Environmental and positional antecedents of management commitment to service quality: A conceptual framework

Service quality has become an issue of concern to researchers, managers and government in recent years. While a growing mass of literature seeks to understand, explain and enhance business' performance on quality, little attention has been paid to studying the impact on quality of factors arising out of the firm's environment and position. This paper attempts to explore the antecedents of management commitment to service quality by examining aspects of the firm's environment and position. These antecedents are identified, and a conceptual framework linking them to management commitment to service quality through a set of intervening variables is presented. Propositions and a research agenda are also offered.