Managing quality in information services

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Rowley, Jennifer

Affiliations: School of Management and Social Sciences, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk, L39 4QP, UK

Abstract: In any environment where a service is being provided for customers it is appropriate to seek to monitor and enhance service quality. TQM (Total Quality Management) is an approach that has been widely adopted for enhancing service quality. This article explores some of the issues associated with the implementation of TQM in the service environment, as they might apply to information services. In implementing TQM in this environment it is necessary to establish some basic definitions by answering questions such as ‘what is quality?’, ‘who are our customers?’ and ‘how can quality be measured?’. The SERVQUAL instrument has been widely tested as a means of measuring service quality. The article takes the opportunity to review briefly the literature concerned with measuring service quality as a forum in which to explore the concept of service quality.

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-1996-16106

Journal: Information Services & Use, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 51-61, 1996