Abstract
There has been considerable research into service quality over the last couple of decades. Services, however, as intangible, perishable, and heterogenic transactions are very difficult to quantify and measure, and little success has been reported on a systematic approach in modeling of quality of service transactions (with SERVQUAL and its derivatives as the notable exception). In this chapter, we propose artificial neural networks (ANNs) to monitor quality of service transaction as a dynamic and real-time control and forecasting system. ANNs are widely used in many engineering fields to model and simulate complex systems. The resulting near-perfect models are particularly suited for applications where real-world complexities make it difficult or even impossible to mathematically model and control the system. The proposed approach alleviates restrictions and limitations of applying questionnaire-based static methods, even in cases where there are large number of correlated attributes as well as obscure and unobservable quality characteristics. We illustrate with a case vignette in a healthcare context, thereby demonstrating the suitability of such techniques for healthcare delivery a vital, at times lifesaving service.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abbasi, B. (2007). Developing multi-attribute control charts. PhD, Industrial Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran.
Berkley, B. J., & Gupta, A. (1994). Improving service quality with information technology. International Journal of Information Management, 14, 109–121.
Broderick, A. J., & Vachirapornpuk, S. (2002). Service quality in internet banking: The importance of customer role. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20(6), 327–335.
Brogowicz, A. A., Delene, L. M., et al. (1990). A synthesised service quality model with managerial implications. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1(1), 27–44.
Cronin, J. J., & Taylor, S. A. (1992). Measuring service quality: A reexamination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56(3), 55.
Crosby, P. B. (1979). Quality is free: The art of making quality certain. New York: New American Library.
Dabholkar, P. A. (1996). Consumer evaluations of new technology-based self-service operations: An investigation of alternative models. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13(1), 29–51.
Dabholkar, P. A., Shepherd, C. D., et al. (2000). A comprehensive framework for service quality: An investigation of critical conceptual and measurement issues through a longitudinal study. Journal of Retailing, 76, 2131–2139.
DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia). (2008). About Australia service sector world class tertiary industries. March 2008 version. Retrieved November 7, 2008, from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/service_sector.pdf
Elizabeth A. McGlynn, Steven M. Asch, et al. (2003). “The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in the United States.” The new england journal of medicine 348, 2635–45.
Franceschini, F., Cignetti, M., et al. (1988). Comparing tools for service quality evaluation. International Journal of Quality Science, 3(4), 356–367.
Friedman, J., Hastie, T., et al. (2001). The element of statistical learning-data mining, inference and prediction. New York: Springer.
Frost, F. A., & Kumar, M. (2000). INTSERVQUAL: An internal adaptation of the GAP model in a large service organization. Journal of Services Marketing, 14(5), 358–377.
Garvin, D. A. (1983). Quality on the line. Harvard Business Review, 61, 65–73.
Ghoseiri, K., & Pishdad, S. (2006). Service quality measurement in information technology departments. Journal of Management Knowledge, 19, 74.
Ginny W. Frings and Laura Grant (2005). “Who Moved My Sigma... Effective Implementation of the Six Sigma Methodology to Hospitals.” QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL 21, 311–328.
Graupe, D. (2007). Principles of artificial neural networks. River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing.
Gronroos, C. (1982). Strategic management and marketing in the service sector. Helsinki: Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration.
Gronroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18(4), 9.
Hartline, M., III, Maxham, J., et al. (2002). Corridors of influence in the dimension of customer-oriented strategy to customer contact service employee. Journal of Marketing, 64(2), 35–51.
Haykin, S. (1999). Neural network. A comprehensive foundation. New Delhi: Pearson Education.
Haywood-Farmer, J. (1988). A conceptual model of service quality. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 8(6), 19–29.
Henk de Koning, John P. S. Verver, et al. (2006). “Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare.” Journal for Healthcare Quality 28(2), 4–11.
IfM & IBM. (2008). Succeeding through service innovation: A service perspective for education, research, business and government. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, ISBN: 978-1-902546-65-0. http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/ssme/
Imrie, B. C., Cadogan, J. W., et al. (2002). The service quality construct on a global stage. Managing Service Quality, 12(1), 10–18.
