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 Service Quality:  A Cross Cultural Examination

INTRODUCTION

	“Is there anything else I can help you with?”, asked the salesperson.  “Yes, I’d like some service quality, please”, answered the customer.  It is the salesperson’s job to understand what the customer means by that answer.  In the United States, it is an extremely important part of a salesperson’s job.  In other parts of the world, this might be different, both from the perspective of the seller as well as from the perpective of the customer.  It is my duty in this paper to enhance the reader’s knowledge about the concept of service quality.  In the introductory part I will attempt to explain what service quality is, how it is defined, and how it is perceived.  I will also touch on the subject concerning cross-cultural service quality.  I will do this only briefly since this topic will be discussed in more detail later on in the paper.  In the second part I will discuss what is known as the service quality gap.  Methods that can be utilized to close this gap will be discussed also.  The third part of this paper will focus on the concept of cross-cultural service quality.  Several international students at Jacksonville State University have been interviewed and illuminated the topic of how quality service is perceived in their respective cultures.  In the fourth and final part I will provide the respected reader with a summary and conclusion, and an expression of hope that my attempt to shine a light on this tremendously interesting subject has been successful.
	What is service quality? 
	The delivery of quality service is becoming increasingly more important in marketing.  But what is service quality?  It is difficult to give an exact definition simply because every customer worldwide perceives quality differently.  The emphasis should be laid on the word “customer”.  “quality is conformance to customer specifications; it is the customer’s definition of quality, not management’s, that counts.” (Berry, Parasuraman, Zeithaml 1988)  Analytically, it can be defined as follows:
	If customer expectations are met, the quality of the service delivered is satisfactory. If they are exceeded, the quality of the service delivered is ideal.  If expectations are not met, however, the service quality is unacceptable and the responsible business might have lost a customer. (Berry, Zeithaml, Parasuraman 1985)
	Characteristics of service quality 
	Service quality from the customer’s view is based on the following ten concepts:
1)  Tangibles-are the facilities visually appealing?
2)  Reliability-ability to deliver the service as promised
3)  Responsiveness-help the customer willingly and promptly
4)  Competence-having the skills and knowledge to perform the service
5)  Courtesy-treating the customer politelly, respectfully, and friendly
6)  Credibility-being trustworthy, believable, and honest to the customer
7)  Security-taking away danger, doubt, and risk
8)  Access-being available to the customer when the customer is in need     
     for help
9)  Communication-keeping customers informed in language they can
     understand and listening to them
10) Understanding the customer-making the effort to know customers and    
       their needs.
Thus, the customer assessment of service quality can be pictured as follows (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry 1990):
The service that is expected is determined by word of mouth, personal needs, past experience, and external communications.  The ten previously mentioned characteristics will then determine how much difference exists between the expected service and the perceived service which in turn determines the perceived service quality.
	Benefits of superior quality service 
	It is not surprising that most companies that provide superior service quality do better than companies that do not.  Simply think of success stories like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s.  Wal-Mart, for example, uses a no-questions-asked return policy.  McDonald’s introduced “Playland” several years ago to make eating at McDonald’s more enjoyable for kids.  These are just two examples of companies that realized that in order to stay ahead of the competition, to survive in this cut-throat society, providing the customer with excellent service quality is essential.  It is either do or die.
	Among the benefits that accrue to businesses offering superiorly perceived quality are the following(Berry, Bennett, Brown 1989):
*stronger customer loyalty-the customer likes your business over the competition’s and will stick to your product or service.
*more repeat business-the customer comes back because he likes the way he is treated.  Also, he will tell his family and friends about your excellent service and they will then give your business a try.
*reduced vulnerability to price wars-the customer likes your business so much price becomes increasingly less important.
*ability to command higher relative price without affecting market share-you have beaten the competition on service and even though your price is higher the customer will still choose you over the competition.
*lower marketing costs-positive word-of-mouth from old customers will get you new customers.  Public relations, free positive publicity, might also play a role.  This means you can spend less money on advertising and other types of promotions.
*growth in market share-you will attract more customers than the competition by delivering better quality service.
	All these benefits of being able to offer superior service quality will bring a business something that is the main purpose for existence of any business: an increase in profit:

	A global perspective 
	One of the main topics in this effort is service quality from a multinational perspective.  After all, people are different everywhere.  Several international students at Jacksonville State University have been asked to give their opinion on how service quality is perceived in their countries.  Every continent except for Australia and Antarctica was represented in the interviews and the result should properly reflect differences between cultures and how these cultures perceive service quality.  Part three of this paper will discuss this subject and show interesting results of the interviews with the foreign students.







