QSM REVIEWER 6.

Features – is the product or service equipped

with all the features needed for its intended use
Lesson 1: Hospitality Spirit
7. Perceived Quality – Reality is based on the
The Interrelated Nature of Hospitality & Tourism
perception
The scope of hospitality & tourism includes:

1. Travel & tourism

8. Conformance to standards - is the product or
2. Lodging service up to par with the requirements. Is it
performing as expected if it was designed based
3. Assembly & event management on a performance specification.
4. Restaurants and managed services Characteristics of the hospitality industry
5. Recreation ✓ Open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day
Words to remember: ✓ Requires shift work
✓ Front of the House ✓ Service is intangible
✓ Heart of the House ✓ Products are perishable
✓ “Moment of Truth” Comparing good & services
▪ Quality - means consistently providing goods GOODS
and services to guests that meet or exceed
expectations in the tourism and hospitality ▪ TANGIBLE
business.
▪ STANDARDIZED
International Organization of Standardization (ISO)
▪ PRODUCTION SEPARATE FROM CONSUMPTION
- Defines quality management as “element of the
▪ NON-PERISHABLE
overall management function that develops and
executes quality policy and as such is the SERVICES
responsibility of the top management”
Managing all operations for the future ▪ INTANGIBLE
prosperity of the organization is a management
▪ HETEROGENOUS- depends on employee and
duty.
Dimension of Quality customer actions

1. Performance – is the product or service ▪ SIMULTANEOUS PRODUCTION AND

performing as expected within the specified
tolerance.
2. Reliability – will the product operate as
expected regularly
3. Durability – how long will the product survive or
function, and under what circumstances
CONSUMPTION
▪ PERSISHABLE
Success in service (Horst Schulze)
Three aspects of service according to Horst Schulze:
1. Service should be defect free.

