1.1 The service, conceptualization and particularities
The definition or conceptualization of the term services has been approached by several authors at different times.
Table 1. Definitions or assessments of the term service. Source: In approximation to Marrero Latorre (2003) and Parra Ferrié (2005).
Author and definitions or ratings
- Funch (1968): This act can be characterized as follows: the service is something intangible, which has a direct application on the client and closely relates the producer to the consumer.Kotler (1979): Any activity or benefit that a party offers to another, they are essentially intangible. Its production is not necessarily linked to a physical product. Lehtinen (1983): Services are activities of an intangible nature in which a supplier and a client participate, generating satisfaction for the latter, from acts and interactions, which are social contacts Norman (1984): Service is made up of acts and interactions, which are social contacts. The service is much more than something intangible, it is a social interaction between the provider and the client, Stanton (1988), Kotler (1992):To produce a service, a tangible product may or may not be required, however, when they are required, there is no transfer of rights to these tangible goods during the activity or benefit that one party offers to another. Albrech (1990): Service is putting the first to the client; service is that the entire line of connection is sympathetic to the public.Santemases (1991): It consists of the application of human or mechanical efforts to people, animals or objects. Services are intangible, they cannot be perceived by the senses, they are perishable and they cannot be stored. Schroeder (1992): The service is something that is produced and consumed simultaneously. A service, therefore, never exists, only the result can be observed after the fact. Juran and Gryna (1993): A service can be provided to a consumer, a facility, or both.Service is a job done for others (…) they exist because they can satisfy certain customer needs. Vila Espeso & Havey (1994) Service is a face-to-face situation in which the customer deals directly with the seller. (1994) Services are an activity or a series of activities of a more or less intangible nature, which as a general rule, although not necessarily, is generated in the interaction that occurs between the employees of the service, and / or the resources or goods physical, and / or systems of the service provider, which are provided as a solution to customer problems ISO 9000: 2000 Standards) The service is the result of the interface between supplier and customer and by internal activities of the producer, with the in order to respond to the customer's needs.Aquilano (2000) The operations of a manufacturing, as well as all other parts of the organization, are also in the service business, even if the customer is internal, dividing them into basic services and value-added services that are supplied to customers internal and external to the factory IWA 1: 2005 (E) Intangible product that is the result of at least one activity executed at the interface between supplier and consumer.2005 (E) Intangible product that is the result of at least one activity carried out at the interface between supplier and consumer.2005 (E) Intangible product that is the result of at least one activity carried out at the interface between supplier and consumer.
1.2 Characteristics of the services
The services present a greater problem for their study because they possess characteristics that widely differentiate them from the products: intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishable nature.
Intangibility: By intangibility we understand the quality of the services by which it is not easy to count, measure, inventory, and verify or test them before delivering them to ensure their quality.
Heterogeneity: Most services, especially those with high human work content, are heterogeneous, meaning that their performance often varies from provider to provider, client to client and from time to time. The consistency of the behavior of an almost personal service is difficult to ensure because what the company tries to deliver may be entirely different from what the customer receives.
Inseparability: The production and consumption of most services is inseparable, as a result of the above, the quality of services is not done in the engineering department of a manufacturing plant (where it could be controlled from its conception to its delivery), but is delivered intact to the customer. Rather, it corresponds to the interaction of the client and the staff of the company that makes contact with it, here it depends on how much control the company has of the service, its staff and how much the client is involved in the service, since many times this indirectly affects its quality.
Perishable character. Services cannot be stored for sale or later use.
The buyer (client) of the service receives two types of benefits: the explicit benefits, which are no more than those clearly requested (demanded) from the provider, and the implicit benefits, which are those that are not mentioned during the negotiations, but are are required in the final evaluation. Generally, implicit means that it is customary or common practice for the organization providing the service, its customers and other interested parties.
Understanding the characteristics of the service, as well as understanding the way customers think, their needs and behavior, is essential for the success of any business of this type. As with goods, customers demand benefits and satisfactions from service products. Services are bought and used for the benefits they offer, for the needs they satisfy, and not for their own sake.