THE SERVICE QUALITY GAP
	Where do businesses go wrong in their delivery of service to their customers?  According to Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry four distinct gaps on the service provider’s side can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality:
	GAP 1:  Difference between consumer expectations and management
                     perceptions of consumer expectations.
	GAP 2:  Difference between management perceptions of consumer
                     expectations and service quality specifications.
	GAP 3:  Difference between service quality specifications and the 
                     service actually delivered.
	GAP 4:  Difference between service delivery and what is 
                     communicated about the service to consumers.
All gaps will be discussed in the following paragraphs but the main focus will be on Gap 1 because it is considered to be the most critical.
	GAP 1:  Not knowing what customers expect 
	In order to be perceived by the customer as a provider of excellent service a firm needs to know what the customer expects, exactly.  Being a little bit wrong about what customers want can mean losing a customer’s business when a competitor hits the target exactly.  Being a little bit wrong can mean expending money, time, and other resources on things that do not count to customers.  Being a little bit wrong can even mean not surviving in a fiercely competive market.
	The key reasons for the creation of Gap 1 are:
1)  lack of marketing research orientation;
2)  inadequate upward communication;
3)  too many levels of management.

ad 1) : Marketing Research Orientation is the extent to which managers make an effort to understand customer’s needs and expectations through formal and informal information-gathering activities.  The lack of marketing research orientation is created by several factors including insufficient marketing research, inadequate use of research findings, and lack of interaction between management and customers.
ad 2) : Upward Communication is the extent to which top management seeks, stimulates, and facilitates the flow of information from employees at lower levels.  Inadequate upward communications is mainly caused by infrequent face-to-face contact with customer contact personnel.
ad 3) : Levels of Management is the number of managerial levels between the topmost and bottommost positions.  A problem causing the gap could be that too many managerial levels separate top managers from those responsible for dealing with and serving customers.
	How to close Gap 1:
1-  Using complaints strategically (for example: having a 800-number that
      customers can call with problems);
2-  Researching what customers want in similar industries;
3-  Researching intermediate customers;
4-  Conducting key-client studies;
5-  Creating customer panels;
6-  Using marketing reseach findings effectively;
7-  Increasing interaction between management and customers;
8-  Improve upward communication from contact personnel to  
     management;
9-  Reduce the number of levels between contact personnel and 
     management.
	
	GAP 2:  The wrong service quality standards 
	A great number of firms experience difficulty in attempting to match or exceed customer’s expectations.  The problem is that many executives cannot or will not change company systems of service delivery to enhance customers’ perceptions.  This is not an unusual problem, people are simply resistant to change.  Gap 2 is usually created by factors such as inadequate commitment to service quality, lack of perception of feasibility, inadequate task standardization, and absence of goal setting.
	GAP 3:  The service performance gap  
	When employees are unable and/or unwilling to perform the service at the desired level, a difference between service specifications and the actual service delivery exists.  Key contributing factors are:
1) role ambiguity-employees are uncertain about what managers or supervisors expect from them and how to satisfy those expectations.
2) role conflict.
3) poor employee-job fit.
4) poor technology-job fit.
5) inappropriate supervisory control system.
6) lack of perceived control.
7) lack of teamwork.
	GAP 4:  When promises do not match delivery
	Accurate and appropriate company communication-advertising, personal selling, and public relations that do not overpromise or misrepresent- is essential to delivering services that customers that customers perceive as high in quality.  Causes for the difference between what a firm promises about a service and what it actually delivers are:
1) inadequate communication between advertising and operations.
2) inadequate communication between salespeople and operations.
3) inadequate communication between human resources, marketing, and operations.
4) differences in policies and procedures across branches or departments.
5) propensity to overpromise.


