SERVQUAL and Model of Service

Quality Gaps
Service Provider:
Haldirams

Submitted by:

Ankush Wason (13609118)

Ashmita Sharma(13609121)
Himanshi Singhal(13609127)
Sanjay Surekha(13609147)
Prakriti Jain(13609173)
Aakriti Raina (13609181)

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ABSTRACT

This paper is based on the haldiram restaurant that shows the major gaps
because of which differences between organization delivery and customers
expectation arises. Researchers attempt to explore in depth what makes the
services different from others and the secret behind this place. Unlike the
prescribed service models this food restaurant has been highly appreciated
by its customers. This study attempts to analyze the service leadership and
different practices of its owners. Service quality is the prime factor because
of which they has successfully positioned itself in the minds of the customers
as a quality driven place. One of the aims of this study involves the use of
SERVQUAL instrument in order to ascertain any actual or perceived gaps
between customer expectations and perceptions of the service offered.
Another aim of this paper is to point out how management of service
improvement can become more logical and integrated with respect to the
prioritized service quality dimensions and their affections on
increasing/decreasing service quality gaps. In the following, after a brief
review of the service quality concept, the model of service quality gaps and
the SERVQUAL methodology is demonstrated and an example is presented to
pinpoint the application of the SERVQUAL approach. Then, after a discussion,
major conclusions are derived.

INTRODUCTION
To understand the service quality through SERVQUAL Model we have taken
HALDIRAMS as the service provider.

About Haldirams
Haldiram's Food International Limited today, is recognized as a Star Export
House, by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, a department working
under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.
Haldiram's has its roots established in 1937 in the form of a small retail
Sweet & Namkeen shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan, a small but significant town in
the Thar Desert. Shri Shivkisan Agrawal, the founder of Haldiram's always
cherished the dream of building an empire, manufacture traditional
sweets/namkeens, leave a mark on every occasion and get close to the heart
of the common man.
This dream was realized with shifting of its base to Nagpur in 1970. For the
first time people heard of a factory that was operating to manufacture
Sweets & Namkeens. A model plant of its times was set up at:- Haldiram's
House; 880, Small Factory Area, Wardhaman Nagar, Nagpur. In a very short
span 'Haldiram' developed into a brand and became an inseparable part of
every occasion.

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This was followed by a chain of retail outlets & showrooms. The product lines
were expanded to match the taste of various segments of the society.
Sweets and namkeens were presented in more durable and commercially
viable packaging. This fetched a overwhelming response and in 1997,
Haldiram's forayed into milk and milk product industry with products such as
Khowa, Ghee & Butter Milk, the manufacture of Extruded foods such as
vermicelli and 3-D Snacks.

SERVICE QUALITY

Service quality can be defined as the difference between customer

expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater
than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and hence
customer dissatisfaction occurs.
Always there exists an important question: why should service quality be
measured? Measurement allows for comparison before and after changes, for
the location of quality related problems and for the establishment of clear
standards for service delivery. The SERVQUAL approach, which is studied in
this paper, is the most common method for measuring service quality.

GAP MODEL:
There are two types of gaps:

1. The customer gaps( GAP 5)

2. The provider gaps

1. The customer gap: the customer gap is the difference between

customer expectation and perception. That is what customer want that
haldiram should deliver them and what actually haldiram is delivery
them. For example, when you visit a haldiram restaurant, you expect a
high level of service, one that is considerably superior to the level you
would expect in a food restaurant. Closing the gap between what
customers expect and what they perceive is critical to delivering
quality services. This basically forms the gaps model.

2. The provider gap: the provider gap is the gap occurs within the
organization providing the service. Certain gaps are given below:

GAP 1:

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NOT KNOWING WHAT CUSTOMER EXPECTS: This is the difference between
customer expectations of service and company understanding of those
expectations. This may arise because of inadequate marketing research
about the customers who would like to visit food restaurants such as
haldiram. Lack of interaction between the management and customer may
also be prove major problem because if the customer who has visited the
haldiram restaurant faces any problem and management does not have any
clue about their customer problem then this will not result in satisfying
customer needs and wants.

