服务质量方面的优先次序外文翻译.docx
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服务质量方面的优先次序外文翻译
标题:
Prioritizingservicequalitydimensions
原文:
Inthe“ageofcustomer”deliveringqualityserviceisconsideredanessentialstrategyforsuccessandsurvivalintoday’scompetitiveenvironment(DawkinsandReichheld,1990;Parasuramanetal.,1985;ReichheldandSasser,1990;Zeithamletal.,1990).Whatconstitutesservicequalityhasattractedtheattentionofresearchersallovertheworld.Thedebatecontinues.
Evenasresearcherscontinuetodebatethedeterminantsofservicequalityafewimportantissuesremainunanswered.Isthereauniversalsetofdeterminantsthatdeterminetheservicequalityacrossasectionofservices?
Doestheservicecharacteristicgetsreflectedinwhatcustomersexpectoutofdeliveryofaparticularservice?
Isthereaninherentdifferenceinservicesbecausetheymustbedeliveredinaparticularwayanddoesthathaveabearingonwhatbecomesimportantforthecustomer?
Practitionerscontinuetolookforadviceandsuggestionastowhatconstituteservicequalityfortheiroffersandfurthermore,iftheytendtorepositiontheiroffersbyvaryingsomecharacteristicsoftheiroffers,forexample,byincreasingorreducingtangibilityorcustomercontact,etc.Whataretheoperatingcharacteristicsofdeterminantsastheytogetherconstitutetheservicequality?
Thispaperisanattempttogenerateevidenceifdifferenceinservicesthatresultintopeculiarservicecharacteristicsreturnscustomerswithauniquesetofexpectations–thosedifferentfromotherservicetypes.Thepaperalsointendstoexamineifthedeterminantsofservicequalityshowsomepredictablebehaviorasservicetypetendtodifferbasedonsomecriterion.Thispaperthereforefirst,goesthroughthediscussionondeterminantsofservicequalityandthen,thereisasmalldiscussiononserviceclassificationswhichcanserveasbasisfordifferenceinservicenature.
Johnston(1995)suggeststhatoneofthepressingissuesbeforeservicesresearchconcernstheidentificationofthedeterminantsofservicequality.Thisshouldbeacentralconcernforservicemanagementacademicsandpractitioners,astheidentificationofthedeterminantsofservicequalityisnecessaryinordertobeabletospecifymeasure,controlandimprovecustomerperceivedservicequality.
Earlystudiesduring1980sfocusedondeterminingwhatservicequalitymeanttocustomersanddevelopingstrategiestomeetcustomerexpectations(Parasuramanetal.,1985).TheearlypioneersofservicesmarketinginEurope,especiallytheNordicSchool,arguedthatservicequalityconsistsoftwoorthreeunderlyingdimensions.LehtinenandLehtinen(1985)referredtophysicalandinteractivequalitywhileGro¨nroos(1984)identifiedatechnicaldimension,afunctionaldimensionandthefirm’simageasathirddimension.Inlateryears,Parasuramanetal.(1988)publishedempiricalevidencefromfiveserviceindustriesthatsuggestedthatfivedimensionsmoreappropriatelycapturetheperceivedservicequalityconstruct.BuildingonthepioneeringworkoftheNordicSchoolofservicesmanagementandparticularlyChristianGronroos,theyestablishedservicequalityasthecoreofservicesmarketing.Theirlandmarkarticlein1985conceptualizedservicequalityasagapbetweenconsumers’expectationsandperceptions(Parasuramanetal.,1985)andinspiredmanyotherresearcherstoexaminetheservicesqualityconstructwithinamarketingpremise(Berryetal.,1985).However,theircontributionhasnotgoneunchallenged.Muchofthisinteresthascenteredonthecontroversygeneratedbytheirservicequalitygapsmodel(Parasuramanetal.,1985),andparticularlytheSERVQUALinstrumentdevelopedtomeasureservicequality(Parasuramanetal.,1988).ManyresearcherswhohaveusedtheSERVQUALinstrumenthavebeencriticalofitsparadigmaticfoundation,itsconvergentanddiscriminantvalidity,theuseofdifferencescoresandtheuseofnegativelyphraseditems(Carman,1990;BabakusandBoller,1992;Peteretal.,1993;Buttle,1995).
Variationsfromunidimensionality(CroninandTaylor,1992)totwo,three,four,sixandeightfactorstructureshavebeenreported(BabakusandBoller,1992;BrensingerandLambert,1990;Carman,1990;CliffandRyan,1994;Schneideretal.,1992).SprengandSingh(1993)havehintedatthepossiblecombinationofsomeofthefivedimensionsduetohighinter-correlations.JohnstonandSilvestro(1990)wentontoaddthecustomer’sperspectivetothe12servicequalitycharacteristics.Thisledtotheidentificationofanadditionalfiveservicequalitydeterminants:
attentiveness/helpfulness,care,commitment,functionality,integrity;italsoledtoarefiningofsomeoftheotherdefinitions.Anumberofotherauthorshavealsopostulatedtheirowndeterminantsofservicequality,thoughinsomecasestheyappeartohavebeenbasedonBerryetal.’s(1985)wellpublicizedwork.
