Clients' perception towards JAKIM service quality in Halal certification

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the level service quality from the perspective of food manufacturers. Malaysia is gearing towards becoming a major player in the world Halal market. Its Halal certification is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM). The process of awarding Halal certificates involves not only an official site inspection of production plants but also the examination on the Halal status of raw materials. In 2007, JAKIM only approved 75 percent of the total number of applications for Halal certification. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 547 small and medium‐sized enterprise manufacturers in Malaysia represented the population for this study. SERVQUAL gap analysis was used to measure the gap between clients' expectations and their perceptions of JAKIM's services. Findings – The results of the analysis indicate that the biggest gap was in the empathy dimension, followed by responsiveness, reliability, assurance and tangibles. The results show that JAKIM had not met food manufacturers' expectations in all five service quality dimensions, especially the empathy dimension. Practical implications – Practical implications extend to food policy decision makers involved in JAKIM to develop and formulate appropriate strategies to meet the needs of its clients more effectively. Originality/value – JAKIM could design training programs by emphasizing on the issues of human factors in service delivery, in particular the requirements of customer care, work ethics and human relations skills. Training in customer relationships is important and this applies to employees at all levels.