Development and Validation of a Perceived Business Quality Measurement Instrument

Abstract

The objective of this article is to propose a methodology for the construction and validation of a measurement instrument for perceived business quality (PBQ). To this end, the authors first suggest the development of the PBQ concept. Second, based on the methods of service quality measurement, the authors develop and validate a measurement instrument through the use of the structural equations models methodology.

Final results point to the existence of three dimensions on PBQ: perceived product quality, perceived service quality, and business orientation toward quality. These three dimensions, although correlated, appear as differentiated traits of PBQ. Furthermore, with regard to the measurement instrument, several different tests show the existence of a high degree of reliability and construct validity, which justifies its suitability as a measurement of PBQ. It will allow the practitioner to evaluate the business quality level and use it to test the influence of business quality on customer behavior (consequents) and the determinants of business quality (antecedents).

• construct validity
• perceived business quality
• reliability
• structural equations models

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juan Carlos Bou Llusar

Juan Carlos Bou Llusar is a professor of management and organization of Universitat Jaume I. He earned a doctorate in business administration from the Universitat Jaume I. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). His primary areas of research cover total quality management and business strategy. In this area he has focused on the relationship between quality strategy and competitive business strategies, the development of measurement instruments of main quality constructs this article belongs to this research line), and the influence of the implementation of quality policies on manufacturing, organizational, strategic, and human resource flexibility. He is the main researcher of the Total Quality Management and Strategy Research Group at the Universitat Jaume I. He has published in several international quality journals such as International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management and Total Quality Management. He may be contacted at the Deportment of Business Administration and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I, Campus Riu Sec S/N, 12002, Castellón, Spain, or by e-mail [email protected].

Cesar Camison Zornoza

Cesar Camison has a doctorate in economic and business sciences. He is currently a professor at the Universitat Jaume I in Spain. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Universitá Commerciale Luigi Bocconi de Milán, and the University of Surrey. Camison is director of strategy, Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning Research Group. He is also director and founding member of Valencian Knowledge Management and Innovation Club, an interest group of the most principal Valencian enterprises as Lladró, Panama Jack, or Chocolates Valor. He has managed and developed more than 40 European and Spanish research projects. Camison is the author, coauthor, or coordinator of 26 books and more than 150 articles and papers. He can be reached at Universitat Jaume I, Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Campus Riu Sec, 12071 Castellón, Spain, or by e-mail at [email protected].