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A STRATEGIC SERVICE QUALITY FRAMEWORK USING QFD
S. Dror, Y. Sukenik
Ort Braude College, POB 78, Karmiel 21982, e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
A strategic service framework that provides a global overview of the important components of
different dimensions of a service system is developed. The framework is designed to reveal where
the quality of service characteristics requires improvement, as highlighted by the customers. Once
this is done, a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method translates the deficiencies into internal improvement needs. The Mean Square Error (MSE) criterion enables the pinpointing of the
few essential service characteristics that require improvement in each service dimension.
The framework was implemented in a "call center" run by a bank in order to manage incoming
product support and information inquiries from consumers. The model identified service
deficiencies in five dimensions of the service system: service quality, worker’s attitude,
information, organization features, and technology. The recommendations that emerged from
these results were that the organization should focus on investing in equipment, establish new
organizational connections and take care of employee qualifications.
Introduction
Heskett et al. (1994), over ten years ago, developed the concept of ‘the service profit
chain’. From their analysis of successful service organizations, they proved the linkage between profitability, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity. Gelade
and Young (2005) examined the relationships between organizational climate, employee attitudes, customer satisfaction, and sales performance in the retail-banking sector. In their study,
teamwork climate, job enablers, and support climate are organizational climate variables,
commitment is an employee attitude, and customer satisfaction and sales achievement are
organizational performance measures. Dean (2004) which analyzed studies from three different disciplines–service management, organizational psychology and marketing–created a
causal map connecting organizational features and employee attitudes to customer loyalty
and financial outcomes. Seth and Deshmukh (2005) examined different service quality models reported in the literature. The authors concluded that customer expectations regarding
particular services can be changed with respect to factors such as time, increase in the number
of encounters with a particular service and competitive environment.
Dror, Sukenik
Based on the above studies, the current study indicates that basic guidelines are needed
for dynamically revealing customer needs or desires and to translate them into a hierarchy of
important improvement actions. Edvardsson (1996) distinguished three main types of development: the development of the service concept, the development of the service system (resource structure) and the development of the service process. Goldstein (2002) defined the
service concept as the ‘how’ and the’ what’ of service design that helps mediate between customer needs and an organization’s strategic intent.
This work developed a generic service framework for providing a global perspective on
the important components at different hierarchical levels of the service system. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method is used for Appling the generic service framework in an individual organization. The methodology supported, by the MSE criterion (Dror and Barad,
2006), reveal the unique service quality model that an individual company should adopt.
Figure 1 - Service QFD
The required
improvement
level of the
service quality
characteristics
Matrix 1- From
service quality to
employee attitude and
information
Matrix 2 - From
information to
technology
Matrix 3 - From
employee attitude
to organizational
features
Matrix 4 - From
organizational features
and technology to
improvement actions
The generic strategic service framework
The developed framework comprises six dimensions: service quality, worker attitude,
organization features, information, technology and improvement actions. The basic idea is
that in addition to measuring service quality characteristics, an enterprise should monitor
characteristics that are likely to influence its future service quality characteristics. The
framework is, in essence, a causal model, which assumes that the improvement actions
Dror, Sukenik
affects the service quality characteristics through two paths – (1) organization features and
worker attitude, and (2) technology and information.
Service QFD
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method is used for Appling the generic service
framework in an individual organization. Quality function deployment has been originally
developed as a product quality design methodology whose essence was to extract the
customers' needs or desires and to translate them into demands on technical product
characteristics, engineering parameters and ultimately into production systems.
Here we developed four matrices for deployment of service quality characteristics of an
individual organization (figure 1). Matrix 1 is used to translate the desired improvement in
service quality characteristics as viewed by customers into the relative importance of the
worker attitude characteristics and the relative importance of the information characteristics.
Matrix 1 provides also a structure important of the information and employee attitude
dimensions. It is used later for integrating the input of matrices 2 and 3. The output of matrix
1 is fed as input to matrices 2 and 3. Matrix 2 interprets the first output of matrix 1, the
relative importance of the information characteristics, into the required improvement levels of
the technology characteristics. Matrix 3 translates the second output of matrix 1, the relative
importance of the worker attitude, into the required improvement levels of the organization
features. The input to Matrix 4 is obtained by integrating the output of Matrices 2 and 3.
These two output types respectively represent organization features and technology
characteristics. Using the structure important as supplied by matrix 1, the input to Matrix 4
can be easily calculated from the output of Matrices 2 and 3.
Case study
The study was carried out at a call center run by one of the biggest banks in Israel. This
call-center serves as thousands of business and private customers each day. The customers
get information of their account balance, information about the market and other financial
resources. QFD is typically carried out by teams of multidisciplinary representatives from all
stages of product development and manufacturing. Here collecting information for the case
study was performed by filling questionnaire by customers and employees in different ranks
in the organization: agents, managers and engineers. Six customers, five agents and managers
and three software and information systems engineers answered the questionnaire. The final
Dror, Sukenik
version of the questionnaire was determined after performing a pilot study in order to verify
if it is understandable.
The model identified the following service deficiencies in the call center: In the worker’s
attitude dimension, worker satisfaction and service awareness were below standard. In the
information dimension, the organization should focus on the quality and the transfer speed of
the information. The organization should also pay attention and improve the quality of the
technology dimension, and the efficiency, the work atmosphere and the environment when it
comes to organizational features. The recommendations that emerged from these results were
that the organization should focus on investing in equipment, establish new organizational
connections and take care of employee qualifications. Only after making these activities a top
priority and introducing the necessary improvements were the gaps between the current
situation and the desired situation diminished. As a result, the service quality characteristics
(waiting time, professionalism, availability, sticking to schedule, and politeness) improved,
and consequently, the organization's profits and market share also increased.
Conclusions
During the last decade empiric researches of service system, trying to identify causal
relationships concerning service organizations. The understanding of the causal structures
might contribute to the improvement of existing services as well as helping in the
development of new. This work uses the findings of past studies for developing a generic
strategic service framework enabling a service organization to obtain its quality objectives.
A structured methodological approach based on Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is
presented to improve implementation of the generic strategic service framework in an
individual organization. The model is designed to reveal where the quality of service
characteristics requires improvement, as highlighted by the customers. Once this is done, the
model translates the deficiencies into internal improvement needs, as viewed by the agents,
managers and engineers of the organization under study. With this model, a service
organization can map the system’s gaps and determine which activities need work. The
model's output is an investment prioritization of the different activities, which down the line
influence the quality of service characteristics, as the gaps pinpointed by the model are
closed.
Dror, Sukenik
References
Cohen, L. (1995),“Quality Function Deployment: How to Make QFD Work for You“,
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Dean, A. M. (2004), “Links between organizational and customer variables in service
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Edvardsson, B. (1996), “Key Concepts for New Service Development“, The Service
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