TY  - JOUR
AB  - To determine the degree to which UK manufacturing companies have adopted
an internal‐customer‐oriented philosophy, a survey was undertaken using
a modified version of the Parasuraman SERVQUAL model. The majority of
respondents indicated the existence of type 1,2,3 and 4 gaps in the
internal customer management process within their firms. Major
influencers of these service gaps include departments placing internal
efficiency ahead of internal customer needs elsewhere in their
organization, minimal effort to gain further understanding of internal
customer requirements and a lack of formal quality standards for
managing internal customer relations. Respondents consider their
departments are able and willing to enhance the quality of provision if
the issue was given higher priority by senior management. Identified
obstacles to greater emphasis on an internal customer philosophy include
insufficient trust between departments and low confidence levels over
ability to manage the process. Unless British firms can be persuaded to
revise their opinions about the importance of creating effective
internal customer chains, concern must exist about the capability of the
UK industry to achieve “world class” manufacturing standards.
VL  - 14
IS  - 9
SN  - 0144-3577
DO  - 10.1108/01443579410066758
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/01443579410066758
AU  - Chaston Ian
PY  - 1994
Y1  - 1994/01/01
TI  - Internal Customer Management and Service Gaps within the UK
Manufacturing Sector
T2  - International Journal of Operations & Production Management
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 45
EP  - 56
Y2  - 2024/05/11
ER  -