Analysis of Service Quality Level

Analysis of Service part LevelIntroductionThe success of placements relies heavily on the care of tone of voice (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003 or 2006) Managing node c be and process whole step ar profound for the handment of any organisation (Ko and Pastore, 2004). Service suppliers that deliver a mel busteded level of serving prime(a) and client c atomic number 18 are more(prenominal) probably to achieve higher levels of client gratification (Saravanan and Rao, 2007). As a result satisfied customers volition be more encouraged to re-use the serve this forget usually impingement on the financial success of the organisation (Howat, et al., 1999).General principles of spiritThe fundamentals of the word character presented in the dress of Deming in the late 1980s create a basis for gain ground take on into the area. As a result, a number of definitions of quality stomach been proposed by seekers. Mills, (1992, p.2) stated that quality was the totality of featur es and characteristics of a product or serve that bear on its ability to satisfy or implied needs. pull ahead seek into quality has indicated that a more useful definition has been outlined as meeting the agreed requirements of the customer (Kelly, 2004, p.33). Both definitions of quality are connected to both goods and serve with emphasis on the features of the product or alternatively focus on the customers needs and expectations (Chang and Chelladurai, 2000).Goods are defined as tangible these are sensual products that offer benefits to consumers, in contrast answers are defined as intangible, and represent non-physical products (Shank, 2009, p.16). Services suck in flipper main characteristics that are unique to function markets these are intangibility perishability inseparability heterogeneousness and lack of ownership (Kotler, 2005). Heterogeneity indicates that each religious assistance experience is likely to be different as factors such(prenominal) as the cli pping and spot change, to a fault the interaction phase with customers differs (Kotler, 2005). To reduce the impact of heterogeneity, worry moldiness focus on the operating systems, procedures and staff training in enunciate to ensure consistency (Brassington and Pettitt, 2007, p.465). Furthermore, the quality of staff is becoming increasingly essential in the public serve up industry, with managers indicating their expectations of staff in term of their attitudes and competencies when delivering the returns to customers (Swarbrooke, 2002 Brassington and Pettitt, 2007)Managing the quality of goods and work generally involves benchmarking, this is the measurement of an aspect of an organisations surgical procedure against an subjective or external target (Beech and Chadwick, 2004, p.256). dickens opposite key terms associated with quality include quality potency and quality control, Mills, (1992, p.3) states quality assurance provides adequate confidence that a product or suffice will satisfy given requirements of quality. In contrast (Dale, 2000) invokes that quality control aims to achieve and monitor serving quality, by positioning and addressing quality problems.Researchers substantiate recognised that thither are several issues with the notionualization and measurement of quality in coitus to merriment work, for warning (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) suggests that there is a degree of uncertainty and dissonance regarding parts of the criteria including the conceptual model of quality. Previous literature (such as Ko and Pastore, 2004 Tsitskari, et al., 2006) get focused on the concept of service quality and hold that there are several definitions of service quality. stock-still (Parasuraman, et al., 1988, p.2) defined service quality as an appropriate approach for assessing the quality of a firms service is to measure consumers perceptions of quality. In other words service quality is the resemblance of consumer expectations with th e actual service performance (Parasuraman, et al., 1988).The concept of service quality is ground upon the customers perception of the characteristics and lecture of services (Ko and Pastore, 2004). Further investigate by Zeithaml and Bitner, (2006) suggests that the concept of service quality is a significant issue, as service quality perceptions are related to customer satisfaction and customer retention. separate researchers such as (Kim and Kim, 1995) turn out had varied perceptions on the measurement of service quality. However the main use of measuring service quality has been finished the instrument, SERVQUAL, a 22 item scale founded by Parasuraman, et al., (1988). new-fangled research by (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) indicates that the majority of researchers accept that the 22 items in SERVQUAL are sufficient indictors for the general measurement of service quality. However a study by Murray and Howat (2002) demonstrates that there is a lack of agreement on the exact na ture of service quality dimensions.For example, (Parasuraman, et al., 1988) formed five dimensions of service quality responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, empathy and reliability, through victimization the SERVQUAL scale, mainly focusing on the human aspects of service delivery. However (Chang and Chelladurai, 2000) suggest the variability in dimensional structure can be special and tailored for specialised industries. For example, Howat, et al., (1999), used nevertheless one-third dimensions for 17 service quality attributes in their study of 30 Australian sports and leisure centres. The threesome dimensions used in the study were (a) core service, which included a surf of activities with plan information, (b) personnel service, which included the quality, knowledge and responsiveness of staff, (c) peripheral service including secondary services including services for food and drink. The observations suggest that a worldwide conceptual model needs to be developed for a of fend understanding of the nature and meaning of service quality (Ko and Pastore, 2004).Robinson, (2004) place three frameworks for managing quality, these are total quality management (TQM), the EFQM Excellence Model and invite, as all these frameworks emphasise performance management and continuous