ArticlePDF Available

Examining the Relationship between Internal Service Quality and Customer Service Quality in Academic Institutions in Gaza Strip

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

This research focuses on studying the link between internal service quality (ISQ) and customer service quality (SQ) and the effects of demographics (gender, age, education, affiliation, and position) on that link. Extant research shows that the relationship between ISQ and SQ is complex, mixed, and not straightforward and few empirical research efforts have focused on testing this relationship. Data were collected from a sample of 543 employees working in six Academic Palestinian organizations in Gaza Strip (three universities and three university colleges). The results supported the availability of direct and positive relationships between three dimensions of ISQ (tangibles, assurance, and responsiveness) and SQ. The relationships between the other two dimensions (reliability and empathy) of ISQ and SQ were not supported. The findings also showed that there is a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to age, affiliation, and position while there is no difference due to gender. They also show that there is a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and its dimensions due to education. This study suggested the importance of studying more variables that may mediate or moderate the relationship between ISQ and SQ.
Content may be subject to copyright.
a1a175102
ISSN 2410-5198 IUGJEBS
Examining the Relationship between Internal Service Quality and
Customer Service Quality in Academic Institutions in Gaza Strip
Dr. Khalid A. Dahleez1,*
1Department of Business and Finance, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza Strip, State of Palestine
Received on (14-10-2014) Accepted on (25-11-2014)
Abstract
This research focuses on studying the link between internal service quality (ISQ) and customer service quality
(SQ) and the effects of demographics (gender, age, education, affiliation, and position) on that link. Extant
research shows that the relationship between ISQ and SQ is complex, mixed, and not straightforward and few
empirical research efforts have focused on testing this relationship. Data were collected from a sample of 543
employees working in six Academic Palestinian organizations in Gaza Strip (three universities and three
university colleges). The results supported the availability of direct and positive relationships between three
dimensions of ISQ (tangibles, assurance, and responsiveness) and SQ. The relationships between the other two
dimensions (reliability and empathy) of ISQ and SQ were not supported. The findings also showed that there is
a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to age, affiliation, and position while there is no
difference due to gender. They also show that there is a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and its
dimensions due to education. This study suggested the importance of studying more variables that may
mediate or moderate the relationship between ISQ and SQ.
Keyword: Internal Service Quality, Customer Service Quality.
* Corresponding author e-mail address: kdahleez@iugaza.edu.ps
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a2
Introduction:
Service quality (SQ) is a complex topic and its measurement is very challenging due to
its dependency on intangible factors (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011) which are out of
the full managerial control of service organizations and depend on subjective assessment of
customer perceptions (Zeithaml et al. 2009). The complexity of services stems from their
characteristics that affect levels of perceived SQ, delivery system, service operations,
customer satisfaction and expectations, and employee behavior. Due to such complexities,
employees are required to show empathy and maintain their positive psychological states
with suitable levels of behavior to satisfy the needs of customers through providing superior
services. This complexity requires organizations to focus on satisfying customer needs
through satisfying the needs of their employees. It is required that organizations take care of
their employees through providing them with supporting internal services, suitable working
environment, and balanced work/people focus.
On the other hand, internal service quality (ISQ) hasn’t received enough attention from
researchers (Hallowell et al. 1996; Jun & Cai 2010). Moreover, Brandon-Jones and Silvestro
(2010) argued that the limited number of research discussing ISQ relative to customer
service is due to the marketing background of service researchers and the multidisciplinary
nature of internal service. Most studies in extant literature have highlighted the importance
of ISQ on both employee attitudes and behaviors and on customer SQ which eventually
influence customer attitudes and behaviors (Dhurup 2012; Dhurup & Mohamane 2007;
Heskett et al. 1994; Heskett & Sasser 2010; Johnston 2008). Despite its importance, little
research has examined the relationship between ISQ and both SQ and customer satisfaction
(Bouranta et al. 2009). On the other hand, Farner et al. (2001) argued that ISQ has mixed
and complex relationships with SQ. Thus, this research aims mainly at examining the
relationship between ISQ and SQ as well as the effect of demographics on this relationship.
Literature Review:
Service Quality
Extant research has described the nature, characteristics, and behavior of services as well
as their role and implications to organizations, employees, customers, and other
stakeholders. In spite of research efforts, there is no common agreement between
researchers about the definition of services. Zeithaml et al. (2009) argued that various
definitions are available. Services are defined as acts, processes, intangible performances or
as value-creation economic activities which adds value to customers and organizations
(Gilmore 2003; Lovelock & Wright 2002). A service is also defined as a process which
consists of a series of more or less intangible activities intended to solve customer problems
(Grönroos 2007) in which customers play a focal role as co-producers (Fitzsimmons &
Fitzsimmons 2011). Services can also be explained in light of four major characteristics:
intangibility, inseparability, perishability, and heterogeneity. Intangibility is a key and focal
determinant of services and affects several aspects such as service management and quality
(Zeithaml et al. 2009). Intangibility is reflected in customer descriptions of services as
feelings, performances, or experiences which lead to difficult and subjective customer
evaluations (Grönroos 2007) and hence, the burden is on the shoulders of employees to
assess levels of quality and levels of customer satisfaction as well as to fix problems and
provide suitable solutions (Bowen & Ford 2002). Consequently, it is important to
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a3
understand with equal importance both how service is delivered and what is being delivered
(Schneider & Bowen 2010). On the other hand, Intangibility raises two severe problems for
both suppliers and customers. For suppliers, intangibility makes it difficult to protect and
patent service innovations because services are ideas and concepts (Zeithaml et al. 2009).
For customers, they rely on firms' reputation when ordering the service because they can't
feel, see, or test service performances in advanced (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011).
Inseparability refers to the simultaneous production and consumption of services. It
imposes other effects on the delivery and management of services such as consumer
participation (Zeithaml et al. 2009), difficulty in doing quality control before delivery
(Grönroos 2007), varying demands and difficulty of using traditional manufacturing
strategies such as inventory management (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011; Zeithaml et
al. 2009), extra efforts from employees and entails mutual impacts between different
customers (Gilmore 2003; Zeithaml et al. 2009). Perishability is a result of intangibility
which prevents services from being stored, inventoried, reserved for future use (Gilmore
2003), resold, or returned (Zeithaml et al. 2009). It is understood and explained in light of
the simultaneous production and consumptions of services through interactions between the
consumer and the service provider's production resources such as employees (Grönroos
2007). Consequently, management can't act against the fluctuations in service demands and
the consumer habits in using services in specific periods and in fixed quantities
(Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011). Both intangibility of services and customer
participation in service delivery lead to service variations and difficulties in both service
standardization and quality control (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011). Heterogeneity
stems from the dependability of service delivery on employee behavior which is not reliable
and constant when compared to machines (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011; Gilmore
2003). It also depends on the behavior of customers (i.e. demands, expectations, and
experiences) and on their interactions with employees (Zeithaml et al. 2009).
Internal Service Quality:
The early writings and seminal works highlighted the importance of ISQ for achieving
customer satisfaction, SQ, and organizational performance. Thus, Customer Satisfaction and
the provision of superior services for external customers depend mainly and in its major part
on satisfying the needs of employees (Gremler et al. 1994; Hallowell et al. 1996; Marshall et
al. 1998; Reynoso & Moores 1995; Zeithaml et al. 1988) and on internal services they get
from their coworkers (Mcdermott & Emerson 1991). Recently, researchers refocused their
attention to the role of internal services and internal relationships. For instance, Johnston
(2008) argued that the quality of external service depends on the quality of internal service.
