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Procedia Economics and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
2212-6716 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Selection
and peer review under responsibility of Emerging Markets Queries in
Finance and Business local organization.doi:
10.1016/S2212-5671(12)00167-0
Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business
Conceptual approaches on quality and theory of tourism
services
Gina Ionela Butnarua,* and Amanda Millerb aAlexandru Ioan Cuza
University, Department of Economy and Business Management,
Bulevardul Carol I Nr. 11, 700506
Iasi, Romania bManchester Metropolitan University, Hollings
Faculty, Old Hall Lane
Manchester M14 6HR, United Kingdom
Abstract
Quality is a factor of increasing the competitiveness and of
realising the performances of the companies in the field of tourist
services. Competitiveness and performance made the companies to be
permanently concerned with the quality of the services they
offered, so as to correspond to the customers . An important role
for the development of the quality of services in tourism has the
realisation of the degree of understanding the importance of
quality by the management, and the level of resources necessary to
obtain quality. The modern concept of quality expresses the
involvement in its realisation of the entire personnel of the
company, which implies the existence of a permanent preoccupation
concerning training and improvement. Quality becomes
2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review
under responsibility of Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and
Business local organization.
Keywords: services, quality, services quality, services theory,
tourism
1. Introduction
As compared to the manufactured goods, the criteria established
for tourism services standards
service systems, called type A services technical aspects of the
management of a restaurant, hotel or tourist or
* Corresponding author. Tel: +4 0 (232) 201453, Fax:+40 (232)
201201 E-mail address: [email protected]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Selection and peer
review under responsibility of Emerging Markets Queries in Finance
and Business local organization.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
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376 Gina Ionela Butnaru and Amanda Miller / Procedia Economics
and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
agro-tourist establishment, and type B services interactions
between personnel and customers characterising [31]. Other writers
like Gronroos in 1990 [1] made distinctions between technical
and
functional quality, referring to the way a service was provided.
In 1984, Shostack [2]
serviwith service problems, we have the tendency to become
somewhat someone is treating them badly, managers think that
recalcitrant individual employees are the source of the
malfunction. Thinly veiled threats by customers and managers are
often first attempts to remedy the problem; and if they fail, the
confrontation may result [2]
2. The methods
For this research we consulted the most important works from the
literature, scientific works, periodicals, technical and economic
documentation, and other sources. We used in this study both the
documented research and the exploratory one. We intended to
identify and to review the knowledge stage, different approaches
referring to the characteristics defining quality, theory of
services, technical approaches of the quality of tourist services
and ways to improve quality of tourist products and services. 3.
Literature Review
3.1. Theory of services
A service is a very complex concept [3]. The origin of the term
is in L meaning the situation of the servant, and of a person in
the service of another, respectively [4]. In the years and a series
of definitions were suggested [5], concerning especially the
concept of service, and including only the services offered by the
so-called service companies. Consequently, Gummesson (quoted by
Grnroos, [5]) proposes the following definition: service is
something that can be bought and sold, but which one cannot have
under . Lovelook [6] considers that A service is a process
consisting in a series of more or less tangible activities, which
normally, but not necessarily, take place in interactions between
customer and service employees, and (or) between physical resources
and goods and (or) service provider systems, which are offered as
soluti problems According to Webster Dictionary [7], the service
can be defined as: the act of serving, the occupation of a servant,
the performance of labour for the benefit of another. Services are
activities whose result is not material, and therefore cannot be
deposited. Its realisation could or could not be related to a
material good [8]. Consequently, according to The American
Association of Marketing, services are activities, benefits, or
utilities offered on the market or provided in association with the
sale of a material good [9]. In the Dictionary of the Academy of
Commercial Science of France, services are defined as an ensemble
of advantages or satisfactions obtained directly, by the use of a
good which the beneficiary of the service acquired (for example:
food, car, bicycle, etc.), or by obtaining the right to use it (for
example: the railway) [10]. In this context, Ferent [11] considers
that services are defined and regarded from
In what concerns the consumers, services are activities having
the result of obtaining a benefit or a utility, activities which
they cannot, or do not want to provide themselves According to
Kotler [12], a service is any activity or benefit that one party
can offer to another that is generally intangible and does not
result in the ownership of any material good Hill (quoted by
Mlcomete et al., [13]) defines services as changes in the condition
of a person or of a good, and they are the result of the activity
based on order of another person or economic unit , while from the
point of view of classical marketing, services are the ones adding
value to the product, which differentiate it from the competition ,
increasing the value perceived by the customer, and contributing to
the formation of the global product [14]. Synthesising the
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and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
points of view from the economic thtt eoryr ,yy we consider that
services are generally defined as non material results of tt
activities involving direct relationships between service providers
and customers, fulfilling certainsocial or individual necessities,
without becoming products with an independent existence.
