An application of importance-performance analysis (IPA) to the management of sport centres

Abstract

The importance-performance analysis (IPA) constitutes an approach to the measurement of customer/user satisfaction which allows for a simple and functional identification of both the strong and the weak aspects, or improvement areas, of a given service. Taking both the importance assigned by users to all relevant aspects of a given service and the perceived performance of the establishment in providing the service, a graph with four quadrants is obtained. This graph allows for (a) a very intuitive visual assessment of the management of the establishment and (b) the corresponding advice for a better distribution of organizational resources. Nevertheless, this tool has been subjected to controversy since its origins, due mainly to (a) the position of the axis determining the quadrants and (b) the conceptualization and measurement of both importance and performance of the elements of the service. In the present paper, the practical solution for some of these issues is posed, and the potential of IPA as a management tool for sport centres is illustrated.