Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in ... - Webs

ijcrb.webs.com
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
longer accept average quality. Higher levels of quality result in higher levels of customer
satisfaction, which support higher prices and often lower cost (Kotler, 2003)
Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on
its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (Miller, 1993). This is clearly a customer
centred definition. We can say that the seller has delivered quality whenever the seller‘s
product or service meets or exceed the customers‘ expectation. A company that satisfies
most of its customer needs most of the time is called Quality Company.
The objectives of the research are the identification of transport service dimensions that
contribute to quality and identification of features of mass transit services that contribute
to quality of service offered to customers.
2. Literature Review
In ordinary language, quality implies some degree of excellence or superiority. In
industrial context, quality is more concerned with ―fitness for purpose‖, (Juran, 1988) and
quality management is about ensuring products or services meet their planned level of
quality and conform to specifications.Juran‘s (1988) definition includes two elements:
quality of design; which can include the customer satisfaction built into the product and
quality of conformance i.e. lack of defects in the finished goods.
Demming (2000) saw quality as aiming at ―the needs of the consumer,
present and future‖. His approach was looking at products from the
customers‘ point of view and then meeting customer requirements in close
collaboration with suppliers. Crosby, (1979) and Cole, (2006) saw quality
primarily as ―conformance to requirements and idea of zero defects‖.
Crosby, (1979) proposed fourteen steps that management could take to
improve quality throughout business. This is mostly concentrated on
raising awareness about quality and gaining collaboration for the
achievement of zero defects.
For services, like transport services customers cannot judge the technical quality even
after they have received the service (Kotler 2003). There are three categories of quality
for products and services. There are goods high in search qualities – that is characteristic
the buyer can evaluate before purchase; good and services high in experience quality –
characteristic the buyer can evaluate after purchase; good and service high in credence
qualities – characteristics the buyer normally finds hard to evaluate even after
consumption (Ostrom and Iacobucci, 1995)
Because services are generally high in experience and credence qualities there is more
risk in purchase, this has several consequences. First service consumers generally rely on
word of mouth rather advertising. Second, they rely heavily on price, personnel, and
physical cues to judge quality. Third they are highly loyal to service providers who
satisfy them (Kotler 2003) these apply to transport services provided by state transport
corporations since the corporations do not always advertise their services so commuters
rely on price, personnel and infrastructure facilities of the corporations.
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 94
JANUARY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9