Understanding Service Failures: Suggesting a Competency Perspective

Understanding Service Failures: Suggesting a Competency Perspective

This paper reports research on a qualitative case study of service failures carried out on the prestigious Norwegian Coastal Voyage (NCV), or Hurtigruten which is its brand name. A total of 51 service failure incidents were identified, collected and analysed, and the paper shows the role of the actors’ competencies in service failure processes onboard the Hurtigruten. The examination of a set of components that constitute competencies, those of knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours, were used in order to explain the occurrence of service failures in an explorer cruise line context.