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Business Administration Project Topics

The Impact of Quality of Customer Service Delivery on Customer

The Impact of Quality of Customer Service Delivery on Customer

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The Impact of Quality of Customer Service Delivery on Customer

CHAPTER ONE

Objectivesย ofย theย Study

Generalย Objective

The main purpose of this study is to assess and know the current satisfaction/dissatisfaction level ofย customersย withย regardย toย insuranceย serviceย providedย toย themย andย alsoย toย recommendย possibleย remedial solutions that should be undertaken by the concerned working unit in order to improve theย serviceย quality.

Specificย Objectives

  1. Assess the level of service quality of Life Insurance
  2. Identifying the extents of differences exist between customersโ€Ÿ expectation and their
  3. To describe the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction of Life Insurance Company
  4. To assess the impact of customer dissatisfaction with respect to the provided service and provide recommendations which enable the company to improve its service

CHAPTERย TWO

LITERATUREย REVIEW

Service

Scholars in the field understand the concept โ€žserviceโ€Ÿ from different perspectives. For example,ย Gronroosย (1990:ย 27)ย understandsย serviceย asย โ€œanย activity orย seriesย ofย activitiesย ofย moreย orย lessย intangibleย inย natureย thatย normally,ย butย notย necessarily,ย takeย placeย inย interactionsย betweenย theย customer and service employees which are provided as solution to customerโ€Ÿs problemsโ€. Similarly,ย Kotler (2001) defines service as any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that isย essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything; its production may or may notย beย tied to a physical product.

Some researchers have viewed service from a system-thinking paradigm. Lakhe and Mohanty (1995:ย 140) have defined service as โ€œa production system where various inputs are processed, transformedย and value added to produce some outputs which have utility orย benefit to the service seekers.โ€ย It isย not merely in an economic sense but from supporting the life of the human system in general, evenย maybe for the sake of pleasure. Moreover, Grรถnroos (2000: 47) summarizes characteristics that areย identifiedย forย most services as follows:

  • Services are processes consisting of activities or a series of activities rather thanthings;
  • Servicesareย at leastย toย someย extentย producedย andย consumedย simultaneously;
  • The customer participates in the service production process at least to some extent(Grรถnroos, 2000:ย 47)

There are two parties to the service whichย are the producer and the customer. Thus, the delivery ofย the service is not a simple exchange, since the service is produced typically on the spot. Besides, bothย the producer and customer must be seen as an actor since both are participating in the serviceย production.

Characteristicsย ofย Services

A number of characteristics of service have been suggested to help distinguish goods and services inย the past decades. It is the combination of these characteristics which creates the specific context inย which service organizations must develop their marketing policies. Though different authors suggestย different characteristics of service, Kotler (2001) lists intangibility, inseparability, variability, andย perishabilityย as theย commonย characteristics services.

Intangibilityย ofย Services

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Unlike physical products, services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled before purchased.ย Obviously, opinions and attitudes may be sought beforehand, but a repeat purchase may rely uponย previous experience. To reduce uncertainty buyers will look for signs or evidence of service quality.ย They will draw inferences from place, people, equipment, price, etc. that they see. Therefore theย service providerโ€Ÿs task is to โ€œmanage the evidenceโ€, to โ€œtangibilize the intangibleโ€. According toย Kotler (2001), Services are essentially intangibles, in which the service marketers are able to manageย evidencesย andย visualizeย theย intangibleย servicesย orย theย abstractย offers.ย Reganย (1963)ย alsoย introducedย the idea of service as activities, benefits or satisfactions which are offered for sale or provided inย connection with the sales of goods. The degree of intangibility has been suggested as a means ofย differentiating tangible products with services (Levitt, 1981). Most of the time, services are explainedย as being intangible since their outcome is considered to be an action rather than a physical productย (Johns, 1999).

Inseparabilityย ofย Services

The other characteristic of service is inseparability. Services are typically produced and consumedย simultaneouslyย andย oftenย cannotย beย separatedย fromย theย personย whoย salesย theย service.ย Thus,ย performing the service occurs at the same time as full or partial consumption of it. Unlike physicalย goods, services cannot be manufacture, put into inventory, distributed through seller and consumedย later. Whereas, services are produced, sold and consumed at the same time. According to Zeithamlย (1981),ย inseparabilityย isย takenย toย reflectย theย simultaneousย deliveryย andย consumptionย ofย services.ย Itย is believed that, inseparability of service enable consumers to affect or shape the performance andย qualityย of theย serviceย (Grรถnroos,ย 1978; Zeithaml, 1981 asย citied in Wolak etย al., 1998).

