Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    The relationship between management's perception of total quality service and customer perceptions of service quality
    (01-01-2002)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    The effectiveness of quality management programmes at resulting in enhanced business performance has been a major subject of interest for business and academia alike. In service organizations, customer-perceived service quality is considered as one of the key determinants of business performance. The current study strives to examine the influence of total quality service (TQS) dimensions on customer-perceived service quality. Multiple regression analysis has been used to investigate the relationship between the different dimensions of TQS and the various factors of service quality. The results have indicated that the TQS dimensions, as a whole, are indeed good predictors of service quality. Furthermore, the soft issues of TQS (such as human resource management, customer focus, service culture, employee satisfaction, top management commitment and leadership and social responsibility) seem to be more vital than do hard issues in positively influencing customer-perceived service quality.
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    Determinants of customer-perceived service quality: A confirmatory factor analysis approach
    (01-02-2002)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    The research literature on service quality has indeed swelled enormously over the past few years with numerous researchers administering various models across the world. Nevertheless, the SERVQUAL instrument forms the basis on which all other works have been actualized. Interestingly, the conceptualization, measurement and applications of SERVQUAL across different industrial and commercial settings are not bereft of controversies either. A careful examination of the instrument divulges that the factors and the corresponding items are not comprehensive as it appears that the instrument has left out certain important constituents of service quality. In this background, the current research work strives to bring to light some of the critical determinants of service quality that have been overlooked in the literature and proposes a comprehensive model and an instrument framework for measuring customer perceived service quality. The instrument has been designed with specific reference to the banking sector. Data have been collected from customers of banks in a huge developing economy. The proposed instrument has been empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability and construct validity using a confirmatory factor analysis approach. The present study offers a systematic procedure that could form the cornerstone for providing further insights on the conceptual and empirical comprehension of customer perceived service quality and its constituents. © 2002, MCB UP Limited
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    Management's perception of total quality service in the banking sector of a developing economy – a critical analysis
    (01-07-2002)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
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    There is considerable lack of literature with respect to service industry management, especially in the banking industry of developing economies. Attempts to bridge this gap. Critically examines the banking industry in a developing nation – India. Investigates the discrepancies among the various groups of banks in India with respect to the total quality service (TQS) dimensions (from the perspective of the management). The results indicate that the three groups of banks in India seem to vary significantly. Identifies the dimensions that contribute most to discriminating between the groups. Also computes and analyses the total quality service indices with respect to the 12 dimensions for the three groups of banks and for the banking industry as a whole and in order to ascertain the level of TQS implementation in the Indian banking scene. Offers key insights on the criticality of the different TQS dimensions with respect to the banking sector in developing economies. © 2002, MCB UP Limited
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    The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction – a factor specific approach
    (01-07-2002)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has received considerable academic attention in the past few years. But the nature of the exact relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction (especially in the way the two constructs have been operationalized) is still shrouded with uncertainty. Many researchers have operationalized customer satisfaction by using a single item scale and many others have used multiple item scales. The present study adopts a different approach and views customer satisfaction as a multi dimensional construct just as service quality, but argues that customer satisfaction should be operationalized along the same factors (and the corresponding items) on which service quality is operationalized. Based on this approach, the link between service quality and customer satisfaction has been investigated. The results have indicated that the two constructs are indeed independent but are closely related, implying that an increase in one is likely to lead to an increase in another. © 2002, MCB UP Limited
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    Customer perceptions of service quality: A critique
    (01-12-2001)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Empirical research on service quality and satisfaction has unearthed multitudinous archetypes by various researchers across the world. However, all of them have been primarily built on the SERVQUAL instrument, a 22-item scale that measures service quality. The efficacy of SERVQUAL in measuring service quality has been criticized by different authors for diverse reasons, such as the operationalization of expectations, the reliability and validity of the instrument's difference score formulation and the scale's dimensionality across disparate industrial settings. In spite of these animadversions, there is a universal conformity that the 22 items are reasonably good predictors of service quality in its entirety. But a scrupulous scrutiny of the scale items connotes that the scale is not all-inclusive in the sense that it fails to address some of the critical aspects of customer perceived service quality. This paper endeavours to unearth and unravel such critical constituents of service quality which, hitherto, have been untouched in the literature, and advances a framework that could form the bedrock for a better understanding of customer perceived service quality and its determinants.
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    A Conceptual model for total quality management in service organizations
    (01-12-2001)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    The manufacturing landscape of the corporate world has undergone a quality revolution, resulting in a plethora of research works on the tools, techniques, critical dimensions and other organizational requirements for the e ective implementation of total quality management (TQM). But the same cannot be said with certainty of service industry management. Research works on total quality service (TQS) is not exhaustive in the sense that there appears to be a vacuum in the literature as far as a holistic model (from the perspective of the management) is concerned. The present study is an attempt to fill this gap. Based on an extensive review of the vast literature on TQM and TQS, the study has identified 12 dimensions of TQS as being critical for e ective implementation of quality management in service organizations. The momentousness of each of these dimensions from the manufacturing and service perspectives has been authenticated. The di erent roles that these dimensions play in the manufacturing and service milieu have also been discussed. A conceptual model for TQS has been proposed demonstrating the relationships among its dimensions. The present work aspires to provide a basis for a thorough and insightful discernment of TQS and its critical dimensions.
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    Customer perceptions of service quality in the banking sector of a developing economy: A critical analysis
    (01-10-2003)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    Focusses on investigating the critical factors of customer perceived service quality in banks of a developing economy – India. Compares and contrasts the three groups of banks in India with respect to the service quality factors from the perspective of the customers. There seems to be a great amount of variation with respect to the level of service quality offered by the three groups of banks. Identifies the factors that discriminate the three groups of banks. Customers in developing economies seem to keep the “technological factors” of services such as core service and systematization of the service delivery as the yardstick in differentiating good and bad service while the “human factors” seem to play a lesser role in discriminating the three groups of banks. The service quality indices with respect to the three groups and the Indian banking industry as whole, offer interesting information on the level of service quality delivered by banks in India. © 2003, MCB UP Limited
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    The influence of total quality service age on quality and operational performance
    (01-11-2003)
    Sureshchandar, G. S.
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    Anantharaman, R. N.
    Total Quality Service (TQS) is often considered as having a long-range perspective, implying that organizations embracing TQS can realize the rewards of their quality improvement initiatives only after many years of toil and hard work. But firms practising TQS are keen in knowing a specific time frame before which they could reap the fruits of their quality management programmes. The present study attempts empirically to investigate the influence of the age of a TQS programme on qualify and operational performance. The two outcome dimensions of TQS, namely, Customer Focus and Employee Satisfaction have been treated as a measure of quality performance while the other dimensions of TQS have been treated as a measure of operational performance, and the influence of TQS age on the different dimensions of TQS have been found. The results have indicated that 'TQS age' does not affect the effectiveness of quality management programmes and it is possible for firms to become successful (in terms of operational and quality performance) within 3 years of TQS implementation. The manner/effectiveness with which the quality improvement initiatives are executed is imperative for success rather than the duration of TQS implementation. Among the successful firms, TQS age seems to be a key factor in espousing the process of continous improvement, i.e. an effective implementation of TQS is bound to result in improved performance (both quality and operational performance) as TQS matures in these firms.