Introduction to Quality Service Management in Tourism

and Hospitality
1. Introduction to quality service management in tourism and hospitality

INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY SERVICE MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM AND

HOSPITALITY

Quality in the tourism and hospitality industry involves consistent delivery of products and
guest services according to expected standards. Delivering quality service is one of the
major challenges the hospitality managers will be facing in the following years as it is an
essential condition for success in the emerging, keenly competitive, global hospitality
markets.

Knutson (1990) reflected in his research that the intense competition in the hospitality
industry has led many businesses to look for ways on how they can profitably differentiate
themselves from their competition and capture the highest quality. Similarly, Weiermair
(2000) noted that in the tourism sector, even though the production and distribution of
services involve different experiences on both parts of the tourists and the suppliers, the
ultimate goal is still to achieve the highest quality possible.

To determine the "highest quality," one must first understand the concept of "quality." For
our guests in the tourism and hospitality industry, one will be using specifications,
standards, and other measures to evaluate quality. This is now a piece of evidence that
quality can be understood, defined, and measured. Especially for our guests, sometimes if
asked on quality, they could not define it but would immediately know one when they see
one. It will now be critical for quality to be seen. To illustrate, as what the quote says,
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so is quality, and more importantly, our guests define
it.

Joseph Juran, one of the pioneers in "quality" research, defined quality as "fitness for use."
This means that the concept of quality is variable to the one defining it. We cannot say that
the service of a casual dining restaurant has high quality if we have no intention of dining in
the said restaurant. It is because we are not intended for the said restaurant, so we have no
means in determining quality. A dining staff member that has no experience in the kitchen
cannot decipher the difference whether a kitchen knife is of good quality or not. It is
because it is not fit for him/her to use it. The International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), the world body for standard formulation, also defined quality as "the totality of
features and characteristics of a good or service that bear on its ability to satisfy a given or
implied need." In the definition, it is clear that a "given or implied need" should be
addressed and this is usually defined by the user, in our case, our guest or restaurant staff
from which he/she will address the criteria for quality.

Service Product: Goods and Services

Many have been mentioned already with the concepts of products and services. But let us
add another term: goods. These three terms are often confused with each other. For the
purposes of discussion, we will be taking the marketing perspective of the terms. A product
can be defined as anything that we can offer to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption that could satisfy a need or want. However, the definition of product does not
only involve tangible goods such as those that are purchased in restaurants like burgers,
fries, or drinks. The definition of product must be extended to include intangible objects as
well because they can also be offered to a market. Burgers, fries, and drinks are what
embody the next term, which is goods. Goods, according to Hill (1999), refer to physical
objects for which a demand exists; their physical attributes are preserved over time; and
their ownership can be established, can exist independently of the owner, and can be traded
on markets. Services, meanwhile, have four features. Lovelock (1983) connoted this as the
IHIP characteristics: intangible, heterogeneous, inseparable, and perishable.

Services are intangible in nature. It means that they cannot be touched as they are not
physical and can only exist in connection to other things. For example, the warm smile and
grateful service of a food attendant in a restaurant cannot be touched but can be felt and
can only exist because you have ordered a food item in a restaurant. Similarly, services are
heterogeneous due to their dependence on the workforce which does the act. In hospitality,
this concept is sometimes referred to as "inconsistency." The service that a hair therapist
renders to his/her client at 10 am would be of different quality and dimension as to when
he/she does service at 8 pm. This is why the industry has the concept of "service recovery"
in place. Just like when a famous pizza house delivers its pizza on time, if it fails to do so, the
pizza would be free. The concept of heterogeneity is also brought about by the differing
likes and dislikes of the guest. Even though a standard is set, the satisfaction of each guest
varies greatly and of course, as previously stated, the guest defines the concept of high
quality; that is why, commonly, the service staff adheres to the request of the guest.
Inseparability, meanwhile, means that the production (act of delivery of service staff) and the
consumption (guest experience) cannot be separated from each other. In a spa, for example,
the service rendered by a spa therapist cannot be done while the guest is still at the office.
The guest should be present for the massage service to be done. Using technical criteria to
define services, Smith (1776) states that a service will "perish in the very instant of its
performance, and seldom leave any trace or value behind them for which an equal quantity
of services could afterwards be procured." This is especially true for hotels where the main
product is the sale of its guest rooms. For example, if the sales team of a particular hotel
does not perform its job properly, usually the chance where a room can be sold is lost
forever. The sale cannot be brought back again for that specific day and time. Because of
these characteristics, implications exist.