Similarly, Dhurup (2012) argued that the internal relationships between employees and their
coworkers embodied important TQM concepts and affects their relationships with
customers and organizational performance.
Extant research has highlighted the multidisciplinary nature of ISQ (Hallowell et al.
1996) and its meaning as a key tenet under which employees regard their coworkers in all
organizational levels as important customers (Heskett et al. 1994; Johnston 2008; Marshall
et al. 1998). ISQ is defined as the quality of services provided by specific departments and
their employees to other departments and employees (Farner et al. 2001; Kang et al. 2002)
and is reflected in employees’ attitudes toward other employees as well as to the way they
serve each other (Heskett et al. 1994). Thus, ISQ implies that every employee is a customer
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a4
and has a customer to serve (Johnston 2008) and that any department and its affiliated
employees are customers to other departments and (Jun & Cai 2010).
In spite of the importance and feasibility of ISQ, there is little attention to its effect on
attitudinal and behavioral outcomes relative to customer SQ. Extant research has focused on
providing suitable frameworks for assessing and developing ISQ rather than on studying its
effects and theoretical connections (Stanley & Wisner 1998, 2001, 2002). Empirically, the
examination and testing of ISQ has been found in different fields. Examples of such
applications can be found in purchasing (Jun & Cai 2010; Marshall et al. 1998; Stanley &
Wisner 1998, 2001, 2002), hospitality and restaurants (Back et al. 2011; Bouranta et al.
2009; Wang 2011, 2012; Zailani et al. 2006), banking and finance (Bellou & Andronikidis
2008), education (Kang et al. 2002; Ramseook-Munhurrun et al. 2010a), call centers
(Ramseook-Munhurrun et al. 2009; Ramseook Munhurrun et al. 2010b), health (Bruhn
2003), insurance (Hallowell et al. 1996), aviation (Frost & Kumar 2000), grocery
wholesaler (Farner et al. 2001), shopping centers (Yee et al. 2008), and R&D (Dhurup
2012). On the other hand, not all dimensions of ISQ are strong predictors of attitudinal and
behavioral outcomes. For instance, Kang et al. (2002) collected their data from 120
administrative staff at a Korean university and suggested that reliability and responsiveness
are very critical to the provision of both internal and external SQ and influence overall SQ
perceptions. Consequently, they suggested that organizations need to focus on the most
effective dimensions to ensure high levels of ISQ and organizational effectiveness.
The Relationship between ISQ and SQ:
Although most of the research outcomes reflecting the relationship between ISQ and SQ
are based on the practical implementation of service profit chain framework (Heskett et al.
1994; Heskett & Sasser 2010) it can be explained theoretically by using social exchange
theory (Gouldner 1960). Social exchanges entail unspecified and broad obligations on the
part of employees and the organization (Blau 1964). Based on that, Tsui et al. (1997) argued
that in social exchange relationships, the organization offers long term monetary award,
extended consideration of employee wellbeing, and career investments. They suggested that,
in order to reciprocate, employees work on their assigned jobs, do other unspecified tasks
which fall outside their prior agreements and expertise, assist their coworkers, and show
willingness to consider organizational interest as important as their core job duties. In other
words, employees reciprocate to the organization through engaging themselves in several
internal service encounters as a natural part of their jobs and responsibilities (Kang et al.
2002) with the final endeavor of achieving customer SQ (Jun & Cai 2010). On the other
hand, several theoretical assertions posit that employees have expectations about internal
services they are supposed to receive and examine the quality of these services based on
their expectations (Bruhn 2003). Effective internal relationships are the building blocks of a
facilitative environment in which every employee or department is a customer of other
employees and departments (Dhurup 2012; Heskett et al. 1994; Johnston 2008; Jun & Cai
2010; Kang et al. 2002; Marshall et al. 1998). Consequently, employees who receive ISQ
through the interaction with coworkers (Hallowell et al. 1996; Kang et al. 2002) and
experience a nurturing internal environment (Dhurup 2012; Reynoso & Moores 1995) are
most likely to reciprocate to the organization and coworkers by providing external
customers with excellent SQ.
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a5
Empirically, few research efforts have focused on testing the relationships between ISQ and
both SQ and customer satisfaction (Bouranta et al. 2009). Therefore,
H1: There is a positive relationship between ISQ and SQ.
H1a: There is a positive relationship between Reliability dimension of ISQ and SQ.
H1b: There is a positive relationship between Responsiveness dimension of ISQ and SQ.
H1c: There is a positive relationship between Assurance dimension of ISQ and SQ.
H1d: There is a positive relationship between Empathy dimension of ISQ and SQ.
H1e: There is a positive relationship between Tangibles dimension of ISQ and SQ.
H2: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to
(gender, age, education, affiliation, and position).
H2a: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to (gender).
H2b: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to (age).
H2c: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to
(education).
H2d: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to
(affiliation).
H2e: There are significant differences among respondents' assessments of ISQ and SQ due to (position).
Measurement of SQ and ISQ:
The measurement of SQ is very challenging due to its many psychological features and
the intangibility of services and thus it is assessed by customers based on several factors and
dimensions (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011). Often, it is defined as a multidimensional
construct which is very difficult to elaborate with a definite measure (Brady & Cronin Jr
2001; Cronin Jr & Taylor 1992; Parasuraman et al. 1985). In addition, there is no agreement
among researchers about the number of quality dimensions and research in different areas
reveal different number of factors (Zeithaml et al. 2009). Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988)
initiated SERVQUAL as a tool to organize and measure SQ. Initially, SERVQUAL
contained ten dimensions and then reduced by the same authors to five dimensions:
reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles (Grönroos 2007). The five
dimensions were found to be relevant to many service sectors and relevant for assessing
internal services as well (Parasuraman et al. 1988). Sometimes not all the five dimensions
are relevant to be used and/or need to be modified depending on the case under
consideration (Zeithaml et al. 2009). SERVQUAL has 22 attributes distributed to the five
dimensions and respondents are normally asked to rate the service based on these attributes.
For example, Grönroos (2007) suggested that SERVQUAL should be carefully
implemented and the dimensions and attributes should be reassessed before being used
taking into consideration type of service, markets, and cultural differences. He also argued
that the implementation of SERVQUAL has raised some controversy which applies to both
the representation of the five dimensions and the application of the 22 attributes as
representations of all aspects of a considered service.
The debate about the measurement of customer SQ has been reflected on the
measurement of ISQ. For instance, Brandon-Jones and Silvestro (2010) argued that the
measurement of ISQ is based on two main approaches: adaptation of SERVQUAL (Frost &
Kumar 2000; Gremler et al. 1994; Kang et al. 2002; Paraskevas 2001) or development of
new perception-only measurement instruments from scratch (Bruhn 2003; Hallowell et al.
1996; Mcdermott & Emerson 1991). In line with the first approach is Gremler et al. (1994)
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a6
who attributed the problems faced by internal customers to those faced by external
customers. As a result, they recommend the use of external quality measures for examining
ISQ. Most of the researchers who employ SERVQUAL follow the assertions of Zeithaml et
al. (1990) and his colleagues that SERVQUAL can be modified and adapted for measuring
ISQ within organizations.