4. Serviceability – is it reasonably simple to 2. Service should be timely.

maintain and repair the product. 3. People should care.
5. Aesthetic – end users value the appearance of a Mr. Schulze adds that all hospitality businesses should
product. be doing 4 things:
 1. Keeping guests equals loyalty, meaning guests
trust you & are happy to form a relationship
with you.
2. Find new guests.
3. Get as much money as you can from the guest
without losing him or her.
4. Create efficiencies.
The focus on service
Most common insults to guests as the following:
1. Grossly overbooked reservations
2. Holding better table for favorite guests
3. Waiter who could suddenly conjure up a table
for a heavy tip
4. Treating guests with attributes bordering on
arrogance
Principles of Quality Management leading to quality
service
1. Commitment - total commitment is required if a
quality service management culture is to be created.
delegating quality concerns to a single person or
department is insufficient. top management must have
clear standards for quality as well as provide support
and training.
2. Culture - to alter culture and attitudes, training is
essential. negative attitude must be addressed to
promote individual contributions and make quality
awareness a regular aspect of everyone's work.
3. Continuous improvement - quality service
management should be seen as a “continuous process”
it is not a “one shot” program. continuous improvement
encompasses both “incremental” and “breakthrough”
improvements. improvement may take several forms,
including the following:
1. increasing consumer value via new and better
goods and services
2. recognizing new business possibilities
3. errors, faults, inefficiencies, and waste are
reduced.
4. enhancing responsiveness and cycle time
performance, as well as
5. increasing resource usage productivity and
effectiveness
4. Cooperation - employee participation and
collaboration should be sought in the creation of
improvement initiatives and performance metrics. the
following are examples of what quality service
management looks like:
1. employee involvement - refers to the fact that
every employee is engaged in the company’s
day-to-day operations and plays an active role in
assisting the company in achieving its objectives
2. employee empowerment - refers to the
recognition by workers and management that
there are many barriers to attaining
organizational objectives that may be overcome
by individuals given the appropriate tools and
authority.
5. Customer focus - Direct moment of
External customers (those who get the end product or
service) and
Internal customers (those who receive and provide
products, services, or information) should be prioritized
6. Control – documentation, processes, and current best
practices are required for quality service management
solutions to work appropriately. improvements cannot
be mentioned in asses, and shortcomings cannot be
rectified unless control mechanism exists.
7. Cross functional - call the service management is a
total system approach in the hospitality and tourism
industry, not a separate area or program.
It is an essential component of high-level strategy
formulation. It spans functions and divisions, includes all
workers, and extends backward and forward to
encompass the supply chain and customer chain unless
control mechanism exists.
8. Cost analysis - rather than allowing defects to occur
and then inspecting and rectifying them, quality service
management aims to design and build quality into the
hospitality and tourism product.
9. Change - origination of success is dependent on
learning and adapting to constant change. improvement
and education should be applied after everything you
work to provide excellent service in hospitality and
tourism sector.
10. Concept of team synergy - using the synergy of
teams to solve the issues and challenges of continuous
improvement is successful strategy.
Lesson 2: Quality Service Encounter
The Impact of People, Process, and Physical Evidence
on Tourism and Hospitality Service Quality
Service quality is a measure of how an organization
delivers its services compared to the expectations of its
customers.
5 dimensions of service quality (SERVQUAL model)
• Tangibles : Physical facilities, equipment, and
appearance of employees
• Reliability: Ability to perform the required
service dependably and accurately
• Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers
and provide prompt service
• Assurance: Knowledge and courtesy of
employees
• Empathy: Caring and individual attention
provided by the staff
3 Central Components in producing a quality service
experience:
• People
• Processes
• Physical Evidence
People
3 groups who participate in the customer’s experience
of quality service:
1. Customers
• Homogeneity of the customer mix
contributes to a positive customer
experience, while a heterogenous
customer mix may create problems
Motivations of Tourism
STANLEY PLOG`S THEORY:
1. Allocentric (The Wanderers) − A tourist who seeks
new experiences and adventure in a wide range of
activities. This person is outgoing and self-confident in
behavior. An allocentric person prefers to fly and to
explore new and unusual areas before others do so, an
outgoing self-confident.
2.) PSYCHOCENTRIC TOURIST- are self inhibiting,
nervous and nonadventurous, worried about safety and
security. prefer to return to familiar travel destinations
where they can relax.
They often refuse to travel by air for psychological
reasons rather than financial or other practical
concerns.
3.) MID-CENTRIC TOURIST-
The mid-centric traveler falls between the allocentric
and psychocentric types. This is a person who isn't
exceptionally adventurous but is still open to new
experiences. The preferred destinations for this type of
traveler are cultural, historical, and even ecological.
2. Employees
“Take care of your employees, and they will take care
of your customers” - J. W. Marriott
3. Management
Management must cultivate a service
environment
Processes
Processes deal with the policies and processes that a
company sets to provide quality service, and they cover
a range of activities linked to that delivery.
✓ Benchmarking
✓ Continuous quality improvement strategies
✓ Service evaluation
✓ Application of technology
Benchmarking
Benchmarking examines operational performance in
tandem with improvement efforts to compare
operational performance and identify best practices. It
measures four domains:
✓ Profitability
 ✓ Service Quality industry is transitioning from a one-sided transaction
model to a personalized experience.
✓ Marketing Effectiveness
Benefits
✓ Productivity
• Increasing customer satisfaction
Continuous Quality Improvement Strategies
• Improving efficiency
Blueprinting
• Providing better information
Blueprinting examines the flow of service

• Does this activity add value? If it does

not add value, why do we do it (LeBoeuf,
1993)?

Handling Service Problems

Keeping customers is more cost effective than finding

new ones

• “It is not what you say but how you say

it.”

Physical Evidence

is the tangible aspect of the service experience.

