY6,395,586,356,265,836,08AIRTHMETIC MEAN6,365,736,286,296,266,19 The need for the application of SERVQUAL model in hotel industry is confirmed by the fact that, in the observed sample, hotel managers do not know the expectations of their guests because the dimensions of service quality they consider most important, do not match those that are most important for the clients, which is confirmed by the total SERVQUAL gap. -914400-876300CONCLUSION SERVQUAL can be widely applied, not only in science but also in practice in various services. The aim of the scientists is to work out and test useful instruments for managers in order to help them determine those organizational variables (policy, staff, structure, technology, processes) that will guarantee the best service quality with minimal costs. This methodology can assist hotel managers in assessing the position of the hotel regarding its competition and strategic and operative decision-making. In hotel industry, service quality, as an extremely subjective category, is crucial to the satisfaction of the client. It is therefore imperative for managers in hotel industry to apply the SERVQUAL model for the measurement of service quality in their own hotel company, in order to satisfy the guest’s expectations and ensure a position on the growing global tourist market. The results of the quantitative application of SERVQUAL instrument show that this model can provide managers with useful information for the assessment of expectations and perception of hotel guests, with the aim of learning about gaps in individual service quality dimensions. Need for the application of SERVQUAL model in hotel industry is confirmed by the fact that, in the observed sample, hotel managers do not know the expectations of their guests because the dimensions of service quality they consider most important, do not match those that are most important for the clients, which is confirmed by the total SERVQUAL gap. To sum up, the SERVQUAL model as not only provider to the managers with a clear picture of the quality of the provided service, but also helping in discovering the needs, wishes and expectations of the guests. The same is analyzed by determining the characteristics of service quality that are most important for guests. We can say that it helps managers in setting the standards for the provision of services in the hospitality industry. ANOTHER EXAMPLE TO MEASURE SERVICE QUALITY -914400-885825 AN EMPIRICAL STUDY TO MEASURE SERVICE QUALITY GAPS IN PANTALOON FACTORY OUTLET About Pantaloon Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 11 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 63 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people. The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Depot, Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, all, Top 10, bazaars and Star and Sitar a. The company also operates an online portal, futurebazaar.com. A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a large-format home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and E-Zone focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloon Retail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year 2007 by the US-based National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona. Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space. ,[object Object],By observation and by interviewing the staff of the Pantaloon factory, we come to know that store provides following services to their customers- Store provides toys for children of their customers, so that customers can do shopping while their children are busy in playing with those toys. Staff of store gives personal attention to each of the customer. Store has convenient place so that customer can move in store and choose at his own. Store also provide plenty and convenient parking place. Most of the credit cards are accepted by the store for the convenience of the customer. Alteration is done within the store in less time. Staff went to the customer only when the customer needs it; otherwise staff never interferes in the selection process of customer. Because of this customer feel comfortable in the store. Store plays music whole day for the customers only. In festival season store remains open for long time, and the operating hours of store are decided keeping in mind the convenience of the customers. Trail rooms are clean and convenient. Bills and calculations are computerized for error free transactions. Greetings and small gifts are given to customers in festive. Customer can get the benefit of surprise offers whish are declared on time. Water cooler facility and A.C. facilities for customers. -904875-914401SERVQUAL MODEL This model contains many aspects, out of which five are considered as best for Indian retail sector. In questionnaire I used a Likert scale which considered as a best for the attitudinal survey. The scale is like- Strongly Partially don’t know Partially Strongly DisagreeDisagree Disagree Agree Agree Agree 1---------------------2-------------------3--------------------4-------------------5-------------------6-------------------7 This scale is for the perception of the customers about the services in Pantaloon. About expectation of customer for the same aspects and services provided by the store, it is assumed as ‘7’ the highest most. This is because everyone expects more and more, that’s why without wasting respondents time and efforts it is assumed as ‘7’. Analysis is the difference between the average of perception and the expectation (assumed as ‘7’, the highest most) of a particular service provided by the store. -904875-904875Response sheet with average: ,[object Object],-903605-918845Personal Interaction14Employees in the store have the knowledge to answer customers question2163165.9515The behavior of employees in this store instills confidence in customers1365226.0916Customers feel safe in their transactions with this store0615796.7317Employees in this store gives prompt service to customers74266.2618Employees in this store tell customer exactly when services will be perform84166.1619Employees in the stores are never too busy to responds to customers request0269296.2720The store gives customer individual attention0135646.6321Employees in the store are consistently courteous with customers80206.2022Employees in this store treat customers courteously on the telephone0190096.0823Employees of the store knows exactly what my needs are2861115.83Problem-solving24Store Employees are able to handle customers complaints directly and immediately1563226.0725Store employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions0388096.0626This store willingly handles returns and exchanges21796.79Policy27The store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers1064266.1628The store ambiance (such as music, lightning, architecture , colour combinations etc.) is attractive092167035.5529The