Moreover, the employment of SERVQUAL is not straightforward and has several
forms. Majority of research has employed the same methodology either by applying some
substantial rewording or by adding/deleting some of the original dimensions of
SERVQUAL (Kang et al. 2002; Paraskevas 2001). Generally, Brandon-Jones and Silvestro
(2010) argued that the employment of SERVQUAL methodology takes one of three aspects.
It can be employed with limited amount of modification (Dhurup 2012; Frost & Kumar
2000; Kang et al. 2002), by removing/adding dimensions (Bouranta et al. 2009; Jun & Cai
2010; Lings & Brooks 1998; Paraskevas 2001; Ramseook-Munhurrun et al. 2009), or by
employing substantial changes to SERVQUAL (Reynoso & Moores 1995; Stanley &
Wisner 2001).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
This research follows the deductive approach in which hypothesized relationships
between variables are built upon a strong theoretical basis and are tested through statistical
means (Hinkin 1998; Saunders et al. 2009). It follows a descriptive analytical methodology.
Survey Instrument Development:
To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher constructed a questionnaire in a
cross-sectional survey (single time measurement) design. The measures represented in the
questionnaire were judged from a panel of experts selected from Academic Palestinian
Institutions. The aim of this step is to modify the measures based on the nature of the
service providers taking into consideration the translation effect (from English to Arabic)
and implications of cultural issues. Cultural biases and language translations cause problems
and errors in scale translations (Carrillat et al. 2007). The questionnaire was also piloted
through distributing it to 35 employees from the population to strengthen reliability and
validity, make some modifications, and estimate the required time to fill the questionnaire.
Table (1) shows reliability and number of items in each latent construct. All variables show
adequate reliability values (>0.70) ranging from 0.844 for the tangible dimension of ISQ to
0.938 for SQ.
Table 1 Reliability Analysis
Construct
# items
Cronbach's Alpha
Tangible Dimension of ISQ
4
0.844
Reliability Dimension of ISQ
5
0.901
Responsiveness Dimension of ISQ
4
0.919
Assurance Dimension of ISQ
4
0.913
Empathy Dimension of ISQ
5
0.884
ISQ
5
0.922
SQ
11
0.938
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a7
Population and Sample:
The target population consists of all administrative staff, office staff, academicians with
admin positions, professional, and technical staff at the Palestinian academic institutions in
Gaza Strip. The population contains 1649 employees (1374 males, 275 females) working in
six academic institutions (more than 100 employees each): three universities and three
university colleges. The population contains three public and three governmental academic
institutions (Pmoehe 2011). The researcher distributed 660 copies of the questionnaire to a
conveniently selected sample from the population. In order to assure the representation of
all targeted academic institutions, the ratio for every institution was calculated based on its
actual number of employees. The collected questionnaires were 534 with nearly 80.91% of
total response rate.
Measures:
Although, there was no general agreement on how to measure ISQ most of the research
uses customized versions of SERVQUAL/ SERVPERF (Kang et al. 2002). It has been
suggested that the convention is to adopt a suitable instrument and modify it to suit the
purpose of the study as was done by (Cronin et al. 2000; Dabholkar et al. 2000; Olorunniwo
et al. 2006). Thus, for the purpose of this study, the researcher used a modified (reworded)
version of SERVPERF which was developed and tested in a study with similar population
namely university employees who work in administrative positions (Kang et al. 2002). It has
the same five dimensions and 22 items as those originally developed and modified in
(Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1988). Sample items in ISQB are "I can trust my coworkers",
"work environment being comfortable and attractive", "willing to accommodate" (Kang et
al. 2002). In a similar vein, SQ was measured by rewording the original
SERVQUAL/SERVPERF to suit the purpose of reflecting employee assessment of the
quality of services they provide to external customers. This study followed the same
practice as in (Malhotra & Mukherjee 2004) and adopted items from SERVQUAL. The
instrument included items such as: "I perform the service right the first time" and "I treat all
customers courteously". All items were measured using seven-point Likert scales anchored
by 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.
ANALYSES AND RESULTS:
Respondents Profile:
Less than one third (21.5%) of respondents are females and the age of (45.7%) of them
is from 25 to 35 years old as presented in table (2). More than half of respondents (51.7%)
have a bachelor degree while (5.2%) of them have a PhD or higher degree. More than (75%)
of respondents are affiliated to the three universities while less than (25%) are affiliated to
university colleges. Around (10%) of respondents are academics with administrative
responsibilities and (17.4%) are managers. The rest are executives at different
administrative levels.
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a8
Correlation Analyses:
As presented in table (3), all variables are correlated at α<0.05 with different values
ranging from (0.396) between ISQ and its tangible dimension to (0.912) between the
responsiveness dimension of ISQ and SQ.
Table 2 Respondents Profile
Gender
Mean
Median
S.D.
male
female
1.21
1
.41
419
(78.5%)
114
(21.5%)
Age
Mean
Median
S.D.
less than
25 years
from 25 to less
than 35 years
from 35 to less
than 45 years
45 years and
above
2.53
2
.90
52 (9.7%)
244
(45.7%)
138
(25.8%)
98
(18.4%)
Education Level
Mean
Median
S.D.
PhD or
higher
Master
Bachelor
Diploma
Secondary
Education
2.97
3
0.87
28
(5.2%)
103
(19.3%)
276
(51.7%)
106
(19.9%)
20
(3.7%)
Affiliation
Mean
Median
S.D.
Islamic
Universit
y - Gaza
Al Azhar
Universit
y - Gaza
Al Aqsa
Universit
y - Gaza
Univ.
College
of
Applied
Sciences
Palestine
Technolo
gy
College
College
of
Science
&Technol
ogy
2.43
2
1.62
247
(46.3%)
47
(8.8%)
121
(22.7%)
45
(8.4%)
33
(6.2%)
41
(7.7%)
Position
Mean
Median
S.D.
Academi
c with
admin.
Tasks
Manager
Admin.
Staff -
general
Admin.
Assistant
3.14
3
1.32
53
(9.9%)
93
(17.4%)
246
(46.1%)
31
(5.8%)
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a9
Table 3 Pearson Correlations between Independent and Dependent Variables
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Tangible/ISQ
1
Reliability/ISQ
.641**
1
Responsiveness/ISQ
.637**
.804**
1
Assurance/ISQ
.574**
.753**
.773**
1
Empathy/ISQ
.562**
.745**
.750**
.778**
1
ISQ
.396**
.443**
.494**
.503**
.453**
1
SQ
.778**
.902**
.912**
.893**
.877**
.526**
1
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Regression Analyses:
Linear regression-stepwise was applied on the relationship between the five dimensions
of ISQ (tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) and SQ as presented in
table (4). The regression model shows an r-square value of (0.286) which means that only
28.6% of variance in the dependent variable (SQ) is explained through the five dimensions
of ISQ. Two dimensions (reliability, empathy) of ISQ were excluded from the model since
they didn't show significance relationships at α=0.05 with the dependent variable (SQ). The
model shows that there exists a significance relationship between three dimensions
(assurance, responsiveness, tangible) of ISQ and the dependent variable (SQ). It is
concluded that hypothesis H1 is partially supported; hypotheses (H1b, H1c, H1e) are
supported while H1a and H1d are not supported. The standardized coefficients in table (4)
show also that (assurance/ISQ) has the highest value (0.283) and hence the strongest effect
on SQ.
