Cornerstones of Cost Management 2nd Edition by Don Hansen ,Maryanne Mowen

Exercise 64

Quality Definition and Quality Costs
Quality attributes such as performance and aesthetics are important to customers. Performance refers to how consistently and how well a product functions. Aesthetics is concerned with the appearance of tangible products as well as the appearance of the facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials associated with services.
Required:
1. Do you agree that aesthetics is an important quality dimension for services? Use dental services as the framework for providing your response.
2. For services, performance can be more carefully defined by expanding its definition to include responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Describe what you think is meant by these three characteristics as applied to service quality.