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4. Assurance. This pertains to the knowledge and courtesy of employees as well as their ability
to inspire trust and confidence. Assurance includes having the prerequisite knowledge
to answer questions confidently and the ability to stay calm, polite, a nd pleasant during
customer transactions.
5. Empathy. Empathy refers to the ability of the service firm to provide caring and personalized
attention to customers that will make them want to return again and again.
SPIRITUALITY AND THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines spiritual as “of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit; of
or relating t o sacred matters; concerned w ith religious values; of or re lating to su pernatural beings or
phenomena” and spiri t as “t he immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a pers on; soul.” These definitions
denote the duality of the nature of human beings: material and s piritual. From a Judeo-C hristian
perspective (the perspective taken in this paper), a human being is not to be regarded “as a body plus a
spirit (soul) but as matter made real by a spirit (soul) resulting in a unique person” (Kanunco and Medonca,
1994, p. 165). Spirituality, therefore, should not be taken as so mething separate from the body.
“In its truest sense, spirituality gives expression to the being that is in us; it has to do with feelings, with
the power that comes from within, with knowing our deepest selves and what is sacred to us” (Roof,
1993, p. 64). It could be said that spirituality “is experienced in those moments when we literally transcend
ourselves (exceed the usual limits of our self-interest), such as in selfless love or social justice, or
when we are able to exte nd our vision and feelings beyond the ordinary to discern an extraordinary ,
godly presence in our lives, and universe” (Conger, 1994, p. 10). The Christian spiritual experience is a
journey where one submits one’s life to Christ and cultivates Christ-like virtues like love, humility, patience,
and forgiveness. Moreover, this spiritual journey hinges on the firm belief that Jesus Christ is the
Savior of this world and that salvation is possible only through Him.
The spiritual experience can be manifested and realized at three levels: cognitive, affective, and in outward
behavior (Kanungo and Medonca, 1994). At the cognitive level, we recognize that there is a set of
cardinal virtues that human beings should live by and capital vices that human beings should overcome.
Virtues, suc h as prudence, justice, fortitude, and tem perance, are th e good habits that e nable us to
achieve our full potential. At the affective level, the spiritual experience represents a complete trust and
dependence on these virtues – a com plete identification with these values or with an individual embodying
these values. At the behavioral level, the spiritual experience finds expression in the norms, principles,
and standards of human behavior that fall within the realm of moral science or ethics. “Ethics is
the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with m oral duty and obli gation” (Carroll and
Buchholtz, 2006, p. 173).
BIBLICAL APPROACHES TO QUALITY
Many of the insights found in this paper come from the Bible where many sound management principles
still remain unexplored. God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone with
His own fi nger. He is the One who gave us the m ost powerful principles of sound management as
demonstrated in the lives of godly men and women of the Bible. It is thus fitting to tap this vast repository
of knowledge and wisdom and explore the divine principles which can be used by organizations to
improve the quality of their various operations.
The approach to quality will be structured around the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.
The Baldrige Award is the highest honor an organization can receive in the United States. Since it
was first created by Public Law 100-107 in 1987, the Baldrige has evolved over the years to become an
award for overall effectiveness of an organization. Its dual goals are “to improve value to customers,
which results in marketplace success, and to improve overall financia l and com pany performance to
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