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CROSS-CULTURAL SERVICE QUALITY
	Cultures differ in many ways.  People live different lifestyles around the world.  The human being has the same basic needs everywhere(food, clothing, shelter, love), but different wants.  This is also the case when service quality is concerned.
	Several international students at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama have been interviewed and the most interesting comments from some of them are stated on the following pages.  The study for this chapter has been carried out in the following geographical regions: Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America.  Questions that were asked to the students were based on the ten characteristics that were discussed in part I.  The students were asked how those characteristics are perceived in their cultures.  Of course, they were given the freedom to add any additional comments and compare the quality of service in their culture to that of their host country, the United States.
	Europe 
	The European style of service can be divided into various substyles because Europe is not integrated culturally.  The service style in Scandinavia may differ considerably from that in the Mediterranean.  In general, the European service style is not as efficient as the American and not as attentive as the South-East Asian style.  It is also apparent that, north to south, attentiveness increases.  In the Nordic countries remoteness is more clearly present. (Lehtinen 1991)
	Lukasz Stanicki is a senior finance student from Warsaw, Poland.  He says that lots of things have changed since the Iron Curtain opened up.  It used to be that nobody cared if they would sell anything or not because in the Communist system pay would be the same at any level of sales.  Thus, there was no incentive to provide good service.  Now that business is more commercialized salespersons care more but still do not do anything fancy.  The reason is lack of competition.  “Recently, the first Levi’s store opened in Warsaw.  There’s always a long line of customers waiting to buy their first pair of Levi’s”, Mr. Stanicki says.  He also mentioned that in Poland ads and special promotions have a big impact on people because they are not used to them, but they should not be too aggressive because people will recognize fakeness.
	Andrew Jackson, a senior management major from London, England mentioned the AA and RAC, automobile service organizations that, at a low yearly fee, help you when your car breaks down while you are travelling.  But Mr. Jackson also mentioned that in stores there are not as many helpers and they are not as courteous as in the United States.
	Africa 
	Leopold Sambou, a junior from Banjul, The Gambia, on the west coast of Africa, was interviewed on how service quality is perceived in the African culture.  “In my country, there are small stores that are open until late at night.  You give your order and the salesperson will get it for you.”, Mr. Sambou says.  “Poor people go to the market where prices are negotiated.”  Mr. Sambou smiles when he talks about salespeople who will say anything to make you buy.  They lie a lot about bad quality products and when the buyer tries to return such a product the same salesman will deny it was him who sold it.  Finally, Mr. Sambou mentions that grocery stores called NTC(National Trading Corporations) that are owned by the government are cheaper and provide better service.
	Asia 
	The nature of the Oriental service is empathetic but remote.  For example, most taxi drivers in Tokyo wear white gloves during working hours.  They do not talk to their customers but are very attentive and have even found a technical solution for opening the door for their customers automatically.
	In Japan, tour guides take extremely good care of their groups to prevent their getting into difficulties, but guides do not try to establish close contact with customers.  They too wear uniform and gloves, distinguishing them from tourists. (Lehtinen 1991)
	“Workers are better trained, more knowledgable, and not as pushy as in the United States.”, says Masaru Takekawa, a junior marketing major from Nagoya, Japan.
	South America 
	“Banks provide terrible service.  You have to wait hours before you are finally being helped.”, says Maria Zavala, a sophomore business major from Caracas, Venezuela.  “They just started drive thrus last year.”  She also mentions that the quality of the products is bad and that salespersons lie about the quality.  Middle and lower class suffer the most because they cannot afford high quality, imported products.  They are also uneducated so salespeople try to take advantage of that.
	Mariana Braga de Lima, a junior marketing major from Brasilia, Brazil, says that salespeople treat people that look wealthy a lot better.  “If I go shopping alone I get ignored, but if I go with my father, salespeople treat me as if I am a queen”, she says.  She also mentions that Brazilians care more for image and reputation than for quality.
	North America 
	The American service style can be described as extremely close and friendly; contact persons try to be attentive and friendly toward customers.  An illustration is a waitress who comes up to the customer and says, “Hi, I’m Judy, I’m your waitress today.  What can I do for you?”  She will address her customer in the same manner throughout the entire service production process.  Efficiency is important because, working in surplus market economy, she gets paid by results. (Lehtinen 1991)

