Closing the Gap
Individual Project Milestone 3: Closing the Gap
Now it’s time for you to discuss why (provider gaps) your company has failed to provide
desirable service offerings and propose solutions to the company. Here is the recommended
outline for this assignment:
1. Provider Gaps – “Why did it happen?”
- Please select at least one provider gap that could lead to the customer gap, and briefly
discuss how this provider gap is responsible. Is your customer gap due to inadequate
amount of listening (provider gap 1), improper service standards and design (provider gap
2), lack of performance (provider gap 3), or improper external communication (provider
gap 4)?
- Please note that you are mostly speculating here, with limited evidence (doesn’t mean
that you have no clue at all). Customer gap is about how customers expect and perceive
the service, which we can examine with our marketing research. However, provider gaps
are mostly about what is happening internally in the company, which is difficult to find
out. However, we can speculate with our observations and what we learn about the Gaps
Model. You can discuss any provider gap you want, as long as your discussion makes
sense. For example, if you identify lack of performance (provider gap 3) as the major
provider gap while talking about external communication (provider gap 4), that would be
wrong and not acceptable.
2. Recommendations (based on the 7Ps) – “What should we do?”
- Please come up with at least one initiative to close the customer gap (based on the
7Ps). You do not need to discuss all 7Ps. Please, select the one(s) relevant to your
customer gap. For example, if your customer gap stems from a low perceived value, you
should discuss Price among the 7Ps, and you shouldn’t discuss action plans aimed at
closing a gap on healthy choices. In other word, don’t abandon your gaps when it comes
to solutions.
Finally, it is very important for you to pay attention to your writing.
- Please write up a double-spaced, 1 to 2-page (excluding the cover page and a list of
references) report using Times New Roman 12pt font and standard margins.
- Your assignment should be professionally prepared with appropriate citations (must cite
all sources used), professional-looking charts and graphs (if needed) and free from
grammar and spelling errors.
- It is fine to use bullet points in some sections for the sake of clarity. However, you should
be able to write your analysis in a report style. Please don’t use bullet points throughout
the paper.
Date
Closing the Gap
1. Provider Gaps – "Why did it happen?"
The gap model helps inconsistencies in an organization and evaluating how they affect the quality of the service. Closing the gap at McDonald's in Asia, one of the producer gaps is the service performance gap, which occurs when there is a discrepancy between what is promised and what is delivered. Like theater customer gaps, the difference between what the customers expect and their perception of what they receive indicates the gap (Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė et al. 421). Issues with service performance affect service quality, and when there is good customer service, it is more likely that there will be customer purchase reinvention and customer loyalty. As the firm has not met the customers' specifications, this explains why the customers perceive that the service encounters do not meet their expectations.
Another issue is communication with the customers, concerned that there is a slow response to their needs and feedback when required. The waiters, waitresses, and service attendants do not necessarily inform the customers about the changes required to provide service. Failure to provide information about the products and service delivery is a concern. The customers expect open communication where there is the provision of prompt and efficient services. Effective communication indicates intent and what to expect to convey information. The lack of effective communication creates problems, yet, it is expected there is clarity on what needs to be done. The lack of trust in communication is one of the issues that make communication less effective as it affects how the customers interpret the messages.
2. Recommendations
The servers need to be open with the customers informing them about how long it will take to serve them if they are informed about meeting their needs...