Expectations about management consultancy services: testing the assumption of equivalence across Australian and Singaporean firms

Consultancy firms have adopted a higher international profile as they follow the increased global presence of many businesses. The provision of a quality offering by providers of consultancy services necessitates a clear understanding of customer expectations across countries. The expectations items in SERVQUAL have been applied to samples of firms in Australia and Singapore to test for the equivalence of the expectations construct. Multiple sample LISREL analysis is carried out on data from the two countries. The results indicate an absence of construct equivalence. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.