Service Quality Gap in Radisson SAS Hotels and Resorts - Dissertation Example

The paper “Service Quality Gap in Radisson SAS Hotels and Resorts” is a perfect example of a marketing dissertation. In today's environment service quality is likely to create the necessary competitive advantage by being an effective differentiating factor. Delivering quality service is an essential ingredient for establishing a loyal and profitable customer base and stock performance (Aaker and Jacobson, 1994).

Once the importance and impact of service quality in business literature were recognized, the focus of study passed through a certain evolution, from exploring and reviewing internal performance issues towards external aspects such as customers’ expectations and perception of service quality. Although numerous efforts have been made to uncover various dimensions of service quality, researchers of this field are still in search of common ground. The absence of a universal approach and unified vision of service quality is caused by the complexity of quality phenomena. As Pirsig (1974, cited in Vandermerwe, 1993) states it is impossible to put forward a common point of reference when an individual’s assessment is based on feelings, personal associations, and the relationship of an individual to the offering.

The present study explores the service quality gap between customers’ expectations and perception of service quality in UK hotels. The importance of service quality issues as the strong differentiating factor in hospitality makes the study field be acute not only within present but also future context.

The study examines the current state of academic and practical achievements in quality-related areas. It starts with reviewing the notion of service quality. The understanding of quality dimensions is crucially important as it provides an anchor to measure the performance of a particular company. The success of a company in creating a competitive advantage relies on the effective and efficient utilization of its resources. Service quality context introduces an important condition for resource management: a certain set of activities might contribute to an overall success more than others, because of customers’ attachment to particular service quality items.