Measuring Quality in The Service Industry Written by: Hamed A. Al-Saggaf Summarized by: Turki M. Al-Thonayan Hello Good evening every body Name Topic of Written by Basis of Selection: SCECO-East was chosen as a subject for investigation since it meets several criteria: It provides a very important service i.e. safe and reliable power to its customers, so it is a typical service provider. It has a very large client base that demands electric power, so SCECO- East quality service will have a great effect. It is desirable to check the effect of the newly introduced TQM 1, on both staff and the client.

Problem Statement The mismatch between prior expected and perceived quality of the services from the customer point view Management as well as employees are very happy with the results achieved (reducing cost, reducing cycle of the process). So, if the management is happy this does not mean costumers also happy.

Basis of Selection SCECO-East Provides a very important service Very large client base Check the effect of the newly introduced TQM SCECO now one company No experience more than paying bills through the internet Basis of Selection: SCECO-East was chosen as a subject for investigation since it meets several criteria: It provides a very important service i.e. safe and reliable power to its customers, so it is a typical service provider. It has a very large client base that demands electric power, so SCECO- East quality service will have a great effect. It is desirable to check the effect of the newly introduced TQM 1, on both staff and the client. It will reveal the applicability of conceptual model of analysis to the industry.

Primary Objective Investigate the quality shortfall between SCECO- East and its customers

Secondary Objectives Measure client expectations and perceptions of the service quality Determine the importance of the features which constitute service quality from the perspective of client Determine the degree to which SCECO- East understands and meets these expectations. Find out opportunities and take advantage of them to improve its services.

The Gap Model Gap 1 Management understanding the customer’s needs Gap 2 Service quality specifications Gap 3 Service performance (Delivery) Gap 4 External communication Gap 5 =Customer expectation – Management perception of CE =Management's Perception of CEs- Quality Specifications =Service quality specification – service delivery = Service delivery – external communication

Research Methodology Surveys Customers Supervisors Contact personnel Three surveys have been conducted for this project: one amongst SCECO-East's customers, one amongst the supervisors in the company, and the third amongst the contact personnel (front line staff). The questionnaire was of three types: client, supervisor and employee surveys. The clients were asked to indicate how they expected and perceived the SCECO- East services by answering the questionnaire related statements of service quality. In addition, supervisory staff and front line employees of SCECO-East filled out the same set of statements about client expectations.

Gap 1 = Customer expectation – Management perception of CE Marketing Research Orientation Upward Communication Levels of management Both Monopoly agency Standard service Reliability Empathy More effort needed to improve the management perception of customer expectation. Managers should spend more time with frontline staff to improve their knowledge of customer requirements. "flattening out" with some layers of management being omitted. This is to improve the upward communication to allow clearer messages to be transmitted from frontline staff through a shorter path to top management

Gap 2 =Management's Perception of CEs- Quality Specifications Management commitment to service quality Goals setting Task standardization Perception of Feasibility 21 diminsions are classifies as the follwing Management need to be more committed to service quality set long-term goals for quality establish quality indicators and to target staff to improve those indicators

Gap 3 =Service quality specification – service delivery Teamwork Employee job fit Technology fit Perceived control Supervisory control system Role conflict Role ambiguity Expectation from top management Unclear info to perform the job No control for contact personnel Amount of paper work The main area for improvement is eliminating the distress of role conflict. use performance measurement systems that focus on the consumer and internal efficiency goals. focus on down- ward communication to clearly direct and influence personnel at lower levels in the organization focus on down- ward communication to clearly direct and influence personnel at lower levels in the organization Several other improvements such as empowering frontline staff to make decisions and the reduction of paper work are needed to complete transactions which will improve the service delivery and will narrow gap 3.

Gap 4 = Service delivery – external communication Horizontal communication Propensity to over promise Frontline employees need to be aware of all company communications before they occur and participation in any campaign would result in more consumer expectations SCECO-East management needs to enforce the coordination or integration of departments and different branches to achieve strategic objectives. SCECO-East should not allow managers of individual branches to make significant changes in procedures and policies as consumers may not receive the same level of service quality across the branches.

Gap 5 Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Empathy External

Conclusion & Recommendation Manage and control every service encounter to enhance overall perceptions of service quality. More Understanding the customer's expectation forming process SCECO-East should focus on strategies to manage adequate service levels expectations SCECO-East should focus on measurement of adequate service more frequently than desired service