Table 4 Regression Analysis
Model Summary
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
3
.535
.286
.282
.14201
ANOVAa
Model
Sum of
Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
3
Regression
4.285
3
1.428
70.816
.000d
Residual
10.689
530
.020
Total
14.973
533
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
t
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
3
(Constant)
.066
.015
4.358
.000
Assurance/ISQ
.230
.048
.283
4.828
.000
Responsiveness/ISQ
.172
.051
.212
3.398
.001
Tangible/ISQ
.089
.044
.098
2.038
.042
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a10
Analysis of Variance:
The significance levels of the t-test for all variables in table (5) are not significant at
α=0.05 which shows that there is no difference between respondents regarding ISQ and SQ
due to gender. Thus, H2a was rejected. The significance levels of the f-test for all variables
in table (6) are significant at α=0.05 which shows that there is a difference between
respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to age. Thus, H2b was supported. The significance
levels of the f-test for all variables in table (7) are significant at α=0.05 except for the
significance level of SQ which shows that there is a difference between respondents
regarding ISQ and its dimensions due to education. Thus, H2c was partially supported.
Table 5 Analysis of Variance (Gender)
Variable
Means
t
sig
Male
Female
Tangible/ISQ
.3975
.4171
-.922
.179
Reliability/ISQ
.4025
.4042
-.083
.467
Responsiveness/ISQ
.3755
.3694
.282
.389
Assurance/ISQ
.3149
.3154
-.022
.491
Empathy/ISQ
.4223
.4469
-1.26
.103
ISQ
.3826
.3906
-.450
.326
SQ
.2406
.2294
.631
.264
Table 6 Analysis of Variance (Age)
Variable
Means
F
sig
less than 25
years
from 25
to less
than 35
years
from 35 to less
than 45 years
45
years
and
above
Tangible/ISQ
.4643
.4315
.3741
.3366
9.511
.000
Reliability/ISQ
.4598
.4180
.3827
.3701
3.754
.011
Responsiveness/
ISQ
.4452
.3984
.3484
.3207
6.304
.000
Assurance/ISQ
.3698
.3324
.2823
.2953
3.289
.020
Empathy/ISQ
.4644
.4520
.4059
.3827
4.836
.002
ISQ
.4407
.4065
.3587
.3411
6.719
.000
SQ
.3029
.2560
.2189
.1940
6.579
.000
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a11
Table 7 Analysis of Variance (Education)
Variable
Means
F
sig
PhD or
higher
Master
Bachelor
Diploma
Secondary
Education
Tangible/ISQ
.3522
.4279
.4312
.3387
.2962
7.862
.000
Reliability/ISQ
.4176
.4270
.4180
.3621
.2996
3.828
.004
Responsiveness/
ISQ
.3552
.4354
.3881
.3087
.2763
6.761
.000
Assurance/ISQ
.3070
.3627
.3235
.2786
.1926
4.198
.002
Empathy/ISQ
.3930
.4603
.4415
.3897
.3405
3.788
.005
ISQ
.3650
.4227
.4005
.3356
.2811
6.389
.000
SQ
.2121
.2658
.2441
.2169
.1952
1.716
.145
The levels of the f-test for all variables in table (8) are significant at α=0.05 which
shows that there is a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to
affiliation. Thus, H2d was supported.
Table 8 Analysis of Variance (Affiliation)
Variable
Means
F
sig
Islamic
University -
Gaza
Al Azhar
University -
Gaza
Al Aqsa
University -
Gaza
Univ. College
of Applied
Sciences
Palestine
Technology
College
College of
Science
&Technology
Tangible/ISQ
.3383
.4247
.5202
.3252
.4268
.4778
22.65
.000
Reliability/ISQ
.3675
.4074
.4663
.3841
.4307
.4289
5.16
.000
Responsiveness/ISQ
.3342
.3750
.4387
.3519
.4062
.4311
5.33
.000
Assurance/ISQ
.2728
.3221
.3827
.2999
.3591
.3524
5.53
.000
Empathy/ISQ
.3994
.4175
.4773
.4018
.4521
.4761
3.92
.002
ISQ
.3424
.3893
.4570
.3526
.4150
.4333
9.41
.000
SQ
.2197
.2424
.2863
.2247
.2623
.2079
3.12
.009
The significance levels of the f-test for all variables in table (9) are significant at α=0.05
which shows that there is a difference between respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to
position. Thus, H2e was supported.
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a12
Table 9 Analysis of Variance (Position)
Variable
Means
F
sig
Academic
with
admin.
Tasks
Manager
Admin.
Staff -
general
Admin.
Assistant
Secretary
Tangible/ISQ
.4275
.3712
.4236
.3071
.3643
4.252
.001
Reliability/ISQ
.4240
.3814
.4154
.3086
.3997
2.477
.031
Responsiveness/ISQ
.3905
.3503
.3967
.2756
.3383
3.220
.007
Assurance/ISQ
.3495
.2949
.3363
.2095
.2838
3.069
.010
Empathy/ISQ
.4380
.4006
.4489
.3456
.4106
2.515
.029
ISQ
.4059
.3597
.4042
.2893
.3593
3.860
.002
SQ
.2545
.2147
.2573
.1876
.1926
3.770
.002
DISCUSSION:
The findings in this research show that there is a direct positive relationship between
three dimensions (tangibles, assurance, and responsiveness) of ISQ and SQ which supports
partially H2. Thus, employees who get suitable and relevant services from their organization
in terms of appealing equipment and logistics and good-looking physical environment
(tangibles) will feel better toward their organization and hence provide better services to
external customers. This finding is consistent with Hallowell et al. (1996) who argued that
internal service quality, provided by the organization to their employees, is necessary for
orienting customer service toward satisfying the needs of external customers.
The findings also shows that employees who get assured services (assurance) from their
coworkers in terms of politeness, trustworthiness, relevant and timely knowledge, and
peaceful treatment and cooperation will respond through good responses to external
customers. Thus, when employees get internal service quality in terms of adequate
resources, quick responses to required information, few errors, adequate staff members who
have the willingness to fix problems and make things right (Mcdermott & Emerson 1991)
they reciprocate through providing adequate levels of external service quality.
Additionally, the findings show that through clear and accurate communication, quick
and efficient responses, and showing the willingness to help (responsiveness); employees
get from coworkers; help them in providing relevant customer services. This finding is in
line with Ramseook-Munhurrun et al. (2010a) who found that responsiveness affects service
quality and overall satisfaction of customers in secondary schools.
On the other hand, the findings show mixed results regarding the effect of demographics on
responses regarding ISQ and SQ. The findings show that there is a difference between
respondents regarding ISQ and SQ due to age, affiliation, and position while there is no
difference due to gender. They also show that there is a difference between respondents
regarding ISQ and its dimensions due to education.
In general, the findings in this research are consistent with internal service quality
literature which has portrayed organizations as chains of interconnected units or networks in
which people and departments are customers and suppliers for other people and departments
(Farner et al. 2001; Gilmore 2003; Jun & Cai 2010; Marshall et al. 1998). Thus, Employees
engage themselves in several internal service encounters as a natural part of their jobs and
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a13
responsibilities (Kang et al. 2002) with the final endeavor of achieving customer service
quality (Jun & Cai 2010). The findings are also in line with several theoretical assertions
which posit that employees have expectations about services they are supposed to receive
and examine the quality of these services based on their expectations (Bruhn 2003). In
conclusion, it shows that servicing internal customers and nurturing internal relationships
are effective tools for satisfying external customers through excellent performance in
service provision (Dhurup 2012; Reynoso & Moores 1995). Empirically, these finding are
consistent with Lings and Brooks (1998) who found that the increase in internal service
quality leads to increase in external services. They are also consistent with Stanley and
Wisner (2001, 2002) who found that the quality of services provided by the supplies
department (purchasers) to internal customers influences positively external service quality.
