Determination of significant issues: Applying a quantitative method to importance-performance analysis

Assuring quality depends on the quality of information obtained in measurement efforts. One assessment technique that has been used in a variety of applications is importance-performance analysis (IPA). The final analysis of any traditional IPA is based on a subjective placement of classification dividers. As such, any recommendation from the use of traditional importance-performance analysis is subject to this often overlooked limitation. This research utilizes new developments concerning the components of IPA to present a quantitative method to analyze importance-performance data. Hypothetical data is presented to illustrate the method and results are discussed.