PRL Ambiental

sletme Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt 9, Sayý 1, 2008, 17-31

A QFD and SERVQUAL Approach to Hotel Service Design

Aysun Kapucugil Ikiz*, Ali Masoudi**

Abstract

Current challenges facing the hotel service providers, such as “high customer

demands on quality”, “increasing competition for high customer satisfaction”

and “the demand for full services”, are directly related to better understand

the attributes of hotel services and improve the service design characteristics

accordingly. In service quality literature, SERVQUAL is the most widely used

structure to measure customer expectations and perceptions. Quality

Function Deployment (QFD) method is also a suitable means and works well

to support the development of a wide range of services although it is

originally stemming from product development. This study describes the

development of a conceptual framework to measure the hotel service quality

using the SERVQUAL model as a starting point, and then identifies service

design and hotel guests’ requirements using a QFD approach. This

integration of SERVQUAL and QFD approaches in the conceptual Hotel of

Quality model has been illustrated through a case study.

Keywords: Quality Function Deployment, SERVQUAL, Hotel Service Design,

Hotel of Quality.

OTEL H
ZMETLER
N
N TASARIMINDA KFG VE SERVQUAL

YAKLASIMLARININ KULLANIMI

Özet

Son zamanlarda otel hizmeti sunanlarýn mücadele etmek durumunda

kaldýklarý, “müsterilerin istedikleri kalite seviyesinin yüksek olmasý”, “daha

fazla müsteri tatminini saglamak için rekabetin artmasý” ve “eksiksiz hizmetin

talep edilmesi” gibi konular dogrudan otel hizmetlerinin özelliklerini daha iyi

anlamak ve bu özelliklere gore hizmet tasarým özelliklerini gelistirmek ile

ilgilidir. Hizmet kalitesi alanýnda, SERVQUAL müsteri beklentilerini ve

algýlamalarýný ölçmek için en çok kullanýlan yapýdýr. Kalite Fonksiyon Göçerimi

(KFG) yöntemi ise, orijini ürün gelistirmeye dayanmasýna ragmen, çok çesitli

hizmetlerin gelistirilmesinde de kullanýlabilen uygun bir destek araçtýr. Bu

çalýsma, baslangýç asamasýnda SERVQUAL modelini kullanarak otellerde

sunulan hizmet kalitesini ölçen ve sonrasýnda KFG yaklasýmý ile otel

misafirlerinin ve sunulmasý gereken hizmetin tasarým gereksinimlerini

tanýmlayan kavramsal bir modeli tanýtmaktadýr. Kavramsal Kalite Oteli modeli

üzerinde SERVQUAL ve KFG yaklasýmlarýnýn bütünlestirilmesi örnek bir

uygulama ile anlatýlmýstýr.

Anahtar Sözcükler:Kalite Fonksiyon Göçerimi, SERVQUAL, Otel

HizmetlerininTasarýmý, Kalite Oteli.

*Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi =sletme Fakültesi, Buca,=zmir, aysun.kapucugil@deu.edu.tr

** Azad University, Dept.of Industrial Engineering,Tehran,Iran, ali_ie2003@yahoo.com

Aysun Kapucugil =kiz & Ali Masoudi

18

INTRODUCTION

In today’s world, millions of dollars are spent for designing hotel

services each year. Design is accepted as the main factor for intentional

competition. In general, hotel practitioners and managers view design as

only some aspects of hotel services such as interior design or Internet

based services. There are few activities performed to get customer

feedback. Moreover, there is a lack of using quality attributes to prioritize

hotel service design based on customer feedback. Thus, it is essential to

define a process, which will consider all aspects of services.

