This paper begins by explaining the new context in which public services are delivered and why improving service quality is especially relevant. The SERVQUAL model has been used in a number of public service environments to assess quality of service provision in terms of what consumers expect and what they actually receive. A particular advantage of SERVQUAL is that it is a tried and tested instrument which can be used comparatively for benchmarking purposes. The two service case examples featured in this paper illustrate the use of the SERVQUAL instrument to improve both process management and strategic planning in North Lanarkshire Council. Expectations, perceptions and gap scores are compared and their significance interpreted.

ISO certification is expected to help organisations to enhance quality and efficiency, improve communications, achieve competitive advantage and an increase in market share, reduce costs and achieve a higher stock price. This paper presents the results of a study to identify management attitudes towards ISO 9001:2000. To realise this goal, a sample consisting of 38 managing directors (MD) in Egypt was obtained. Results indicated that Egyptian organisations have a high level of understanding of the purpose of ISO certification. The main motivators behind the implementation of certified quality system in Egypt were to improve the efficiency of the quality system, and to cope with pressures from competitors/foreign partners. The principal perceived benefits of ISO 9001: 2000 for Egyptian organisations include improved documentation, improved efficiency of the quality system and more effective supplier selection.

This paper continues to test the hypothesis as to the applicability of the Servqual model to the public sector. Research was undertaken using the model to assess the quality of three different types of physiotherapy service provision in Dundee, Scotland. The findings indicate that the services were much appreciated by patients in spite of the perceptions‐minus‐expectations scores being slightly negative. Information relating to patients’ conditions could be improved and, as has been found in previous similar healthcare research, the dimensions of assurance and empathy were highlighted as important. A critique of the Servqual model pinpoints and confirms certain weaknesses that need to be addressed but the study nonetheless confirms the potential usefulness and relevance of Servqual in the public sector context to determine consumer priorities and measure service performance.

Given the emphasis in today's environment on customer focus, stakeholders' interests, public-sector organisational performance and other methods of assessment are employed to address issues in the new public management and prevailing managerialism in measurement of public-sector organisations around the world. Therefore, many public-sector organisations have been encouraged to implement benchmarking as one way of satisfying the government's requirement that public organisations provide best-value services. In order to achieve best-value services in public-sector organisations, benchmarking is considered to be a vital management tool and benchmarking has been used widely in private-sector organisations. This paper focuses on providing a critical view of benchmarking to provide best-value services to taxpayers and local businesses. The paper emphasises that, in order for benchmarking to be successful in public-sector organisations, it is important to have a full commitment to continuous improvement, an ability to learn from others, and a commitment to implement improvement.

No abstract