Abstract
Measurement of service quality is the key determinant in the success of a service business. Measuring service quality has proven to be an exceptionally difficult challenge because of the intangibility and heterogeneity of services. Quality of service cannot be compared against a preset external standard because it could literally vary from moment to moment, and is subject to wild swings in the perceptions of the same service consumption experience by the consumer and the provider. The demographic and the psychographic background of the two parties involved can have unpredictable effects on the quality of services. Previous attempts to measure service quality such as SERVQUAL have gotten bogged down in the cyclical tussle between consumer expectations and the actual delivery of such expectations. This article attempts to correct the problem by introducing an external standard from the ancient Vedic tradition that has flourished in the Indian Subcontinent for more than 6,000 years. This standard is based on the concept of “atithi devo bhavah,” or the “guest is divine.” A new scale labeled SERVDIV has been developed based on the three paths described in the Vedic literature to serve the divine. More research is needed to test the validity and reliability of SERVDIV.
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