GAP 2:
NOT HAVING THE RIGHT SERVICES QUALITY DESIGN AND STANDARDS: This
gap arises mainly due to difference between company understanding of
customer expectations and development of customer driven service designs
and standards. This may be due to the absence of focus on customer
requirements and needs. Customers want fast delivery of food etc.

GAP 3:
NOT DELIVERING TO SERVICE DESIGNS AND STANDARDS: It is the
discrepancy between development of customers driven standards and actual
services performance by company employees. Sometimes the employees are
not well trained and prepared to deal with customers. In haldiram long queue
is seen which means the employees are not able to manage their customers
effectively. Sometimes there might be shortage of food also which shows
they are unable to smooth peaks and valleys of demand.

GAP 4:
NOT MATCHING PERFORMANCE TO PROMISES: The difference between
service delivery and service providers external communication. Broken
promises can occur for many reasons like overpromising in advertisement or
personal selling, inadequate coordination between operations and marketing
and difference in policies and procedures across service outlet.

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 PUTTING ALL TOGETHER: CLOSING THE GAPS

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The basic objective to conduct this research was to check the service quality
of Haldirams. There are many tools available but out of all we found

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SERVQUAL Questionnaire to be most optimal as it gives most accurate
results. Haldirams use SERVQUAL Questionaire to measure and manage
service quality deploy a questionnaire that measures both the customer
expectations of service quality in terms of 5 dimensions i.e. reliability,
assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness, and their perceptions of
the service they receive. When customer expectations are greater than their
perceptions of received delivery, service quality is deemed low.

We have circulated the questionnaire in the sample size of 50 people out of

which we managed to get responses from 30 people and with the help of
that we were successfully able to conduct our research.

DATA ANALYSIS
The research on measuring service quality has focused primarily on how to
meet or exceed the external customers expectations, and has viewed
service quality as a measure of how the delivered service level matches
consumers expectations.

To understand the gaps SERVQUAL model for service quality has been used
as a tool for conducting the research. Under this model the sample size of
the population is 50. On the basis of the survey conducted following is the
analysis of the data collected:

ANALYSIS

Question 1:

Interpretation

As per the survey, the interpretation is that the ambience at Haldirams

should be visually appealing up to a great extent as 47% of the people
strongly agree to that and 43% people also agree upon that. The ambience

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of any place gives its customers a comfort zone. Therefore it is strongly
recommended that Haldirams should have a visual appeal.

Question 2:

Interpretation

From the above math we can easily calculate that the employees at
Haldirams should be well dressed as more than 50% customers agree to it
and the basic reason upon this result is that people should know whom they
should ask or contact for any appreciation or faults if required. Therefore
employees of Haldirams should be well dressed.

Question 3:

Interpretation

The visuals of the items in the menu card plays a great role as the better
they look in the menu card the more positive the customer feels about
ordering that product and builds a positive faith upon product quality. So
therefore by applying this technique and taking into consideration the survey
where 100% customers agree upon this statement the materials associated
with the service should be visually appealing.

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Question 4:

Interpretation

87% of the people agree to this, that seating arrangements at Haldirams

should provide a comfort. 13% of the people who do not agree upon this
could be those people who either do not prefer to sit at Haldirams and have
their meal or people who get their food in the take away option. But majority
of the people say that seating arrangement has to be comfortable.

Question 5:

Interpretation

Well here different people keep different opinion. Actually the answer would
be depending upon how late does the order gets. Some people may
compromise by 5 or 10 minutes but some may not. Therefore in the survey

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we can see that though majority of the people agree to this statement but
certainly we can also see that 27% people do not agree upon the accuracy in
delivering the order. Therefore we can say that order should be on time and
if not it should not get delayed for more than 5 minutes. (5 minutes is taken
as an assumption for the time, for which a customer can wait)

Question 6:

Interpretation

While 84% of the customers agree that employees should be sympathetic

and reassuring still 17% of the people still think that it is not necessary that
employees may always be sympathetic and reassuring as it also depends on
the tone of the customer. Therefore we can say that it is important for
Haldirams employees to soft their tone as 84% customers agree to that.