Lately,eventhedevelopersoftheinstrumenthaveproducedevidenceconfirmingthedoubtsexpressedaboutthefive-dimensionalconfiguration.Thus,despitethe“many”studieswhichhaveanalyzedthedimensionsmeasuredbySERVQUAL,“thereisnoclearconsensusonthenumberofdimensionsandtheirinterrelationships.”ThisuncertaintyhampersourunderstandingofservicequalityandcastsdoubtsovertheuseoftheSERVQUALinstrumentinfutureresearch.ItalsoshowsthataconsiderableamountofresearchstillneedstobedoneconcerningthedimensionalityofperceivedservicequalityingeneralandSERVQUALinparticular,ascalledforbyitsdevelopers(Parasuramanetal.,1994).
ChowdharyandPrakash(2001)havesuggestedatwofactors’theory–thatamoredetailedapproachisrequiredwhereineachfactorneedstobeconsideredindependentlyandnotasanaggregatedimension.Theyreportevidencetosupporttwo-factortheoryforservicesthatwasdiscardedbyearlierresearchers.Theyarguetodifferentiatebetweenthefactorsandtheoutcomeofperformancealongthesefactors.Thestudydescribesthetwofactorsas“vantagefactors”and“qualifyingfactors.”Marketersneedtobeselectiveinthatcertainfactorsbehaveasvantagefactorswhileothersasqualifyingfactors.Thetwoaredifferentinnatureandrequireadifferentialtreatment.
Relativeimportanceofdimensions
Parasuramanetal.(1988)haveobservedthattheirinstrument(SERVQUAL)canbeusedtoevaluatetherelativeimportanceofthedimensionsofqualityininfluencingcustomers’overallperceptionsofaservice.Therelativeweightthatcustomersseemtogivetoeachqualitydimensioncanbedetermined.Oneoftheimportantresultsthathavebeenreportedintheearlystudiesofrelativeimportanceisthatcustomersarequiteconsistentinboththeirimputedandtheirdirectrankingsoftheimportanceoftheservicequalityattributes.Inonekeystudy(Parasuramanetal.,1988),reliabilitywasdemonstratedtobethemostimportantdimensionandempathy(acompositeofunderstandingandaccess)theleastimportantacrossaseeminglywidearrayofservicetypes.Zeithamletal.(1990)alsoreport,usingavariationofSERVQUALthattangiblesprovestobeconsistentlyunimportant.Apertinentquestionhereisthatwhethersuchageneralizationispossible.Chowdhary(2000)suggestthatgeneralizationsaredifficulttomakebecauseofvariationinthebasicnatureofservices(labororcapitalintensity)andthatthetypeofindustryaffectthedesignofservice.Itwasseenthatempathyandresponsivenesswerefoundtobemoreimportantforlaborintensiveindustrywhiletangiblesandreliabilityaffectedtheassessmentofqualitydimensionsincaseofcapitalintensiveservices.Thiswasalsoconfirmedbytheresultsfromasimilarstudydonefor“ManagementEducation”wherethesinglemostimportantdimensionwastheknowledgeoftheteacher(assurance).
Servicesuniquesellingpropositioncanbewovenarounddifferentcriteria(tangibility,customization,laborintensity,etc.).Thiscriterioninturncouldbethekeyperformancedimension.Differentusergroupscanseeeachtypeofserviceinturnasperformingonanumberoffactorsacrossdifferentdimensions.Fromamongthesefactors,somearethekeyfactors(KFs)andarerelativelymoreimportantfortheconsumer.AnumberoftheseKFscouldbesimultaneouslyimportantfortheseusergroups,thoughtherelativeimportanceofthesedimensionsmayvaryfromoneusergrouptoanother.Theremayalsobeageneralshiftinconsumerpreferenceforadimension,forexample,from“medical-care”through“patient-care”to“hospital-care,”incaseoftheconsumersofhealthcare.Theirimportancemayalsovaryfromoneconsumertoanother.
Servicetypes
Serviceclassificationshavebeenofferedsinceearly1980s.Differentauthorshavesuggesteddifferenttaxonomiesbasedondifferentcriterions.Ofthesefourarenotworthy–Chase(1978),ChaseandTansik(1983),Schmenner(1986),Wemmerlov(1990)andLovelock(1983).Chasesegmentsbytheextentofcustomercontactinthedeliveryoftheservice.Schmennerclassifiesservicesusingtwodimensions,withthedegreesofinteraction(generalizedfrom“contact”)andcustomizationononeaxisandthedegreeoflaborintensityontheother.Wemmerlov(1990)morerecentlyproposedaclassificationschemewherethevariablesofdifferentiationarethedegreeofroutinizationoftheprocess,the“object”oftheserviceprocess,andcustomercontact.HisoperationalizationofcontactdiffersfrombothChaseandSchmennerinthathe
redefinesittobe“direct”“indirect”or“no”contactwiththecustomer,ratherthansimplyas“high”or“low”.Lovelock(1983)hassuggestedcategorizingservicesintofourdistinctivecategoriesbasedonwhataserviceorganizationisactuallyprocessingandhowdoesitperformthattask.Aservice