Saturday, February 12, 2005

Service productivity and service quality don't mix?

Are service productivity and service quality completely incompatible?

Not necessarily, writes A. Parasuraman, in this essay in the Managing Service Quality journal (pdf. See details below). If for productivity’s sake, resources are reduced in an area that directly impacts the service that customer receives, then service quality is adversely affected. However, if expenses are reduced in items not perceived by the customer, then service quality levels remain practically unchanged.

The essay Service quality and productivity: a synergistic perspective by A Parasuraman; was published on Vol. 12 Issue 1 of Managing Service Quality on 2002, and it is one of two samples of this journal at Emerald, from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.