Service Process Analysis (II)

Subject Matter 5: Analysis of the Service Process (II)

• Content Overview: Quality function deployment (QFD), SERVQUAL Model of Quality of Service, and Service Design Features (Complexity and Divergence) are covered. Operational management book chapters 4 and 8 are referenced.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

• Definition: A system to interpret and incorporate customer needs (the "Consumer Voice") into product, process, and service quality for customer satisfaction.
• Process: Begins by studying and listening to customers to define superior product characteristics. Market research defines customer needs and preferences, categorized into customer requirements.
• Reasons for Use:
  • Competitiveness: Effective in short-term cost reduction. A lost customer represents a significant loss of potential clients through word-of-mouth. QFD can also improve speed of service delivery in new service creation.
  • Proactivity (Quality Lever): Improvements during service design are significantly more impactful (approximately 100 times) than changes made after service launch.

Deployment of Quality Function

• Basic Steps:
  • 1. Identify & classify customer requirements (What's).
  • 2. Identify key service operations, aspects, & processes (How's).
  • 3. Establish relationships between what's and how's (customer/internal aspects).
  • 4. Competitive analysis.
• Representation: Data is presented through a "House of Quality" diagram for translating customer needs into operational goals.

House of Quality

• Methodology: Based on matrices, called "Houses of Quality," for development.
• Elements:
  • 1. The Voice of Customer (VOC): Understanding customer needs (What?).
  • 2. Design Requirements: Defining how customer needs will be met (How?).
  • 3. Relationship Matrix: Relationships between "What's" and "How's."
  • 4. Benchmarking: Comparing "What's" and "How's" against competitors.
  • 5. Correlation Matrix: Identifying synergies and conflicts in how elements interact.

Quality House: The Consumer's Voice (What?)

• Goal: To meet customer needs.
• QFD Target: Identifying desired customer needs for new service development ("What").
• Methods: Interviewing potential customers to understand needs and requirements. Identifying the primary "What's" through surveys; customers assess the importance of each identified item using a scale of 1 (little importance) to 10 (essential).

Quality House: Design Requirements (How?)

• Objective: Defining how each customer requirement ("What") will be satisfied by the service.
• Process: Determines how the service will function to meet customer demands, including the need for resources. Measurable characteristics of the process that can be evaluated at the end.

Quality House: Relationship Matrix

• Relationships: Relationships between "What's" and "How's" are not always one-to-one.
• Degrees of Relationships:
  • Weak = 1
  • Medium = 3
  • Strong = 9
  • Null = No relationship

Quality House: Correlation Matrix

• Objective: Identify supportive and conflicting requirements.
• Positive Correlations: Support service design.
• Negative Correlations: Indicate areas needing modification to improve. Importance and weights need to be adjusted.

Quality House: Weightings

• Purpose: Determine the importance of each "How" to improve service.
• Calculation: Importance of the customer's need(What), multiplied by the calculated correlation with the process element is added up for each need. Weightings show relevant design needs for customer satisfaction.

Quality House: Benchmarking

• Objective: Assess competitors to compare the design elements of the company with its rivals.
• Benchmarking What: Evaluate customer perception of satisfaction with the service against competitor's satisfaction with that element.
• Benchmarking How: Compare operating techniques used in service delivery.

Measuring the Quality of a Service (The SERVQUAL Scale)

• Objective: Improving the quality of services offered by an organization.

• Model: A questionnaire model evaluating service quality across five dimensions:

  • 1. Tangibles: Appearance of facilities, equipment, employees, and communication materials.
  • 2. Reliability: Ability to perform the service accurately and dependably.
  • 3. Responsiveness: Willingness and speed in helping customers.
  • 4. Security: Knowledge, courtesy, and ability to build confidence.
  • 5. Empathy: Individualized customer service.

• Quality Definition: Defined as the difference between customer expectations and perceptions. Quality is present if customer perception meets or exceeds expectations.

• Key Factors for Expectations: "Word-of-mouth" communication, past customer experiences, personal needs, and external communications.

• Evaluation by Sections:

  • Customer expectations
  • Customer perception
  • Relative importance of the criteria for weighting

• Quality Deficiencies: Possible discrepancies between customer expectations and the service provided arise from:

  • Knowledge: Gap between customer expectations and manager perceptions.
  • Standards: Discrepancy between manager perceptions and quality specifications.
  • Provision: Gaps between quality specifications and actual service provision.
  • Communication: Differences between the service provision and external communications.

Explore the concepts of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), the SERVQUAL Model, and key Service Design Features in this quiz. This content emphasizes the importance of aligning service characteristics with customer needs for improved satisfaction and competitiveness. Refer to operational management chapters 4 and 8 for deeper insights.