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Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

Stanislav Karapetrovic and Walter Willborn

Quality assurance is the process of providing confidence that the stated or implied requirements for quality are met. In financial investment services, “quality” is defined as the…

4234

Abstract

Quality assurance is the process of providing confidence that the stated or implied requirements for quality are met. In financial investment services, “quality” is defined as the perception of the investor about achieving satisfactory returns under acceptable and generally accepted risks within a planned time. Investor’s confidence in achieving quality stems from the quality assurance efforts and processes of the investment service provider. In this paper, different types of investment services, from a simple provision of investment information, to a full‐service portfolio management are discussed. Principles of quality assurance in investment services are provided. A realistic portfolio management case indicates that a modern quality management system (ISO 9000) can enhance quality assurance and thus the quality of investment services.

Details

Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-4529

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 January 2021

Austin Tonderai Nyakurerwa

The chapter focused on quality assurance and marketing of library services and products at the Midlands State University (MSU). The chapter's main objective was to identify the…

Abstract

The chapter focused on quality assurance and marketing of library services and products at the Midlands State University (MSU). The chapter's main objective was to identify the quality assurance mechanisms at the MSU Library. The major findings of the research were; the MSU library was practising quality assurance, staff was trained on the latest trends in the profession, the collection was multidisciplinary and in different forms, and that there were Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) used in enhancing service provision. The researcher recommended that the library needed to continuously train librarians on issues to do with quality, improve the infrastructure, introduce Research Data Management to enhance the Research Support Services and improve on the Information Literacy Skills training programmes. The author identified some areas for further research and the major one was that there is need for clarification on the concept of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2021

Emiliano Ruiz-Barbadillo and Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero

Sustainability assurance services are carried out in a competitive market where a wide range of assurance providers operate without the need for any specific professional…

1478

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainability assurance services are carried out in a competitive market where a wide range of assurance providers operate without the need for any specific professional qualifications, competencies or skills. Assurance providers have heterogeneous professional backgrounds and experiences that lead to substantial diversity in sustainability assurance quality levels. This paper aims to provide an understanding of sustainability assurance quality. From a legitimacy perspective, the authors focus on the choice of assurance providers by exploring why a company voluntarily chooses an incumbent financial auditor to jointly provide audit and sustainability assurance services. The authors argue that to avoid the legitimacy threats undermining stakeholders’ confidence in the sustainability information disclosed, companies should only choose their incumbent financial auditors to provide sustainability assurance services when these auditors possess the professional attributes associated with sustainability assurance quality.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops regression models for an international sample for 2007–2016, where the authors analyze why a company voluntarily chooses an incumbent auditor to jointly provide audit and sustainability assurance services from a legitimacy theory perspective.

Findings

Evidence confirms that the choice of incumbent auditors as assurance providers is more likely when these providers are more specialized in the industry. The authors also find that independence does not play a significant role in this decision. Therefore, an assurance provider’s industry specialization can be understood as an attribute that is associated with sustainability assurance quality and one which limits the legitimacy threats caused by a lack of sufficient sustainability knowledge.

Practical implications

Given that companies have complete freedom when choosing their assurance providers, the selection of a high-quality incumbent auditor is an indirect measure of social commitment and a mechanism to improve public trust. The results confirm that it is fundamental for firms to understand the situations when choosing an incumbent financial auditor to provide sustainability assurance services is the best way to ensure firm legitimacy while obtaining higher sustainability assurance quality due to the spillover effect. This paper provides useful evidence for firms and managers who can become aware that the legitimacy threat associated with the auditing profession’s questionable competence to conduct efficient sustainability assurance engagements can be reduced if they hire an incumbent financial auditor with greater industry specialization. For assurance providers, the results are especially useful, as they should know that companies will be more likely to choose their incumbent financial auditor when that auditor possesses certain professional attributes, like industry specialization. The ability to assimilate and exploit the knowledge gained through auditing activities can be improved even more by specialization, which enhances sustainability assurance quality.

Social implications

From a social perspective, stakeholders perceive industry specialization as an indicator of the professional skills necessary to increase both the real and perceived quality of sustainability assurance services, thereby limiting the legitimacy threat arising from a lack of sustainability knowledge. The evidence also provides valuable results for regulatory bodies, as it shows that firms are not able to address the legitimacy gap caused by stakeholders’ perceptions that incumbent financial auditors can easily be controlled by companies. Thus, doubts arise as to whether this joint provision undermines auditor independence. Precisely, these doubts about assurance provider independence can erode public confidence in assurance and devalue the quality of the service. The results of this paper highlight the need to strengthen regulation on sustainability reporting and assurance. The advances and relevance of sustainable development in recent years and in future agendas require a firm commitment to sustainability reporting and assurance of quality, reliability, integrity and confidence.

