Centres of Excellence
AIM-Parasuraman Centres of Excellence
The services sector is a key driver of India’s economic growth. The sector contributed 55.39% to India’s Gross Value Added at current price in FY20. Services sector’s GVA grew at a CAGR of 1.45% to US$ 1,064.8 billion in FY20 from US$ 1,005 billion in FY16.
The aspirational vision for the Centre is to serve as a catalyst for bringing together and facilitating interactions among academic scholars, companies and students (would-be managers or scholars down the road) with the goal of promoting and nurturing service excellence in multiple areas. This Centre can be envisioned as a three-pillared structure, with the Centre’s vision atop the structure and supported by three interlinked pillars: (a) research scholars from academic institutions, (b) practitioners from various sectors and (c) students being trained at academic institutions. The focus is on knowledge creation, dissemination and implementation in the Services domain.
Dr. A Parasuraman, one of the foremost authorities of services marketing globally, is leading and mentoring this initiative.
In order to help organizations derive competitive advantage through service quality, the Centre has launched India’s first ‘Index of Service Excellence’ (iSEI), in the E-Commerce and Banking sectors, to begin with.
JAGSoM Unveils Index of Service Excellence in India 2023
The AIM-Parasuraman Centre for Service Excellence, at The Jagdish Sheth School of Management, unveiled the Index of Service Excellence in India (iSEI) 2023 Report on December 20, 2023, at an event attended by industry leaders and marketing scholars of global repute from schools like Yale, Texas A&M & INSEAD.
With the service sector contributing to nearly 55% of India’s GDP, the service revolution has shown that industrialization is not the only route to rapid economic development. In this context the AIM-Parasuraman Centre recognized the need to formulate a measurement standard for service excellence in India that could help organizations get a holistic measure of how they are performing in comparison to their peers in their sector. The iSEI is a measure that is theoretically anchored, methodologically rigorous, and tested by a team led by Dr. A Parasuraman, the global guru of service marketing. The objective is to over time establish the iSEI as the “JD Powers of the Service Industry” and use it to make “Service Excellence as Growth Driver” an area of conscious deliberation in board rooms, CXO suites and academia, and help achieve levels of customer service in India that is among the best in the world.
In the 2023 study four sectors Automotive Service, Retail Banking, E-Commerce (Grocery) and E- Commerce (Apparel) were covered. The study was pan-India with a sample size of 6600 respondents across mega-metros, metros and mini-metros. As per the findings in the 2023 study the following companies stood out for Service Excellence and were recognized at the event.
Retail Banking (Public Sector Banks):
Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank & Union Bank of India
Retail Banking (Private Banks):
HDFC Ltd. & HSBC India
Automotive (Passenger Cars):
Kia India & Skoda Auto India
E Commerce (Grocery):
Amazon India & Zepto
E Commerce (Apparel):
Ajio, Tata Cliq & Myntra
Professor A. Parasuraman, Emeritus Professor, University of Miami, Mentor, AIM-Parasuraman Centre for Service Excellence, JAGSoM Pro-Chancellor (Academics), Vijaybhoomi University in his presentation explained, “Service excellence in India thrives on understanding customer needs, bridging gaps, and fostering experiences. Embracing systematic efforts like the service excellence index is vital, empowering companies to measure and elevate service quality. The conceptual framework, GAPS Model, and SERVQUAL Scale, E-service quality serve as guiding lights. Reflecting on 2023’s Pan India study, core dimensions like tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurances, and empathy define service excellence. Notably, closing internal gaps and aligning organizational insights with customer expectations pave the way. Companies leveraging the ISEI for in-depth analysis and applying Gaps Model internally foster service excellence.” The chief guest of the event, Mr. Kamal Bali, President and Managing director of Volvo group India, expressed his thoughts at JAGSOM’s ‘Service of Excellence Awards. “In the journey of excellence, we measure our strides, knowing that what gets measured gets done. Speaking about the service sectors, it contributes almost 55% to the country’s GDP. What will last in the Indian market is transforming products and brands into lasting services providers.
India is on track to becoming the 3rd largest world economy because India’s – GDP has grown at a rate of 7.7% as opposed to the assumed rate of 6.4 to 6.8 %. Every company will eventually morph into a digital / tech company, with data privacy and security as the new oil, the ones who capture today’s trends will evolve and lead in the upcoming decades.”
The iSEI will be an annual study and in 2024 the plan is to add three additional sectors: Airlines, Insurance and Health Care.