atmosphere (such as music, lightning, architecture and colour combinations etc.) gives a feeling that the store always has something new to see072664035.5630This store offers high quality merchandise2758155.8831This store has operating hours convenient to all their customers73276.2732This store accepts most major credit cards22786.7833Customer can pick up and try as many things as they want at the store even without buying anything5838045.46 Response sheet with average Physical aspects ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store has clean and convenient physical facilities (trial rooms, rest rooms etc.)011012776.64 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store has clean and convenient physical facilities The store has clean and convenient physical facilities Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can clearly understand that for the statement ‘the store has clean and convenient physical facilities (trial rooms, rest rooms etc.)”, 77% respondents are strongly agreed, 12% are agree, 10% are partially agree and only 1% are partially disagree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.64 = 0.36 which is very low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to move around in the store020148496.42 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to move around in the store The layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to move around in the store Comment: From the above table we can simply understand that 49% respondent are strongly agree, 48% are agree, 1% are partially agree and only 2% are partially disagree to the statement “The layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to move around in the store” And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.42 = 0.58 which is very low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store is in prestigious location0114856.84 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store is in prestigious location The store is in prestigious location Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can clearly understand that for the statement “The store is in prestigious location” 85% respondent are strongly agree,14% are agree and only 1% are partially agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.84 = 0.16 which is negligible. Reliability ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store is in prestigious location0563326.27 (Total no. of respondents is 100) When this store promises to do something by a certain time, it will do so When this store promises to do something by a certain time, it will do so Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can clearly understand that for the statement “When this store promises to do something by a certain time, it will do so” 32% respondents are strongly agree, 63% are agree and only 5%are partially agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.27 = 0.73 which is very low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store has fast and error free transactions (related to billing and returns etc.)14866.86 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store has fast and error free transactions The store has fast and error free transactions Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can clearly understand that for the statement “The store has fast and error free transactions (related to billing and returns etc.)” most of the respondent i.e. 86% are strongly agree and 14% are agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.86 = 0.14 which is negligible. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-RageThe store keeps its records accurate (purchase details in case of returns/ exchanges, loyalty points earned etc.)19816.81 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store keeps its records accurate The store keeps its records accurate Comment: As per the above table and pie chart it is clearly understand that for the statement “The store keeps its records accurate (purchase details in case of returns/ exchanges, loyalty points earned etc.)” 81% respondents are strongly agree and 19% are agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.81 = 0.19 which is negligible. Personal Interaction ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-RageCustomers feel safe in their transactions with this store0615796.73 (Total no. of respondents is 100) Customers feel safe in their transactions with this store Customers feel safe in their transactions with this store Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can understand that for the statement “Customers feel safe in their transactions with this store” only 6% are partially agree, 15% are agree and most of the respondent i.e. 79% are strongly agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.73 = 0.27 which is negligible. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageEmployees in this store give prompt service to customers74266.26 (Total no. of respondents is 100) Employees in this store give prompt service to customers Employees in this store give prompt service to customers Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can conclude that for the statement “Employees in this store gives prompt service to customers,” 26% respondents are strongly agree and most of our agree i.e. all the respondents are in the favor of the above statement. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.26 = 0.74 which is very low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store gives customer individual attention0135646.63 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store gives customer individual attention The store gives customer individual attention Comment: As per the above table and pie chart most of the respondents i.e. 64% are strongly agreed, 35%are agreed and only 1% is partially agreed to the statement “The store gives customer individual attention.” And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.63 = 0.37 which is negligible. Problem-solving ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageStore Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately1563226.07 (Total no. of respondents is 100) Store Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately Store Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can conclude that most of the respondents i.e.63%are agree, 22% are strongly agree and only 15% are partially agree to the statement “Store Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately.” And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.07 = 0.93 which is very low. Store employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions Statement01020304050607Ave-rageStore employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions0388096.06 (Total no. of respondents is 100) Store employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions Store employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions Comment: From the above table and pie chart it is clear that for the statement “Store Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately”, most of the respondents i.e. 88% are agree, 9% are strongly agree and only 3% are partially agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.06 = 0.94 which is low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThis store willingly handles returns and exchanges21796.79 (Total no. of respondents is 100) This store willingly handles returns and exchanges This store willingly handles returns and exchanges Comment: From the above table and pie chart it is clear that for the statement “This store willingly handles returns and exchanges”, most of the respondents i.e. 79% are strongly agree and 21% are agree i.e. all in the favor in the statement. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.79 = 0.21 which is negligible. Policy ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThe store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers1064266.16 (Total no. of respondents is 100) The store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers The store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can conclude that to the statement “The store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers”, 64% respondent are agree, 26% are strongly agree and 10% are partially agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.16 = 0.84 which is low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThis store has operating hours convenient to all their customers73276.27 (Total no. of respondents is 100) This store has operating hours convenient to all their customers This store has operating hours convenient to all their customers Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can conclude that for the statement “This store has operating hours convenient to all their customers”, 73% respondent shows they are agree and 27% s shows they are strongly agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.27 = 0.73 which is low. ,[object Object],Statement01020304050607Ave-rageThis store accepts most major credit cards22786.78 (Total no. of respondents is 100) This store accepts most major credit cards This store accepts most major credit cards Comment: From the above table and pie chart we can conclude that for the statement “This store accepts most major credit cards”, 78% respondent shows they are strongly agree and 22% s shows they are agree. And the gap between the perception of customer and actual services provided by the store is – 7 - 6.78 = 0.22 which is low. -885825-876300CONCLUSIONS List of services provided by Pantaloon Factory Outlet which is derived after the discussion with the staff and the employees of the store. This fulfills the first objective to study the various services provided by Pantaloon Factory Outlet. Store provides toys for children of their customers, so that customers can do shopping while their children are busy in playing with those toys. Staff of store gives personal attention to each of the customer. Store has convenient place so that customer can move in store and choose at his own. Store also provide plenty and convenient parking place. Most of the credit cards are accepted by the store for the convenience of the customer. Alteration is done within the store in less time. Staff went to the customer only when the customer needs it; otherwise staff never interferes in the selection process of customer. Because of this customer feel comfortable in the store. Store plays music whole day for the customers only. In festival season store remains open for long time, and the operating hours of store are decided keeping in mind the convenience of the customers. Trail rooms are clean and convenient. Bills and calculations are computerized for error free transactions. Greetings and small gifts are given to customers in festive. Customer can get the benefit of surprise offers whish are declared on time. -914400-876300Store also conduct the contest, in which customer has to collect the points and at the end on basis of those points customer get discount on apparels. Water cooler facility and A.C. facilities for customers Now for the second objective following conclusions are made on the basis of data tabulation. Most of respondents are agreed to the statement that the store has modern looking equipment and features, but many are not agree at that much of satisfaction level. The average is 5.87 and the gap is 1.13, which means near about ‘agree’, it indicates that here is a need to improvement. For the statement, the store and its physical facilities (trial rooms, restrooms etc.) are visually appealing, the average is 6.03 and the gap is of 0.97, this gap is moderate. The average for the statement, Materials associated with the store’s service (such as shopping bags, carry bags etc.) are visually appealing, is 58.5 and the gap is of 1.15, here also the gap is little bit moderate, so there is a scope for the improvement. Most of the customers are strongly agreed to the statement, the store has clean and convenient physical facilities (trial rooms, rest rooms etc.), is 6.64 and the gap of 0.76, which is low. For the statement, the layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to move around in the store, the average is 6.42and the gap is of 0.58, which is very low. Most of customer are agreed to statement “the layout of the store is makes it easier for customers to find out what they need,” the average for this statement is 6.03 and the gap is 0.97, it is moderate Most are strongly agree to the statement, “The store is in prestigious location” , and average is 6.84 & gap is of only 0.16, which is negligible. -895350-876300Good no. of people are agreed to the statement “When this store promises to do something by a certain time, it will do so”, the average for this is 6.27 and the gap is of 0.73, which is low. Most of the people are agreed and good no. of people are strongly agreed to the statement “This store provides its services at the time it promises to do so” , hence the average is 6.20 and the gap is of .80, which is moderate. For the statement, “This store performs the service right the first time”, the average is 5.8 and the gap is of 1.20, which little high and needs to concentrate on it. For the statement, “The store has merchandise available when the customer want it”, MOST OF THE CUSTOMERS ARE disagree, here the average is only 2.42 and the gap is of 4.58, which is very high and necessary to concentrate on it. Most of the customers are strongly agreed, that the store has fast and error free transactions (related to billing and returns etc.), the average is 6.86 and the gap is of only 0.14, which is negligible. For the statement “The store keeps its records accurate (purchase details in case of returns/ exchanges, loyalty points earned etc.)”, the average is 6.81 and the gap is of only 19, which is negligible. For the statement “Employees in