Implications For Service Quality Research Articles

Front-desk workforce cultural diversity and its implications for service quality in the accommodation sector: a case from Australia

ObjetivoEl idioma y el dialecto, las costumbres y las actitudes de servicio son sólo algunas de las características que hacen que cada cultura sea única. En consecuencia, la presencia de personas de diferentes culturas durante un encuentro de servicio puede repercutir en la calidad del servicio, ya que lo que constituye una buena calidad de servicio se percibe de forma diferente en las distintas culturas. Como país con una sociedad multicultural, los inmigrantes culturalmente diversos de origen no angloparlante (NESB) desempeñan un papel cada vez más importante en el sector de la hostelería y el alojamiento en Australia. Dentro de este contexto regional, este estudio contribuye a una comprensión más sólida de la influencia de la diversidad cultural de la mano de obra en diferentes aspectos de la calidad del servicio de recepción en el sector del alojamiento.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueEn este estudio cualitativo se realizaron 31 entrevistas en profundidad semiestructuradas a huéspedes, personal de recepción y gerentes de apartamentos en Australia Occidental, seguidas de entrevistas de validación con cinco expertos en gestión de recursos humanos del sector de la hostelería.ConclusionesLos resultados de las entrevistas sugieren que la diversidad cultural del personal de los NESB afecta a varios aspectos de los servicios de recepción de los alojamientos australianos, como la calidad de la comunicación, la interacción entre el personal y los huéspedes y la satisfacción de éstos. Los hallazgos señalan que el personal de recepción de los NESB culturalmente diverso puede (1) enfrentarse a barreras de comunicación intercultural debido a los diferentes acentos extranjeros y a la presencia de jerga local, (2) mejorar la interacción huésped-personal y la experiencia general del huésped en caso de tener antecedentes culturales similares con los huéspedes, y (3) proporcionar representaciones auténticas del multiculturalismo en Australia.Originalidad/valorEl estudio arroja nueva luz sobre las cambiantes percepciones y expectativas de autenticidad de los turistas, especialmente en Australia, donde la diversidad cultural ha cobrado mayor protagonismo. Además, en el servicio de alojamiento australiano, muchos empleados de NESB que han aprendido inglés americano/británico tienen dificultades para conversar con personas con acento australiano, sobre todo cuando también está presente la jerga australiana.

Professionalism of Soekarno Hatta Air Traffic Controllers in Islamic Perspective

This study aims to explore the meaning of the professionalism of Air Traffic Controller at Soekarno Hatta Airport from Islamic perspective. Air Traffic Control is a profession whose goal is to provide air traffic control services, especially for aircraft flight traffic, such as airplanes, helicopters and others. As a service provider who has a big responsibility for safety, it is only natural for Air Traffic Controls to work professionally. The research method used is qualitative research with a concept analysis approach. The results of the study shows that to ensure aviation safety as the main goal of service, an air traffic controller is required to work professionally in accordance with expertise, regulations and work discipline. The professionalism of air traffic controllers in Islam is that an air traffic controller must have the right intentions and have the spirit to perform services based on his knowledge expertise and its application in daily work. The results of this study are expected to serve as a reference for air traffic controllers in improving their ability to become a professional air traffic controllers referring to the teachings of the Islamic religion so that they have implications for service quality and achievement of service objectives.

Analysis of Service Quality, Ship Rental Prices, and Ship Management Influence on Charterer Loyalty Satisfaction and Impact at PT Buana Lintas Lautan Tbk.

This study aims to analyze the effect of service quality, ship charter prices and ship management on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty or commonly called charterers, by the shipping company world. The research sample was 200 people from charterers or customers from PT. Buana Lintas Lautan Tbk. The data were collected using a questionnaire and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as an analytical technique using the AMOS 22 program. The study results prove that service quality, ship charter prices and ship management have a positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The results of this study have implications for service quality, ship rental prices and ship management, which need to be improved to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Service quality and the share of renewable energy in electricity generation

The government's policy on the proportion of renewable energy in power generation significantly affects consumers and all companies. Few studies have considered the implications for service quality. A model based on the Stackelberg-game theory is developed to obtain the optimal strategies and profits of all companies in equilibrium. Contracts are proposed to help all agents maximize their profits. We find that when the government gradually increases the proportion of renewable energy generation, and the cost of renewable energy generation decreases, the changes in profits for all companies and electricity prices are minimal.

Consequences of prioritisation within long-term care in Denmark, England and Norway: towards increasing inequalities and poorer quality of care?

