Before we move to the definitions of quality, let's first undertake a brief review on the differences between goods and services. The difference is fairly easy to understand. For example, when we go to an appliance shop, we will look for goods such as a television, or a washing machine. On the other hand, when we are not feeling well, we go to see doctor and this is a service. As I'm sure you can imagine, there are some key differences between goods and services. Table 0.1 summarizes these key differences for you.
| Goods | Services |
|---|---|
| Tangible | Intangible |
| Standardized | Personalized |
| Production seperated from consumption | Simultaneous production and consumption |
| Nonperishable | Perishable |
Let's go over each of the attributes that allow us to differentiate between goods and services. Goods are something that exists physically, while for services you may not receive a physical item in return for your purchase. As such, services cannot be easily catalogued, displayed or priced — thus, they are considered intangible. If you think about it, when we go to buy goods, we can state the requirements with measurable parameters. Producers can standardize the outputs of goods within tolerance. However, no two services may be identical. The performance in terms of smiling, courtesy, helpfulness and etc. of two waiters from the same restaurant may be quite different. In fact, even the performance of the same waiter may be different at different times if there are more customers in peak hours. Services also tend to be personalized, and depend on human interaction which is difficult to ensure in terms of consistency. Goods, on the other hand, can be produced and used later. That is, we can produce goods, store them and send them to customers when they require the goods. However, services are consumed while they are produced. That is, customers and service providers participate in the process at the same time. In addition, services are perishable in the sense that they cannot be stored, resold, saved or returned. This means that the synchronization of the supply and demand of services can be difficult.
As a whole, the quality of services is more difficult to measure and control in comparison to goods. However, while there are differences between goods and services, we cannot separate them clearly in our daily life. It is hard to have pure goods or services. For example, when we buy a television from an appliance shop, we are usually not only influenced by the product itself as the service of the shop's staff is one of factors influencing why we choose a particular appliance shop. Or consider a doctor, who will prescribe medicine to patients, so this not purely a service she is providing. In this module, we will use the word product to represent both goods and service.
Let's try 1.3.2 Activity 1.1 and read the 1.3.2.1 Activity 1.1 feedback.
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