Title: Design of house of quality using SERVQUAL and QFD for service quality improvement: a case of Bahir Dar city hotels

Authors: Ibrahim Abdulkerim; Muralidhar Avvari; Tomas Cherkos

Addresses: Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia ' Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia ' Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyse and measure the current service quality of Bahir Dar city hotels and design a house of quality to improve the service quality and competitiveness. SERVQUAL and quality function deployment (QFD) models are employed as a service quality measurement, design and customer satisfaction improvement tools. After prioritising customer needs, competitive assessments of hotel services were done from the customers' perspective using house of quality (HoQ). As a result of the differences between expectations and perceptions, service quality gaps are revealed in all hotel service quality dimensions. Generally, the results revealed that the overall hotels' services quality levels are bellow customers' expectations. According to the findings, technical requirements important to enhance service quality and meet customer satisfaction are identified and prioritised. Finally, a house of quality is designed to improve the service quality and competitiveness of hotels.

Keywords: service quality; customer satisfaction; SERVQUAL; quality function deployment; QFD; house of quality; HoQ; hotel service; Bahir Dar City; quality design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMS.2019.100996

International Journal of Applied Management Science, 2019 Vol.11 No.3, pp.277 - 293

Received: 10 Feb 2018
Accepted: 16 Jul 2018
Published online: 22 Jul 2019 *

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