In this study the service quality from a Metropolitan Broker Division towards contracted brokers in the southern region was investigated. From the industry and competitor analyses it can be concluded that service quality has become an important factor in the financial service industry, especially in the insurance industry. It is therefore important to look at options to outperform competitors. The literature survey was aimed at improving the level of quality service to contracted brokers. Based on the information obtained through the literature study and survey, a guideline to assist a Metropolitan Broker Division to improve the level of service quality was developed. The purpose of the empirical study was to determine if the service that contracted brokers receive from the Metropolitan Broker Division is of an acceptable level. The answers from respondents were analysed and compared with findings from the literature study. Recommendations were formulated for improving the level of service quality towards contracted brokers. The empirical study results were satisfactory and informative. The positive responses identified can be utilised to strengthen the marketing strategies by Metropolitan Broker Division while attention should be given to the negative responses.

M.Tech. (Operations Management) / This study entails and discusses the concepts of quality and performance management in the postal and related services. Quality and Performance Management fundamentally form part of critical strategic objectives and goals every organization set itself to successfully achieve; the practice of quality has been around for a very long time and has become a widespread phenomenon interpreted and implemented differently in the industry while performance management emerged in the 1970’s and grew to be appreciated with time bringing measures to quantify individual and organizational results. This study was aimed at determining the current and past scenarios in the South African Post Office (SAPO) with regards to the organization’s Quality and Performance Management efforts with the view of recommending improvements to be adapted and implemented for strategic business growth. The study was conducted at Capemail and Securemail which are two of other SAPO’s operational divisions that processes and conveys large volumes in clients’ mail and parcels. SAPO is in the process of organizational transformation where a number of projects are being implemented including Change Management, ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, Total Operations Management Solutions, Productivity Engineering and others where most of these projects failed to yield the intended value. The techniques deployed for the study involved conducting observations in both Mail Centres, conducting informal interviews and distributing questionnaires for data collection; data was further scrutinized and analyzed with Statkon’s consultancy and statistical techniques were exploited to analyze it into meaningful information. The actual statistical tools used for analysis involved descriptives, factor analysis, normalities, comparisons and correlations; these were suffice to produce reliable and accurate data for the results of the study. The objectives of the study was achieved in that management need to seriously pay attention on factors such as empowering employees, enforcing and emphasizing the culture of good quality practice, adapting advanced project implementation frameworks benchmarking with industry competitors, standardizing processes and activities, encouraging the culture of continuous improvement, provision of support to operational requirements financially and otherwise, upgrading technology, viewing performance management from a holistic perspective and linking it directly with day to day activities of the organization and objectives.

The aim of this dissertation is to find out clients' requirements for the quality of spa services and not only evaluate them but also find solutions to possible problems. Using personal interviews the detailed research was carried out in the spa Berta and Aurora in Třeboň. The first half of this dissertation is concentrated on theoretical solutions regarding the quality of services and spa resorts. Furthermore methods and quality control tools were applied in these resorts and the analysis studying the advantages and disadvantages of provided services was carried out of all the data collected.

O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a identificação dos atributos e das dimensões da qualidade dos serviços prestados pelos laboratórios acreditados ou em processo de acreditação da Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), sob a perspectiva das empresas-cliente que utilizam estes serviços. A operacionalização da pesquisa realizou-se, inicialmente, por meio de um estudo qualitativo de caráter exploratório, com aplicação de dezesseis entrevistas individuais, com uma abordagem semi-estruturada, mediante a aplicação de um roteiro de questões. Com base nos atributos identificados na pesquisa qualitativa, foi elaborado um questionário estruturado, o qual foi aplicado a 160 empresas, resultando em um total de 147 casos válidos. Por meio da análise fatorial, o conjunto de 28 atributos foi agrupado em sete dimensões de análise ou fatores, que representam um índice de explicação de 70,32% da variação dos dados originais. Além disso, por meio da regressão linear múltipla foi possível explicar 64,7% da satisfação geral das empresas-cliente em função de apenas sete atributos. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-22T17:50:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Fernanda Lazzari.pdf: 737983 bytes, checksum: 94518f44e2ed10fc15d8e94b4a4d7ce1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-22T17:50:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Fernanda Lazzari.pdf: 737983 bytes, checksum: 94518f44e2ed10fc15d8e94b4a4d7ce1 (MD5) / This work presents a study on the quality attributes and dimensions of the services offered by the accredited laboratories or in accreditation process of the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), on a company based perspective. The operationalization of the research was done thru the application of sixteen individual interviews, with a semi-structured approach. With the identification of the attributes in a qualitative process, was elaborated a structured questionnaire, which was applied in 160 companies, resulting in 147 valid cases. In factorial analysis, 28 attributes were grouped into seven analysis dimensions or factors, which represent an explication factor of 70,32% of variation from the original data. Furthermore, by means multiple linear regression, it was possible to explain a 64,7% general satisfaction index of the companies only with these seven attributes.

