Thredbo 9 – Lisbon 2005 Some thoughts on service quality measurement The SCTP case study Álvaro Costa, Sofia Pinto, Jorge Freire de Sousa

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Service quality management Evaluation of service quality considering the nature of the service provided (conformance to requirements and perceived service quality) The use of multidimensional quality measures (proposal of a set of categories of quality measures)

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Quality Measures on the Process Quality Measures on the Human Resources Quality Measures the Customer perspective Other Measures Financial Quality Measures The service quality measures (Pinto, 2003)

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Financial measures Customer measures Process measures Human Resources measures Employee suggestions Employee satisfaction Customer satisfaction Average waiting time Average length of service Rate of failure/error Poor quality costs Profit / Quality costs (+)(+) (+)(+) (-)(-) (-)(-) (-)(-) (+)(+) (-)(-) (+/-) The link between the categories of service quality (adapted from Kaplan & Norton, 1996)

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Operations – process of acquisition of buses Problem: Old fleet. Need to buy new buses. Objective: Buy new buses running on natural gas (the manufacturer has to support its technological risks) Methodology: Change in legislation - to authorize bus operators to acquire through operational leasing Benefits: Economy in terms of combustible consumption and maintenance as well as environmental benefits. Before and after: Before – Buses running on diesel and bought by the company After – Buses running on natural gas and acquired through operational leasing CustomerCompany/ process Human Resources FinancesOthers Better attributes of the buses – more comfort Increased satisfa- ction Fewer complaints Decreased average age of the buses Lower costs on energy consumption And on maintenanc e Decreased number of mainte- nance staff New skills for mainte- nance staff Financing with low all- in cost Operational risk on the side of the manufactu- rer Lower costs (energy & maintenance) Emis- sions

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Marketing - the travel cards selling network process Problem: Long queues in STCP selling points (x days/month). The selling activity was costing 8% of the income. Objective: Improve service quality and cut costs with the selling network Methodology: Outsourcing Benefits: Cost reduction and increased customer satisfaction Before and after: Before – 11 selling points dedicated to STCP (1997) After – 73 selling points (5 STCP+68 outsourced to CTT) (2002) Now – automated selling points CustomerCompany/ process Human Resources Finances Increased satisfaction with the selling network (attributes: more selling points, better and more pleasant service, longer opening hours) Fewer complaints, decreased time of reply Out- sourcing – rationality in the use of internal resources Reduction in staff Increased qualification for remaining staff Important reduction of cost of sales

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Organizational development - the workflow process Problem: Workflow based on physical circuits. Objective: To improve accessibility to information (faster) Methodology: Information systems Benefits: Higher speed of access to information and decreased costs. Before and after: Before–Physical circulation of information (lots of paper/people) During – Installing a commercial workflow system. After – Discontinue that due to an unexpected level of success and acceptation of the workflow system. Future – Acquisition of a more powerful system of workflow. CustomerCompany/ ProcessHuman resources Finances Decreased time to reply Fewer errors. Better and faster communication between departments. Better integration of information. Service effectiveness. Simpler process control. Non duplication of processes and documents Better and faster access to information More time and people to non routine tasks Lower costs (paper,people, fewer errors)

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Conclusions The case - transport operator focused on service quality improvement (centred on the customer) Identification of areas to improve (driven by strategic plan) For each area, the identification of set of measures to continuously evaluate quality performance (customers, processes, HR, financial) Modernization, along with some cultural changes… ……. successful experience

Some thoughts on service quality measurement – The STCP Case study Costa, Pinto & Freire de Sousa Thredbo 9, Lisbon Thank you!