System Development Service Quality: A Comparison of the In-House Development and the Application Outsourcing Environment

Very few studies have investigated the service quality of the system development process. In this study, an instrument based on SERVPERF\u27s service quality dimensions, i.e., tangibles, reliability, empathy, responsiveness, and assurance, was developed to study the service quality for in-house and outsourced system development process. Analysis of the data collected from 152 system users who had also involved in the development of those systems supported the validity and reliability of the newly developed measures. The relative contribution of the individual service quality dimensions to the overall system development service quality was found to vary between the outsourcing and in-house group, so as the impact of the overall system development service quality on the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. These results suggest that users may evaluate the services provided by outsourcing vendors and in-house IT personnel differently

Measuring Students' Perception of Classroom Quality in Private Universities in Ogun State, Nigeria Using SERVPERF

In Nigeria, competition among private universities is becoming increasingly intense as investment in the sector is proving more and more viable. Students' satisfaction survey has been identified as an essential instrument for education providers to improve or enhance their service delivery in a bid to remain competitive. To demonstrate its use, this paper reports a research that uses a modified SERVPERF instrument to measure students' satisfaction with the classrooms - one of the essential academic facilities - in six out of eight private universities in Ogun State, Nigeria. A total of 1,141 questionnaires were administered to students and the data were analysed using SERVPERF dimensions (tangibility, responsiveness, reliability. assurance and empathy). Findings showed that students' satisfaction with service quality across the six private Universities is moderate. However, when the results are disaggregated to reflect the findings for each University, Babcock University is shown to have services that meet students' expectation most while Crawford University services meet their expectations least. This study is expected to pave the way for researchers who are interested in conducting further studies on students' satisfaction with service quality using SERVPERF in higher institutions in Nigeria and other countries of the world. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2p31

A study on the acceptance of e-ticketing in Universiti Utara Malaysia bus service

The purpose of this study is to examine the level of acceptance by Multimedia Seminar TIV3073 students on the implementation of e- ticketing for Universiti Utara Malaysia(UUM) bus service. E-ticketing is new in UUM as it only started in the second semester of 2006/07 session by the bus service provider, Unic Symbol Business Sdn Bhd. The method used is survey and the instrument is a set of questionnaire.The questionnaire addresses the overall users’ satisfaction towards this system, users perception in terms of acceptance and also suggestions to further enhance the system.In measuring the acceptance level, four constructs were used which include User Satisfaction (US), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), and Perceived System Performance (PSP).This study indicates that the overall acceptance level is low which is between the range of 2.00 to 2.50 from a scale of 5.0

Students’ satisfaction on services quality : comparison between public and private universities in Klang Valley

Education is able to enhance an individual’s quality of life particular in the higher education. With proper knowledge from higher education, graduate students are able to build up self-leadership, obtain better health-care, more prestigious employment and greater job satisfaction. The aim of this study is to compare the service quality between public and private university in Malaysia based on their students’ satisfaction. This is because the evaluation of service quality in universities will provide significant findings or inputs for management level in decision-making process in order to improve their services quality. Hence, the research was conducted at two selected case studies which are public and private university respectively using modified SERVQUAL approach. The target respondents of this study are undergraduate students from both universities. About 420 copies of questionnaires were distributed and collected in four selected faculties at both universities. From the results, Public University showed lowest negative gap score compared to Private University. Besides, correlation analysis also proved that there were significant relationships between service quality and student satisfaction which indicated that service quality of both university lead the student’s satisfaction. The analysis also found that there were significant relationships between interrelated factors amongst dependent variable which are five SERVQUAL dimensions. In addition, the assessments of service quality in both universities were able to provide comprehensive understanding of the students’ needs and significant inputs for improving their higher education quality. Furthermore, the findings were also able to provide comprehensive information for management level in decision-making process particularly if they are intending to implement new programmes inside their universities

Investigation of the Service Innovation of an Industry: Using iBeacon as an Example

Service quality and service innovation may not only reflect consumers’ satisfaction but also their revisit intention. Studies have focused on improving products or old services on electronic commerce. However, this study focused on enterprises’ service innovation on mobile commerce. We developed a model that examined the impact of using iBeacon service on consumers’ satisfaction and revisit intention. The pretest questionnaire was issued on the Internet, and the results revealed that the questionnaire was reliable. We evaluated whether services provided by an enterprise using the iBeacon system satisfies consumers and affects their revisit intention

