Article Details
  • Published Online:
    May  2026
  • Product Name:
    The IUP Journal of Operations Management
  • Product Type:
    Article
  • Product Code:
    IJOM010526
  • DOI:
    10.71329/IUPJOM/2026.25.2.5-27
  • Author Name:
    Karthik Kumaran A P and Well Haorei
  • Availability:
    YES
  • Subject/Domain:
    Management
  • Download Format:
    PDF
  • Pages:
    5-27
Volume 25, Issue 2, April-June 2026
Service Speed Innovation and Customer Satisfaction in a Rural Quick-Service Restaurant: An Empirical Study
Abstract

The study explores the connection between service speed innovation and customer satisfaction in a rural self-service restaurant in Sembatti, Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is an academic entrepreneur-led business that opened in 2019 with a multi-outlet business model and a central production plant in Sithayankottai. It has yield-based standardization, a two-week inventory buffer, stock sheet control, spatial demarcation of the billing and service areas, and a lean pay-first consumption system. The outlet has an average of 1,000 customers every day, and the billing process takes about half a minute and the entire service process takes about two minutes. A structured questionnaire with perceived service speed innovation and customer satisfaction measured the primary data collected from 118 customers. The descriptive statistical analysis indicates a moderate to high perception of service speed innovation and high level of customer satisfaction. The results indicate that the structured service architecture and operational discipline have a positive relationship with the increased levels of satisfaction in the rural quick-service setting.

Introduction

The issue of service innovation has become one of the focal points of recent management studies, especially in the retailing, hospitality, and quick-service food business sectors.