Analyzing the Value of Service Quality Management: Gaining Competitive Advantages

Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1990) demonstrate Service Qualitymeasurements that incorporate customer expectations provide richer informationthan those that focus on perceptions only. Also, executives in companies thathave switched to a disconfirmation-based measurement approach have greaterdiagnostic value.The research method design includes two alternative questionnaire formats:expectations and perceived levels of service quality. PZB (1994) theorizedthat the three-column format generates separate ratings of desired, adequate,and perceived service with three identical, side-by-side scales. It requirescomputing the perceived – desired and the perceived-adequate differencesto quantify measures of service superiority (MSS) and measures of serviceadequacy (MSA).Rust Zahorik and Keiningham (1993), Devin and Dong (1994) emphasized thereturn on service quality, as an investment is required to remain competitivein a global market. This research will give the university's administrators,as well as all corporate leaders the opportunity to implement `servicequality' improvement strategies in areas of weakness.