Standardization Efforts in Small Businesses: The Pre Saga of Standardization of Services in Malaysian SMEs

Services are products or ways businesses differentiate from others to attract customers. Characteristics of service, which include intangibility, perishability, and dependence on individuals who perform the services, make it valuable asset and competitive advantage to firm when well-managed. It is crucial for quality services to be preserved through standardization though there are different individuals who bring customers through service experiences. Service standardization involves consistency in work processes, attitudes, and ability to create similar experiences to customers who patronage the firm. The author believes that standardization of manpower quality is a way to service standardization. Standardization efforts can be found in many flexible practices in small enterprises, which are thought to be peculiar ways small firms survive competition. The conceptual paper covered questions from the author about service standardization, which will lead to future studies to go behind the scene of service standardization efforts in SMEs and their impacts on Malaysian small firms.