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A. The concept of quality in services

The quality means different things for different persons depending on their experience and their position in an organization, thus, even though the preoccupations for quality appeared from the very beginning of humankind, only in the 20th century a spectacular evolution of the actions and the concepts regarding quality was brought forth.

The modern concept of quality is based on four fundamental rules : the defining of quality, the prevention, zero defects and the measurement.

The definitions given to this concept take into consideration the two distinct aspects : the objective aspect of quality that represents the conformity degree of a process or of its results with a predetermined set of criteria considered essential for the final value that this one furnishes; the subjective aspect of quality represents the level of the perceived value reported to the person that benefits of the process or its result.

The ISO 8402 standard defines quality as representing “the set of characteristics of an entity, that confers itself the aptitude to satisfy the expressed and implicit needs”.

According to this definition :

- the quality is not expressed through a single characteristic, but through a set of characteristics;

- the quality is not standing-alone, it exists only in relation with the clients’ needs;

- the quality is a continuous and not discrete variable;

- through quality not only the expressed needs, but also the implicit ones must be satisfied.

The quality of a product/service is judged according to the promises and the results.

The quality in services is a problem of equilibrium, being composed of three components :

- the level of the service offered, corresponding to the strategies offered by the firm;

- the expectations of the client;

- the real service offered, as it is picked up by the beneficiary.

The quality can be studied under purely theoretical aspects also, on some hypothetical bases that can be very important in its estimation. Thus we can say about the quality of some merchandise that is an inherent aspect of the merchandise in itself, no matter if we can measure it or not.

The quality of services differentiates itself from the quality of the products because of the following elements :

- the indicators through which the quality of services is measured are not as exact as the ones of the products, this meaning that the appreciation of the services is not always clear;

- the service is characterized through a big degree of variability;

- the clients’ revolt is way bigger in the case when the service’s quality is low, reported to the one of the products.

The services’ quality is appreciated through its essential characteristics perceived by the client. From the researches on the quality of the services, the following characteristics have been identified : trust, sensibility, competence, politeness, communication, credibility, security, knowledge and understanding of the clients.

Referring to the quality of the services, Panasuraman, Zeithmal and Berry identified the following five potential gaps between :

1. the expectations of the consumers and the perception of the leadership;

2. the expectations of the consumers perceived by the leadership and the characteristics of the quality of the service;

3. the characteristics of the quality and the delivery of the services;

4. the delivery of the service and what the consumer is told about this service;

5. the expectations of the consumers and their perceptions about the actual quality of the service.

The services represent correspondents of some needs at least as numerous as the needs of material goods, but with a more complex and more heterogeneous character. Knowing the essence and the structure of these needs is a priority when it comes to define the quality.

The offer of services has its peculiarities conferred to a great extent by the immaterial character of many of them. The problematic of the environment has numerous incidence zones with the zone of services, and defining quality can only be done by taking it into account.

The clients are and will be more and more exigent. In order to be able to satisfy their expectations, more or less fluctuant, the achievement of performance in the most strict sense possible is imposed.

The services are distinguished through four characteristics :

a. Their immaterial form or intangibility. Through their nature the services are immaterial (invisible) and consequently intangible. As compared to the physical products, they can not be seen, tasted, palpated or heard before their consumption. An example in this respect are the touristical services, especially when they are purchased in advance from an agency of tourism, the purchaser having the possibility of enjoying the respective services only when he arrives at destination.

In order to diminish the sentiment of incertitude when confronted with the alternatives of purchase, the clients orient themselves towards the evidence of the services’ quality through symbols, marks, brands, photographs, price/tariff, or other means of communication.

The services tenderer’s duty is to monitor this evidence of the quality, to make tangible the intangible through abstract ideas, cultivating the image of the service.

The mentioned tangibility can be realized through a series of helpful physical elements that are put at the firms’ disposition :