Deck 14: Improving Service Quality and Productivity

Question 1

The service quality is the difference between what customers expect to receive and their perceptions of the service that is actually delivered.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The ____________ is the difference between what service providers believe customers expect and customers' actual needs and expectations

A) interpretation gap
B) standard gap
C) knowledge gap
D) service quality gap
E) internal communications gap

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Organizations that are known for excellent service make use of hard measures rather than soft measures.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

____________ and ____________ typically measure satisfaction with all major customer service processes and products.

A) Total market surveys; ordinary surveys
B) Regular surveys; ordinary surveys
C) Regular surveys; reverse surveys
D) Regular surveys; split surveys
E) Total market surveys; annual surveys

Question 5

The standards gap is the difference between specified delivery standards and the service provider's actual performance on these standards.

Question 6

The ____________ is the difference between what a service provider communicates and what it actually delivers to the customer.

A) interpretation gap
B) communications gap
C) perceptions gap
D) standards gap
E) knowledge gap

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of the six service quality gaps?

A) The knowledge gap.
B) The proportion gap.
C) The policy gap.
D) The delivery gap.
E) The perceptions gap.

Question 8

The common perspective on quality includes all of the following EXCEPT ____________.

A) transcendent view
B) user-based definition
C) manufacturing-based approach
D) process-based approach
E) value-based definition

Question 9

Making service processes more efficient results in a better quality experience for customers and ensures improved benefits for them.

Question 10

Hard measures are those that cannot be easily observed and must be collected by talking to customers, employees, and others.

Question 11

Because customers are often involved in service production, operations managers need to low at how customer outputs can be more productive.

Question 12

Which of the following is one of the customer-driven approaches to improving productivity?

A) Ask customers not to use third parties.
B) Limiting customer involvement in production.
C) Changing the timing of customer demand.
D) Reducing backstage elements of production.
E) Reducing front-stage elements of production.

Question 13

Control charts offer a simple method of displaying performance on hard measures over time against specific quality standards.

Question 14

Transactional surveys are typically conducted after customers have completed a specific transaction.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a broad dimension of service quality?

A) Tangibles
B) Reliability
C) Responsiveness
D) Transcendence
E) Assurance

Question 16

The ____________ is supply based, and is concerned primarily with engineering and manufacturing practices.

A) transcendent view
B) user-based definition
C) manufacturing-based approach
D) product-based approach
E) value-based definition

Question 17

Which of the following is the prescription for the perception gap?

A) Ensure the right service processes and specify standards.
B) Ensure that performance meets standards.
C) Learn what customers expect.
D) Tangibilize and communicate the service quality delivered.
E) Ensure that communications promises are realistic.

Question 18

The perception gap is the difference between what is, in fact, delivered and what customers perceive they have received.

Question 19

Explain the transcendent view of quality.

Question 20

Typically the cost of an unhappy customer is lower than the cost of service recovery.

Question 21

Give an example of biometric test usage in a service environment.

Question 22

The Return on Quality perspective from Holiday Inn suggests that the focus of preventative maintenance should be on the hotel exterior, the guest rooms, and guest bathrooms.

Question 23

A study by Holiday Inn actually showed that as the number of defects per hotel increase, the amount of revenue per room increases.

Question 24

Which of the following is the best example of the source of a delayed flight caused by procedures?

A) Cutoff too close to departure time
B) Late cabin crews
C) Late cabin cleaners
D) Weather
E) Oversize baggage

Question 25

FedEx was one of the first company's to understand the need for a firm-wide index of service quality that embraced all the key activities that had an impact on customers.

Question 26

FedEx approaches quality management from which of the following perspectives?

A) Percent of packages on time
B) Percent of flights arriving safely
C) Baseline of zero failures
D) Low turnover
E) High Turnover

Question 27

____________ is the authentication or identification of individuals based on physical characteristics or traits.

A) Service amping
B) Decryption
C) Biometrics
D) Encryption
E) Electronic access

Question 28

What is a key element of gaining customer acceptance of new procedures and technology?

Question 29

Self-service pumps with credit card readers increase gas station productivity, but lead to higher costs because of additional fees.

Question 30

Which of the following is one of Holiday Inn's hotel areas that show a particularly strong impact on revenue per available room?

A) Dining facilities
B) The lobby
C) The exterior
D) Public restrooms
E) Kitchen facilities

Question 31

What is ISO 9000?

Question 32

Explain what is meant by the "user-based definition" of service quality.

Question 33

Explain what SERVQUAL is and how it is used in services.

Question 34

Fedex's Service Quality Indicator is a 10-item measure of satisfaction and service quality from the customers' viewpoint.

Question 35

Which of the following is the best example of the source of a delayed flight caused by front-stage personnel?

A) Air traffic
B) Late food service
C) Late fuel
D) Gate agents cannot process passengers quickly enough
E) Poor announcement of departures

Question 36

What is the collection of customer feedback tools that a firm can use?

Question 37

Discuss what could be involved in the prescription for "The Delivery Gap."

Question 38

Describe one of the primary components of the prescription for the policy gap.

Question 39

List the four ways to improve service productivity.

Question 40

Describe what is meant by the 80/20 rule in the context of an airline.

Question 41

List a major service firm from the chapter that has received the Malcolm-Baldrige National Quality Award.

Question 42

Discuss what the six sigma approach is and how it can be applied to service quality and productivity.

Question 43

Discuss the advantages of using a customer's physical characteristics to increase productivity in the delivery of service quality.
e.g. a fingerprint) than it is to forget a password or account number. Other applications include voice recognition for call-centers, self-service banking, and home shopping.

Question 44

Describe what is involved when an auditor conducts a quality analysis at Holiday Inn hotels.