This process measure has two purposes. First, it measures effectiveness by determining if the process provides what the customer needs. Second, it provides a baseline to determine if the process is improving. An output measure is a measure of the entire system's performance. It measures the explicit tangible good or service provided.
Most services gather and report some type of output measure.
An example might be the number of soil analyses returned to the customer within five days. The challenge for the service manager is to ensure that the measures used by the firm evaluate output that actually matters to the customer. The end customer satisfaction measure evaluates the customer's overall satisfaction with the system output. It is difficult to measure customer satisfaction, but it is necessary to ensure that both the output measures and the internal process measures are appropriate. Quality in the Extension Service Many soil analysis laboratories, following the organizational structure of the Extension Services, deliver services through field offices as shown in Figure 2.