This study investigates the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction and academic achievement in private institutions of higher learning. Service quality is especially important to the institutions of higher learning in Malaysia as they are gearing themselves to become exporters of premier education services. / The concept of service quality is operationalized by the following variables: Human element of service delivery; Tangibles of service-servicescapes; Core service or service product; Systemization of service delivery: non-human element; Social responsibility. A research framework was developed and twelve hypotheses were posited and tested. Data was collected using the survey method. Survey questionnaires were hand-delivered to the respondents who volunteered to be participants in this study. Respondents were given the information sheets, along with verbal and written instructions. They were to complete the questionnaires and return to a mailbox on the campus. A total of 331 representative samples of the population were obtained from the private institutions of higher learning by using the “Private Institutions of Higher Learning Directory” as a sampling frame, excluding private institutions of higher learning which had ceased their operations. / The data was analysed by using descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. Statistical analyses used were the Pearson correlation and multiple regressions. Descriptive statistics were also employed. The results revealed that each of the service quality variables has a relationship with customer satisfaction and academic achievement. Using multiple regression analysis, the predictor variables indicated that all the five variables could explain 44.9% of variation that occurred in customer satisfaction, whereas, for the relationship between the predictor variables and academic achievement there was a 13.7% of variation explained. Amongst the variables, human element of service delivery, tangibles of service-servicescapes and core service/ service product have significant and positive relationships with customer satisfaction, whereas, core service or service product has a significant relationship with academic achievement. / Therefore, these variables deserve to be monitored and tailored appropriately in order to enhance organizational performance through customer satisfaction and academic performance. In conclusion, this study provides an insight into further understanding of how to enhance organizational performance by implementing excellent service quality management practices and simultaneously gives due emphasis to customer satisfaction and academic achievement. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2005.

The exponential growth of the Internet is changing the way corporations conduct business with customers. The banking industry is no exception. In order to sustain competitiveness, banks have been introducing more Internet banking services. However, this change undermines the ability of business to retain their customers since certain characteristics of the Internet can cause a reduction in customers' search costs, reduce barrier to entry, and diminish distinctiveness of a firm (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996). Managing effective customer retention strategies is increasingly important in the banking industry since the length in years of customer relationships is one of the most important factors that contributes to the bank's profitability. Reicheld (1996) found that a five percent increase in customer loyalty produces an eighty-five percent increase in profitability in the banking industry. In the past, the key to understanding the power of a corporation to retain customers was thought to lie in the measurement of customer satisfaction. Clarke (2001) argued that long-term customer retention in competitive requires firms to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitive attack. While customer satisfaction may be one important driver of customer retention, switching costs are also likely to influence customer retention, both independently and in tandem. For example, the presence of switching costs can mean that some seemingly retained customers are actually dissatisfied but do not defect because of high switching costs. Thus the level of switching costs has a moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. While the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention has been supported in literature for existing non-Internet contexts (Lee et al., 2001; Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003), little research has been published within the Internet context and particularly Internet banking. Based on a review of the literature, a theoretical model linking customer satisfaction and switching costs to customer retention was developed. The model has two main features. First, it examines the main direct effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer retention. Second, the model examines the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. The empirical research was based on data collected by an Internet survey of adopters of Internet banking service in Hong Kong. Results from statistical analyses show that both customer satisfaction and switching costs have strong positive direct effects on customer retention. These analyses also confirm the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. However, when Internet banking adopters are categorized into two segments according to their usage of Internet banking service (basic and advanced users), results show that switching costs play a significant moderating role on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention only for the basic Internet banking users. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2004

Thesis (DBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration) )--University of South Australia, 1999.

The exponential growth of the Internet is changing the way corporations conduct business with customers. The banking industry is no exception. In order to sustain competitiveness, banks have been introducing more Internet banking services. However, this change undermines the ability of business to retain their customers since certain characteristics of the Internet can cause a reduction in customers' search costs, reduce barrier to entry, and diminish distinctiveness of a firm (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996). Managing effective customer retention strategies is increasingly important in the banking industry since the length in years of customer relationships is one of the most important factors that contributes to the bank's profitability. Reicheld (1996) found that a five percent increase in customer loyalty produces an eighty-five percent increase in profitability in the banking industry. In the past, the key to understanding the power of a corporation to retain customers was thought to lie in the measurement of customer satisfaction. Clarke (2001) argued that long-term customer retention in competitive requires firms to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitive attack. While customer satisfaction may be one important driver of customer retention, switching costs are also likely to influence customer retention, both independently and in tandem. For example, the presence of switching costs can mean that some seemingly retained customers are actually dissatisfied but do not defect because of high switching costs. Thus the level of switching costs has a moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. While the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention has been supported in literature for existing non-Internet contexts (Lee et al., 2001; Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003), little research has been published within the Internet context and particularly Internet banking. Based on a review of the literature, a theoretical model linking customer satisfaction and switching costs to customer retention was developed. The model has two main features. First, it examines the main direct effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer retention. Second, the model examines the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. The empirical research was based on data collected by an Internet survey of adopters of Internet banking service in Hong Kong. Results from statistical analyses show that both customer satisfaction and switching costs have strong positive direct effects on customer retention. These analyses also confirm the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. However, when Internet banking adopters are categorized into two segments according to their usage of Internet banking service (basic and advanced users), results show that switching costs play a significant moderating role on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention only for the basic Internet banking users. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2004

The exponential growth of the Internet is changing the way corporations conduct business with customers. The banking industry is no exception. In order to sustain competitiveness, banks have been introducing more Internet banking services. However, this change undermines the ability of business to retain their customers since certain characteristics of the Internet can cause a reduction in customers' search costs, reduce barrier to entry, and diminish distinctiveness of a firm (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996). Managing effective customer retention strategies is increasingly important in the banking industry since the length in years of customer relationships is one of the most important factors that contributes to the bank's profitability. Reicheld (1996) found that a five percent increase in customer loyalty produces an eighty-five percent increase in profitability in the banking industry. In the past, the key to understanding the power of a corporation to retain customers was thought to lie in the measurement of customer satisfaction. Clarke (2001) argued that long-term customer retention in competitive requires firms to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitive attack. While customer satisfaction may be one important driver of customer retention, switching costs are also likely to influence customer retention, both independently and in tandem. For example, the presence of switching costs can mean that some seemingly retained customers are actually dissatisfied but do not defect because of high switching costs. Thus the level of switching costs has a moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. While the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention has been supported in literature for existing non-Internet contexts (Lee et al., 2001; Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003), little research has been published within the Internet context and particularly Internet banking. Based on a review of the literature, a theoretical model linking customer satisfaction and switching costs to customer retention was developed. The model has two main features. First, it examines the main direct effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer retention. Second, the model examines the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. The empirical research was based on data collected by an Internet survey of adopters of Internet banking service in Hong Kong. Results from statistical analyses show that both customer satisfaction and switching costs have strong positive direct effects on customer retention. These analyses also confirm the moderating role of switching costs on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention. However, when Internet banking adopters are categorized into two segments according to their usage of Internet banking service (basic and advanced users), results show that switching costs play a significant moderating role on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention only for the basic Internet banking users. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2004

Thesis (M.Eng.)(Industrial)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138). Also available in printed version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Oct. 24, 2007). Thesis advisor: Ernest R. Cadotte. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Thesis (BBus Hons) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2003. / Appendix not included in e-thesis. Also held in print (80 leaves, 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection. (T 658.8343 MAR)