the store have the knowledge to answer customer’s question”, the average is 5.95 and gap is of 1.05 which is moderate but needs to concentrate. For the statement “The behavior of employees in this store instills confidence in customers” the average is 6.09 and gap is of 0.91, which is low. Most of the customers are strongly agreed to “Customers feel safe in their transactions with this store”, the average for this is 6.73 and the gap is of only 0.27, which is negligible. Most of the customers are agreed to “Employees in this store gives prompt service to customers”, and the average is 6.26 & the Gap is of 0.74, which is moderate. -885825-876300Most of the customers are agreed to “Employees in this store tell customer exactly when services will be performed”, the average is 6.16 and the gap is of 0.84 which is moderate. For the statement “Employees in the stores are never too busy to responds to customers request” the average is 6.27 and the gap is of 0.73 which is moderate. For the statement “The store gives customer individual attention” and the average is 6.63 and gap is of 57, it is moderate. For the statement “Employees in the store are consistently courteous with customers”, the average is 6.20 and the gap is of 80 which we can say moderate. The statement “Employees in this store treat customers courteously on the telephone” has the average of 6.08 and the gap is of 0.92 which we can say moderate. For the statement “Employees of the store knows exactly what my needs are”, most of customers are agreed. The average for this is 5.83, and the gap is of 1.17, which is nearer to high and needs to concentrate. Most of the respondent are agreed to the statement, “Store Employees are able to handle customer’s complaints directly and immediately”, the average is 6.34 and the gap is of 0.66 which is low. Most of the respondent are agreed to the statement, “Store employees are always present whenever customer needs some advice or suggestions”, the average is 6.06 and the gap is of 0.94 which is moderate Most of the respondent are strongly agreed and remaining are agreed to the statement, “This store willingly handles returns and exchanges”, the average is 6.79 and the gap is of 0.21 which is negligible. For the statement “The store provides plenty of convenient parking for customers”, the average is 6.16 and the gap is of 0.84, which we can say moderate. For the statement “The the store ambiance (such as music, lightning, architecture, color combinations etc.) is attractive”, the average is 5.55 and the gap is of 1.45, which we can say high and need to concentrate. -923924-876300For the statement “The atmosphere (such as music, lightning, architecture and color combinations etc.) gives a feeling that the store always has something new to see”, the average is 5.56 and the gap is of 1.46, which we can say high and need to concentrate. For the statement “This store offers high quality merchandise”, the average is 5.88 and the gap is of 1.12, which we can say high and need to concentrate. Most of the respondent are agreed and remaining are strongly agreed to the statement, “This store has operating hours convenient to all their customers”, the average is 6.27 and the gap is of 0.73 which is moderate. Most of the respondent are strongly agreed and remaining are agreed to the statement, “This store accepts most major credit cards”, the average is 6.78 and the gap is of 0.22 which is negligible For the statement “Customer can pick up and try as many things as they want at the store even without buying anything”, the average is 5.46 and the gap is of 1.54, which we can say high and need to concentrate. -914400-876300Summarized Conclusion The gap between customer’s expectation and perception regarding the Physical appearance is near about negligible. A gap between customer’s expectation and perception regarding the Reliability is negligible. A gap between customer’s expectation and perception regarding the Personal interaction is low. A gap between customer’s expectation and perception regarding the Problem solving services provided by the store is very low. A gap between customer’s expectation and perception regarding the Policies of the store is low. From the above points it is clear that the service quality gaps of Pantaloon Factory Outlet are very low and services provided by the store are good. -914400-895351RECOMMENDATIONS The service quality gaps are very low, but still following things are recommended for the store- Though the gap in physical appearance is negligible, but there is a gap and here is a chance of improvement. Store should try to improve the visual appealing of shopping bags and try to make trial rooms more visible. As far as reliability is concern, customer perceived that this store doesn’t have the merchandise when they want that, so store should concentrate on this and make customers to change their perception. Regarding the personal interaction aspect, though the gap is low, still store should provide training to the staff to reduce that gap. Regarding the problem solving aspect, staff of store is very good but still there is little gap, so store try should to reduce this gap by providing training to the staff. As far as policy is concern, store should try to improve ambiance. -923925-904875SUMMARY Service and products have similarities as well as differences. In services, how service is provided is more important while in products the customer considers what is being provided. ‘Quality’ in service organization is measure of the extent to which the service delivered meets the customer’s expectations. The nature of most of services is such that customer is present in the delivery process. This means that the perception of quality is influenced not only by the service outcome but also by the service process. The ‘perceived quality’ lies along a continuum. ‘Unacceptable quality’ lies at one end of this continuum, while ‘ideal quality’ lies at the other end. The GAP MODEL (SERVQUAL INSTRUMENT) is the most popular method of service quality measurement in almost all the service industries. The sequential incident technique is also useful in this regard. The hotel industry has elaborate criteria for categorizing hotels into the rating system according to their facility which they are providing. -923925-904875BIBLIOGRAPHY Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com) Google (http://www.google.com)Yahoo! Search - Web Search (http://www.yahoosearch.com)Gurukul Online Learning Solution (http://www.gurukulonline.co.in) Indiainfoline.com-Comprehensive information on stock market, equity, derivatives, companies, Commodities, Forex , Global markets, Mutual fund, IPO, Personal Finance, insurance, Loans, Credit cards, money, debt, mortgages, economy, sector (http://www.indiainfoline.com) Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search (http://www.askjeeves.com)

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