 

CHAPTERย THREE

RESEARCHย DESIGNย ANDย METHODOLOGY

Researchย Design

The research design of this study was cross-sectional as it assessed service quality at a predetermined moment of time. Besides, quantitative method was employed to gather and analyze data. It is predominantly quantitative for concepts that are in the form of distinct variables are described with generated numerical data; the researcher compared factors of service quality to find top priorities which help to understand the customersโ€Ÿ criteria in judging service quality. It also includes explanation of customer satisfaction, which cannot be measured numerically alone.

Therefore, this study used descriptive inquiry to describe the service quality dimensions that lead to customer satisfaction and explanatory inquiry to explain, understand, predict and control the relationship between variables.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT PRESENTATIONS

Backgroundย Informationย ofย Respondents

To conduct this study a total of 319 (Three hundred nineteen) questionnaires were distributed toย different major customers of Life Insurance Company.ย Out of the figure mentioned above, 292ย (91.52 %) respondents filled and returned the questionnaire and gave appropriate response to allย questions. Among 319 questionnaires 19 (5.97%) were not returned and the rest 8 (2.51%) wereย returned back but found incomplete. Therefore, the researcher analyzed and discussed only thoseย accuratelyย filled andย returned questionnaires.

CHAPTERย FIVE

SUMMARY,ย CONCLUSIONS,ย ANDย RECOMMENDATIONS

Summaryย ofย Majorย Findings

Quality is an important element of value and it is a key strategic asset of companies for applying onย the market regardless of whether it is a product or a service. Customer perception of quality is anย important determinant of their purchase choice and the achieved customer satisfaction. Quality can beย defined in different ways and from different perspectives. From the customerโ€Ÿs perspective, quality isย what a customer or a target segment considered to be, i.e. the ability of a product or a service to meetย orย to exceed his expectations (Veljkoviฤ‡, 2009, p.ย 103).

Evaluating the quality by customers is the result of benefits that they gain by using aย productย (service), and its image. However, the main problem that arises in the management of service quality,ย in service companies, is that quality cannot be easily identified and measured due to the specificity ofย services (Jain, Gupta, 2004, p. 25). In relation to the quality of a product, it is more difficult forย customers to measure objectively the quality of service, due to the intangibility as one of the mainย characteristics. The dominant perception is that the quality of a service is its delivery that is inย accordance with the expectations of customers, i.e. the result of customers comparisons betweenย expectations related to a certain service and their perception on how services should be providedย (Caruna,et.ย al., 2000, p. 1339).

Thisย researchย wasย conducted toย assessย whetherย there isย significantย similarities or differences ofย service quality provision between what is expected from Life Insurance Company and the actualย performance as perceived by customersโ€Ÿ vis-ร -vis the five dimensions of SERVQUAL model. Thus,ย to successfully meet the objectives of the research data were collected, analyzed and reached on someย findings.ย Accordingly, theย findingsย of theย researchย wereย summarized asย follows:

Conclusion

This study intended to examine the level of service quality provision by Life Insurance Company.ย In order to accomplish the objective, 319 major customers who were served in city branches wereย takenย asย a sampleย usingย judgmentย samplingย method.

A number of implications can be drawn from this study. Accordingly, the study proves the directย effect of service quality and customer satisfaction on Life Insurance Company Services based onย responses given by the respondents. The result reveals that perception towards service quality levelย provided by OIC was consistently lower than their expectation. As the analysis of the responses to theย questionnaires revealed, the expectation of OICโ€Ÿs major customers is much greater than what is thereย in actual performance of the company in four of the five dimensions of service quality (Reliability,ย Responsiveness, Empathy and Assurance).

Recommendations

Basedย on the findingsย and conclusions, the following recommendations were forwarded for theย purposeย of improvingย theย serviceย qualityย of insuranceย serviceย of OIC.

  1. As it has been found in the research; even if, the two variables which determine customerโ€Ÿssatisfaction score mean value of above average (Mean > 3) with respect to the tangibilityย service quality dimension, but still it is not enough to say it is the right level since the rapidย growth in the area requires competing with other insurance service providers in the industry.ย And also OIC should think about improving insurance policy wordings in order to make itsย customers easilyย awareย of its content.

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