O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a identificação dos atributos e das dimensões da qualidade dos serviços prestados pelos laboratórios acreditados ou em processo de acreditação da Universidade de Caxias do Sul (UCS), sob a perspectiva das empresas-cliente que utilizam estes serviços. A operacionalização da pesquisa realizou-se, inicialmente, por meio de um estudo qualitativo de caráter exploratório, com aplicação de dezesseis entrevistas individuais, com uma abordagem semi-estruturada, mediante a aplicação de um roteiro de questões. Com base nos atributos identificados na pesquisa qualitativa, foi elaborado um questionário estruturado, o qual foi aplicado a 160 empresas, resultando em um total de 147 casos válidos. Por meio da análise fatorial, o conjunto de 28 atributos foi agrupado em sete dimensões de análise ou fatores, que representam um índice de explicação de 70,32% da variação dos dados originais. Além disso, por meio da regressão linear múltipla foi possível explicar 64,7% da satisfação geral das empresas-cliente em função de apenas sete atributos. / This work presents a study on the quality attributes and dimensions of the services offered by the accredited laboratories or in accreditation process of the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), on a company based perspective. The operationalization of the research was done thru the application of sixteen individual interviews, with a semi-structured approach. With the identification of the attributes in a qualitative process, was elaborated a structured questionnaire, which was applied in 160 companies, resulting in 147 valid cases. In factorial analysis, 28 attributes were grouped into seven analysis dimensions or factors, which represent an explication factor of 70,32% of variation from the original data. Furthermore, by means multiple linear regression, it was possible to explain a 64,7% general satisfaction index of the companies only with these seven attributes.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Over the years, organisations have been criticised for implementing the ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards purely as a marketing strategy without any commitment to improving quality and customer satisfaction. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ISO 9001:2000 quality management standard on performance and customer satisfaction. The objectives of the study included determining the level of effectiveness of the ISO 9001:2000 quality management with respect to enhanced leadership, continuous improvement and customer satisfaction; ascertaining the extent to which ISO 9004 and other business improvement approaches that were used to improve the performance of the organisation and determining the level of customer complaints before and after ISO 9001:2000 certification. This research investigation involved the case study approach which utilised both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The latter involved the analysis of the organisation’s production and customer complaints data pre- and post ISO 9001:2000 certification as well as the responses to the closed-ended questions in the questionnaire, while the former entailed an analysis of the responses to the open-ended questions in the questionnaire and a search of the literature to corroborate the findings of this study. Thirty-one of the fiftytwo employees of the organisation completed and returned the questionnaire that was administered. This represented a 60% response rate. The responses to the questionnaire were influenced by the employees’ level of training, knowledge and experience of the ISO 9001 quality management standard. Thus, the results cannot be generalised to other ISO 9001 certified organisations. The pre- and post study revealed that the level of customer complaints decreased following ISO 9001:2000 certification. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaire indicated that the ISO 9001:2000 quality management standard was, in most instances, perceived to be effective in ensuring customer satisfaction, leadership and continuous improvement. For future research, it is recommended that researchers investigate the impact of continuous improvement teams and the introduction of appropriate business improvement approaches on organisational performance and customer satisfaction in ISO 9001 certified organisations.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Ng, Wai Hung Thomas. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-112). / Abstracts in English and Chinese ; questionnaires in Chinese. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.vi / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Service Quality (SQ) --- p.6 / Conceptualizing SQ --- p.9 / SQ Perception Discrepancy between Employees and Customers --- p.14 / SQ Conceptualization Discrepancy / Discrepancy in Psychometric Properties of SQ scale / SQ Evaluation Discrepancy / Measurement Equivalence/Invariance(ME/I) --- p.19 / Testing Configural Invariance / Testing Factorial Invariance / Testing Unique Variance Equivalence / Testing Factor Variance Equivalence / Testing Intercept/Scalar Invariance / Testing Factor Correlations Equivalence / Testing Latent Means Equivalence / Chapter CHAPTER III --- OBJECTIVE --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- CONCEPTUALIZATION --- p.27 / SQ Conceptualization --- p.27 / Difference in Conceptual Model / Difference in Manifestation of Constructs (Dimensions) / Psychometric Properties of the Scale --- p.31 / Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Difference in Perception Dispersion / Difference in Baseline Perception / SQ Evaluation --- p.35 / Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Difference in Perceived SQ level / Summary --- p.39 / Chapter CHAPTER V --- METHODOLOGY --- p.41 / Data Collection --- p.41 / Survey Instrument / Interview / Method of Analysis --- p.42 / Testing Difference in Conceptual Model / Testing Difference in Manifestation of Constructs / Testing Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Testing Difference in Perception Dispersion / Testing Difference in Baseline Perception / Testing Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Testing Difference in Perceived SQ level / Other Methodologies in Examining ME/I --- p.51 / Chapter CHAPTER VI --- RESULTS --- p.56 / SQ Conceptualization --- p.59 / Difference in Conceptual Model / Difference in Manifestation of Constructs / Psychometric Properties of the Scale --- p.68 / Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Difference in Perception Dispersion / Difference in Baseline Perception / SQ Evaluation --- p.75 / Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Difference in Perceived SQ level / Summary of Results --- p.77 / SQ Conceptualization / Psychometric Properties / SQ Evaluation / Chapter CHAPTER VII --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.85 / Managerial Implications --- p.85 / Using Employees Information / Training / Methodological Merits --- p.90 / Measurement Non-invariance as a Source of Information --- p.92 / Future Direction: / Application of the Multiple Forms of Discrepancy --- p.94 / Conclusion --- p.95 / APPENDIX --- p.96 / Chapter 1A. --- Employees Survey Questionnaire --- p.96 / Chapter 1B. --- Customers Survey Questionnaire --- p.99 / Chapter 2. --- Item Patterns of Three Testing Models --- p.102 / REFERENCES --- p.103

