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Providers of professional services recently have awakened to consumer challenges, competition, and the realities of marketing. With these changes, a related and equally important issue has emerged—service quality and evaluating the service encounter. Using medical services as the primary study setting, the authors explore the concept of professional services quality and its evaluation from both the provider and client perspectives. They use gap analysis as an appropriate approach for examining the evaluation of a professional service. The findings provide special empirical insights on the gaps that can arise from inconsistent perceptions of expectations and experiences between patients and physicians. Finally, both managerial and research implications are presented.

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In recent years, many business schools have developed integrative programs in response to a number of internal and external factors. Although the exact nature of these programs varies, a significant common element is a desire to impart to students appreciation, knowledge, and skills for cross-functional business situations. This article focuses on marketing’s key role. With its rich history on drawing from and contributing to other academic disciplines, marketing is in a powerful position to serve an important role in guiding and binding together other areas in an integrated program. The article provides guidance and background to marketing academicians, which allows them to add integrated components to existing classes and/or programs or begin the design of an integrated program.