It can be both controllable and uncontrollable

Understanding the Role of the Service Encounter in

Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Services

• Social Interactions

• Service Encounters

• Service Evaluation • Encounter Management

Customer Comment Cards • Selection

• Satisfiers • Training

• Dissatisfiers • Organizational Culture

• Criticals Management of the service encounter is notoriously

• Neutrals
Application of Technology
Improving the client experience will stimulate the
development of technology used in hospitality and
tourism in the future. With the aid of technology, the
problematic because direct provision relies solely on
the employee.
Frontline employees can perform adequately at the
customer interface so long as there is a culture of
support, an appropriate service delivery system, and
adequate training.
Social Interactions
is an exchange between two or more individuals.
For example:
• Employees who provide the service need to feel
satisfied with their performance while satisfying
the immediate demands of the client
• Customer desire satisfaction in terms of their
immediate purpose for the interaction
Service Encounters
are complex affairs because the social contact between
actors carries a variety of expectations.
Key features:
• They have a narrow focus
• They are purposeful
• Roles are defined
• Providers are performing a job
• There is often no prior acquaintance
• Task-related information predominates
• There may be temporary status differences
Encounter Management
Employees act as ambassadors for their organizations
and play a crucial role influencing overall customer
perceptions of quality
Approaches in encounter management:
• Blueprinting
• Scripting – typically includes routines for
greeting, probing, empathy, and positivity
*Alternative approach
• Managers should consider empowering
employees to deal with each individual situation
as it arises
Selection
Selecting the right person for the position is one of the
most controllable aspects of controlling the service
encounter.
• The hospitality and tourism industry is greatly
affected by both technical and behavioral
aspects of quality of its employees, in meeting
its organizations goals and offering high-
quality services
Common selection practices
• Application forms
• Resume screening
• Reference checks
• Interviews
• Knowledge tests
• Performance/work sample tests
• Ability tests
• Personality inventories
• Assessment centers
Training
means teaching people how to do their jobs. You may
instruct and guide a trainee toward learning knowledge,
skills, or attitudes.
3 kinds of training are needed hospitality operations:
• Job instruction - instruction in what to do and
how to do it in every detail of a given job in a
given enterprise.
• Retraining - applies to current employees.
• Orientation - the initial introduction to the job
and the company.
Dimensions of staff training (Jones & Lockwood):
• Traditional – Staff are shown the correct way of
dealing with customers based on previously
identified standards
• Quality circles – Staff are encouraged to
consider how they can improve the service given
to the customer
• Encouragement – Staff develop their customer
service skills by using incentives where they are
judged against previously identified standards of
performance
Benefits of Training
• More time to manage
• Less absenteeism and less turnover
• Less tension
• Higher consistency of product and service
• Lower costs
• Happier customers and more of them
• Enhancement of your career
By making sure that your employees know what to do,
tension is reduced, morale and job satisfaction are
boosted, the number of accidents and injuries are
reduced, and your workers have a better chance of
advancing.
Problems in Training
• Urgent need for trained workers
• Lack of time
• Lack of money
• Short-term workers
• Diversity of workers
• Kinds of jobs and skills
• Complexity of some jobs
• Not knowing exactly what you want your
people to do and how.
Learning is the acquisition of knowledge, skills or
attitudes.
How do adults learn best? Many of the following tips for
helping employees learn are derived from a field of
study called adult learning theory. Adult learning theory
is a field of research that examines how adults learn.
• Employees learn best when they are actively
involved in the learning process
• When the training is relevant and practical
• When the training materials are organized and
presented in small chunks
• When the setting is informal and quiet
• When the trainer is good
• When employees receive feedback on their
performance and reward for achievement
Organizational Culture
The term "culture" refers to the underlying attitudes
and values that everyone holds and how they affect the
customer experience.
“The way things get done here”
• Values – Sense of direction and identify guiding
day-to-day behavior
• Heroes – Individuals who are successful
because of their adherence to organizational
values
• Rites and rituals – Communicate what is
expected of employees
• Cultural network – Informal organization
through which communication of the culture
takes place
A positive work climate is one in which employees
can and will work productively. Morale is a group
spirit surrounding getting a job done. It can run
from enthusiasm, confidence, cheerfulness, and
dedication to discouragement, pessimism,
indifference, and gloom.
• In order to build a positive work climate, you
need to focus on these 3 areas: the individual,
the job, and the supervisor.
The Individual
By getting to know your people, dealing with security
and social needs, rewarding and developing your
people.
Following are some guidelines for empowering your
employees:
• Give your employees your trust and respect,
two essential ingredients for empowerment of
employees.
• Determine exactly what you exactly what you
want employees to be empowered to do.
• Create an environment in which exceptions to
rules, particularly when they involve customer
satisfaction, are permissible.
 • Allow employees to make mistakes without 5. Depends on the difference between customers’
being criticized or punished. Instead, view expectations and perceptions
these times as opportunities to educate your
employees.