1.3 Classification of services
In any case, some generalities are unquestionable regarding the services and there are other definitions that are described and different criteria are assumed, such as:
- According to Hill (1997): Depending on whether it affects people or goods and the type of effect (which can be permanent or temporary, reversible or not, physical or mental). Kotler (1980): Based on the presence or not of the client in the service. Companys Pascual (1993): According to the type of system and its characteristics (manufacturing-extraction-manufacturing-assembly-construction; air-land-sea transport; supply, distribution and storage; specific services: treatment of something or someone, government, church, hospital, health centers, education, hotel, restaurant among others) Lovelock (1997): Synthesizes the previous classifications and adds a new scheme based on systems that perform tangible and intangible actions on people or possessions, and on the duration of delivery and benefits (delivery from a few minutes to several years,and perceived duration of ephemeral benefits and years-decades).Passer et al (1978): Based on the way in which consumers see the attributes of the service (an overvalued attribute, a single attribute with minimum limits, balanced average of attributes Lovelock (1984): Based on five aspects that can be combined with each other and give rise to cross classifications, gift: nature of the service (who or who receives the service and if it has visible consequences), type of relationship (formal or informal, continuous or discretionary provision, individualization of the provision (depending on whether it is provided individually or collectively and with different degrees of adaptation to the client, which may be little or a lot9,nature of supply and demand depending on the seasonality of demand and the ability to adapt the supply (temporary fluctuation of demand, high or low, immediate adaptation of supply to variations in demand), form provision of the service (it can be provided in one or more places or require the displacement of the user or the service provider Zeithaml (1985): Regarding the form of provision (if it is carried out by people or teams). Zikmund and D ”Amico (1989): According to the degree of user participation (without customer intervention, with participation or use of an installation product). Schmener (1986): Depending on the degree of interaction and adaptation to customers (low and high degree),and depending on the degree of interaction of the workforce (low intensity - a lot of professional staff and little expensive equipment, high intensity - not a lot of professional staff and if expensive equipment).
The element that operationally distinguishes one service system from another in its production function is the degree of contact with the customer in the creation of the service. We can define then:
- Contact with the client: physical presence of the client with the system Creation of the service or service: refers to the labor process that is carried out to provide the service itself Degree of contact: percentage of time that the client must be in the system in compared to the total time it takes to provide customer service.
From here, it is established that service systems with a high degree of customer contact are more difficult to control and rationalize than systems with a low degree of customer contact.
In high-touch systems, the customer can affect demand time, the exact nature of the service, and the quality (or perceived quality) of the service, as the customer participates in the process.
1.3.1 Types of services
Mass services: Highly standardized services, low degree of contact, greater emphasis on the product (what is delivered), Added value; It is generated in the "Back Office" (in the contact itself), it is based on low-qualified personnel, high division of tasks, as well as investments in equipment.
Professional services: Unique services, adapted to the client, high degree of contact, a lot of time is devoted to the process, greater emphasis on the process (how it is carried out), Added value: it is generated in "Front Office" (after the process), it is based in highly qualified personnel.
Service stores or service factory: Services with a medium level of standardization.
Service workshops: Services with a minimum standardization level, High degree of contact and personalization, Added value is generated in the "Back Office and Front Office", it is based on qualified personnel and investment in equipment.
Types of services
Types of services
Figure 1: Types of services. Source: Schmener, 1986.
1.4 Quality of service
A single definition of quality is difficult, as it has many edges and many factors affect it. Table 2 shows definitions given by various authors, from which common elements are obtained: the fundamental objective is customer satisfaction, which can be achieved through work well done; It is to get ahead in the identification, acceptance and satisfaction of the expectations of the internal and external clients of the organization; it is the level of excellence that a company chooses to satisfy its clientele; It is the judgment that the customer has about a product or service.
Table 2. Definitions on quality. Source: In approximation to Hernández Junco (2009).
