preview

Service Management

Better Essays

Introduction
The service industry interacts with our lives on a daily basis. Services can be defined as deeds, processes and performances. When considering the differences between products and services, intangibility and the fact that a service cannot be touched, tasted, viewed or tried on are terms often used (McColl-Kennedy & Kiel 2000). Services differ from goods in essentially four ways: (1) intangibility; (2) inseparability; (3) heterogeneity; (4) perishability (Kotler, Brown, Adam, Burton, Armstrong 2006). To deliver a quality service, managers also pay attention to the importance of tangibles that support service delivery as well as service delivery blueprinting. Managers must also accept that service failures occur and be able to …show more content…

The gap between expected and perceived service is a measure of service quality. Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons (2001) stated that measuring this gap through the customer feedback process is standard practice for leading service companies.

The gaps model is one framework that can help the service organisation maintain service quality (Zeithaml & Bitner 1996, cited McColl-Kennedy & Kiel 2000). The core concept of this model is the fifth ‘customer gap’. The key to success in the management of service quality is to eliminate the customer gap. In order to do this the organisation must firstly eliminate four prior organisational gaps; (1) not knowing what customers expect (2) Not selecting the right service designs and standards (3) Not delivering to service standards (4) not matching service to promises made. McColl-Kennedy & Kiel (2000) propose that if gaps one to four can be kept closed, then the fifth gap, which is the customer gap, can be bridged.
The following case study has been used to explain how the gaps model can be applied. In the context of the case study the passenger is considered a ‘personalising’ customer. The passenger expected personalised customer service, recognition and satisfaction in the airline business class service that was chosen. The passenger booked a return flight to Hong Kong on Qantas Airways flying their new

Get Access