Originality/value

First, this study contributes to recent empirical studies that focus on the role of sustainability assurance services in the legitimation process of corporate sustainability reporting. However, while that research analyzes how the legitimacy theory explains the voluntary adoption of sustainability assurance, this paper adds to the literature by presenting evidence about why certain incumbent auditors are appointed to carry out sustainability assurance services. Second, this paper contributes to the sustainability assurance quality literature. Third, unlike previous studies that have regressed various client-specific and institutional factors that influence firms’ decisions to choose assurance providers, this study contributes to the research by providing knowledge about a set of professional features that may explain the decision model of assurance providers selection from a legitimacy perspective.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 August 2021

Isabel-María García-Sánchez, Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán and Cristina Aibar-Guzmán

The purpose of this study is to analyse the role played by institutional investors in a firm’s decision to hire sustainability assurance services and to determine the benefits of…

1136

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse the role played by institutional investors in a firm’s decision to hire sustainability assurance services and to determine the benefits of sustainability assurance for the functioning of the capital market. This analysis is complemented by examining the quality of the sustainability assurance service that institutional investors demand.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors selected a sample of 1,564 multinational firms from 2002 to 2017. Panel data logit and generalised method of moments (GMM) regressions were estimated to consider decisions about hiring sustainability assurance services or not, and the assurance quality indexes constructed by a checklist based on the academic literature, respectively.

Findings

Institutional pressures associated with the environmental and social impacts of a firm’s activities lead to the convergence of institutional investor attitudes towards corporate sustainability, so that, regardless of their investment horizon, they promote the hiring of sustainability assurance services by corporate boards, which favours analyst precision and a reduction in the cost of capital. Long-term (LT) institutional investors exert influence through a selection mechanism, whereas short-term (ST) institutional investors exert influence through their presence on the board. Once the company has decided to provide assurance about its sustainability report, both types of institutional investors promote a higher quality of such service, although this is not well valued by the stock market.

Research limitations/implications

This paper extends research on the monitoring role of institutional investors into the sustainability assurance context. Researchers may benefit from this paper’s findings when they examine the factors that drive the hiring of sustainability assurance services and their characteristics. This paper also shows that sustainability assurance services are a significant weakness due to the lack of standardisation in comparison with financial auditing, which complicates the assessment of their quality by stock market participants, thereby penalising those companies that provide more complete sustainability assurance reports.

Practical implications

Considering this paper’s findings, it seems advisable that regulators establish a normative framework to standardise sustainability assurance processes. The results can also be used as an orientation for both companies, to design their sustainability disclosure policies and regulators, to improve the running of the capital market.

Social implications

Sustainability assurance services have a positive effect on the running of the capital market and improve external stakeholder decision-making by providing more reliable information, which, in turn, will favour the implementation of more sustainable actions that contribute to the attainment of sustainable development goals.

Originality/value

This is one of the first papers to analyse the effect of institutional ownership on a firm’s decision to hire sustainability assurance services and consider the effect of the institutional investors’ investment horizon – LT versus ST – and the channel – selection methods and/or active engagement – used by them to exert their influence. The authors also propose several measures of sustainability assurance quality to demonstrate the relevance of the contents of the assurance statement for the capital market in general and the institutional investors in particular.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 June 2021

Michelle (Myongjee) Yoo and Alec N. Dalton

This chapter covers four main concepts: service quality, quality assurance for measurement, quality assurance for management, and service failure and recovery. The first section…

Abstract

This chapter covers four main concepts: service quality, quality assurance for measurement, quality assurance for management, and service failure and recovery. The first section mainly discusses the fundamentals of service quality. The service quality gap model is also highlighted to identify the gaps between customer expectations and the actual perceptions of service at different stages of service delivery. In the second section, different measurement methods for quality assurance are demonstrated. Examples of qualitative and quantitative methods are included. In the third section, the important management objectives of quality assurance, improvement, and control are covered. By using a combination of the quality assurance methods from the second section, hospitality operators can accomplish internal accountability, external accountability, performance improvement, and innovation. In the fourth and final section, causes and consequences of service failures are covered together with the service recovery paradox to express the implications of poor quality.

