Gap1: Customers’ expectations versus management perceptions: as a result of the lack of a
marketing research orientation, inadequate upward communication and too many layers of
management.
· Gap2: Management perceptions versus service specifications: as a result of inadequate
commitment to service quality, a perception of unfeasibility, inadequate task standardisation and an
absence of goal setting.
· Gap3: Service specifications versus service delivery: as a result of role ambiguity and conflict,
poor employee-job fit and poor technology-job fit, inappropriate supervisory control systems, lack of
perceived control and lack of teamwork.
· Gap4: Service delivery versus external communication: as a result of inadequate horizontal
communications and propensity to over-promise.
· Gap5: The discrepancy between customer expectations and their perceptions of the service
delivered: as a result of the influences exerted from the customer side and the shortfalls (gaps) on the
part of the service provider. In this case, customer expectations are influenced by the extent of
personal needs, word of mouth recommendation and past service experiences.
· Gap6: The discrepancy between customer expectations and employees’ perceptions: as a result
of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations by front-line service providers.
· Gap7: The discrepancy between employee’s perceptions and management perceptions: as a
result of the differences in the understanding of customer expectations