Service Quality Management in Catering Industry

by

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Research1

Aim and Objectives3

Significance of the Study4

Theoretical Framework5

Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction5

Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Employee Attitudes7

Managing Employees8

Service Quality in Hospitality Industry9

Service Quality in Catering Industry10

Measuring Service Quality11

Gronroos11

Lehtinen and Lehtinen12

Measurement of Service Quality using SERVQUAL13

Difference or Variation of SERVQUAL14

Measurement of service quality in restaurants with the help of SERVQUAL15

Behavioural Consequences of Perceived Service Quality16

Role of Perceptions and Attitude in Determining the Service Quality19

Customer Attitude towards Hotels20

Hotels Services20

Effectiveness of Good Customer Service Management21

REFERENCES22

Questionnaire for the Service Quality regarding SERVQUAL on five dimensions31

Questions on the 1st dimension31

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Research

Food industry is one of the most competitive industries in the UK. The Catering business is also experiencing competition in the UK. The Catering Industry is growing at a rapid pace throughout the world. It no longer remains a household affair where a mom used to cook for her children and husband in whatever ways possible. The industry has grown manifolds and has become one of the chief industrial and business segments of the world. The industry of Catering earns annual revenues of more than a trillion dollars and has been the focus of economic activities throughout the globe. While the importance of Catering's hygienic preparation and consumption has gained substantial importance in recent times, different production and service systems relating to the same industry has been devised to incorporate health food production and distribution practices that can result in nutrition and health of every consumer. The catering industry has been the mainstay in any country's economy. Whether it is the genetic and bio tech companies, chemical and pesticide firms, restaurants, hotels, inns, or even supermarkets like Kroger, Costco and Wal-Mart; each industry and business segment revolves around Caterings (Wang, 2011, pp. 119).

If we take a look on the global agricultural scene, we will find out that about 200 million metric tons of grains and 400 million metric tons of meat are being produced. These raw materials are then processed in the Catering factories and finally their marketing and merchandizing takes place. In this process a variety of foods and beverages are produced. Like any other industry, technological advances have transformed the look of food industries and brought changes in the way the food is produced, processed, packaged, transported, purchased and cooked. Methods have been successfully devised to reduce the wastage and spoilage of foods and beverages and technologies like refrigerated containers and modern means of transportation have significantly helped in preserving the desired quality of Catering for the end-consumer. Moreover, globalisation has extended the reach of food industries to a dozen other countries and has led to the formation of many multinational and international food processing chains (Littler and Melanthiou, 2006, pp. 431).

Variety of markets are included in the Catering industry. These markets range from local food producers to the international manufacturers and managers, making the markets vary dramatically depending on the company. Moreover, complex supply chain systems, regulations and international pressures are key factors ...