Search results

The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: to enhance the tangible quality construct by considering cleanliness as a customer service quality dimension; and to assess customers' opinions on cleanliness by gender and education.

The population under study is the general adult population of a Southwestern US city. The subjects voluntarily participate through a link to an anonymous online survey provided on a university's daily electronic news medium. Reliability and factor analyses are used to determine if the 32 criteria will in fact become an effective analysis measurement scale for cleanliness and multivariate analysis is used for the segmentation.

The results indicate that customers have made decisions to select, stay or return to an establishment based upon cleanliness. The results are meaningful because they suggest a scale that is reliable and valid and can be used to measure customer perceptions of cleanliness in a service organization. The results also confirm that education and gender are significant factors in assessing perceptions of cleanliness.

The sampling method is a limitation to this study, as the sample represents a limited cross‐section of the US population.

The results of this paper provide service establishments that consider loyalty and repeat business key to their financial success, indicators that cleanliness is a critical component of the overall physical environment and influence customers' assessment of the service experience.

This paper examines the dimension of cleanliness in detail through the creation of a measurement scale and considers customers' perceptions and willingness to return.

The study aims to assess the sourcing approaches used in providing facilities management (FM) services in hotels. It further explores the factors that influence hotels' choice of sourcing approach and the challenges.

The study used a case study design. Simple random, census and purposive sampling techniques were used to select the hotels and respondents. Data were collected using interviews and analysed thematically. The data were presented in narration and direct quotes from the respondents. The critical factors influencing outsourcing decisions were ranked using the relative importance index. This study is based on a single case. Therefore, further research should be conducted to expand the scope of study nationwide as a step toward making the results more robust.

Both in-house and outsourcing sourcing approaches were used to provide FM services. In-house FM services mainly focused on cleaning, security and aspects of maintenance. Internet and information technology related services and other maintenance activities were also outsourced. Outsourcing decisions in the various hotel categories were mostly guided by the cost of outsourcing, core business, lack of in-house skills and hotel size.

FM strategy can be developed to guide the management of FM activities in hotels. An approach that adds value and enhances the activities of hotels and provides convenience to customers must be adopted by hotels. Further studies should be conducted on the cost implications of the two main sourcing approaches, as well as the impact of sourcing approaches on customer satisfaction. An additional study should focus on the driving factors influencing the cost and quality of outsourced FM services in hotels. This will help provide comprehensive information on effective FM sourcing approaches and the operations of hotels.

The study focused on the sourcing approaches used by hotels to provide FM services. It also explored the influencing factors and challenges of FM practices in hotels.

Due to the rapid development of automotive industry, China has become the world first in car production and consumption. However, under the pressure of environment pollution, traffic congestion and parking restriction in big cities, the car rental service, as an alternative solution for private car, becomes a new trend. The market is disorganized now. This research aims to use SERVQUAL model to further examine which dimension has great contribution to service quality.

A service quality evaluation scale for the car rental industry in China is designed based on PZB's SERVQUAL model. The reliability and exploratory factor analysis methods are adopted to measure the validity and reliability of the scale from the sampled data. At the same time, the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is discussed with the path analysis method.

The results show that the contribution of empathy to the total service quality ranks the top. At the same time, empathy has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

It is very important to attract customers depending on personalized services or service providing mode, that is, the empathy.

As a new mode in China, the car rental market is disorganized and has low service quality. The evaluation scale is designed including five dimensions. The analysis results provide guidance on how to improve their service quality to managers in car rental industry in China.