Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process as a Tool for Assessing Service Quality

Continuous quality improvement through process refinement is a must for survival of all industries in the contemporary market place. This is true for both manufacturing and service sectors. While manufacturing has spearheaded quality efforts, the service sector has lagged behind primarily because of inherent difficulties. Customer satisfaction is perhaps the most important performance measure for service quality. There are a number of quality dimensions in service quality, such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. An issue of concern is 'how can one have a unified measure of service quality across all the dimensions?' The intent of this paper is to determine if the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method could be used to derive a single quality index. AHP is a quantitative technique that structures a multi-attribute, multi-person and multi-period problem hierarchically so that solutions are facilitated. This paper presents the development of an AHP model and the derivation of a Quality Index through it. The model is used in a hypothetical case and a quality index was developed. The advantages of using such a technique are discussed.