CONCLUSION
	Several surveys indicate that service quality has declined over the past twenty years.  The respected reader will now be provided with several insights for improving service quality:
* Managerial Vision- The CEO’s vision and the ability to impart it to others is the glue that binds all the other pieces of the customer satisfaction puzzle together. (Denton 1989)
* Only Customers Judge- Regardless of managers’ or employees’ tastes, standards, or insight, only customers judge quality.  All other judgments are essentially irrelevant.  If the customer thinks that service is too slow, the service is too slow. (Graham 1991)
* Outcome Plus Delivery- Customers evaluate both the outcome and the delivery of service.  Hospital patients, for example, may appreciate the quality of care, but they also desire courteous and empathetic delivery of the care. (Graham 1991)
* Customer Panels- Many firms improve their service quality by organizing panels of fifteen to twenty customers who meet three to four times a year.  Such panels are a good source of information for quality improvement. (Graham 1991)
* Intermediate Contacts- Vendors, distributors, agents, dealers, and competitors can be excellent consultants.  Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, openly admits that he spent a lot of time visiting competitors to see what he could learn from them. (Graham 1991)
* The Need To Innovate- Management should ask: is it (service) enough?  Is there a better way?  Are we delivering what the customer wants or just what is expected?  Future-oriented service providers seek ways of turning R&D into a competitive advantage. (Denton 1989)
* Set Standards, Measure Performance, And Act- Instituting a customer perpective is easier when goals are set, performance is measured, and then compared to the standards.  If there is a deviation between what is expected (standards) and what is achieved (actual behavior), then there is room for improvement.  Many improvements in services cannot occur unless it is possible to find out what is currently being done. (Denton 1989)
	A final word...
	Finally, we have come to the end of this effort.  Hopefully the reader is now more knowledgable about the subject of service quality.  In part I, I discussed the definition, the characteristics, and the benefits of service quality.  Part II illuminated the four gaps in the delivery of service quality.  Part III discussed cross-cultural service quality, and part IV provided the respected reader with ways to improve the quality of service delivery.  After reading this paper, the reader will hopefully understand that although it is more difficult to measure, the delivery of quality service is just as important to future success as the creation of a quality product.
















BIBLIOGRAPHY

	Berry, Leonard L. and David R. Bennett and Carter W. Brown (1989), Service Quality, Homewood,Ill.: Dow Jones-Irwin

	Berry, Leonard L. and A. Parasuraman and Valarie A. Zeithaml (1988), The Service-Quality Puzzle, Business Horizons, 35-43

	Berry Leonard L. and Valarie A. Zeithaml and A. Parasuraman (1985), Quality Counts In Services Too, Business Horizons, 44-52

	Braga de Lima, Mariana.  Personal Interview.  28 March 1993.

	Denton, D. Keith (1989), Quality Service, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company

	Graham, Gerald (1991), Here’s How To Improve The Quality Of Services, The Anniston Star, 3E

	Jackson, Andrew.  Personal Interview.  4 April 1993.

	Lehtinen, Jarmo (1991), Service Quality: Multidisciplinary and Multinational Perpectives, Ed. Stephen Brown, et al., Lexington, Ma: Lexington Books

	Sambou, Leopold.  Personal Interview.  3 April 1993.

	Stanicki, Lukasz. Personal Interview.  25 March 1993.

	Takekawa, Masaru.  Personal Interview.  3 April 1993.

	Zavala, Maria.  Personal Interview.  26 March 1993.

	Zeithaml, Valarie and Leonard L. Berry and A. Parasuraman (1988), Communication and Control Processes in the Delivery of Service Quality, Journal of Marketing, 52, 35-48

	Zeithaml, Valarie A. and A. Parasuraman and Leonard L. Berry (1990), Delivering Quality Service, New York: The Free Press