Assessing the quality of service delivery by South African consulting engineers

Consulting Engineers provide a service that falls between tangible and intangible. The technicalproduct is strictly controlled by design and quality management standards, rendering it generallyhomogeneous across consulting organisations. The manner in which the product is delivered,therefore, offers a consulting engineer with a means of achieving differentiation between companiesin this mature industry. Assessing the quality of service delivered by South African Consultants isthe objective of this research.A number of service quality measurement instruments are available. This research adopted thecontemporary SERVQUAL instrument, measuring the Zone-of-Tolerance between minimumacceptable service and desired (or expected) service levels and comparing this to perceptions ofservice actually delivered. The results of the questionnaire were analysed by correspondenceanalysis, rescaled to ordinal data and then processed through a factor analysis. The results of thefactor analysis were then clustered by K-Means clustering. Normality and reliability weredetermined by an algorithmic data fitting process, as the survey sample was small.This research demonstrates the disconnect that occur in service industries, where the provider andconsumer of the service do not have the same understanding or degrees of expectation regarding thelevel of service to be delivered. There are clear gaps between client expectations and consultingorganisations principals’ perceptions of service requirements. The research also shows that clients donot generally rate service delivery as meeting much more than minimum standards. “Reliability”,“Assurance” and “Communication” are identified as being the three most important underlyingdimensions that impact on service quality.These findings emphasise the need for consulting engineering principals to interact more closely withclients, to determine what is important before providing a service. Communication of problems,together with solution proposals and cost estimates, at an early stage is considered critical to clients.Regular project management is also considered essential and is an area of service perceived lackingby clients.Further research in other service industries is needed to confirm these findings. A longitudinal studytracking changes in perception would also greatly increase knowledge in this field