Test Bank ― Chapter 14 Page 1
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
Chapter 14
Improving Service Quality and Productivity
GENERAL CONTENT
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following is NOT a broad dimension of service quality?
a. Tangibles
b. Reliability
c. Responsiveness
d. Transcendence
e. Assurance
2. Accurate performance is an aspect of __________.
a. tangibles
b. reliability
c. responsiveness
d. transcendence
e. assurance
3. Competence and courtesy are aspects of ____________.
a. tangibles
b. reliability
c. responsiveness
d. transcendence
4. ____________ and ____________ typically measure satisfaction with all major
customer service processes and products.
a) Total market surveys; ordinary surveys
b) Regular surveys; ordinary surveys
c) Regular surveys; reverse surveys
d) Regular surveys; split surveys
e) Total market surveys; annual surveys
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
5. The ____________ is the difference between what service providers believe
customers expect and customers’ actual needs and expectations
a. interpretation gap
b. standard gap
c. knowledge gap
d. service quality gap
e. internal communications gap
6. The ____________ is the difference between what a service provider communicates
and what it actually delivers to the customer.
a. interpretation gap
b. communications gap
c. perceptions gap
d. standards gap
e. knowledge gap
7. Which of the following is NOT one of the six service quality gaps?
a. The knowledge gap.
b. The proportion gap.
c. The policy gap.
d. The delivery gap.
e. The perceptions gap.
8. Which of the following is the prescription for the perception gap?
a. Ensure the right service processes and specify standards.
b. Ensure that performance meets standards.
c. Learn what customers expect.
d. Tangibilize and communicate the service quality delivered.
e. Ensure that communications promises are realistic.
9. The Return on Quality approach are based on all of the following assumptions
EXCEPT
a) not all quality expenditures are equally justified.
b) it is possible to spend too much on quality.
c) quality is imperative so we need to put our resources behind it.
d) quality efforts must make sense financially.
e) quality is an investment.
10. Which of the following is one of the customer-driven approaches to improving
productivity?
a. Ask customers not to use third parties.
b. Limiting customer involvement in production.
c. Changing the timing of customer demand.
d. Reducing backstage elements of production.
e. Reducing front-stage elements of production.
True/False
11. Making service processes more efficient results in a better quality experience for
customers and ensures improved benefits for them.
12. The standards gap is the difference between specified delivery standards and the
service provider’s actual performance on these standards.
13. The service quality is the difference between what customers expect to receive and
14. The perception gap is the difference between what is, in fact, delivered and what
customers perceive they have received.
15. Hard measures are those that cannot be easily observed and must be collected by
16. Organizations that are known for excellent service make use of hard measures rather
17. Transactional surveys are typically conducted after customers have completed a
specific transaction.
18. Control charts offer a simple method of displaying performance on hard measures
over time against specific quality standards.
19. Typically the cost of an unhappy customer is lower than the cost of service recovery.
20. Because customers are often involved in service production, operations managers
need to low at how customer outputs can be more productive.
Short Answer
21. Illustrate what tangibles mean for service quality.
22. Illustrate what access means for service quality.
23. Describe one of the primary components of the prescription for the policy gap.
24. What is the collection of customer feedback tools that a firm can use?
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
25. List the four ways to improve service productivity.
Essay
26. Discuss what could be involved in the prescription for “The Delivery Gap.”
27. Explain what SERVQUAL is and how it is used in services.
APPLICATION CONTENT
Multiple Choice Questions
28. FedEx approaches quality management from which of the following perspectives?
a. Percent of packages on time
Test Bank ― Chapter 14 Page 6
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
b. Percent of flights arriving safely
c. Baseline of zero failures
d. Low turnover
29. Which of the following is the best example of the source of a delayed flight caused
by procedures?
a. Cutoff too close to departure time
b. Late cabin crews
c. Late cabin cleaners
d. Weather
e. Oversize baggage
30. Which of the following is the best example of the source of a delayed flight caused
by front-stage personnel?
a. Air traffic
b. Late food service
c. Late fuel
d. Gate agents cannot process passengers quickly enough
e. Poor announcement of departures
31. Which of the following is one of Holiday Inn’s hotel areas that show a particularly
strong impact on revenue per available room?
a. Dining facilities
b. The lobby
c. The exterior
d. Public restrooms
e. Kitchen facilities
32. ____________ is the authentication or identification of individuals based on physical
characteristics or traits.
a. Service amping
b. Decryption
c. Biometrics
d. Encryption
e. Electronic access
Test Bank ― Chapter 14 Page 7
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
True/False
33. Fedex’s Service Quality Indicator is a 10-item measure of satisfaction and service
quality from the customers’ viewpoint.
34. FedEx was one of the first company’s to understand the need for a firm-wide index
of service quality that embraced all the key activities that had an impact on
customers.
35. A study by Holiday Inn actually showed that as the number of defects per hotel
increase, the amount of revenue per room increases.
36. The Return on Quality perspective from Holiday Inn suggests that the focus of
preventative maintenance should be on the hotel exterior, the guest rooms, and guest
bathrooms.
37. Self-service pumps with credit card readers increase gas station productivity, but lead
to higher costs because of additional fees.
Short Answer
38. Describe what is meant by the 80/20 rule in the context of an airline.
39. What is the difference between fishbone diagrams and blueprinting?
Essentials of Services Marketing, 2nd Edition
Jochen Wirtz, Patrica Chew and Christopher Lovelock
40. Give an example of biometric test usage in a service environment.
41. What is ISO 9000?
42. List a major service firm from the chapter that has received the Malcolm-Baldrige
National Quality Award.
Essay
43. Describe what is involved when an auditor conducts a quality analysis at Holiday Inn
hotels.
44. Discuss the advantages of using a customer’s physical characteristics to increase
productivity in the delivery of service quality.
45. Discuss what the six sigma approach is and how it can be applied to service quality
and productivity.