advancement.Firstly TQM is a framework for quality management and is a process from top to fall into place, bottom to top, which involves every person in an organisation, in parliamentary procedure to ensure customer satisfaction at every stage (Torkildsen, 2005, p.382). The three main principles of TQM are customer focus, continuous improvement and teamwork (De Knop, et al., 2004).The EFQM Excellence Model is the most wide used organisational framework in Europe while becoming increasingly popular in the sport industry as it created the basis for pick up (Robinson, 2004). The key principles of the model include results orientation customer focus leading and constancy of purpose m anagement by processes and facts people development and mesh continuous learning innovation and improvement partnership development and incorporate social responsibility (Beech and Chadwick, 2004, p.257).Quest is a sport and leisure specific quality framework, and is a tool for continuous improvement Quest also defines industry standards and good practice and encourages high quality delivery to customers. (Quest, 2009) Two models are associated with Quest, one model focuses on the management of leisure facilities and the other focuses on sport development, (Quest, 2009). Quest is funded by a wide avow of organisations with the majority of the support coming from the four home country Sports Councils (Torkildsen, 2005). The Quest scheme for facility management identifies four essential sections these include facilities operation, customer relations, staffing and service development and improvement, all of which are examples of best practice in the leisure industry (Wood, 1997).Org anisations have recognised the grandness of the quality programme of ISO 9002. This quality programme ensures that the operations of the service are dis contend through a consistent approach, recognising that customers can expect the service to be similar from day to day and between service deliverers (Robinson, 2004). publications has demonstrated that there are many challenges and issues for managing quality in the public vault of heaven industry. For instance, Doherty, et al, (2002) suggests that that external issues for headache include, increasing complaints about the declining level of quality in areas such as transport, education and health. In contrast, (Doherty, et al, 2002) also recognises midland challenges for organisations, with the catamenia growth of internal assessments, and issues rough quality and value for money.Beech and Chadwick, (2004) identify specific challenges for managers managing quality in the public sector these primarily include recognising and ac knowledging their main customer groups and then managing these customers experiences by better the service delivery through performance measures. However, managers who dont prioritise their customer groups will run the risk of delivering services that do not meet any expectations of quality (Robinson, 2004, p.141). Additionally it is important for managers in the sport industry to understand and identify participation motives and customers problems because this determines not only the level of service quality, but also the level of customer satisfaction (Ko and Pastore, 2004, p.162).An earlier study by Schvaneveldt, et al., (1991) indicated that three key factors affected the delivery of service quality in sport organisations. The three factors were associated to the core service, the physical context and most importantly the interpersonal interactions in the performance of the service. These observations have major implications on customer care as the quality of the happen is an essential element in the overall impression of the quality of service experienced by the customer (Dale, 2000). In addition, Swarbrooke, (2002) suggested that observing quality in public services primarily focused on issues such as the cost of the service and perception on value for money from the service.thither are a number of issues and challenges associated to managing quality in the public sport sector. For example MacVicar and Ogden, (2001) suggests that managers in the public sport sector are more inclined to use peripheral workers due to the competitive environment and compute pressures. Peripheral workers are primarily on non-standard contracts and carry out services and duties that are delivered to customers. The challenge managers face is that they have to develop strategies to motivate an insecure, low commitment workforce to ensure good customer care is provided. (MacVicar and Ogden, 2001, p.129) other issue in managing quality in the public sport sector industry is th at expectations are either so unrealistic that it is not contingent to deliver services of such a high standard, or it is financially very costly to do so, given the levels of resource constraint (Robinson, 2004, p.178). Recent research by (Alexandris, 2008) demonstrated the importance of identifying performance indicators in order to test the success of the managers strategies, and goals and reflect on the quality delivered to customers.Research by (Lentell, 2000, p.2) has indicated that customer satisfaction in sport services can be affected by factors such as the robustness of the bookings system, the promptness of the service delivery, and the way customers are treated by staff, or by the cleanliness of the service outlet. However recent research by (Tsuji, et al., 2007) suggests that managers should continuously develop and hold procedures to understand, evaluate, and improve on the quality of services provided to their consumers in-order to improve customer care.The current state of play game game, is that it is a $60 billion industry, with 30,730 courses worldwide and over 57 million play gameers.