Question 7:

Interpretation

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Around 50% people strongly agree that they should provide the order and
the service in the right way at first time and it may not be wrong to agree
upon that as Haldirams is a good reputed restaurant chain and their
employees should be trained well enough to give right order at right time to
right people. Although 17% people disagree to it considering that employees
are also human beings and there is a chance of occurrence of a mistake
while delivering a product or service. Therefore it is still recommended that
Haldirams should perform the service rightly at first time.

Question 8:

Interpretation

In this part of Servqual, we can see that people tend to believe that there is a
very less chance of getting order or service at the given time. Therefore 63%
or 19 people out of 30 disagree to this statement that the employees
shouldnt give any specified time of the delivery as it increases the chance of
discrepancies between the customer and employee though we cannot deny
that accuracy is a major factor considered in a good service and it forces a
customer to show loyalty towards the brand therefore it is agreed and
strongly recommended or agreed by around 37% people that employees
should tell exact time for the service to be performed.

Question 9:

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Interpretation

As at Haldirams there is a tradition of Self-Service therefore some customers

do not expect any prompt services from the employees though 47% people
still agree to this statement as they like prompt services i.e. services with no
delay. It may depend upon customer to customer as in the graph we can see
that 50% agree and 50% dont.

Question 10:

Interpretation

According to the above data 53% i.e. majority of customers want that
Haldirams should instill confidence in their customers so that they can
assure the customers about the level of quality maintained at Haldirams.
Customers expect the employees at Haldirams to behave and act in a way
which can instill confidence in their mind and assure them in terms of quality
that they have taken the correct decision by choosing Haldirams over
others.

Question 11:

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Interpretation

As per the survey, we can see that more than 50% people strongly agree and
like to be safe when they perform any transaction at Haldirams. The
transaction may be in terms of money or credit card transactions. Therefore
the conclusion is that transactions should be safe and sound.

Question 12:

Interpretation

The response of the employee is the key reason of customers satisfaction as

we can see in the survey that 53% people strongly disagree to get late
responses from the employees as time is money and no one likes to waste
their time. Although on the other hand 47% agree that they can wait a little
for the response to their queries. Therefore it is tough to decide as it totally
depends upon the nature of the customer and the time he/she is willing to
spend.

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Question 13:

Interpretation

As at Haldirams customers are much more than the employees and each
employee has a responsibility to serve a certain food item and handle that
counter. Still more than 50% people expect a personal attention as it makes
the customer feel better therefore we can say that employees should give
personal attention to their customers upto certain extent.

Question 14:

Interpretation

Haldirams currently serve operating hours from 08:00 am to 11:00 pm and

maximum customers arrive in these operating hours only. Around 63%
people agree that their operating hours are good enough but still a large
extent of people think that it should operate for more late hours as people

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feel hungry all time and since Haldirams has a good brand name it can
serve to more people at extended timings.

Question 15:

Interpretation

Since Haldirams is a very famous restaurant therefore we know that a large

amount of people arrive at daily basis though according to the stats still a
large amount of percentage of people disagree that it is unrealistic for
employees to know the needs of customers. Thus we can say that a lot of
customers demand for same things, therefore the employees should gain
some knowledge from it and should certainly know that what a customer
may demand for. Therefore the conclusion to this question of survey is that it
may not be unrealistic for employees to expect some common demands by
the customer.

GAPS INDENTIFIED

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As per the research questionnaire and data analysis we found certain GAPs
which are as follows:

Gap 1: Not knowing what customer expect.

It is not realistic for customers to expect prompt services

from employees of Haldirams.

Haldirams believes that customer dont seek for prompt services but
according to the survey we found that 48% of the people disagree and
believe that prompt service can be provided.

Gap 2: Not having the right service designs and standards

Seating Arrangements at Haldirams should be comfortable

Haldirams has the normal chairs for seating and not the sofas for
comfortable dinning .As the self service major Haldirams dont think to
provide sofas as the seating arrangement where as 23% of people expect to
have comfortable seating arrangements for quality-luxury service.

Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards.

Failure to meet supply with demand

One of the major problems seen at Haldirams is that at time of festival

Haldirams always goes out of stock which makes consumer angry and this is
the biggest gap because it can change the mind set of the consumer very
quickly.

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Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises

Ineffective management of customer expectation

Haldirams has failed to define the difference between the regular customer
and occasional customer. There is no management in regards to the
individual customer expectations. No discounts or rewards given to loyal
customer.

CONCLUSION
In this paper, service quality and its model of gaps were reviewed.
SERVQUAL methodology as an analytical approach for evaluating the
difference between customers' expectations and perceptions of quality was
also studied.

This paper gives an insight on various perspectives relating to service quality

and how important it is form the point of view of both customers and service
providers. The study of service quality will help the service provider to
understand the gaps between their perception of customer expectation and
the actual perceptions & expectations of customers. Service providers can
then try to improve their services as per the expectations & perceptions and
try to bridge the gap.

The measurement of service quality can provide specific data that can be
used in quality management; hence, service organizations would be able to
monitor and maintain quality service. Assessing service quality and better
understanding how various dimensions affect overall service quality would
enable organizations to efficiently design the service delivery process. By
identifying strengths and weaknesses pertaining to the dimensions of service
quality organizations can better allocate resources to provide better service
and ultimately better service to external customers.

Following are the conclusions which we could draw from our research in
context of fast food restaurant:

Along with the service quality customers these days are also expecting
appealing ambience in the restaurants they visit to make their
experience of the service even better.

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 Appearance of the employees is expected to be equally neat as the
restaurant.
Customers are busy with their schedule and therefore they expect the
time of opening and closing to be convenient for them.
Customers expect to get the services right the first time. This would
not only benefit the customers but would also increase the level of
reliability on the services provided by the restaurant.
Employees at the restaurants need to be reassuring and sympathetic
so that can instill confidence and assurance in the minds of the
customers for the services provided by them.
Services are expected to be delivered to the customers promptly,
failing which, could lead to shrinkage of customers tolerance zone.
Restaurants need to understand the needs of the customers so that
they can provide apt services accordingly and try to provide personal
attention to make their experience even better

With the help of the SERVQUAL model it is easier for the service providers to
identify the gaps between their perceptions and customers perceptions and
use the information to their advantage to bridge those gaps and provide best
possible services.

REFERENCES
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1993), "Research note: more
on improving service quality measurement", J ou r n a l o f R et a iling , Vol.
69, No. 1, pp. 140-147.

http://www.haldiram.com

Robinson, S. (1999), "Measuring service quality: current thinking and future

requirements", Marketing Intelligence & P lanning , Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 21-32.

A three-gap model of foreign transfers and the GDP growth rate in

developing countries EL Bacha - Journal of Development Economics, 1990
Elsevier

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 ANNEXURE

SERVQUAL QUESTIONS
A.1 The ambience at Haldirams should be visually appealing.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.2 The employees at Haldirams should be well dressed and appear neat.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.3 Materials associated (menu, ingredients etc.) associated with the service
should be visually appealing.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.4 Seating Arrangements at Haldirams should be comfortable.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.5 When Haldirams promises to do something by a certain time, they

should do so.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.6 When customers have problems, employees at Haldirams should be

sympathetic and reassuring.

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 i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.7 Haldirams should perform the service right the first time.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.8 Employees shouldnt be expected to tell customers exactly when service

will be performed.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.9 It is not realistic for customers to expect prompt services from

employees of Haldirams.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.10 Haldirams should instill confidence in customers.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.11 Customers should be able to feel safe in their transactions with

Haldirams.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.12 It is okay if the employees are too busy to respond to customers request
promptly.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.13 Employees cannot be expected to give customers personal attention.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

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A.14 Haldirams shouldnt be expected to have operating hours convenient
to all their customers.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

A.15 It is unrealistic to expect employees to know what the needs of their

customers are.

i) Strongly Agree ii) Agree iii) Disagree

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