Service Quality in New York City Fine-Dining Establishments: How the Values, Principles, and Practices of Service Excellence are Learned, Shared, and Applie

Providing quality service is a major challenge in the hospitality industry. Service failure is a primary reason for customer dissatisfaction, lack of patronage, and ultimately business failure. This dissertation explored what constitutes and influences service excellence in restaurants using an organizational learning and system dynamics lens. The purpose of the mixed-methods study was to explore how the values, principles, and practices of service excellence are learned, shared, and applied in New York City fine-dining establishments. A key assumption in this research was that service quality can be improved, and if people really understand the factors that contribute to its improvement, such knowledge can make a difference in the industry's level of productivity and profit.;This mixed-methods, multiple case comparative research studied fine-dining establishments in two phases. In the first phase, I conducted semi-structured interviews with restaurant owners, leaders, and managers in eight fine-dining establishments that are known for high service standards in New York City. In the second phase, I initially surveyed a broader number of employees using service climate items in four fine dining restaurants in Manhattan, and then conducted eight semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key employees, such as server captains or hostesses. The findings showed that service climate was strong in these establishments. These establishments understand that in order to rise above others, they need to create systems to strengthen the connections they make with their guests, and service recovery is an excellent opportunity to do this. These restaurants know that the technical aspects of service and consistency are important, but in order to exceed expectations, they must also tackle the emotional component of service.;The study provides a base for future qualitative research addressing system-level learning with multiple variables. The researcher concluded that thoughtful leadership, service climate enhancement practices, learning strategies, psychological safety, product differentiation, and a culture that understands service failure and service recovery are all essential to service excellence. A recommendation for future research is a replication of this study in other segments of the industry, such as independent-casual establishments. Casual restaurants do not necessarily have the same resources and priorities, and a comparison of those findings with the findings from this study would help to understand service excellence more broadly in the hospitality field.