Assessing service quality in schools of business

Business schools are under mounting pressure to decrease the cost of delivering education while improving programmes and services for students. Total quality management (TQM) provides a way to improve quality while reducing costs. However, since TQM involves fact‐based continuous improvement, data must be collected to allow for measurement of current levels of student and faculty satisfaction. Uses SERVQUAL, an instrument for measuring service quality, to assess both the quality and importance of each of the dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy, at two universities in the north‐east region of the USA. Also tests for agreement between the views of faculty (providers) and students (consumers). Finally, demonstrates how SERVQUAL may be used as a tool for benchmarking performance in order to improve service quality.