Presents the current state of the methodological discussion on the measurement of perceived service quality. Describes two approaches ‐ attribute‐based methods and the sequential incident technique (SIT). Outlines the concept and basic assumptions of SIT describes an empirical SIT study...

Successful firms are making a concerted effort to develop closer ties to their customers. However, the customer has not always been king. By describing the dialectic character of customer service and tracing it back in history, this paper provides some of the knowledge necessary to explain its...

The first in a series of articles on “customer oriented policing”. Assesses the value structure necessary for successful implementation of management for quality and productivity improvement. Argues that private sector practices may be applied to the public sector and that customer...

This empirical study of commercial banking relationships in France demonstrates that, despite the current emphasis on new technology, contact personnel remain important for the success of professional business‐to‐business services. When account managers are changed, the business clients feel...

Argues that the unidirectional measurement and evaluation of service quality in any specific service encounter is not enough in itself to understand the existing service quality between two actors in a dyadic service encounter. Therefore, a method is introduced for the express purpose of...

The complexity, uncertainty, and diminished control found in global operations hinder the development of world‐class competencies. For example, as a firm rationalizes manufacturing, logistical challenges increase. As a result, cost advantages achieved through production sharing are often...

Purpose – The research objective is to analyze the situation and outlook for the future of the measuring and analysis practices used to determine customer satisfaction in 305 ISO 9000‐certified organizations of the Euro‐region Galicia (Spain)‐North of Portugal....

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to address ways in which customer satisfaction could be improved. Design/methodology/approach – In this article it is shown how the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) can be of use in making a choice between a number of alternative quality improvement...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the ISO 10002: 2004 standard from the perspective of its context within the ISO 10001/2/3 triad of customer satisfaction complaint system and ISO 9001 quality management system standards, its complaints handling content, and the...