The Incompleteness Theorem of Service Quality Measurement
The Limitations of quantitative business excellence
assessments
Peter PrevosManager Land Development, Coliban Water (Bendigo,
Australia)PhD Candidate, La Trobe University (Melbourne,
Australia)
The Measurement Axiom
What you measure is what you get
Welch, J. (2001). Straight from the gut. Warmer Books.
The Theorem
Any effectively generated system capable of measuring service
quality cannot be both complete and consistent.
The incompleteness theorem will be illustrated using examples
from the tap water perspective.
Tap Water Services
Physical ParametersPressureService failure (no pressure)
PurityBiological
Chemical
Measuring water purity is a scientific process.
Tap Water Services
Subjective customer experienceSurveys
Taste testing
The customer experience is inherently subjective.
Service Quality
The total perceived quality (Based on: Christiaan Grnroos
1990).
ExpectedQualityExperiencedQualityTotal Perceived QualityMarket
Communication
Image
Word-of-Mouth
Customer Needs
Technical Quality: WhatFunctionalQuality: HowImage
Measurement Understanding
Too often we measure everything and understand nothing
Welch, J. (2001). Straight from the gut. Warmer Books.
What does this mean?
QuantitativeNecessary but not sufficient condition
QualitativeInherently subjective
Narratives of customer experience
Any specific suite of quantitative service quality targets can
not measure all aspects. Qualitative assessments are required to
understand customers.
InvisibleWater.org
