Service quality model

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In service quality, there are several models for analyzing the quality of different services . In quality management, models often point to reality and represent not only an image of the original, but also of the prototype, reference system and archetype. The quality of a service is in competition between different companies, whose main task is to meet customer requirements and is therefore a central task of service quality. The models should represent the complicated and very complex concept of service quality in a simplified and understandable way and thus clarify the basics for dealing with problems in the area of ​​the quality of services.

Quality concept

Quality comes from the Latin (Latin "qualis" = how to procure) and describes the nature, quality or value of an object / service.

Product-related quality term

The quality of services is understood as the level of the existing properties. This view is more objective than the quality view from the customer's perspective, which makes it easier to assess the product. In the service sector, an objective approach is often more difficult to determine because it is only observable.

Customized quality notion

The quality of services from the customer's perspective deals with how the customer perceives the product. Due to the subjective perception of the customer, it can happen that the objective quality characteristics of a service are not considered important by the customer. This leads to a conflict when the quality diverges greatly from an objective and subjective point of view.

Quality concept of a service

The expectations of the customers are divided into potential, the process and the result of the service creation. The expectations can result in the form of individual or specialized problem solutions that are provided by the provider to the customer or from expectations and experiences with the service and the provider that have been made in the past. Word-of-mouth communication with the provider or other inquiries must also be taken into account.

Competitive advantages through service quality

With the entry of young and internationally active companies, the competition in the field of services increases considerably. Therefore, the quality of a service is in constant competition with other companies, whose main task is to meet customer requirements, and is therefore considered to be the central task of service quality. The better the quality of a service, the greater the advantage of a company compared to others.

Service quality model from Grönroos

In Grönroos' service model, the perceived quality shows the result of the comparison between the expected service and the customer's experienced service. The approach of these two variables is based on what activities and resources are in the controlled area of ​​a company, where it still has an influence on these variables.

If the experienced quality exceeds the expected quality, a high quality is perceived. However, it can happen that the expected quality of a customer is unrealistically high and therefore, despite good, experienced quality, the actual quality is perceived as lower. The service quality expected by the customer corresponds to the “expected service” presented in the GAP model .

According to Grönroos, the expected quality depends on certain factors. The most important factors include the vendor's market communication , word-of-mouth communication, the image and the needs of the customer. Only market communication can be controlled directly by the providers, while word-of-mouth communication and the image can be influenced indirectly by the performance of the provider, especially supported by advertising. Customers can react positively and negatively to the image. If customers have a good image of a company, deficiencies, for example in the service area, can be tolerated more easily than by customers who have already had a bad judgment about a company in advance.

The experienced quality is divided into a technical quality and a functional quality.

Technical quality

The technical quality includes the service result that arises from the service creation process of the provider-customer interaction. This quality is subject to an objective measurability. For example, a guest in a bar receives a drink and a hotel guest receives a room. The objective measurability is not only a point for judging a service quality. Another component is, on the one hand, communication between the customer and the supplier

Functional quality

The functional quality depends on the way in which the result of the technical quality comes about. For example, this depends on the appearance and friendliness of the staff, the atmosphere or the availability of the service provider for the customer and, compared to the technical quality, is more subject to subjective consideration. For example, for one customer, discretion is already guaranteed by speaking quietly to the service representative, for others, however, only when the meeting takes place in a separate room.

Grönroo's overall assessment of the quality experienced is that the functional quality is more important than the technical quality. Therefore, a very good functional quality can compensate for deficits in technical quality. Although this model can be broken down into the two components of functional and technical quality, the sub-components can still be broken down. These sub-components are then assigned to the dimensions of result quality , as well as process and potential quality.

Service quality model from Meyer / Mattmüller

The aim of the quality model for services by Mattmüller and Meyer is to show the development of quality in the course of the entire service process. Mattmüller and Meyer take up the Donabedian model and expand it and connect it with the Grönroos model. What a customer receives and how, or what a provider has to do, is examined more closely, and the influences of the customer on the quality of the service are emphasized. This quality model was divided into potential, process and result quality.

The quality impression gained by customers and consumers depends on certain factors: the potency quality of the provider, the potency quality of the customer, the process quality and the quality of the results. All qualities consist of the question "What?" (What does the customer get?) And the question "How?" (How does this process happen?)

Potency quality of the provider

The potential quality of the provider is composed of the performance available to him, the specification potential and the contact potential. The specialization potential is the potential that the vendor's ability, the capabilities of internal subjects available to him, such as service providers or employees, and the objects available to them, such as aids (e.g. tools) and technologies (e.g. . E.g .: machines) to combine and specify a service. This can result in the form of an individual or also specialized problem solution that is offered by the provider to the customer. It is important that the specialization potential includes a service that meets or can largely cover the needs of the customer. The contact potential is the ability of the provider to ensure a high level of customer orientation during communication with the customer.

Power quality of the customer

This potential quality is divided into two components, on the one hand into the integration potential and on the other into the interactivity potential.

The integration potential is the potential that deals with the interaction of the customer. The general physical, mental and emotional readiness and ability of the customer is considered and whether he can or cannot, wants or does not want to be involved in the service process. The customer thus communicates his needs to the provider and can thus make a contribution to the creation of the service process. This can have a positive effect on management through the cooperation of customers, but it can also have no consequences or negative effects. When it comes to interactivity potential, one speaks of the contact between different customers. As with the integration potential, this contact with customers can have positive, negative or neutral influences.

Process and result quality

The process quality combines the potentials described above and thus plays a central role in the quality model for services from Mattmüller and Meyer. The service results from the process quality, from which one receives a result quality for the service. The quality of the results shows the realization of the hoped-for services in a short-term manner (procedural end result) and also the resulting follow-up quality, which may come to light late or not at all; it can be shown, among other things, in the customer's loyalty to the company. The service quality is the result quality depending on the process quality.

The special thing about this model is that the personal and interpersonal contacts between suppliers and buyers are emphasized.

literature

  • Gordon Konieczny: Measuring and increasing the quality of services in the aircraft cabin - a contribution to customer-oriented aircraft development. Berlin / Frankfurt am Main 2001, DNB 963113402 .
  • Sabine Haller: Assessment of service quality: dynamic consideration of the quality assessment in the area of ​​further education. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-663-08287-3 .
  • Manfred Bruhn: Quality management for services: manual for a successful quality management basics-concepts-methods. 10th edition. Springer Gabler, Berlin / Heidelberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-50360-7 .
  • Marc-Oliver Kaiser: Success factor customer satisfaction: Dimensions and measurement options. 2nd Edition. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-503-07833-9 .
  • Ralf Lisch: Measuring Service Performance - Practical Research for Better Quality. Routledge, Farnham 2014, ISBN 978-1-47241-191-4 .