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Top1. Introduction
The measurement of the quality of services is not similar with the evaluation of the clients’ satisfaction. The specialists reckon that the quality of services is an attitude built through a general estimate of the long-term performance of the provider, while the clients’ satisfaction is a short-term measure, specific to the operations conducted by the provider. Militaru (2010) states that the consumer’s needs have to underlie the supply of the services and of designing of the providing system so that the providing society is able to supply a superior quality to its clients.
The clients’ expectations originate in their previous experiences, personal needs or in their conversations with other people, while the value of a service is perceived in other way by the client versus the service provider. For the client, value is the difference between the perceived value (the quality of the service) and the charged price (the money paid by the client, time that he spends in providing the service and the consumed energy) (Mantel & Meredith, 2011).
The evaluation of the quality of services is not only done during the service provision but also during the time prior to this provision stage. The client’s satisfaction in terms of a certain service is measured via the difference between the perception of the service (after its provision) and the initial expectations that the client had before benefitting from this service. Following this estimate, we can derive one of the below results:
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The perception upon the service is higher than the expectations, which means that we have a situation of exceeding the latter, thus leading to an exceptional quality;
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The perception upon the service is equal with the expectations, which means that the latter are confirmed, which is a situation of a satisfactory quality;
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The perception upon the service is below expectations, which means an unsatisfactory result where the expectations are not met, i.e. an unacceptable quality (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2008).
The overall goal of this paper consists in the identification of the dimensions of quality in the internet banking service ‘Home’ Bank (provided by ING Bank, N.V. Amsterdam, Bucharest branch) that need an improvement so that the gap between perceptions and expectations should close as much as possible.
The collection of data required for implementing this method of quality measurement in the Home’ Bank service was done via surveys sent to a sample of 50 clients.
Top2. Methodology
The QFD method (Quality Function Deployment) is a systemic approach that enables the incorporation of the consumers’ needs into the processes of services provision and products design.
Helzer and Render (2006) said that the QFD method is used for both designing/achieving a new product and improving an existent product, and also for the designing and provision of a new service or the improvement of an existent service. This method assumes the consumers’ preferences and needs and turns them into objectives for the organization.
The aim of the QFD method can be expressed by the three letters in the acronym from Quality Function Deployment:
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Quality refers to the clients’ desires that are transposed into the final result of the product/service;
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Function regards the organizational functions of the company manufacturing goods or services that corroborate in order to satisfy the clients’ needs;
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Deployment is a reference to the manner of development and how the activities on the verge of being measured and controlled are conducted.
The QFD method relies on a matrix that provides a frame for shifting the client’s satisfaction into identifiable and measurable specifications of conformity for the design of the good or service. A specific aspect of this method represents the analysis of the service or the good from only the perspective of the client, and not the service provider or the manufacturer of physical goods.