dc.description.abstract | Service quality is key in sustainability of business in a competitive market place. In
order to survive in the highly competitive service environment, it is imperative for
service industries to provide high quality services to customers. Most service
organisations are now shifting from product-based view to customer centric in order to
differentiate themselves against the competition. Customers know what to expect from
a quality service (Kandampully, 1998). Service industries are increasingly focused on
obtaining a sustainable competitive edge in a competitive and turbulent business
environment (Collins, 2002). The main determinant of performance currently is ensuring
the delivery of quality services across the company’s supply chains (Sum, Teo & Ng, 2001).
High demand for high quality services by customers has caused more organizations to
acknowledge that they will have to offer high quality services and products so as to
successfully compete in the business environment.
This study will be anchored on Service Quality Theory, which focuses on quality of
service as perceived by customers based on their expectations. This was conceptualized
by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1985) by adopting the of Churchill’s (1979)
framework in which measures of marketing constructs were developed. The study
opines that the firm’s service quality can be assessed by clients through comparison of
their perceptions of service against their own expectations. However, Gronroos pointed
out that the service quality by Parasuraman does not describe the following aspects;
technical, functional and image. Gronroos (1984) defined technical quality as
dimensions of service that are comparatively quantified by customers in their endeavors
2
with a service company. The study also utilizes the Technical and Functional Quality
Theory which argues that technical quality is an accepted index for assessing service
quality since it can be measured easily (Palmer, 2014). | en_US |