• Reward empowered employees who take risks,

make good decisions, and take ownership.

The Job

Providing an attractive job environment, providing a safe

and secure work environment, making the job
interesting and challenging.

The Supervisor

Ultimately, it is the supervisor who holds the keys to a

positive work climate. It is not only the steps he/she
takes, the things he/she does to spark the motivation; it
is the way that supervisors themselves approach their Gap Analysis Model. The model indicated that customer
own tasks and responsibilities – their own performance perception of quality was influenced by a series of five
of their own jobs distinct gaps.
Management by example - managing people at work by
setting a good example – by giving 100 percent of your
time, effort, and enthusiasm to your own job.

Lesson 3: Service Quality and Competitive Advantage

Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Value: An Reasons for Gap

Examination of Their Relationships
• Gap 1 – Lack of adequate market research and
SERVICE – “any activity or benefit that one party can lack of upward communication
offer to another that is essentially intangible and does
• Gap 2 – Lack of whole hearted commitment of
not result in the ownership of anything”
management to service quality and inadequate
QUALITY – “a strategic tool for attaining operational leadership
efficiency and better performance of business”
• Gap 3 – Discrepancies in the actual service
SERVICE QUALITY means the ability of a service delivery (can be caused by ineffective
provider to satisfy customer in an efficient manner recruitment, lack of proper incentives and
while improving business performance. motivations)

“Quality is whatever the customer perceives it to be” – • Gap 4 – Due to exaggerated promise or
(Buzzell & Gale, 1987) ineffective communication to the customer

Service quality is: • Gap 5 – Inequality in the service expectations

of customer and his service perception
1. Multidimensional
Five Dimensions of Service Quality
2. Has underlying quality dimensions, some of
which change over time;

3. Is intangible

4. Is the result of both service processes and

service outcomes

Five service dimensions customers care about (Alan, N.
D.)
SERVQUAL Instrument
A multidimensional instrument used for research
purposes, designed to capture the perceptions and
expectations of customers.
• The 22-question SERVQUAL questionnaire has
been hailed as the best standardized measure to
assess service quality.
SERVQUAL-22 Questionnaires (Fripp, N. D. )
10X10 RULE
5 FEET (VERBAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)
10 FEET (EYE CONTACT)
Satisfaction
A post-purchase construct that relates to how much a
person enjoys or dislikes a good or service after using it
Service quality is a determinant of customer
satisfaction regardless if whether they were
cumulative or transaction oriented (Cronin et al., 1992)
Customer Satisfaction Diagram (Wilson, 2008)
The Service Quality-Satisfaction Relationship
• It is suggested that customer service is the key
to operational variable and that, if service
quality is improved, customer satisfaction and,
hopefully, profitability will be improved
The Value Construct
is a “consumer’s overall assessment of the
utility of a product (or service) based on
perceptions of what is received and what is
given”
PRODUCT QUALITY – PRICE TRADEOFF
E.G ECONOMY CLASS VS BUSINESS CLASS