Details

Operations Management in the Hospitality Industry
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-541-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 August 2004

Malivan Praditteera

The academic library is an important component of any university and is responsible for providing academic and research support to all members of the university community. At…

Abstract

The academic library is an important component of any university and is responsible for providing academic and research support to all members of the university community. At present, higher education institutions in Thailand are trying to evaluate and improve their quality by implementing quality assurance models/mechanisms. Libraries, as critical supporting organizations in these institutions, also need to improve their quality. As a service organization, academic libraries are faced with the need to satisfy their clientele and to measure and evaluate their services. There is a need, therefore, for librarians to take positive steps to insure that their clients receive quality services.

Details

Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-284-9

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2017

Ernest Emeka Izogo

The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms can influence customer loyalty through customer commitment by leveraging two constructs of service quality: service assurance and…

5749

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms can influence customer loyalty through customer commitment by leveraging two constructs of service quality: service assurance and service reliability.

Design/methodology/approach

The analyses are based on 138 responses retrieved from experienced users of mobile phone services in one of the big cities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria through a survey questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the measurement model as well as the proposed hypotheses were examined through the partial least squares structural equation modelling procedure.

Findings

Service reliability is a direct predictor of customer loyalty while service assurance is not. Affective commitment has a direct positive effect on customer loyalty and partially mediates the relationship between service reliability and customer loyalty. In contrast, the mediating effects of affective and continuance commitment on the relationship between service assurance and customer loyalty were positive but insignificant. Finally, affective commitment mediates the effect of continuance commitment on customer loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

The mediating role of the individual components of commitment in the links between the individual dimensions of service quality and customer loyalty is largely untested in the literature. This line of inquiry can form the basis for future research proposals. Additionally, the outcomes that emerged from this research must be interpreted with caution due to the size of the sample on which analyses were based. Future research should employ larger samples.

Practical implications

Services organisations especially telecommunication firms may benefit from customer loyalty by pursuing a combined strategy of increasing service assurance, service reliability, affective commitment and continuance commitment both independently and in tandem.

Originality/value

As far as could be established, this paper is the first to explore the mediating effects of affective and continuance commitment on the links between service quality dimensions and customer loyalty.

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1991

Robert Gareth Hill

The question as to why it is necessary to evaluate an essentially evaluative exercise ‐ namely quality assurance ‐ is first examined. It is claimed that because quality assurance

Abstract

The question as to why it is necessary to evaluate an essentially evaluative exercise ‐ namely quality assurance ‐ is first examined. It is claimed that because quality assurance is not merely an assessment of health services but a strategic intervention into patient care and/or health care services there is a requirement to verify and monitor the type of quality assurance system being used. Such a requirement can be legitimised either on ethical grounds or on pragmatic grounds. The former position suggests that it is in fact wrong to employ systems whose efficacy and rigour is unproven and unmonitored while the latter position suggests that the potential fallout from a quality assurance programme that fails is of such magnitude that some form of evaluation ought to be undertaken as a matter of course. There follows an examination of some areas that one may want to consider in such an evaluation. These are based on the tripartite split of the elements of quality assurance found in Donabedian′s early work. Finally the question as to the relative merits of an evaluation contained within the quality assurance programme itself and one external to it is addressed.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 4 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1999

Stanislav Karapetrovic

This paper addresses some ergonomic issues in the ISO 9000‐based quality assurance. Ergonomics ‐ the study of human factors in engineering and design of systems is briefly touched…

3497

Abstract

This paper addresses some ergonomic issues in the ISO 9000‐based quality assurance. Ergonomics ‐ the study of human factors in engineering and design of systems is briefly touched on. Then, outlines of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 quality system models are provided, and all 20 requirements requirements of the current ISO 9001:9004 standard are presented in an ergonomic light. Subsequently, human factors in the documentation and implementation of a quality system are illustrated. The relevance of ergonomic studies in the development of service systems is addressed. Finally, a blueprint for an ergonomic assurance system, defined as a set of interrelated resources and processes that function in order to achieve objectives related to ergonomic design and use of products and processes, is provided.

Details

Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-4529

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1994

Anoop Patel

Quality assurance is concentrated in manufacturing and over thelast three to four years there has been an upsurge of interest in thepublic sector. Focuses on local authority…

527

Abstract

Quality assurance is concentrated in manufacturing and over the last three to four years there has been an upsurge of interest in the public sector. Focuses on local authority social services departments, but literature and the implementation of quality assurance in the social services is very limited, particularly in specific areas such as Meals on Wheels, home care services and children′s homes. Provides an understanding of the requirements of implementing Quality Assurance (BS5750) in Social Services, particularly the Meals on Wheels service. Gives a brief outline of what is quality assurance and BS5750. Aims to provide social service practitioners with insight and guidance to the requirements of introducing BS5750 for the Meals on Wheels service.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

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