Qualidade nas organizações de saúde: Uma leitura na voz dos doentes

A partir da experiência vivenciada de mais de uma década nos estudos sobre a satisfação dos doentes e profissionais de saúde com a qualidade do desempenho das unidades de saúde, apresento uma reflexão sobre a abordagem da qualidade dos serviços de saúde. Tomo como ponto de partida que a qualidade não se inscreve numa linha do controle ou do exercício da autoridade administrativa, antes, porém, deve ser implementada com uma “forte” natureza pedagógica e orientada para a correção dos erros ou eventuais falhas na prestação de cuidados. A partir da revisita aos materiais empíricos compilados de vários estudos, (re)analizo os dados recolhidos juntos dos doentes e concluo que a legitimidade de um processo de qualidade para a melhoria dos cuidados prestados depende da capacidade da ação coletiva da organização para construir um sistema de padrões de atendimento aceitável e observável pelos utentes ou doentes. Em síntese, falar de qualidade em saúde implica igualmente ouvir os doentes porque eles são a “razão de ser” das instituições de saúde

The Effectiveness of Commercial Diplomacy; a survey among Dutch Embassies and Consulates

The global economic power shift towards the East has caused the governments of developed economies to support national businesses which are involved in the process of internationalizing and expanding across borders. Commercial diplomacy provides a means for governments to increase their international trade and to stimulate their national economies. Foreign posts play a crucial role in offering effective diplomatic support for international business. But what are the factors that can explain commercial diplomacy effectiveness at the foreign post level?\ud \ud This paper presents the results of a survey that was conducted among commercial diplomats stationed at foreign posts. It appears that the amount of experience that commercial diplomats acquired at these foreign posts, combined with their established business network form two of the most important factors which have a positive impact on the quality of commercial diplomacy. This extends further to include the importance of the client (business) preparedness in terms of knowledge and skills as well. Furthermore, the results indicate that the less favourable a cognitive institutional environment in a host country is, for instance in terms of information availability, then the more relevance commercial diplomacy will have. The results of this study promote the understanding of how commercial diplomacy works and show how the debate on the future of commercial diplomacy can be taken a step further. This study should also be seen as a starting point for an holistic framework of commercial diplomacy effectiveness\u

Investigating the Service Quality Dimensions and their Impact on University Students’ Satisfaction in a Private Higher Education Institution in Lebanon

Quality is a key word in every context, as it is the major factor leading to high performance delivery of services, and a major condition to attain customer satisfaction. Within a challenging and very competitive academic field and taking into account the large multitude of services provided by different types of higher education institutions, identifying the key dimensions of service quality in the Lebanese higher education is a priority for different higher education institutions in Lebanon, to enhance their overall services and maintain a leading position in attracting top students. This study is the first of its kind in the Lebanese Higher Education sector, aiming to design, develop, implement and assess a conceptual framework of a service quality model for service quality evaluation in the Lebanese Higher Education. In addition, the study aims to determine the most important service quality dimensions from a students’ perspective. The framework proposed is based on the initial service quality model developed by Parasuraman et al. (1985), while considering the three qualities highlighted in Gronroos (1983) and Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) models: Physical Quality (Campus Physical Facilities), Interactive Quality (Interactions with Staff, Administration and other Students on Campus) and Corporative Quality (University Image and Reputation). The framework also aligns well with the Importance-Performance (IPA) model. The final attained model consists of seven major service quality dimensions: Quality of Education, Quality of Students Services Support, Campus Physical Facilities, University Image and Reputation, Students Social Life on Campus, Interaction with Faculty and Interaction with Administrative Staff. A case study of a private Lebanese university is considered aiming to implement the developed service quality model conceptual framework and evaluate the quality of various services. The Lebanese international University (LIU) has 9 campuses across the Lebanese districts, allowing a wide implementation of the framework and provides a good basis for data collection and analysis. To characterize and communicate the developed framework, a questionnaire was developed to collect data from students and help in assessing and analysing gaps between level of importance and their perception of the performance for each dimension. 1,223 questionnaires were distributed using proportionate stratified random sampling, 107 returned questionnaires or failed to complete and return the respective questionnaire. Thus, a total of 1,116 questionnaires were employed in the assessment and analysis. Based on the data collected and the students’ feedback, an overall analysis and evaluation process was performed. A holistic comparison is carried out for various demographic variables against the seven dimensions of service quality. An Importance-Performance matrix was used to identify prioritized areas where LIU needs to act and allocate its resources. Multiple approaches have been employed and conducted to aid the analysis and assessment in this study including descriptive statistical analysis, one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA), Levene’s Test, regression analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Model (SEM). In addition, regression analysis is used to test the hypothesis and to determine the existence of relationships between various service quality dimensions, students’ satisfaction and student’s loyalty. Finally, IBM SPSS AMOS is employed to generate the output using CFA and SEM techniques. The analysis shows that the critical attributes which need direct LIU attention are offering comfortable accommodation, good internet services, offering affordable accommodation, modern sports facilities, safe accommodation and parking areas for students. The reported results confirmed all the hypotheses defined at the beginning of the investigation except for Campus Physical Facilities. In this regard, it highlighted a positive significant relation between the various dimensions considered and the students’ satisfaction except for the independent variable Campus Physical Facilities which had a negative non- significant relation. The reasons for this negative non-significant relation were attributed to the economic situation, past students’ experiences and current LIU facilities status. Finally, a model for students’ satisfaction was developed using the unstandardized regression weight of each of the seven dimensions proposed in this study. This study, through the service quality model conceptual framework and yields a multitude of positive impacts and benefits for the considered Lebanese International University on one hand and for the whole Lebanese Higher Education Sector on the other hand. On a holistic level, the current investigation will help improving the overall performance of the Lebanese Higher Education as quality services is at the heart of every single academic institution performance. In general, a systematic service quality assessment tool will lead to better services quality and thus higher university performance and consequently higher students’ satisfaction rates. This will help in maintaining the leading position of the Lebanese Higher Education sector in the region. The current work is a step forward towards improving the overall performance of the Lebanese Higher Education sector through developing the first of its kind conceptual framework for a service quality model for service quality evaluation in the Lebanese Higher Education. From a holistic perspective, a reliable and systematic service quality assessment tool is a major condition to attain better services quality, and thus higher university performance and consequently higher students’ satisfaction rates. The current investigation is a step forward towards maintaining the leading position of the Lebanese Higher Education sector in the region