3.2. Different approaches referring to the characteristics
defining quality
Some research realised in the field of quality of services
emphasise that the evaluation of the quality of service is
xperience with a certain service. The research promoting this
ideacan be found both in the European school ore exactly in the
Northern school sented by Grnroos,Gummensson, Lethinen and Olsen
(quoted by Balog and Badulescu, 2008 [15]), and i the American
schoolrepresented by Parasuraman, Zeihaml and Berry [16].
Therefore, the evaluation of the quality of services is different
from the evaluation of ff satisfaction. atisfaction is evaluated on
short term, andis specific to the operations realised by the
provider, while the quality of services represents an attitude
formed by a general evaluation of the performance of the providing
company on long term [17]. In the hospitalityindustry, the approach
of quality should take into account certain particularities
resulted from the nature of theservices offeredff . The
characteristics of services have a direct impact over the way in
which quality is evaluatedand managed. According to the specialists
Bergman and Klefsj [18], Cosmescu [19], Ferent [11], Lickorishand
Jenkins [20], Jivan [21], Kotler [22] and [12], Zait [14], the
characteristics of services are intangibility, heterogeneity,
simultaneity, perishability, diversity, variability, seasonality,
impossibility to protect by brand,and not transmitting the right to
ownership. Tocquer and Langlois [23] define quality of services as
the
expectations concerning the service, and the perception of
quality after usingthe service. The process of evaluation of
quality services [23] is illustrated in figure 1.
Oral communication
Personal needs Previousexperience
Externalcommunication
Consumexpectations
Consumperception
Perception of the quality of service
Dimensions of thequality of service
TangibilityReliabilityRapidity
CompetencePolitenessCredibility
SafetyAccessibility
Communications
Fig. 1 The proces evaluation of the quality of services [23]
Along with the passing of time, customers have become more
informed and demanding concerning goods or services. When products
or services are not offered to customers at the level of their
expectations, they go to other companies. According to Nistoreanu
[24], the producing companies have become more informed
anddemanding. In the customer services, their opinions and the
environment of the servicesprovided are very important [25].
Consequently, the quality of services in tourism can be classified
in 4categories, as it follows from figure 2:
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and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
- Access facilitff ies- Clarity of the t signposts- Parking and
other similar facilities-Possibilities offered by the hotel nearby
environment
Spatial quality
Quality of hotelservices
Quality of choice
Quality itself
Relational quality
- Diversity of t propff ositions- Variety of t services
- Material parameter- Availability of personff nel
- Direct relational quality: employee-customer- Indirect
relational quality
Fig. 2 Quality of services in tourism [25]
Grnroos [26] proposes six criteria to determine the quality of
services: adequate professionalism and qualification of the
employees of the company; attitudedd and behaviour; accessibility
of the locationtof the company and flexibility of the schedulet ;
safety (confidence that the service is accomplished according tothe
provisions of the company); ability of the company ton solve an
unexpected problem; reputation and credibility of thet companyn .
Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry [27] propose five elements to
define the qualityof services: credibilityt ; tangibilityt ;
maximum responsibilityt of the providers; politeness; understanding
the specific needs of the consumption,m and personalisation of
relationships. We consider that the preoccupationsconcerning the
quality of services, as well as of the modality of evaluating tion
are more and more emphasised, knowing the fact that offff eriff ng
a service at an adequate quality and at a better pricethan that of
the competition leads to the improvement of the activity, to the
increase of the competitiveness and of the economic effff icienff
cy of the organisation.
4. The main results
Many experts demonstrated that there are distinct
characteristics among services, showing that there is aface-to-face
delivery dependence, while the production of most of the goods is
behind the scenes. In reality,
customer. From this point of view, the service is a dynamic
event, during which both the customer and the personnel can try to
influence one another in many ways. As compared to the manufactured
goods, the
criteria established for the standards of tourism services are
more difficult to reach.
Consequently, in this paper we present theoretical results
on:
4.1. Technical approaches of the quality of tourist services:
The technical approach of quality emphasisesthe performance
criterion, which is often reminded in the service providing
systems. Locke and Schweiger identified in 1979 seven important
characteristics of the present programs (quoted by Shostack, [2]).
Theysuggested that these goals (targets) should be specific,
accepted, should cover the important dimensions of thejob, should
be revised and accompanied by a proper feed-back, should be
measured, produced, and accessible.
judgment as much [2]
4.2. management of holiday services: The second approach of
quality discussed by Gummesson [28] is the ability to use the
equipment. The vision according to which service qualityis produced
in the interaction of the consumer with the personnel of the
service organisation implies an
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379 Gina Ionela Butnaru and Amanda Miller / Procedia Economics
and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
[16]. Bowen defined in 1983 the in According to Lovelook [6],
the
4.3. :
d
dissatisfaction is the consequence of the fact tha [29].
Dissatisfaction is defined as a cognitive or affective state of
discomfort [30], psychological condition which determines customers
to purchase other offers in the future. In extreme cases, customers
complain officially, until the organisation either offers them a
compensation, or sue them.
4.4. : Two main functions can be identified by service
department managers:
culture delegating the personnel to solve the problems offering
satisfaction to the customers). Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry
[27] examined in 1991 a series of costs produced by quality
problems: preventive training and planning procedures to provide a
good service from the very beginning; evaluative routine inspection
and quality audit; corrective costs as well. The nature of services
and the quality of the contact between customers and personnel
arrive
the objectives of the organisation.
4.5. Tourism management oriented towards customers:
compared to the expectations they formulated before the journey,
when they chose, they purchased, and they anticipated the trip
[31]. The result of the evaluation process can be seen as an
operational definition of quality service, including the fact that
the critical aspects of quality are not inherent in the
characteristics of the service itself [32].
4.6. Influencing the expectations of people spending their
holidays in a tourist resort in what concerns
service quality: Tour operators have three main ways to
communicate their products quality to the customers.
should keep in mind that these declarations of quality are
realised in order that the operators attract different segments of
the holiday market, therefore the manner these declarations are
realised or placed in the brochure and the importance of each
aspect varies from one company to the other. The purpose of these
brochure references is explained by Middleton (quoted by Bob van
Limburg [33])
5. Conclusions
Evaluation of quality services is a delicate issue, because in
most of the services the subjective dimensions
ialists in the field consider that the smile, kindness, and
politeness should belong to a quality system. In the tourist
activity, an important role for increasing quality is the creation
of a quality culture among the personnel, starting from the top
leadership, and getting to each worker in the field. The formation
of a quality culture needs time for professional and ethical
training of the whole personnel in order to change their mentality
through a program of training and motivating the personnel
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380 Gina Ionela Butnaru and Amanda Miller / Procedia Economics
and Finance 3 ( 2012 ) 375 380
on professional groups, and especially for the managers, who can
participate directly to the formation of an adequate quality
climate within the working teams.
Acknowledgements This work was supported from the European
Social Fund through Sectorial Operational Programme Human
Resources Development 2007-
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