Interest in service quality has increased in the recent years, with

a growing literature relating to the application of TQM concepts in the

service industry. However, the measurement and improvement of service

quality often remains a challenge (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Leblanc and

Nguyen, 1997). SERVQUAL, developed by Parasuraman, Berry, and

Zeithaml. (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994) is the most widely used and tested

survey instrument to measure service quality dimensions (Pawitra and

Tan, 2003). But, Parasuraman et al. (1990) do suggest that some

adaptation of SERVQUAL scale may be desirable when a particular

service is investigated. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a tailored

process to analyze customer requirements in detail and translate them

into the designers’ language. QFD method is originally stemming from

product development but it is also a suitable means to support the

development of a wide range of services. In contrast to classic QFD for

product development, the special characteristics of services have to be

taken into account when applying QFD to service development. However,

as shown in the literature review, there are few QFD applications or

adaptations in service firms, especially for hotel and hospitality industry.

Therefore, this study aims at developing a conceptual QFD model

adjusted for hotel services, which will bring valuable insights to both

hotel/hospitality academicians and practitioners. This model is named as

Hotel of Quality, which integrates the best elements of SERVQUAL and

QFD methodologies.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Initiated by Shigeru Mizuno and Yoji Akao of the Tokyo Institute

of Technology in the 1960s, the quality function deployment (QFD) was

first applied at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited in the Kobe Shipyard,

Japan in 1972. Since then it has been successfully used in product and

service design by many organizations. It is today established as an

important quality tool in the design process (Akao, 1990; Mazur, 1194;

Ekdahl and Gustafson, 1997).

QFD is a systematic process used by cross-functional teams in

order to identify and resolve the issues involved in providing products,

processes, services, and strategies that enhance customer satisfaction

A QFD and Servqual Approach to Hotel Service Design

19

(Gonza´lez, Quesada, and Bahill, 2003). Akao (1990) defines QFD as a

method for defining design qualities that are in keeping with customer

expectations and then translating the customer requirements into design

targets and critical quality assurance points that can be used throughout

the production/service development phase (Akao,1990).

The QFD technique has been used to (Sangeeta and Karunes,

2004):

• Identify the presence of correlated design characteristics and

customer requirements;

• Relate design characteristics in the form of quality

aspects/components to the different customer requirements;

• Identify the minimum set of design characteristics able to cover

all customer requirements.

Several publications illustrate different service QFD applications,

some of them that are specific to the hotel industry are summarized in

Table 1.

Table 1. QFD and Hotel Industry Literature Review

Authors Approach

Attention to hotel

services

Miyoung & Haemoon,

1998

Through a tentative example about

hotel service and customer expectations

attempted to show how to use QFD.

Special attention to hotel

but without a deep study

about guest expectations

and hotel service types.

Pun et al., 2000

Discusses the QFD process, and

addresses how service organizations

identify customers’ needs.

No attention to hospitality

and hotel industry, combine

QFD and Hoshin kanri

techniques.

Zeithmal & Bitner, 2004;

Fitzsimmons &

Fitzsimmons, 2004

Introducing QFD as an approach for

service design through an example.

No attention to hospitality

and hotel industry.

Sangeeta et

al., 2004)

Identifies the gap between customer

expectations (students within selected

educational institutions) and

perceptions of the actual service

received (the quality of those

institutions) via SERVQUAL

methodology. Then, determines the set

of minimum design

characteristics/quality components by

QFD.

No attention to hospitality

and hotel industry.

Key & Theresia, 2001

Proposes an integrated approach

involving SERVQUAL, QFD and Kano’s

model that helps organizations to

evaluate customer satisfaction, to guide

improvement efforts in strengthening

their weak attributes.

No attention to hotel

industry but an actual case

study from the tourist’s

perspective.

Aysun Kapucugil =kiz & Ali Masoudi

20

Benefits that arose from reported QFD applications include fewer

design and service costs, fewer and earlier design changes, better

company performance, improvement in service quality, and, above all, an

increase in customer satisfaction (Franceschini and Rossetto, 1995; Kim,

Han, Choi, and Kim, 1998). However, some researchers found a lack of

quality management tools that could translate the customer needs into

the service elements of an organization, mainly in the hotel and

hospitality industry.

HOTEL OF QUALITY:

...