ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issues of the International Standards Organization (ISO) quality standards and the service industry. It shows that the structure of the ISO 9001 is indeed applicable to the service industry and provides the building blocks of a quality system for all service organization. The successful application of service quality management provides significant opportunities for improved service performance and customer satisfaction; improved productivity, efficiency, and cost reduction; and improved market share. The ISO 9004 guidelines provide the basic blocks of quality for all services and encourage them to focus on customer satisfaction. The guidelines provide a systematic path of defining service, delivery, and how the organization can go about improving the quality system in the short and long term. It is important to recognize the service, quality, and delivery specifications during the design. Specific considerations may include: planning for variations, carrying out a “what if” scenario with both systematic and random failures, and developing contingency plans.
