978-0078112102 Chapter 2 What Are The Four Provider Gaps

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CHAPTER 2:

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE BOOK:

THE GAPS MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY

CHAPTER TOPICS

The Customer Gap

The Provider Gaps

Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps



Technology Spotlight: Technology’s Critical Impact on the Gaps Model of Service Quality

Global Feature: An International Retailer Puts Customers in the Wish Mode to Begin Closing the

Gaps

Strategy Insight: Using the Gaps Model to Assess an Organization’s Service Strategy

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

1. Introduce a framework, called the gaps model of service quality, which is used to organize this

textbook.

2. Demonstrate that the gaps model is a useful framework for understanding service quality in an

organization.

3. Demonstrate that the most critical service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference

between customer expectations and perceptions.

4. Show that four gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the

customer gap.

5. Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps.

LECTURE TIPS & AIDS

1. One way to get the class more actively involved in the discussion of the Gaps model is to get them to

discuss the various pieces of the model. There are two ways to split the class for such a discussion,

depending on the size of the class. For relatively small classes, one way is to divide the class into five

groups and have them discuss each of the five gaps presented in the chapter. For larger classes, the

class could be split into 13 groups to cover each of the 13 chapters (Chapters 3 through 15) that are

further breakdowns of the Gaps model. An outline of the chapters and topics is provided below.



The Customer Gap

Chapter 3 – Customer Expectations of Service

Chapter 4 – Customer Perceptions of Service



Gap 1 – Not Knowing What Customers Expect (The Knowledge Gap)

Chapter 5 – Listening to Customers through Research

Chapter 6 – Building Customer Relationships

Chapter 7 – Service Recovery



Gap 2 – Not Having the Right Service Quality Designs and Standards (The Service Design

and Standards Gap)

Chapter 8 – Service Innovation and Design

Chapter 9– Customer-Defined Service Standards

Chapter 10 – Physical Evidence and the Servicescape



Gap 3 – Not Delivering to Service Standards (The Service Performance Gap)

Chapter 11 – Employees’ Roles in Service Delivery

Chapter 12 – Customers’ Roles in Service Delivery

Chapter 13 – Managing Demand and Capacity



Gap 4 – Not Matching Performance to Promises (The Communication Gap)

Chapter 14 – Integrated Service marketing Communications

Chapter 15 – Pricing of Services

Each group would be given three to eight minutes (depending on the number of groups) and asked to

discuss the following:

Provide a review/summary of the topic assigned.

Provide examples (ideally new ones) to illustrate the concepts/issues from the assigned topic.

Discuss how the assigned topic relates to the Gaps model.

Suggest ways (key strategies) that could be used to close a gap in the model.

QUESTIONS TO USE WITH CHAPTER OPENING VIGNETTE

Chapter 2: Service Quality at Trader Joe’s: The Specialty Store with Spirit

1. What are the service expectations of a new customer to Trader Joe’s? Of a returning (loyal) customer?

Are there any differences in how these different customers might perceive the service quality at

Trader Joe’s? If so, how might Trader Joe’s and its employees deal with this?

2. Discuss some of the specific ways in which Trader Joe’s works to close:

a. Provider Gap 1, The Listening Gap

b. Provider Gap 2, The Service Design and Standards Gap

c. Provider Gap 3, The Service Performance

d. Provider Gap 4, The Communication Gap

ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES

1. Choose an organization to interview and use the integrated gaps model of service quality as a

framework. Ask the manager whether the organization suffers from any of the factors listed in the

figures in this chapter. Which factor in each Figure 2.2 through 2.5 does the manager consider the

most troublesome? What does the company do to try to address these problems?

2. Use the Internet to locate the Website of Walt Disney, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, or any other well-known

high quality service organization. Which of the provider gaps does it appear the company has closed?

How can you tell?

3. Interview a nonprofit or public sector organization in your area (it could be some part of your school

if it is a state school). Find out if the integrated gaps model of service quality framework makes sense

in the context of their organizations.

POTENTIAL VIDEO CLIPS TO USE IN ILLUSTRATING CHAPTER 2 CONCEPTS

“Clerks” – In a short clip from this movie, a female customer enters a small video store and

asks clerk what he has heard about two movies she has picked up in the store. The clerk, who is

sitting on the counter reading a newspaper, does not pay any attention to customer, and then is fairly

rude to her. A “customer gap” is clearly evident in this scene.

“Meet the Parents” – Throughout this movie there are several clips where the main character

(Ben Stiller) has a series of interactions with an airline, including not allowing him to take his bag on

the plane, losing his bag, being placed on hold several times when he called in to check on the status

of his bag, waiting several days to deliver his bag, delivering the wrong bag, charging an extreme

amount when he wished to change his return date, making him wait for his row to be called at the gate

to board the plane (even though no one else was boarding), having a discussion on the plane about

stowing his bag, and finally getting thrown off the plane (literally). This clip could be used to discuss

several aspects of the Gaps model, and thus could also be used to illustrate points made in several

chapters.

POSSIBLE WEB SITES FOR CHAPTER 2

Company Location

IKEA www.ikea.com

Island Hotel (Cedar Key, FL) www.islandhotel-cedarkey.com

Marriott International www.marriotthotels.com

The Oaks at Ojai http://www.oaksspa.com

Ritz-Carlton www.ritzcarlton.com

United Parcel Service www.ups.com

The Walt Disney Company www.disney.com

APPROPRIATE CASES FOR CHAPTER 2

From previous Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler Services Marketing texts:

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture [included in the sixth

edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating

Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]

Michelin Fleet Solutions: From Selling Tires to Selling Kilometers [included in the sixth

edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating

Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]

People, Service, and Profit at Jyske Bank [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml,

Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm,

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies]

Using Services Marketing to Develop and Deliver Integrated Solutions at Caterpillar in Latin

America [included in the sixth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2013) Services

Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Companies]

easyCar.com [included in the fourth edition of this text: Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler (2006)

Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Companies]

Virgin Atlantic Airways [included in the third edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner (2003)

Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Companies]

EuroDisney: The First 100 Days [included in the second edition of this text: Zeithaml and Bitner

(2000) Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill Companies]