Quality of service. Unit 11 Chapter 2 What is quality of service, SCP 2008 Mieke de Droog, M.A. 10 May

2 1. Quality as excellenceAbsolute 2. Quality as requirement 3. Quality as valueRelative 4. Quality as fitness for purpose Green 1994; Reeves and Bednar 1994, SCP 2008:36

3 Van Dale, SCP 2008:37 Quality means the characteristic of a product in relation to the use made of it (fitness for purpose)

4 UK House of Commons 2006, SCP 2008:37 People want public services that work […] and are responsive to their needs

5 SCP 2008:38-39 Is the user’s perspective crucial for assessing the quality of a service according to this report? -Walsh, Lancaster, Rosen, 1974

6 SCP 2008:38 Some theoretical dimensions of quality that are mentioned in this report -Grönroos, Parasuraman e.o, 1985

7 SCP 2008:41 What are the most important criticisms on the SERVQUAL approach? 1.Gap theory; Cronin and Taylor, Focus on the process of the service 3.Amount/universality of the dimensions

8 SCP 2008:42-43 Which dimensions of quality are used in this report? SCP report Brady and Cronin 2001 Grönroos Product quality (what) Service productTechnical quality 2.Process quality (how) Service deliveryFunctional quality 3. Structure quality (in what circumstances/context) Service environmentEnvironmental quality

9 SCP 2008: Empirical dimensions of quality Surveys 2002 /2006 Citizens and users are asked about various aspects of service for different sectors. Each survey: approximately 3000 respondents You can find the 3 dimensions (product quality (what), process quality (how), structure quality (in what context) in the empirical indicators for quality of service Strong tendency to calculate process quality into product quality. The characteristics of the service determine the importance of the process quality.

 By individual use as well as by overall image of citizens Users judge in general different (more positive) than non-users.  Explanations for this difference: Non-users are dependent on information of users and the media (one-sided) Image (by indirect information) and self-selection (by expectations and requirements) are important to quality Cognitive-dissonance theory of Festinger. Other theories give a more general explanation for differences between users and non-users. Welfare state theory (SCP/CPB 2000) A research report of the institution for the government of Belgium 2003 stated that persons with a lower education in general have a more positive image of public service provision than higher educated people. 10 SCP 2008: How are quality judgments realized?

11 SCP 2008: How can quality be assured?  Legislation  Authorities/Inspections  Benchmarking  Monitoring  Certification  Management tools  Clients satisfaction surveys  Interest groups and client associations  Complaint regulations

12 SCP 2008: 56

 Quality is a concept difficult to define  This report chooses for an objective and a subjective approach  This report distinguishes 3 dimensions of quality: 1.product quality(what is delivered) 2.process quality (how is it delivered) 3.structure quality (and in which context is it delivered) 13 SCP 2008: Conclusions (1)

 The indicators do not have the same meaning for each service  The different meanings are connected to the character of the service  The quality of public service is guarded on 3 levels: 1.Government: legislation 2.Institutions: benchmarking/monitoring/management tools 3.Clients: satisfaction survey, complaints commissions, consultative bodies  In practice the quality care is not equally intensive for every service 14 SCP 2008: Conclusions (2)

C. Quality of service Answer the following questions: What are the similarities and differences in the chapters of Van der Aa & Elfring and the chapters of SCP? What dimensions of quality of Van der Aa & Elfring play a role in a specific sector? How is the quality of service in this specific sector presented in the report of SCP? Send this assignment via to and before 15 May pm 15 Assignments:

16 Assignments: Reminder II D3. Make a summary of Chapter 5. Gastelaars (2010), including a word count, in max. 500 words and this summary to and before 13 May pm A sufficient grade for these three Reading Assignments (D1, D2, D3) is mandatory in order to obtain your final grade for this module.

17 Assignments: Reminder II Group written assignment (with 3 students) E. Characteristics of an organization E1. Make the assignment about the characteristics of the research organization on the basis of characteristics of Gastelaars (See table 1.1. in chapter 1, on p. 10 of the book). E2. Reconstruct the design of the various stages of the primary process, and try to make sense of the clients’ experiences as well. What are the main changes, which currently play in this organization? Send these assignment via to and before 14 May pm

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19 Questions? Thank you for your attention and