Prioritizing quality attributes using I-S Gap analysis

Purpose: To obtain the area for improvement, the Importance-Performance analysis(IPA) uses relatively simple questions, that is, satisfaction and importance at attribute level. However, no attempt has been made to consider the gap between own company's performance and those of competitors in IPA, in the field of quality management. This study is aimed to suggest a new prioritizing method for improvement and to test for validity of the proposed technique. Methods: This study used data collected from Song and Lim(2015), which is satisfaction of employees, customers and competitors as well as importance data for 7 quality attributes of K animal hospital. A correlation comparison with other priority methods such as Bacon(2003)'s model and Matzler and Hinterhuber(1998)'s QI index is conducted. Results: The priority results by the proposed method shows better in correlation coefficient with customer perceived priority for improvement than other methods. Conclusion: From the result of the current study, it can be concluded that the result of the proposed method is valid, while it is relatively easy to understand and analyze, and therefore no additional survey is necessary for improvement priority.