Prioritisation concerns choosing something before something else, and in a welfare state context, this is about decisions on distribution, redistribution and rationing. This article investigates consequences of prioritisation within long-term care in Denmark, England and Norway. Analysing interviews with policy actors and policy documents, we find that prioritising home care, combined with increasing targeting of help and restricting institutionalised care towards those with the most severe needs, may reduce both service quality and equality for those not being prioritised. Moreover, monitoring and central control of service provision restrict individual discretion of care workers, with implications for service quality.

Determinants of satisfaction with campus transportation services: Implications for service quality

Background: In a number of countries, buses are a critical element of public transportation, providing the most inclusive and sustainable mode of transportation to all forms of citizenry, including staff and students of universities.Objectives: The study examines the determinants of satisfaction with campus bus transportation. The article is primarily discursive and based on the synthesis of existing service literature supported by data obtained from a survey of 847 respondents.Method: Structural equation modelling is undertaken using AMOS 19, allowing for the examination of compound relationships between service engagement variables.Results: Results show statistically significant differences between perceived service quality and travel routes. The authors argue that managerial attention to service user experiences does not only hold the key to ongoing competitive success in campus transportation services but also that those services can be significantly enriched through greater managerial attention to the interface between risk of financial loss (which increases when the campus bus transportation service provider becomes less able to compete) and service quality.Conclusion: The authors argue that if providers of campus bus transportation services are to rise to their service delivery challenges and also maintain or improve upon their market positions, they must conceptualise their services in a manner that takes into consideration the two-way interrelationship between risk of financial loss and service quality. It must also be noted that, although this study may have relevance for firm–firm scenarios, its focus is primarily on service supplier firm–customer service engagements.Keywords: Modelling; Transportation; Service

Optimal screening mammography reading volumes; evidence from real life in the East Midlands region of the NHS Breast Screening Programme

To assess real-life reader performance as a function of both volume of mammograms read and reading experience in a multicentre cohort. Thirty-seven film readers from the East Midlands Breast Screening Programme had 3 years of consecutive screen reading results available for comparison. Markers of screening performance as the first film reader [cancer detection rates, small cancer detection rates, recall rates, positive predictive value of recall (PPV), and missed cancers] were compared with both volume of films read and years of film reading experience. For reading volume, readers were categorized according to film reading volume over the 3 year period: < 15,000 (i.e., on average less than the recommended 5000/year); 15-< 20,000; 20-< 25,000; and ≥ 25,000. For years of experience, readers were categorized into the following groups: < 5 years, 5-< 10 years, 10-< 15 years, and 15-< 20 years. There was no evidence to suggest a relationship between years of film reading experience and film-reading performance. For reading volume, there was a significant difference in the distribution of cancer-detection rate between the four groups (p=0.01); however, there was no difference in small cancer-detection rates, missed cancers or PPV. The median cancer detection rate in the high-volume group (≥ 25,000 mammograms/3 years) was significantly lower than the other groups combined (6.9 per 1000 women screened versus 7.9 per 1000 women screened). The lowest median recall rate was also in the high-volume group, whilst those readers not meeting the NHSBSP minimum requirement had the highest median recall rate; however, there was borderline evidence to suggest a difference in the distribution of recall rates between the four groups. The data from the East Midlands do not provide any evidence for reducing the threshold volume of 5000 cases /year. However, there appears to be an upper limit above which reader performance deteriorates in terms of lower cancer-detection rates. With the imminent expansion of the programme, this has implications for service quality. These higher-volume readers should be encouraged to recall more borderline cases to assessment. Analysis of national data is recommended to further evaluate these findings.

Empowerment Education and Practice in Luxury Hotels of New Delhi, India

The aim of this study is to explore empowerment education for employees through training and practice in luxury hotels of New Delhi, India. The literature shows that empowerment is encouraged in the service industry as it has implications for service quality, customer satisfaction and burnout of service staff. This study initiates an attempt in the context of luxury hotels in India to assess employees' perception of empowerment, current training and practice to facilitate hotel operations through provision of quality service and customer satisfaction. A survey is used to accumulate information and data are analyzed using SPSS. The findings show that employees with hospitality educational and training background adapt better in accepting responsibilities and accountability to work towards achieving organizational goals.

Compensation Practices in Restaurants and the Impact on Service Quality

America's eating and drinking establishments employ over 4.7 million food servers. Over 2 million of these employees earn approximately 50% of their income from tips. Empirical research in occupational and organizational commitment has identified a positive relationship between occupational commitment and employee turnover. Identifying the relationship between the use of tipping and employee commitment could have significant implications for service quality in the restaurant industry. Researchers have documented potential negative consequences of the practice of tipping that affect organizations, employees, and consumers.

