Developing operational understanding of service quality through a simulation environment

作者：Oliva Rogelio^*; Bean Michael

来源：International Journal of Service Industry Management, 2008, 19(2): 160-175.

DOI：10.1108/09564230810869711

• learning organizations
• service levels
• customer services quality
• simulation
• operations management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to articulate the challenges of learning and improving in service delivery systems - that present managers with imperfect information, confounded variables, and tightly coupled interactions between operational and psychological factors - and present a simulator to assist managers to overcome these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach - After reviewing the literature on "learning from 'simulations" and the main challenges of learning in a service environment, the paper presents the assumptions underlying the service quality management simulator, its interface, and protocols to use it that have proven effective.
Findings - It is possible to assist managers to develop operational understanding - what to do, when and how much of it to do - about the drivers of service quality using a simulation environment.
Research limitations/implications - In its present form, the simulator only takes a functional definition of service quality and captures the relationships in a business-to-consumer service environment. These shortcomings suggest future expansions to the theory. Also, while anecdotal evidence is reported of the benefits using the simulator, quantifying these benefits remains a challenge for future research.
Practical implications - The ability to customize the simulator's parameters to represent specific service settings makes it a powerful tool for operating managers facing some of the challenges described by the theory.
Originality/value - This paper documents, in a non-technical way, the elements a set of relationships that has been shown to confuse managers and cause erosion of service quality and describes the simulator's uses and benefits in a pedagogical environment.

• 出版日期2008