The findings are also consistent with Bouranta et al. (2009) who found that internal service
quality affects positively and significantly external service quality in restaurants. On the
other hand, these findings are not consistent with Farner et al. (2001) who found significant
and mixed relationships between internal and external service quality.
Conclusion:
The relationship between internal service quality and service quality was supported
theoretically and empirically. Employees who get internal service quality from their
organization and their coworkers in terms of monetary benefits, effective communication,
cooperation, career development, coaching, training, courtesy and empathy in treatment,
reliable services, quick responses, and required resources are likely to reciprocate to
coworkers and to the organization through providing service quality to external customers.
Their responses will fuel the effectiveness of internal service encounters and strengthen the
relationship and degree of cooperation with coworkers which support the internal
consistency and fabric within the whole organization. The outcome of such exchanges is
excellent service quality provided to external customers.
Recommendations & Managerial Implications:
This study proposes and suggests several interventions relevant to the findings. Extant
research reveals that internal service quality can be maintained and improved to desired
levels through several interventions rooted in organizational practices. Management needs
to restructure the jobs and to give people more autonomy, let them participate in decision
making, provide them with the required training, facilitate their access to resources and
information. These activities are supposed to increase the level of control employee have
over their jobs, facilitate and increase their knowledge about the organizational vision,
goals, strategies, and targeted outcomes which will help them in investing their time psychic
and physical energy in nurturing their job. Organizations can also increase the levels of
internal service quality through facilitating the internal communication, exchange of
feedback and information, and the cooperation between employees from different
departments and through emphasizing teamwork and similar practices. In team work,
employees help each other in mitigating stress and high work demands through providing
their colleagues with social and emotional support (Dean & Rainnie 2009).
In sum, the findings of this research suggest a set of managerial interventions which may
affect positively the levels of both ISQ and SQ. This research suggests that the most
effective intervention strategies should promote interpersonal communication, cooperation,
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a14
interaction between all employees at different levels. All of these desired interventions can
be employed by using a set of techniques and tools among them are: organizing knowledge
dissemination workshops, designing and implementing customized training courses,
employing knowledge-enriched information technology systems, providing career
development incentives, and communicated policies, rules, and strategies.
Future Research:
Based on its findings, this study suggests several avenues for future research. It shows
that ISQ explain 28.6% of the variance in SQ which highlights the importance of examining
other attitudinal, behavioral, and psychological experiences of employees within service
organizations that may mediate or moderate in the relationship between ISQ and SQ. This
recognition of such social and psychological experiences serves in developing and
maintaining the competiveness of service organizations through improving service delivery
and customer service quality (Chebat & Kollias 2000; Schneider & Bowen 2010). A good
starting point is examining the effects of variables such as person-job (P-J) fit, person-
organization (P-O) fit, person-technology fit, training effectiveness, organizational policies,
and role clarity. These suggestions are based on the relevancy of these variables to service
context and service profit chain framework. These variables were among the variables
which were identified as main contributors to the service performance gap (Gap3) in the
Gap model (Parasuraman et al. 1985, 1988). Gap3 or the service delivery gap has been
partly attributed to weak internal service quality, lacking of internal marketing, wrong
employee perceptions, poor selection, inadequate training, and ineffective teamwork
(Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2011; Grönroos 2007; Zeithaml et al. 2009). Future research
may also focus on studying the effects of other demographics on this relationship.
References:
Back, K.-J., Lee, C.-K. & Abbott, J. 2011. Internal relationship marketing: Korean casino
employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly
52(2): 111-124.
Bellou, V. & Andronikidis, A. 2008. The impact of internal service quality on customer service
behaviour: Evidence from the banking sector. International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management 25(9): 943-954.
Blau, P. M. 1964. Exchange and power in social life. Transaction Publishers.
Bouranta, N., Chitiris, L. & Paravantis, J. 2009. The relationship between internal and external
service quality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 21(3): 275-
293.
Bowen, J. & Ford, R. C. 2002. Managing service organizations: Does having a “thing” make a
difference? Journal of Management 28(3): 447-469.
Brady, M. K. & Cronin Jr, J. J. 2001. Some new thoughts on conceptualizing perceived service
quality: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Marketing 65(3): 34-49.
Brandon-Jones, A. & Silvestro, R. 2010. Measuring internal service quality: Comparing the gap-
based and perceptions-only approaches. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management 30(12): 1291-1318.
Bruhn, M. 2003. Internal service barometers: Conceptualization and empirical results of a pilot study
in switzerland. European Journal of marketing 37(9): 1187-1204.
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a15
Carrillat, F. A., Jaramillo, F. & Mulki, J. P. 2007. The validity of the servqual and servperf scales: A
meta-analytic view of 17 years of research across five continents. International Journal of
Service Industry Management 18(5): 472-490.
Chase, R. B. & Apte, U. M. 2007. A history of research in service operations: What's the big idea?
Journal of Operations Management 25(2): 375-386.
Cronin, J. J., Brady, M. K. & Hult, G. T. M. 2000. Assessing the effects of quality, value, and
customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments. Journal of
Retailing 76(2): 193-218.
Cronin Jr, J. J. & Taylor, S. A. 1992. Measuring service quality: A reexamination and extension. The
Journal of Marketing 56(3): 55-68.
Dabholkar, P. A., Shepherd, C. D. & Thorpe, D. I. 2000. A comprehensive framework for service
quality: An investigation of critical conceptual and measurement issues through a
longitudinal study. Journal of Retailing 76(2): 139-173.
Dhurup, M. 2012. Determinants of internal service quality and the relationship with internal
customer satisfaction. African Journal of Business Management 6(11): 4185-4195.
Dhurup, M. & Mohamane, P. 2007. Assessing internal marketplace relationships: Measuring internal
service quality within a petrochemical company. Southern African Business 11(2): 56.
Edvardsson, B., Larsson, G. & Setterlind, S. 1997. Internal service quality and the psychosocial
work environment: An empirical analysis of conceptual interrelatedness. Service Industries
Journal 17(2): 252-263.
Farner, S., Luthans, F. & Sommer, S. M. 2001. An empirical assessment of internal customer
service. Managing service quality 11(5): 350-358.
Fitzsimmons, J. A. & Fitzsimmons, M. J. 2011. Service management: Operations, strategy,
information technology. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education (Asia).
Frost, F. A. & Kumar, M. 2000. Intservqualan internal adaptation of the gap model in a large
service organisation. Journal of Services Marketing 14(5): 358-377.
Gilmore, A. 2003. Services marketing and management. Sage Publications Ltd.
Gouldner, A. W. 1960. The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American sociological
review 25(2): 161-178.
Gremler, D. D., Bitner, M. J. & Evans, K. R. 1994. The internal service encounter. International
Journal of Service Industry Management 5(2): 34-56.
Grönroos, C. 1983. Strategic management and marketing in the service sector. Marketing Science
Institute Cambridge, MA.