Human Factors Contributes to Queuing Theory: Parkinson's Law and Security Screening

It is the thesis of this paper that queuing theory should take into account not just the behavior of customers in queues, but also the behavior of servers. Servers may change their behavior in response to queue length, which has implications for service quality as well as for customer waiting time. Parkinson's Law would be one explanation of any speed-up effect as queue length increases. We provide empirical evidence for this assertion in one queuing situation with high visibility and high error consequence: security screening at an airport.

Service quality: beyond cognitive assessment

PurposeThe aim of this article is to contribute to widening the scope of service quality by focusing on dimensions beyond cognitive assessment. The focus is on the role of customers’ emotions in service experiences.Design/methodology/approachThe article first discusses the service concept and implications for service quality. It then focuses on the role of customer experiences, and then discusses the role of emotions in service quality.FindingsThe paper presents six propositions related to service experiences when consuming services and the role of emotions in customer‐perceived service quality.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to widening the scope of service quality by focusing on dimensions beyond cognitive assessment.

Internal marketing and supply chain management

Presents a model of service quality which is based on both internal and external customer and supplier groups in supply chain partners. Two possible types of internal customers are proposed in intra‐firm inter‐departmental relationships and two types of interaction are proposed in inter‐firm inter‐departmental relationships. The management of these interactions using tools originally developed in the field of internal marketing is discussed and the implications for service quality between supply chain partners are explored. The use of SERVQUAL to monitor the quality of service provided across these interactions is discussed and a research agenda to test the propositions developed is presented.

Managing the green spaces: problems of maintaining quality in a local government service department

Qualitative data from a sample of urban UK councils is used to present a longitudinal analysis of the problems of maintaining service quality in local government parks and open spaces. Service quality has evolved through several distinct reform eras in parks management: traditional management (pre‐1988), compulsory competitive tendering (1988‐1997), and best value (post‐1997). The characteristics of these stages and the implications for service quality are explored in the paper. These stages have built upon each other in a processual manner of conditions, causes, consequences, strategies, and behavioural actions and reactions. Thus, service quality is a dynamic concept impacted by both the outer (legislative and sectoral) and inner (organisational) contexts of evolving reform scenarios. As such, the paper stresses that service quality cannot be divorced from the contextual, historical and political realities and legacies bound up in unfolding organisational change programmes, and these issues are analysed in the paper.

Drug Prescribing in Rural Health Facilities in China: Implications for Service Quality and Cost

Overuse of drugs in rural areas of China has led to a growing concern regarding service quality and cost. The study found evidence of high levels of drug use in some rural health facilities in comparison with a number of other developing countries. Such a result was significantly associated with the government policy of financing health care, regulation and monitoring of health services, and users' attitudes and behaviour. It underlines the need for measures to be taken in China to improve drug use in order to allow its population access to effective care at reasonable cost.

Work, Effort and Performance

Reports interviews with workers and managers in two organizations, concerning the relationship between effort and performance at work. The findings show that a high proportion of those interviewed reported working longer than their contractual weekly hours without receiving extra payment and that respondents had a commitment to completing their work within the deadlines imposed. Effort was seen as coming from imposed job pressures, not conscious decisions by staff to achieve self‐determined goals. Managers tended to be unhappy about the poor relationship between their work effort and their performance outputs. Workers doing routine jobs, however, had difficulty in saying whether their time at work was spent effectively. Discusses implications for quality of service and standards of work.

Increasing productivity in exponential queues by server-sharing

This paper sets out to investigate the effects of productivity improvements on the operation of queueing systems, the most noticeable effect being a change in the quality of the service that is provided to customers. A bulk-service queueing model is developed and solved, in which the average service time per batch is assumed to increase with the batch size, and the implications for service quality are discussed. The analysis shows that, under certain conditions, the benefits of group service over those of serving customers individually are quite substantial.

How different are students of school psychology and clinical psychology?

Based on many years of training students in both school and clinical psychology, the authors have formulated some impressions of differences and similarities found in these trainees. While generalizations remain tentative and call for research, the students in each of these disciplines seem to present different patterns in cognitive styles, perceptions of clients, conceptions of professional role, and personality characteristics. In personality, the students in these fields often display differences in need for structure, need for external support, social maturity, and desire for autonomous professional functioning. Differences seem to be related to variations in previous work and educational experiences, and to differences in age, sex and marital status. Implications for quality of service offered and training needs are outlined.