Toward cost-effective service excellence: Exploring the relationship between managers’ perceptions of quality and the operational efficiency and profitability of restaurants

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships between managers’ perceptions of service quality, operational efficiency, and profitability. The DINESERV tool was applied to assess managers’ perceptions of service quality, and firms’ financial reports were used to analyze operational efficiency and profitability. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to analyze managers’ perceptions of quality, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to assess operational efficiency, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to assess the model. Results reveal that, according to managers’ beliefs, only three quality dimensions – empathy, assurance, and tangibles – are important for delivering high-quality services. Based on the results of DEA and SEM, four groups of restaurants were formulated: lower success and lower efficiency (A), higher success and higher efficiency (B), lower success and higher efficiency (C), and higher success and lower efficiency (D). Results reveal that managers’ perceptions of quality significantly vary depending on the level of operational efficiency and profitability.

Keywords:

• DINESERV
• efficiency
• profitability
• restaurant management
• service quality

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marko Kukanja

Marko Kukanja (PhD) has a doctorate degree in Quality Management. He is an assistant professor of tourism and hospitality management at the Faculty of Tourism Studies – TURISTICA, University of Primorska. His academic career is based on fifteen years of international business and managerial experience in tourism and hospitality industry. His main areas of research interest are Food & Beverage management, Quality Management, and tourism entrepreneurship. His research has been published in scholarly journals such as Total quality management & business excellence, E + M: economies and management, Tourism and hospitality management, and Academica Turistica: tourism & innovation journal, among others. He can be reached by email at: [email protected]

Tanja Planinc

Tanja Planinc (MSc) has a Master of Science degree from University of Primorska. She is a senior lecturer of business management at the Faculty of Tourism Studies – TURISTICA, University of Primorska. Her main areas of work are basics of accounting in tourism, business finance, and tourism economics. She is currently preparing her PhD thesis at University of Primorska, Faculty of Management. Her research has been published in the Tourism and hospitality management, Academica Turistica: tourism & innovation journal, and Tourism: an interdisciplinary journal.