Authors and concepts
- Ernesto Che Guevara (1962): Quality is a component of the fulfillment of social duty. Feigenbaum (1971): The total composition of the characteristics of the product and the service in the areas of marketing, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance, through which the product and the service in use will meet the expectations of the customers. ”Parasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry (1985): Judgment that the client makes about the superiority or global excellence of the product, is an attitude related, although not equivalent, to satisfaction and is described as the degree and direction of the discrepancies between perceptions and customer expectations Kaoru Ishikawa (1988): Quality is everything that someone does throughout a process to ensure that a customer,Inside or outside the organization, get exactly what you want in terms of intrinsic features, costs, and attention that will unfailingly deliver consumer satisfaction. It is to develop, design, manufacture and maintain a quality product that is the most economical, useful and satisfactory for the consumer.Edward Deming (1989): Quality does not mean the achievement of perfection, but the efficient production that the market expects. Predictable degree of uniformity and reliability at low cost, suited to market needs Yamaguchi K. (1989): Good quality is not only good quality of products, which is narrowly interpreted quality (qualities), but it also means the volume of production,that when you want the necessary quality is obtained and at the lowest possible cost so that it has a good price or at least a reasonable price, and also a fast and good after-sales service for the buyer's peace of mind, including all the aforementioned that its total character is the most precise.Harrintong (1990): Meeting or exceeding customer expectations at a price that can be paid and at a cost that can be borne.Schroeder (1992): Quality is including zero defects, continuous improvement and great focus on the client. Each person defines quality with their accessories. Drucker, P. (1992): Quality is what the customer is willing to pay based on what he obtains and values. JM Juran (1993): Adequacy of use of a product, satisfying customer needs and consequently make the product satisfactory.Galgano, A. (1993, 1995): Quality as customer satisfaction. It insists on its global meaning. Describes negative quality as the (negative) deviation between what you get and what you should get to meet expectations. Positive quality is more complicated, stimulating and requires more active action to increase the level of customer satisfaction. Philip Crosby (1996): Meet precise requirements and standards. His motto is "do it right the first time and get zero defects." Gutiérrez Pulido (1996): Judgment that the customer has about a product or service and generally results in the approval or rejection of the product. It is above all customer satisfaction, he is satisfied if everything he expected and more is offered. Expectations are generated according to needs, background, price,advertising, technology, among others.ISO 9000: 2000: Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics meets some requirements.Michelena Fernández, E. (2000): Set of attributes or properties of a product or service that satisfies the requirements or needs of clients and that allow a value judgment to be made about it, within an organizational environment committed to continuous improvement, efficiency and effectiveness. Padrón (2001): Negative quality is based on defects and inadequacies that are oriented towards the internal customer and the process. Positive quality is managed on the basis and characteristics of the service, modifications and additional improvements of the service offered, with orientation to the external customer.Ruskin, J (cited by Paneque Reyes, 2001): It is never an accident,It is the result of an intelligent effort and there must be a desire to produce something superior American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), cited by Paneque Reyes, 2001): The totality of details and characteristics of a product or service that influences its ability to satisfy given needs. Mexican Official Quality Control Standards (NOM-CC): Set of properties and characteristics of a product or service that give it the ability to satisfy the pre-established explicit or implicit needs. Moreno Pino (2003): It is the set of characteristics of an entity that results from a process of interaction and integration of certain economic subjects that allow satisfying the needs of customers, without affecting the environment.Taguchi G (cited by Moreno Pino, 2003): Minimum losses for society,in the life of the product.Tuchman BW (cited by Moreno Pino, 2003): It is to achieve or strive for the highest standard, instead of being satisfied with the sloppy or fraudulent. Decree-Law No. 252 Continuity and strengthening of the system of Cuban business direction and management: It is defined by the client and is the degree to which a set of characteristics inherent to a product or service meets the pre-established requirements.
1.5 The basic elements of service quality are the following:
- Dimensions of Service Quality (attributes): it is composed of various attributes or dimensions, both objective and subjective. For example, in a customer service, some attributes are essential such as: Availability, Accessibility, Courtesy, Agility, Trust, Competence, Communicability. Expected Service: Knowing what customers expect in relation to the various attributes of the service is possibly the most critical stage for the provision of high quality services. Influence Factor: Various factors are constantly influencing and shaping customer expectations regarding service. They are: word of mouth communications, personal needs, past experiences with the same provider and / or with other (concurrent) providers, and external communications,that include a variety of direct and indirect messages, issued by companies to their current customers or future buyers. Perceived Service: This element is the result of the customer's contact with the service provider. Quality of the Service Provided: The general perception that the Customers have about the quality of a certain service company is based on various attributes that customers consider important. For each attribute, they note the difference between the rating they gave for the quality received and the quality they expected to receive. Satisfaction level: It is the difference between what the customer expects to receive from the service and the actual service they receive. New attitudes:They are the changes that companies introduce in their service provision processes aimed at improving customer satisfaction. New Behavior: It is the behavior aimed at achieving an increase in the use of products or services, an increase in the intention of conducting new business and disseminating the positive aspects of the experience to others.