Grönroos, C. 2007. Service management and marketing: Customer management in service
competition. John Wiley & Sons.
Hallowell, R., Schlesinger, L. A. & Zornitsky, J. 1996. Internal service quality, customer and job
satisfaction: Linkages and implications for management. Human Resource Planning 19(2):
20-31.
Heskett, J. L., Jones, T. O., Loveman, G. W., Sasser Jr, W. E. & Schlesinger, L. A. 1994. Putting the
service-profit chain to work. Harvard business review 72(2): 164-174.
Heskett, J. L. & Sasser, W. E. 2010. The service profit chain: From satisfaction to ownership. In.
Maglio, P. P., Kieliszewski, C. A. & Spohrer, J. C. (ed.). Handbook of service science, pp.
19-29. USA: Springer Science & Business Media.
Examining the Relationship between, IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17
a16
Hinkin, T. R. 1998. A brief tutorial on the development of measures for use in survey
questionnaires. Organizational research methods 1(1): 104-121.
Johnston, R. 2008. Internal servicebarriers, flows and assessment. International Journal of Service
Industry Management 19(2): 210-231.
Jun, M. & Cai, S. 2010. Examining the relationships between internal service quality and its
dimensions, and internal customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management 21(2): 205-223.
Kang, G. D., Jame, J. & Alexandris, K. 2002. Measurement of internal service quality: Application
of the servqual battery to internal service quality. Managing service quality 12(5): 278-291.
Lings, I. N. & Brooks, R. F. 1998. Implementing and measuring the effectiveness of internal
marketing. Journal of Marketing Management 14(4): 325-351.
Lovelock, C. H. & Wright, L. 2002. Principles of service marketing and management. Prentice Hall.
Malhotra, N. & Mukherjee, A. 2004. The relative influence of organisational commitment and job
satisfaction on service quality of customer-contact employees in banking call centres.
Journal of Services Marketing 18(3): 162-174.
Marshall, G. W., Baker, J. & Finn, D. W. 1998. Exploring internal customer service quality. Journal
of Business & Industrial Marketing 13(4/5): 381-392.
Mcdermott, L. C. & Emerson, M. 1991. Quality and service for internal customers. Training and
development journal 45(1): 61-64.
Olorunniwo, F., Hsu, M. K. & Udo, G. J. 2006. Service quality, customer satisfaction, and
behavioral intentions in the service factory. Journal of Services Marketing 20(1): 59-72.
Pantouvakis, A. & Mpogiatzidis, P. 2013. The impact of internal service quality and learning
organization on clinical leaders' job satisfaction in hospital care services. Leadership in
Health Services 26(1): 34-49.
Paraskevas, A. 2001. Exploring hotel internal service chains: A theoretical approach. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 13(5): 251-258.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A. & Berry, L. L. 1985. A conceptual model of service quality and its
implications for future research. The Journal of Marketing 49(4): 41-50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A. & Berry, L. L. 1988. Servqual: A multiple-item scale for
measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing 64(1): 12-40.
Pmoehe, P. M. O. E. H. E. 2011. Statistical yearbook. RamALLAH, Palestinian National Authority -
Ministry of Education & Higher Education: 162.
Ramseook-Munhurrun, P., Naidoo, P. & Lukea-Bhiwajee, S. D. 2009. Employee perceptions of
service quality in a call centre. Managing service quality 19(5): 541-557.
Ramseook-Munhurrun, P., Naidoo, P. & Nundlall, P. 2010a. A proposed model for measuring
service quality in secondary education. International Journal of Quality and Service
Sciences 2(3): 335-351.
Ramseook Munhurrun, P., Naidoo, P. & Lukea-Bhiwajee, S. D. 2010b. Measuring service quality:
Perceptions of employees. Global Journal of Business Research 4(1): 47-58.
Reynoso, J. & Moores, B. 1995. Towards the measurement of internal service quality. International
Journal of Service Industry Management 6(3): 64-83.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. 2009. Research methods for business students. 5. Financial
Times/Prentice Hall.
IUGJEBS 23(2) (2015) a1-a17 Khalid Dahleez
a17
Schneider, B. & Bowen, D. 2010. Winning the service game. In. Maglio, P. P., Kieliszewski, C. A.
& Spohrer, J. C. (ed.). Handbook of service science, pp. 31-59. Springer US.
Stanley, L. L. & Wisner, J. D. 1998. Internal service quality in purchasing: An empirical study.
Journal of Supply Chain Management 34(3): 50-60.
Stanley, L. L. & Wisner, J. D. 2001. Service quality along the supply chain: Implications for
purchasing. Journal of Operations Management 19(3): 287-306.
Stanley, L. L. & Wisner, J. D. 2002. The determinants of service quality: Issues for purchasing.
European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management 8(2): 97-109.
Tsui, A. S., Pearce, J. L., Porter, L. W. & Tripoli, A. M. 1997. Alternative approaches to the
employee-organization relationship: Does investment in employees pay off? Academy of
Management Journal 40(5): 1089-1121.
Wang, G.-L. 2011. A study of how the internal-service quality of international tourist hotels affects
organizational performance: Using employees’ job satisfaction as the mediator. The Journal
of Global Business Management 7(2): 117-128.
Wang, G.-L. 2012. The influence of internal service quality on employee job satisfaction at taiwan-
listed international tourist hotels: Using organisational culture as the moderator. World
Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 10(3): 174 - 183.
Yee, R. W., Yeung, A. C. & Cheng, T. 2008. The impact of employee satisfaction on quality and
profitability in high-contact service industries. Journal of Operations Management 26(5):
651-668.
Zailani, S., Hj Din, S. & Abd Wahid, N. 2006. The effect of internal measures of service quality on
business performance: A case of hotel industry in malaysia. The 6th Annual Hawaii
International Conference on Business. Organized by Open Access Repository Of USM
Research & Publication. Honolulu,Hawaii, 25-28 May.
Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. & Gremler, D. 2009. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across
the firm. The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L. & Parasuraman, A. 1988. Communication and control processes in the
delivery of service quality. Journal of Marketing 52(2): 35-48.
Zeithaml, V. A., Parasuraman, A. & Berry, L. L. 1990. Delivering quality service: Balancing
customer perceptions and expectations. New York: The Free Pres.

Supplementary resource (1)

... 3126/jom.v6i1.58883 hand, refers to the assessment of a service in terms of the customer's expectations (Dahleez, 2015). Customer satisfaction is a crucial indicator of service quality because it has an immediate bearing on repeat business, customer loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth recommendations (Paraskevas, 2013). ...
Article
The objective of this study was to find out how satisfied customers are with Nepal Telecom and Ncell's mobile phone services. Both the analytical and the descriptive research designs were used in this study. All users of Nepal Telecom and Ncell mobile telephone services make up the study's population and 400 mobile telephone services user was considered as a sample of the study. In this study, correlation analysis was used to find the relationship between service quality factors and customer satisfaction and linear regression analysis was used to evaluate multiple independent variables that affect the dependent variables. The findings of this study depict that moderately positive correlation between tangibles, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, convenience, complaint handling, network quality, and customer satisfaction with mobile service providers. Similarly, the correlation is significant for tangibles, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, convenience, complaint handling, and network quality with customer satisfaction. This study also shows there was an insignificant impact of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, convenience, complaint handling, and network quality of service quality on consumer satisfaction but an insignificant impact of assurance and empathy of service quality on consumer satisfaction among Nepalese cellular mobile service providers.