Effect of retail service quality on switching intentions among hypermarket customers

Retail service quality is a vital driver in determining customer satisfaction, which in turn promotes customer loyalty and reduces switching intentions. Based on disconfirmation theory, the difference between expectations and delivered service quality, determines the level of a customer satisfaction. Service quality is a solution to build customer satisfaction which could lead to customer loyalty hence reducing switching intentions. The concept of switching intentions has received significant attention in the field of marketing, however, little is known about the application of this concept in the context of retail business. Consumer research has neither verified the relationships among constructs like retail service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and switching intentions, in a single framework, nor explored the possible influence of store ethnicity and price discounts on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty to switching intention. The current study has investigated the interrelationship among service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty with switching intentions, and the moderating role of price discounts and store ethnicity, in a single framework. Random sampling was used by administering standardized questionnaires personally to 450 hypermarket customers located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The quantitative data was analyzed by the structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 20 software. The study extended the existing body of knowledge by introducing new moderators of price discounts and ethnic store on the relationships between satisfaction and switching intentions, and loyalty and switching intentions. The results confirmed that retail service quality has significant positive influence on customer satisfaction, and the positive effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. Besides that, the study verified in marketing literature that store ethnicity and price discounts acted as moderating mechanism for explaining the switching intentions of satisfied and loyal customers. The results of the study may serve as a guideline for top managers of the hypermarkets to design appropriate policies and strategies in terms of retail service quality, price discounts and needs of ethnic groups in a particular region. This will help to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty hence reducing switching intentions of customers

Effects of perceived cost, service quality, and customer satisfaction on health insurance service continuance

This paper aims to contribute to the universal discourse on financial services continuance behavior by examining the impact of service cost on customers\u27 service-quality perception and service continuance intention. It presents the results of an empirical study that has explored the impacts of service cost, service quality, and customer satisfaction on health insurance customers\u27 behavioral intention toward continuing or discontinuing with their service providers. Very few studies had examined the impact of service cost on service-quality perception. Our study attempts to fill that gap. A sample of 820 customers was surveyed, and 624 usable responses were analyzed with ANOVA, standard multiple regression, and logistic regression. Our findings indicate that, although highly satisfied health insurance customers will most likely retain their current service providers, customer dissatisfaction does not necessarily lead to discontinuance. Our results also provide some operational implications for health insurance managers, with strategies for reducing attrition and improving customer retention