Service quality dimensions: Customers evaluate service quality through 5 components:
- Reliability: It is the ability to offer a service in an exact, safe and conscious way. Answer: It is the ability to provide a punctual service. Security: Knowledge and courtesy of employees, as well as the ability to transmit security. Empathy: Personalized attention and Careful to clients.Tangibles: Physical aspects of the service.
1.6 Quality and customer satisfaction
Sometimes at the business level the terms satisfaction and quality are used synonymously and although researchers have made different attempts to differentiate both concepts, the relationship between the two is not clear, the different criteria that exist on the subject are listed below.
Oliver (1980): Establishes that the satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) of a customer is determined by the impression that he experiences after a purchase, as a result of the disagreement, positive or negative, between the customer's expectations and the feelings derived from his experience.
PZB (1988): Establishes that the difference between the two concepts is that the quality of service is a global assessment, similar to an attitude; while satisfaction, under the traditional approach, is related to a specific transaction. On the other hand, an essential difference centers on the benchmarks used by customers.
PZB (1994 a): Satisfaction evaluations are made between the planned service and the service received, while the service quality evaluations result from a double comparison: on the one hand, between the desired service and the perceived service, and on the other, between adequate service and perceived service.
Sharma et al (1999): It is based on the ¨ accumulated ¨ satisfaction of all experiences prior to consumption over time, representing the result of a learning process in which the consumer learns or remembers his satisfaction based on the transactions previous.
Sharma, Niedrich and Dobbins (1999): The traditional perspective of satisfaction has its roots in the paradigm of non-conformity, in which satisfaction is considered as something specific and is defined as the evaluation after consumption of a specific transaction (PZB, 1988).
What does seem to have reached a certain agreement is the idea that service quality and satisfaction are different constructs that must be quantitatively measured before considering the relationship between the two.
1.7 Evaluation of service quality
The evaluation of the quality of the service is a regulatory process in which the real quality of the service is measured, compared with what is specified, and the difference is acted upon when considered. One way of understanding the evaluation of the quality of a service carried out by a consumer is from the different models that have been developed in this field in recent decades.
The evaluation of services is more difficult than that of consumer goods, due to its more intangible characteristics and difficult to define, therefore it is necessary to make a brief review of the conception of the quality of services. For this, it is necessary to start from the two most important currents: the Nordic school of service marketing or called European tradition and the North American school or institute of marketing sciences designated as North American tradition, the latter being the best known, due to its great development and outreach, enhancing social interaction between customer and employees.
1.7.1 European tradition: Nordic school of service marketing
The Nordic school of service marketing, also called in the scientific literature, as a European tradition, is chronologically earlier than the North American school. When Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) developed their conceptual model, they drew, in part, on the work of Grönroos, initiator and forerunner of the Nordic school (1978; 1982; 1984, and 1994), for their conception of service quality. it is equivalent to the one proposed later by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985).
Grönroos (1982) proposes the existence of two sub-processes in the perception of the service called: instrumental performance that is the technical result of the service provision process, technical dimension of the product. Prerequisite to achieve a satisfied but not sufficient customer and expressive performance: it is the service provision process, during which the instrumental performance is created, that is, it is related to the interaction process between customer and service provider, including customer contact with the various resources and activities of the service company. If this is not at an adequate level, the client will not be satisfied, regardless of how careful the instrumental performance may be.
To understand the European tradition, it is important to differentiate between technical and functional quality, Grönroos (1982) proposes that the content of what is evaluated in the quality of services can basically be composed of the following dimensions:
The technical quality or result of the service provision process is what clients receive, what is offered in the service.
