Volume 12, Issue 4CONT1, 7 July 2015, Pages 175-184
Customer expectations and service delivery: Are sme’s aware of the service quality standards gap? (Article)
Department of Marketing and Retail Management, University of South Africa (Unisa), Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Competition among
small businesses are high, as small businesses compete for market share
which larger business do not engage with. A definite competitive
advantage that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can rely on is
service quality (Kasul & Motwani in Anuar & Yusuff 2011:328;
Tseng & Wu 2014:77). SMEs do not necessarily understand service
standards and how to ensure that the service standard is implemented.
The research utilised a quantitative research design whereby the data
was collected by means of a 5-point Likert scale survey known as the
SERVQUAL model. The results indicate that there are discrepancies
between dimensions those owners feel should be adhered to and the extent
to which they perceive their businesses to adhere to these dimensions. ©
2015, Virtus Interpress. All rights reserved.
small businesses are high, as small businesses compete for market share
which larger business do not engage with. A definite competitive
advantage that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can rely on is
service quality (Kasul & Motwani in Anuar & Yusuff 2011:328;
Tseng & Wu 2014:77). SMEs do not necessarily understand service
standards and how to ensure that the service standard is implemented.
The research utilised a quantitative research design whereby the data
was collected by means of a 5-point Likert scale survey known as the
SERVQUAL model. The results indicate that there are discrepancies
between dimensions those owners feel should be adhered to and the extent
to which they perceive their businesses to adhere to these dimensions. ©
2015, Virtus Interpress. All rights reserved.
Author keywords
Service quality; Small and medium enterprises (SMEs); Standards gap
ISSN: 17279232Source Type: Journal
Original language: English
Document Type: Article
Publisher: Virtus Interpress
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