 Dimensions of Quality for Service Products

Garvin (1987), in an article in Harvard Business Review, mentioned that because of the
competition for high quality goods and services and with the internationalization of said
concepts, the following dimensions for quality should be observed and considered:

Performance - It refers to a service product's primary operating characteristics. Usually in

the hospitality and tourism industry, as we are catering to intangible dominant concepts,
performance often means prompt service. This dimension of quality has very measurable
attributes, that is why brands can usually be ranked objectively on their respective aspects.
Although measurable, it is quite hard to measure overall performance rankings as they
involve benefits that not every consumer needs.

Features - Features are dimensions of quality, which are usually cited as a secondary aspect
of performance. They are secondary in such a way that they supplement the basic
functioning of a service product. Examples would include free drinks on a plane, free Wi-Fi
service in guest rooms, and a complimentary hot tea after a full-body massage. Sometimes,
identifying features from the primary performance characteristics is difficult as they
accentuate the actual performance indicators. But what is important to know is that features
involve objective and measurable attributes that can be clearly observed which sometimes
affect their translation in quality differences.

Reliability - It refers to the ability to perform the promised service product dependably and
accurately. This means that being able to provide service as promised is one of the main
considerations in assessing this dimension. The guest assesses quality by gauging that when
he/she is promised to for his/her pizza to be delivered in 30 minutes, it should be delivered
in less than or exactly 30 minutes. When the guest is promised for a mouthwatering dining
experience, then the ambiance, service, and food should all be complimentary to deliver the
said experience. Reliability can also mean dependability in handling guests' service
problems, in that every challenge or difficulty that may arise be treated right the first time.

Conformance - This quality dimension means that a service product's design and
characteristics should meet the standard set. Juran became one of the pioneers who
specialized on this area. Service products to be accomplished and performed properly need
to have specifications. When new product offerings or service provisions are developed,
dimensions are actually set to become standards for evaluation. These specifications are
treated as the "targets" to be met in a specific service product.
Durability - This dimension is more detectable in goods rather than in services and it has
both technical and economic dimensions. Technically, durability can refer to the amount of
use before a specific product deteriorates. For example, a commercial oven can be
measured by the number of years it may service a specific kitchen inside a restaurant, or an
espresso machine in the case of coffee shops. In the case of service aspect, in both personal
and company reputation, costs in training and hiring of qualified and complementary staff
may be considered within this dimension.

Serviceability - The sixth dimension of quality, again more inclined toward goods rather
than services, is serviceability or the speed, courtesy, competence, and ease of repair. Guests
are concerned with the breakdown of the products that are actually offered to them. But
most importantly, they are concerned with how fast the standard they paid for can be
restored. Connecting to service concepts, this dimension can also cover how fast a hotel can
transfer a guest to another hotel after he/ she was declined because the initial hotel was
fully booked, or how the restaurant management can deal with accidents and give service
recovery at the soonest possible time.

Aesthetics - This dimension, along with the last dimension, are highly subjective.
Aesthetics-how a service product is perceived-is clearly a matter of personal judgment. It
reflects how a guest is as an individual. Even with this fact, there appears to be some
patterns in guests' likes and dislikes when it comes to basis of tastes. Their tastes of course
are affected by a variety of factors, including their demographic and psychographic
characteristics. Because of this, hotels, resorts and other hospitality and tourism
establishments need to conduct market segmentation to develop their target segments; as
what the quote says, "You can't have it all." In the case of some famous hotel chains, they
have segmented their properties or brands to cater to differing needs of the guests.

Perceived Quality - Guests usually do not have a complete guide on a service product's
dimensions; unknowingly, they are indirectly measuring and this measurement is the only
basis for them to compare brands. A tour experience for example cannot be observed
directly; it usually must be gauged by a number of tangible and intangible aspects of the
tour package. Because of this, images, advertising, and brand names can be critical. Some
brands even ship from outside the country to maintain service quality and to deliver value
as they promised it to their guests. Corporate reputation is its most prized possession and is
the focus of perceived quality.