Development and validation of an instrument for measuring total quality service

Total Quality Service (TQS) is a comprehensive approach in which the various critical factors of total quality management are integrated and implemented in a service organization to achieve customer satisfaction. In the current industrial scenario, more studies have been conducted on the quality management practices in the manufacturing industries than the service industries. The critical dimensions of quality management from the management's perspective have not yet been addressed completely in the service organizations. Hence, to fill the void, the present research work has been conducted in the service industries with specific reference to the automobile service stations. After an extensive literature survey, this research work has identified 12 dimensions as critical for implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in service industries. The importance of each of these dimensions is discussed in detail. An instrument for measuring TQS with specific reference to automobile service stations has been developed. Data have been collected from executives of automobile service stations in a developing economy. The instrument has been empirically tested for unidimensionality, reliability and convergent validity using the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The research work has found that all 12 critical dimensions in the instrument are independent and highly correlated among themselves. The present research work explains the critical dimensions of TQS and their implementation in a service industry effectively.