(Golf Research Group, 2009 ) The Royal Ancient (RA) is golfs governing body, it operates with 136 organisations from the amateur and victor game and on behalf of over thirty million golfers in 123 countries (R A, 2009).The R A identify that the implementation of best practice throughout a golf club can be demonstrated firstly through ensuring that the management structure is capable of setting policy objectives which maintain and improve the quality of the golfing facility (R A, 2009). In addition the RA, recognise the importance of monitoring and reviewing the policy objectives as well as focusing on the efficient and effectiveness of service delivery to customers (RA, 2009)The governing body of virile amateur golf in England is the English Golf Union, looking aft(prenominal) the interests of over 1,800 golf clubs and 740,000 club members (English G olf Union, 2009). The governing body specifically addresses the management of quality at golf clubs in England. Providing assistance and support, in specific areas such as club adminstration, golf course management, as well as assisting staff in the day-to-day operations of the golf club and course (English Golf Union, 2009).The majority of research on the management of quality in golf has advance from the US golf industry. For example a US golf study on managing perceived quality has indicated that golf club managers that modify the price of green fees depending on the time of day, time of booking or condition of play may impact customer satisfaction (Kimes and Wirtz, 2003). A further American study investigated how golfers submit a golf course. The findings indicate that American golfers are most influenced by the cost of green fees, followed by the quality of course conditions, availability of set times, and lastly the location of golf course (Richard and Fairclough, 1994). Ho wever recent research by (Won, et al., 2009) suggests that committed golfers care more about the core elements such as the quality of course conditions rather than the cost of green fees. The research suggests that golf club managers that are providing a quality service primarily need to improve the core elements such as course nutriment as well as operating the golf facility (Won, et al., 2009).Other research surrounding the management of quality in golf has come from Korea, and Australia. For example a Korean study based on service quality and customer satisfaction suggested that managers of private golf clubs that focus on providing and improving service quality to customers can impact the profitability of golf clubs (Kim and Lough, 2007). Furthermore a study from the Australian golf industry identified twenty one service attributes. These attributes measured the perceptions of the golf facilities performance against the golfers expectations of the facility. The study specifical ly researched into areas such as the appearance of the facilities, course quality, staff responsiveness, customer behaviour, etiquette and value for money (Crilley, et al, 2002, p.374)Further research into issues in managing quality in the context of golf, has reflected that an increasing number of American golf courses are macrocosm built annually, while the number of golfers in America remains dead(prenominal) (Petrick, et al., 2001). As a result it is important that golf club managers identify the factors which displume and retain golfers. The findings also recognise that by understanding golfers experiences, this will enhance the facility operations, leading to a higher quality of service delivery (Petrick, et al., 2001).According to a discover by the golf research group, (2002) based on UK golf courses this found that since the beginning of 1990, 603 new golf facilities have been built. This increase was initiated by the report called The Demand for Golf created by the RA. However from 2000, the growth of new golf facilities has been limited and only 10 new golf facilities were opened from 2000 to 2002, due to financial constraints and the lack of contain in the golf industry. (Golf Research Report, year)The current recession has affected the golf industry, according to a report from the English Golf Union they have found that memberships are declining in many golf clubs in the UK. in like manner the majority of golf clubs in the UK are not implementing joining fees in-order to root for new golfers (Mintel, 2009).In the UK, in 2008 there were 1.225 million members of golf clubs, and there are 2,630 golf courses, 72% of these golf courses are located in England (Mintel, 2009).According to a study by Mort and Collins (2001) they highlighted that 11% of golf courses totalling 210 in England, are classified as municipal golf courses, and stated that the objective of municipal golf courses is to maintain low green fees and attract the local population. Mowsbury Golf Club in Bedfordshire is a municipal golf course and is run by the local authority.According to a report by the Golf Research Group, (year) on municipal golf courses in 2002, there has been a substantial decrease in the number of rounds played per year especially between the years of 1995-2001. For example in 1995 around 45,000 rounds were played, however by 2001 only 35,000 rounds were played on the municipal courses, reflecting a huge decrease of 10,000 rounds played. Over the 6 year period this was a 23% reduction in UK municipal rounds in the UK. (Golf Research Report, year)Literature has acknowledged that there are a limited number of UK studies that have focused on service quality and customer care at golf clubs.However one study focused on the management of quality at municipal golf courses and highlighted scoop up Value. Stevens and Green, (2002) indicate that Best Value primarily focuses on local authorities, ensuring that the quality and cost of services meet the needs of the local population, and that the efficiency and quality of services continually improve. The study indicated that the introduction of Best Value has contributed to an improvement in the operations of municipal golf courses, primarily through the process of benchmarking with the objective of improving service quality (Mort and Collins, 2001).The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of service quality and customer care as perceived by members and non-members at Mowsbury Golf Club, Bedfordshire. The rationale for the study recognises that previous research reflects that are a limited number of UK studies on the customer care and service quality at golf clubs. Also previous researchers such as (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) have reflected the importance of service quality to the mission of sport and emphasises that further research towards service quality should be a primary concern.Referenceshttp//academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/ parade/id=394687/display/id=448545?select_section=448543