Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to stimulate interest in the use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), a self-evaluation quality tool for the public sector, to disseminate relevant experiences from CAF implementation in Europe, to offer ideas about CAF optimization and to provide a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model – namely service quality enhancement – in the electricity utility sector of south India and to test this model's fitness. Design/methodology/approach – Effective customer satisfaction investigation is a very important...

Purpose – Improvements in quality have a very important role to play in services because such improvements add greater flexibility and give clients greater confidence in the services provided. Therefore, this paper aims to describe a framework for measuring quality in the provision of the...

Manufacturing companies, in searching for new approaches to retain customers, are increasingly using service as a differentiator and as a means of integrating themselves into the customers’ supply chain systems. This study is pivotal in exploring the concept of employing service quality in a...

Discusses four national trends affecting volunteerism: service learning, family volunteering, influence of corporations, and welfare reform. Discusses the impact of these trends on volunteer programs within libraries. Offers examples of how library staff can utilize the skills of volunteers who...

Purpose – The increasing prevalence of unconventional appearance attributes (e.g. tattoos, piercings, unnatural hair color, alternative clothing) is a concern among employers as these appearance attributes are often viewed negatively. Because much of the existing employee appearance research...

Christopher Garnett, chief executive of the UK’s Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), takes a hands‐on approach to customer service. He could sit back and enjoy red‐carpet treatment aboard his own trains, but he is more likely to be found handing out newspapers to passengers and delivering...

Increasing delegation to clinical departments has been a feature of health‐care organizations in recent years. However, as managers of these departments take greater responsibility for results and resources, it follows that they need relevant and objective information to carry out their work...

Hotel guests are used to awarding marks out of ten for the service they receive but, at the USA’s first restaurant and hotel to receive double‐five‐star (Mobil) and double‐five‐diamond (AAA) ratings, the staff award marks out of ten on their guests. Every night, waiters at The Inn at...

A documentary shown on UK television last year followed the fortunes of a group of Indian university graduates who were being trained to work in call centers catering for UK customers. The trainees had to work on being as accent‐less as possible and they also had to “bone up” on aspects of...