Functional quality or aspects related to the process, what would be the quality of service provision, customer experience with the production and consumption process, refers to how the service is provided. It is directly related to the customer's interaction with the service personnel, it is the customer-employee relationship.
Later, Grönroos (1984) proposes the existence of a third dimension that he names: organizational quality or corporate image, that is, the quality perceived by the organization's clients. Related to the image of the service, formed from what the client perceives of the service, built from the technical and functional quality, which is of great importance when it comes to understanding the image of the company. It serves as a filter between expectations and perceptions.
It concludes that the quality of the service is the result of an evaluation process, called perceived quality of service, where the client compares their expectations with their perception of the service received (Grönroos, 1984). Therefore it depends on two variables: the expected service and the received service. The expected service is made up of various factors that directly influence the formation of customer expectations, such as: advertising, sales, pricing, etc., as well as the influence of external variables such as tradition, the ideology referred to. to religion, politics, training, etc., including word-of-mouth communication between clients, called direct mail, without even forgetting their own previous experience with the service or similar services.In summary, it distinguishes three basic dimensions of quality: technical, functional and reputation.
1.7.2 North American school
Led by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, (1985, 1988) considers the client, the sole judge of the quality of the service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1991), conceptualizing the quality of service as the judgment that the client makes about the superiority or global excellence of a service (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988). Service quality is a type of attitude, related to but not equivalent to satisfaction, which is described as the degree and direction of the discrepancy between consumer perceptions and expectations about the service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1988).
The conceptual basis on which they rely comes from the divergence of expectations approach developed by Oliver (1977, 1980) to explain evaluations of consumer satisfaction and, in part, in the work of Grönroos (1978, 1982 and 1984). The model proposed by these authors includes the analysis of five possible discrepancies, four of them internal to the organization that provides the service and the fifth relative to what is perceived by customers. The latter is the one on which most studies and research have been developed.
There are similarities between the two traditions, both conceive the quality of service as the difference between the expectations and perceptions of customers. For this reason, the problem related to the conception of service quality as a discrepancy, developed in this same chapter, is applicable to both traditions. On the other hand, two relevant dimensions can be considered, that of result or tangible and that of process or intangible. Of the five dimensions proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988), there is one that represents the tangible, while the other four: reliability, responsiveness, empathy and security, refer to the intangible, that is, the process interaction between customer and employees. So that,the underlying philosophy of the structure of the European tradition of service quality is reflected.
Regarding the differences, of the three dimensions of the perceived quality of the European tradition, two have a marked internal focus; own of the organization (technical quality and functional quality) and the third (the image); that although it is projected outwards, its origin is purely internal, that is, the European school emphasizes the internal approach, analyzing the environment through reputation, linking the image to the perceived quality.
However, the North American school manages to articulate both approaches, starting basically from the evaluation of the satisfaction of the external client through GAP five (external approach), it goes on to the analysis of the possible internal causes that originate it (GAP from one to four) and The causal events that provoke them are diagnosed (antecedents). Therefore, in the North American tradition, a greater balance is achieved between the external and internal approaches, emphasizing the leading role of the client as the sole judge of quality. Also the same, attending to the evaluation models that characterize both schools, manages to integrate the quality evaluation, the analysis and the diagnosis of the problems that affect customer satisfaction, relating the constructs: perceived quality and customer satisfaction.
The evaluation of the perceived quality of the service is the process of determining the level of quality of the service, which is materialized by the difference between the level of expectations and their perceptions, at each moment of the truth of the service cycle and has as The result is the general assessment of the client measured through the degree of satisfaction. This process makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of quality management and must cover all the stages that make up the life cycle of product quality, using indicators directly related to customer satisfaction. We can conclude that the Quality of Service is nothing more than meeting and exceeding customer expectations, in such a way as to create added value in them.
1.8 Models for evaluating service quality
With the aim of evaluating the quality of services, several models have been developed, both theoretical and mathematical; which defend the points of view of the different authors. Among the most used are:
- Models that are inclined to the discrepancy between perception and expectations Models that use perception and image Models based on perception and performance.
Five models are concentrated in the discrepancy between perceptions and expectations: Servman, Imagen, Servqual, Multiscenario and Zeithaml.