... A partir de entonces se han desarrollado estudios aplicados en: compañías de seguros (Hallowell, Schlesinger y Zornistsky, 1996), industria farmacéutica (Finn,Baker, Marshall y Anderson, 1996), aerolíneas internacionales (Frost y Kumar, 2001), industria de cuidados de la salud (Gunawardane, 2009), servicios financieros (Vanniarajan y Subbash, 2011;Khan, Rehman, Rehman, Safwan y Ahmad, 2011), servicios educativos (Naser, Esmaeil, Masood, Mahmood 2013, Dahleez, 2015, servicios públicos (Fadil, Singh y Joseph, 2016) industria manufacturera (Umamasheswari, 2014; Sharma, Chuen y Kingshott, 2016) y en el sector turismo dentro de la industria restaurantera y hotelera (Wildes 2007;Chen 2013;Al-Ababnech, Masadeh, Al-Shakhsheer y Habiballah, 2018 ). ...
Article
Full-text available
Los estudios más recientes sobre la calidad del servicio interno denotan una preocupación por indagar en los factores que afectan al recurso humano en la prestación del servicio al interior de la empresa. Para Playa del Carmen, México, la actividad económica principal es la actividad turística, siendo está la generadora de flujos de personas tanto de los estados cercanos, como del interior y exterior del país. Esta dinámica social traslada factores al interior de la organización del sector hotelero, que presentan la necesidad de ser estudiados. Por lo anterior, el objetivo de investigación es analizar la construcción colectiva de la calidad en el servicio interno de los hoteles de cinco estrellas de Playa del Carmen a partir del contexto, las condiciones laborales y las situaciones personales. El enfoque es cualitativo acotando la realidad en tres categorías de análisis y utilizando la entrevista abierta como instrumento de recopilación de datos. Como resultado, se presentan tres modelos conceptuales a partir de las perspectivas teóricas identificadas en la revisión de la literatura, en conjunto con el análisis del discurso de los entrevistados: un modelo sobre el análisis del concepto calidad del servicio interno en el contexto de los hoteles de cinco estrellas de Playa del Carmen y dos modelos construidos entorno a la raíz del concepto y su operacionalización desde dos perspectivas de investigación: económico – administrativa y marketing, encontrándose dentro de estas un enfoque de las relaciones humanas.
... A partir de entonces se han desarrollado estudios aplicados en: compañías de seguros (Hallowell, Schlesinger y Zornistsky, 1996), industria farmacéutica (Finn,Baker, Marshall y Anderson, 1996), aerolíneas internacionales (Frost y Kumar, 2001), industria de cuidados de la salud (Gunawardane, 2009), servicios financieros (Vanniarajan y Subbash, 2011;Khan, Rehman, Rehman, Safwan y Ahmad, 2011), servicios educativos (Naser, Esmaeil, Masood, Mahmood 2013, Dahleez, 2015, servicios públicos (Fadil, Singh y Joseph, 2016) industria manufacturera (Umamasheswari, 2014; Sharma, Chuen y Kingshott, 2016) y en el sector turismo dentro de la industria restaurantera y hotelera (Wildes 2007;Chen 2013;Al-Ababnech, Masadeh, Al-Shakhsheer y Habiballah, 2018 ). ...
Article
Full-text available
RESUMEN Los estudios más recientes sobre la calidad del servicio interno denotan una preocupación por indagar en los factores que afectan al recurso humano en la prestación del servicio al interior de la empresa. Para Playa del Carmen, México, la actividad económica principal es la actividad turística, siendo está la generadora de flujos de personas tanto de los estados cercanos, como del interior y exterior del país. Esta dinámica social traslada factores al interior de la organización del sector hotelero, que presentan la necesidad de ser estudiados. Por lo anterior, el objetivo de investigación es analizar la construcción colectiva de la calidad en el servicio interno de los hoteles de cinco estrellas de Playa del Carmen a partir del contexto, las condiciones laborales y las situaciones personales. El enfoque es cualitativo acotando la
... Con el paso del tiempo, se han señalado componentes básicos para ofrecer una calidad del servicio dentro de las organizaciones entre colaboradores, Hallowell y otros (1996) destacaban seis elementos: herramientas, entendidas estás como la información provista por el sistema organizacional, apropiadas políticas y procedimientos, trabajo en equipo, apoyo gerencial, objetivos y capacitación; y Jun y Cai (2010), identificaban en el departamento de compras de una universidad, de la misma manera seis dimensiones en el servicio interno percibido: intimidad del cliente, trabajo en equipo basado en la mejora continua, comunicación, confiabilidad, procesos de requisición y tangibles, siendo la primera la más importante, la cual hace referencia a construir relaciones íntimas entre el departamento de compras y sus clientes internos, encontrando variables inmersas como: amistad, cortesía, atención, confiabilidad y disponibilidad. Los estudios a partir de entonces, se observan tendientes a la investigación de las relaciones interpersonales entre los trabajadores dentro de una empresa, denotando la preocupación por identificar los requerimientos y las necesidades del cliente interno (Umamaheswari, 2014), examinando factores como la actitud, comportamiento y experiencias psicológicas dentro del servicio en la organización, que puedan mediar o moderar la relación entre los trabajadores (Dahleez, 2015) incorporándose el factor bienestar dentro de los efectos de la calidad del servicio interno . La relación entre la satisfacción del empleado y la calidad del servicio interno, se manifiesta desde 1994 con la cadena servicio beneficio de (Heskett, et al., 1994), en donde la calidad del servicio interno influye de manera directa en la satisfacción del empleado, generando su compromiso y productividad, lo cual produce un valor en el servicio ofrecido, resultando en la satisfacción y lealtad del cliente para tener como resultados mayores ventas y rentabilidad para la empresa, por lo que para entregar un servicio de calidad a los clientes externos, primero se deben de satisfacer las necesidades del servicio interno y conocer las necesidades de los empleados. ...
Article
Full-text available
Medición multidimensional de la calidad del servicio interno en la empresa hotelera y exploración de sus variables antecedentes. Estudio del caso de la fuerza laboral de Playa del Carmen, México Resumen El tema central del artículo, la calidad del servicio interno es relevante para las empresas modernas, especialmente las hoteleras, turísticas y toda empresa de servicios, pues se relaciona tanto con la productividad y la competitividad como con la satisfacción laboral y el desempeño. Se plantearon dos objetivos para el presente artículo, el central fue la validación de un modelo e instrumento para medir la calidad del servicio interno y como objetivo secundario, explorar los efectos de la calidad de vida, la edad, el ingreso y el tipo de contratación de la fuerza laboral en el servicio interno de las empresas hoteleras de un destino de sol y playa. Como resultado y aportación más importante se consiguió validar el modelo e instrumento mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio, en cuatro dimensiones: la calidad del servicio personal, interpersonal, departamental y organizacional. Se encontró también que, para el caso de la fuerza de trabajo hotelera de Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, México, la calidad de vida subjetiva influye de manera directa y positiva en la calidad del servicio interno y que este efecto es moderado por la edad, el salario y el tipo de contrato de la fuerza laboral. Se presentan los resultados, conclusiones y futuras líneas de investigación. Palabras clave: Calidad del servicio interno, calidad de vida, fuerza de trabajo hotelera, Playa del Carmen.