ISO 9000:2005. (2005). Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary. Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Johnston, R., & Heineke, J. (1998). Exploring the relationship between perception and performance: Priorities for action. Service Industries Journal, 18, 1101–1112.
Kwak Y. H. and Anbari F. T. (2006). “Benefits, obstacles, and future of six sigma approach.” Technovation 26, 708–715.
Loey Sehwail and Camille De Yong (2003). “Six Sigma in Helath Care.” International Journal of Health care Quality Assurance incorporating leadership with health services 16(4).
Mahdavinia, H. (2007). Customer satisfaction in four star Isfahan hotels: An application of SERVQUAL model. Master, Department of Business Administration and Social Science, Porson-Sweden, Lulea University of Technology.
Mangold, G., & Emin, B. (1991). Service quality: The front-stage vs. the back-stage perspective. Journal of Services Marketing, 5(4), 59–70.
Mark R. Chassin (1998). “Is Health Care Ready for Six Sigma Quality?” The Milbank Quarterly 76(4), 565–591.
Mattsson, J. (1992). A service quality model based on ideal value standard. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 3(3), 18–33.
Oh, H. (1999). Service quality, customer satisfaction and customer value: A holistic perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 18, 67–82.
Pao, Y. H. (1989). Adaptive pattern recognition and neural network. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., et al. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implication in future research. Journal of Marketing, Fall, 41–50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., et al. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perception of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12–40.
Philip, G., & Hazlett, S. A. (1997). The measurement of service quality: A new P-C-P attributes model. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 14(3), 260–286.
Richard Stahl R, Schultz B, et al. (2003). “Revamping healthcare using DMAIC and DFSS.” iSixSigma Healthcare Newsletter v3.01b, 0.0-b., 246.
Richard C. Larson (2009). “Education: Our Most Important Service Sector.” Service Science 1(4), 1–3.
Richard C. Larson (2010). Shared Services: Libraries, Universities and More, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
Ross McL Wilson, Bernadette T Harrison, et al. (1999). “An analysis of the causes of adverse events from the Quality in Australian Health Care Study”. The Medical Journal of Australia 170, 411–415.
Santos, J. (2003). E-service quality: A model of virtual service quality dimensions. Managing Service Quality, 13(3), 233–246.
Sasser, W. W., Olsen, R. P., et al. (1978). Management of service operations. Boston, MA: Allyn and Boston.
Schvaneveldt, S., & Enkawa, T. (1991). Consumer evaluation perspectives of service quality: Evaluation factors and two-way model of quality. Total Quality Management, 2(2), 13.
Soteriou, A. C., & Stavrinides, Y. (2000). An internal customer service quality data envelope analysis model for bank branches. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 18(5), 246–252.
Spohrer, J., Maglio, P. P., Bailey, J., & Gruhl, D. (2007). Steps toward a science of service systems, IEEE Xplore. Retrieved October 29, 2008.
Spreng, R. A., & Mackoy, R. D. (1996). An empirical examination of a model of perceived service quality and satisfaction. Journal of Retailing, 722, 201–214.
Sweeney, J. C., Soutar, G. N., et al. (1997). Retail service quality and perceived value. Journal of Consumer Services, 4(1), 39–48.
Teas, R. K. (1993). Expectations, performance evaluation, and consumer’s perceptions of quality. Journal of Marketing, 57(4), 18–34.
Teas, R. K. (1994). Expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: An assessment of a reassessment. Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 132–139.
The Commonwealth Fund (2007). “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care”.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2008).
Wikipedia (2010). Health care system. Health care system. t. f. e. From Wikipedia.
Zhu, F. X., Wymer, W. J., et al. (2002). IT-based services and service quality in consumer banking. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 13(1), 69–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Niavarani, M.R., Wickramasinghe, N. (2014). The Suitability of Artificial Neural Networks in Service Quality Control and Forecasting. In: Wickramasinghe, N., Al-Hakim, L., Gonzalez, C., Tan, J. (eds) Lean Thinking for Healthcare. Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8036-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8036-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8035-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8036-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)