Only Theas's is found in the discrepancy between perception and image. Focused on performance and perception are: Servperf, Lodgqual, Jonson model, Tiros & Lancioni, Hotelqual, Servucción, and PAJ.
Evaluating only on the basis of performance or perceptions, contradicts the foresight and process approach that characterizes quality management and can lead to reactive, subjective and static approaches that mediate the necessary projection towards the client's needs.
It is important to point out that most of the models studied, although they allow evaluating the perceived quality, they do so as a final result and do not delve into the analysis of what is evaluated, limiting it to the attributes of the product, on the other hand they fail to integrate diagnosis to evaluation and analysis processes, which can lead to reactive approaches. In service processes, in which measurement and standardization are difficult, this would lead to reacting based on the final result, only.
For most authors, quality is seen through the perception-expectations discrepancy (Gronroos, 1988, 1994; Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988, 1991; Valls Figueroa, 2006; Parra Ferié, 2005, Hernández Junco, 2009), as well as for the conceptual models: Malcolm Baldrige (1987), Servman (1987, 1988, 1990, 1994), EFQM (1991), Ibero-American Model of Excellence (1999). However, other authors and models analyze quality only through perception (Jonson, Tiros, Lancioni, 1987; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Teas, 1993; Cuétara and Frías, 1996; Noda Hernández, 2004; Pérez Campdesuñer, 2006). The author considers that the study of quality through the paradigm of non-conformity (perception-expectations) is correct, it surpasses those based on perception, because it considers desires,the explicit and implicit wills and needs as a basic element in the determination of the perceived quality, however, the way of collecting the information on the expectations can vitiate this important information, since in most cases it is done after the external client you have started receiving the service; Valls Figueroa's (2006) proposal with the modified Servqual model is the most accepted option consulted so far to supplement this observation, at the author's discretion.Valls Figueroa's (2006) proposal with the modified Servqual model is the most accepted option consulted so far to supplement this observation, at the author's discretion.Valls Figueroa's (2006) proposal with the modified Servqual model is the most accepted option consulted so far to supplement this observation, at the author's discretion.
1.8.1 SERVQUAL model
In this model it is established that the client expects a service (expectation) and assumes that they will receive, consciously or unconsciously, evaluate certain characteristics (dimensions of the service) during the provision of the service, which allows them to have impressions about it (perception) and makes a judgment once this one is finished. For this reason, SERVQUAL is one of the main sources of information for service companies to know the level of satisfaction of their customers, locate areas of opportunity and propose and / or implement improvements to have satisfied customers. Customer satisfaction is the most important thing for companies, which is why they have begun to look for a way to grow in this aspect, providing a quality service to be at the forefront with other companies and keep customers.
Servqual is a commercial research technique that makes it possible to measure the quality level of any service company. Know what expectations our clients have and how they appreciate our service; It also makes it possible to segment the market, to know how prepared one is to satisfy a specific market segment and thus seek the positioning of the entity in its orientation towards the market. In addition, it globally diagnoses the service process under study.
1.8.2 Servqual Applications
The data obtained with the use of Servqual can be used to quantify the deficiencies in the quality of the service at different levels of analysis: for each pair of statements, for each criterion or combined all the criteria.
By examining these various gap analyzes, a company can not only assess the overall quality of its service, as perceived by customers, but can also determine what the key criteria and facets are, in order to focus on those areas the efforts you make to improve the quality of service.
The use of Servqual focuses on the deficiencies that exist in companies and that contributes to customers having a perception of low quality in the services received. Regarding the measures that should be taken to achieve their effective quality control in the services and in the tasks associated with their provision, to the clients; These differences are the root causes of deficiencies in the quality of services, as perceived by clients.
We then proceed to analyze the five gaps proposed in their original work and their consequences (Parasuraman, Berry & Zeithaml, 1991; Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996).
GAP 1: Discrepancy between customer expectations and the company's perceptions of those expectations. One of the main reasons why service quality can be perceived as poor is not knowing precisely what customers expect. GAP 1, Marketing Information Gap, is the only one that crosses the border that separates customers from service providers and arises when service companies do not know in advance which aspects are indicative of high quality for the customer, which They are essential to satisfy your needs and what levels of provision are required to offer a quality service.