... Moreover, it is recommended to include key variables such as employee satisfaction, employee engagement, performance management systems and internal marketing practices as direct and distal antecedents to SQ and CS. Theoretical and empirical assertions imposed by service-profit chain (Heskett et al., 1994) stressing the importance of internal SQ and employee satisfaction and engagement to CS and firm profitability (Dahleez, 2015;Hogreve et al., 2017). Future research can also explore more distal antecedents to employee engagement and CS, such as structuring performance management systems (Gruman and Saks, 2011). ...
Article
Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of service quality (SQ) on customer loyalty (CL) and the mediating role of customer satisfaction (CS) and customer perceived value (CPV) in health insurance products in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Data were conveniently collected through a self-administered questionnaire from subscribers to health insurance products and services in Malaysia. A total of 456 available questionnaires were used in the analysis. Partial least square (PLS) structural equation modelling (V3.3) was used to obtain the study results. Findings A positive relationship is observed amongst the studied variables. In addition, CPV partially mediates the proposed relationship and also indirectly mediates the relationship between SQ and CS. Lastly, CS partially mediates the proposed relationship. Hence, all proposed direct and indirect relationships are significant and positive. Research limitations/implications This research increases the authors’ understanding of the role of CS, SQ and CPV on CL in the health insurance industry in a developing country. The study also shows that insurance companies must establish positive relationships between insurers and customers by providing excellent SQ to maintain CS and loyalty. Practical implications This research will help managers and guide the policymakers to establish a national health financing scheme. Furthermore, these results will guide industry players on how to maintain existing and targeting customers. Social implications This study has attempted to provide a comprehensive understanding of CL in the Malaysian health insurance industry. Considering the limited research in the Malaysian health insurance context, this study can provide theoretical contribution and a managerial basis for future studies, including implications for the managers. However, to date, research in this sector under the Malaysian context is not adequate to consider SQ, perceived values and CL factors. Originality/value This study has attempted to provide a comprehensive understanding of CL in the Malaysian health insurance industry. Considering the limited research in the Malaysian health insurance context, this study can provide theoretical contribution and a managerial basis for future studies, including implications for the managers.
... Experiential quality is a consumer's evaluation of his/her experiences offered in multiple encounters based on standards of excellence (good/bad and excellent/poor; Lemke et al., 2011). Dahleez (2015) proposes that positive psychological states with suitable levels of behavior to satisfy the needs of consumers can be maintained through providing superior quality. Heri (2017) describes that competence of quality forms consumer confidence in an organization's capacity to hold promise. ...
Article
Full-text available
Researchers have accentuated the importance of operations management and internal marketing as approaches in fostering a service- and customer-oriented culture within organisations. To ascertain whether internal service quality efforts are successful, managers need a means by which internal service quality can be measured. With limited research being reported on internal service quality, little consensus has been reached on the measurement thereof. Noting the apparent lack of a conceptual framework that illustrates the understanding of the mechanics of internal service quality, the purpose of this study was to develop an empirically tested instrument that could be applied to the measure of internal service quality. Hence the study examines the relationship between administrative personnel (internal suppliers of service) with the research and development personnel (internal customers) within a petrochemical company. Dimensions of this study are compared to the dimensions of the SERVQUAL instrument. The internal service quality dimensions comprise five dimensions, namely: credibility, accessibility/tangibility, preparedness, reliability and competence. The dimensions of accessibility and tangibility, reliability and competence exerted the strongest influence on satisfaction. Effect sizes using Cohen’s d statistic were computed to establish practical differences between the five dimensions with respect to gender and to the different departments. Small and practically non-significant differences were found between the reliability and competence dimensions in the various departments. The reliability and validity of the instrument was explored and found to be acceptable.
Article
Full-text available
Purpose – This survey aims to investigate the perceptions of clinical leaders in hospital care services in the context of the Greek public health system, to define the impact of internal service quality characteristics and learning organization dimensions on job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – The sample comprised doctors – department heads of 123 clinical departments of basic medical specialties operating in 15 hospitals and was addressed by the use of a questionnaire specifically designed for the purposes of this research effort. The results were processed with the use of exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression was applied. Findings – The research results revealed a positive impact of interactive internal service quality characteristics and learning organization dimensions, namely, empowerment and continuous learning, on job satisfaction in hospital care services. Originality/value – This research effort focuses, for the first time, on clinical leadership perceptions in public hospital care services. The relationship between internal service quality, learning organization and job satisfaction, can be critical in all efforts attempting to improve clinical departments functionality, thus the results of this survey provide both researchers and public health policy makers with a useful tool for the design and implementation of such efforts.
Article
Delivering consistently good service quality is difficult but profitable for service organizations. Understanding why it is so difficult and how it might be facilitated is the purpose of the article. The authors' intent is to identify a reasonably exhaustive set of factors potentially affecting the magnitude and direction of four gaps on the marketer's side of their service quality model. Most factors involve (1) communication and control processes implemented in service organizations to manage employees and (2) consequences of these processes, such as role clarity and role conflict of contact personnel. Literature from the marketing and organizational behavior fields on these topics is reviewed and integrated with qualitative data from an exploratory study. Discussion centers on insights that can be obtained from empirical testing of the extended model.
Article
The purpose of this study was to verify the influence of a good internal-service quality on employee job satisfaction. The case is based on international tourist hotels, publicly traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, with organisational culture being the extraneous variable. Entry-level workers and section chiefs (or employees at higher levels) in the room service and catering departments of Taiwan-listed international tourist hotels were interviewed to collect data for the research. While convenience sampling was used to yield knowledge from the population, the Linear Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted to verify the goodness-of-fit effects of the overall model, structural model and measurement model. Findings from this study show that at Taiwan-listed international tourist hotels, a satisfying internal-service quality and organisational culture have a significant interactive influence on employee job satisfaction.
Article
The manner in which the concept of reciprocity is implicated in functional theory is explored, enabling a reanalysis of the concepts of "survival" and "exploitation." The need to distinguish between the concepts of complementarity and reciprocity is stressed. Distinctions are also drawn between (1) reciprocity as a pattern of mutually contingent exchange of gratifications, (2) the existential or folk belief in reciprocity, and (3) the generalized moral norm of reciprocity. Reciprocity as a moral norm is analyzed; it is hypothesized that it is one of the universal "principal components" of moral codes. As Westermarck states, "To requite a benefit, or to be grateful to him who bestows it, is probably everywhere, at least under certain circumstances, regarded as a duty. This is a subject which in the present connection calls for special consideration." Ways in which the norm of reciprocity is implicated in the maintenance of stable social systems are examined.
Article
The study seeks to contribute to the knowledge relating to internal service quality by adapting an instrument to measure internal service quality within a functional unit based on the perceptions of internal employees (receivers of service). Whilst service quality and its antecedents have been widely researched through literature and addressed in scholarly academic platforms, research on internal service quality and the relationship with internal customer satisfaction has not been given the same amount of prominence. The survey method with a sample of 229 randomnly selected employees was used to collect data from different departments within a petro-chemical company. Factor analysis, correlations and regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The internal service quality dimensions comprise five dimensions namely, credibility, accessibility/tangibility, preparedness, reliability and competence. In terms of the regression analysis, the dimensions accessibility and tangibility, reliability and competence exerted the strongest influence on internal customer satisfaction. By focusing on internal customer service, providing value, and strategically marketing its service, an internal department can plan and test all aspects of their operational activities through the internal service quality dimensions.