Managerial practices to sustain service quality: an empirical investigation of New Zealand service firms

A firm’s success in the marketplace is not confirmed by attaining the goal of market leadership, but in sustaining that leadership through the consistent delivery of superior quality service. This research examines three groups of strategies (service quality control practices, service measurement practices and service maintaining practices) adopted by service firms in New Zealand as a means to promote a sustainable and superior quality of service. Also considered in this research is the impact of a number of independent variables, in particular, number of years in business, firm size and type of sector (public or private) on the implementation of such strategies. Empirical findings from this study clearly indicate that sustaining service quality is identified by managers of service firms as one of the most important strategic agenda. However, many of the success proven practices are not utilized by smaller firms.