GAP 2: Discrepancy between the perception that managers have of customer expectations and quality specifications. There are times when even having sufficient and accurate information about what customers expect, service companies fail to meet those expectations. This may be due to the fact that the quality specifications of the services are not consistent with the perceptions of the clients' expectations. In other words, perceptions are not translated into customer-oriented standards.
Knowing what consumers want, but not translating that knowledge into clear and concise guidelines for service delivery may be due to several reasons: that those responsible for setting standards consider that customer expectations are unrealistic and not reasonable, therefore difficult to satisfy, who assume that it is too complicated to forecast the demand; who believe that the inherent variability of services makes standardization unfeasible; that there is no formal objective-setting process or that standards are set according to the interests of the company and not of its clients.
GAP 3: Discrepancy between the quality specifications and the service actually offered. Knowing customer expectations and having guidelines that accurately reflect them does not guarantee the provision of a high level of quality of service. If the company does not facilitate, encourage and demand compliance with standards in the process of production and delivery of services, the quality of these may be impaired. Thus, for quality specifications to be effective they must be supported by adequate resources (people, systems and technologies) and employees must be evaluated and rewarded for compliance.
The origin of this deficiency is found, among others, in the following causes: overly complicated or rigid specifications, mismatch between employees and functions, ambiguity in the definition of the roles to be performed in the company, specifications incoherent with the business culture or employees who do not they agree with them and feel trapped between the clients and the company, which leads to functional conflicts; inadequate supervision, control and reward systems, inappropriate technology that makes it difficult for actions to be carried out according to specifications, lack of feeling for teamwork or lack of synchronization of supply and demand.
GAP 4: Discrepancy between the actual service and what is communicated to customers about it. This gap means that the promises made to customers through Marketing communication are not consistent with the service provided. The information that customers receive through advertising, sales staff or any other means of communication can raise their expectations, making it more difficult to exceed them.
In the upper part, aspects of relationships with the client or user are collected, which based on their personal needs, their previous experiences and the information they have received, forms expectations about the service they are going to receive. The bottom part includes about the service you are going to receive.
The lower part includes phenomena related to the service provider, specifically how the perceptions of managers about customer expectations guide the decisions that the organization has to make on the specifications of the quality of services at the time of communication and delivery.
Finally, we observe how the existence of a deficiency in the perceived quality of the services can be caused by any of the other discrepancies or a combination of them. Then the key to closing GAP 5, the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, is to close the remaining gaps of the model:
GAP 5 = f (GAP 1, GAP 2, GAP 3, GAP 4)
The Deficiencies Model has its strength compared to other similar ones because it brings together all the basic aspects in a synthetic way that is easy to understand and apply. However, scholars on the subject (Valls, Vigil, Quiza., 2000) make a modification to the Servqual model of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985,1988). The expansion of the original model is due in the first place to solving the criticisms and limitations that were pointed out to the Servqual model, fundamentally related to the measurement of expectations and its marked orientation towards external customers only. The contributions of the modified version are:
Adding differences six and seven. The modified version of Servqual expands the original model (See figure 2), by adding two new differences, closely related to the internal customer.
GAP 6: Evaluates internal customer satisfaction by comparing their expectations and perceptions, it is composed of a questionnaire that evaluates 27 variables, grouped into seven dimensions (work, working conditions, salary, participation in decision-making, treatment and relationships, communication and leadership). This new GAP (discrepancy) in addition to evaluating an important construct such as internal customer satisfaction, allows its analysis and its tribute to difference five, in the context of Cuban companies, is significant. Its direct relationship with GAP three has also been proven (Valls, Vigil, Quiza, 2000), thus facilitating the diagnosis and the relationship of outcome indicators with process indicators.
GAP 7: Evaluates the knowledge that managers have of the true expectations of their subordinates, that is, it is the gap between the perception that managers have of the expectations of internal customers and their true expectations, it also has seven attributes and 27 variables. These two new differences facilitate the evaluation of the effectiveness of internal marketing and the projection of companies towards customer needs.
Figure 2: Modified Servqual model Source: In approximation to Valls, Vigil and Maybe (2000).
Modified Servqual model
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