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RESOURCE ALLOCATION TO IMPROVE SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTIONS IN MULTISTAGE SERVICE SYSTEMS
Author(s) -
Soteriou Andreas C.,
Hadjinicola George C.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
production and operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.279
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1937-5956
pISSN - 1059-1478
DOI - 10.1111/j.1937-5956.1999.tb00306.x
Subject(s) - viewpoints , service quality , service (business) , computer science , resource allocation , service level objective , process management , quality (philosophy) , quality of service , service guarantee , scheme (mathematics) , service delivery framework , resource (disambiguation) , service design , business , operations research , operations management , marketing , telecommunications , economics , art , computer network , philosophy , mathematical analysis , mathematics , epistemology , engineering , visual arts
Service quality improvement has become an imperative in today's service firms. In this paper, we present a modeling framework that combines marketing and operations viewpoints for resource allocation. The framework can be used to allocate resources to the different stages of a multistage service system, where the manager's goal is to improve customers' perceptions of service quality, given some budget. Optimal allocation guidelines are provided, and the interplay of three factors on the resulting allocation scheme is captured. These factors are the current level of customers' perceptions of service quality at each stage, the cost of implementing a service quality improvement at each stage, and the importance placed by customers at each stage. Sensitivity analysis to provide additional managerial insights is also performed. We demonstrate the applicability of the modeling framework, using data from a real life health care environment. Model limitations and future research are also discussed.