[pt] O aumento da demanda por plataformas com suporte a aplicações multimídia torna evidente a importância de mecanismos que ofereçam garantias de Qualidade de Serviço (QoS), uma vez que cada mídia exige requisitos próprios de processamento e comunicação. O modelo SCM (Service- Composition Model) fornece abstrações adequadas para a representação e programação de aspectos de QoS e comunicação em grupo em serviços de comunicação. Seguindo sua terminologia, a provisão de QoS pode ser vista como um provedor de serviços onde atuam meta serviços de negociação e sintonização de QoS. A negociação de QoS define mecanismos responsáveis pela admissão de novos fluxos do usuário, enquanto a sintonização de QoS age, durante o fornecimento do serviço, na manutenção do nível de serviço negociado. Tais meta serviços já foram previamente descritos por meio de frameworks em UML. O presente trabalho focaliza a descrição arquitetural desses meta serviços, utilizando a linguagem de descrição de arquitetura (ADL) Wright, permitindo o emprego de suas ferramentas de análise e verificação formal para inferir propriedades. Para facilitar o emprego dessa abordagem através do uso de uma notação mais próxima do domínio do problema, uma linguagem de domínio específico (DSL) chamada LindaQoS é proposta especificamente para definir hierarquias de subsistemas de negociação e sintonização. O trabalho é complementado por um compilador que traduz especificações LindaQoS para descrições arquiteturais (atualmente, usando Wright) e para linguagens de programação (futuramente em JAVA). / [en] The increased demand for platforms with support for multimedia applications raised the importance of mechanisms for Quality of Service provisioning, since each media has its own processing and communication requirements. SCM Model (Service-Composition Model) provides abstractions for the representation and programming of QoS aspects and multicast in communication services. According to its terminology, the QoS provisioning can be seen as a service provider, where QoS negotiation and QoS maintenance meta services act upon it. The QoS negotiation are the mechanisms responsible for the admission of new user flows, while the QoS maintenance meta service is responsible for maintaining the negotiated level of service during the service operation. Such meta services had been previously described as frameworks modelled in UML. The present work focuses on the architectural description of these meta services using Wright architecture description language (ADL), which allows the use of its analysis and formal verification tools to infer properties. To smooth this approach, a domain-specific language (DSL) called LindaQoS is proposed as a notation closest to the abstraction level of the problem domain, specifically designed to define hierarchies of negotiation and maintenance subsystems. Moreover this work presents a compiler allowing the translation of LindaQoS specifications into architectural descriptions (currently, using Wright) and into programming languages (JAVA in the future).

[pt] O desenvolvimento de arquiteturas de Qualidade de Serviço (QoS) para a Internet é um problema que tem recebido bastante atenção ultimamente. Diversos motivos têm impedido a implementação destas arquiteturas em larga escala como, por exemplo, a dificuldade de estabelecimento de contratos e políticas de QoS entre usuários, provedores e operadoras e a ausência de mecanismos na rede para solicitar serviços com garantia de qualidade. Apesar de não terem acesso a um serviço que garanta certos níveis de desempenho para cada tipo de aplicação, os usuários de Internet têm se mostrado cada vez mais exigentes na qualidade do acesso à rede. Isto se confirma com a migração crescente de muitos destes usuários para o acesso à Internet em banda larga. Os provedores de acesso à Internet, principalmente os de banda larga, devem adotar políticas de gerenciamento de seus recursos para atender às expectativas de qualidade dos usuários e se manter competitivos no mercado. Neste trabalho, foram identificados problemas nos processos adotados em um provedor de acesso em banda larga sem fio, a MLS Wireless. No sistema antigo, ocorriam situações que causavam a indisponibilidade de serviços por causa da limitação de conexões simultâneas na rede ou ainda uma degradação na banda e aumento na latência do acesso devido a falta de justiça no compartilhamento de recursos. O trabalho sugere soluções para as deficiências encontradas, implementando-as e analisando a eficácia das mesmas. Para resolver o problema de indisponibilidade, sugere-se o estabelecimento de limites por usuário, para que a capacidade total do sistema não seja esgotada. Para resolver o problema de injustiça e dar maior eqüidade na distribuição de recursos entre os usuários, é implementado um novo mecanismo de compartilhamento baseado em uma disciplina de fila SFQ (Stochastic Fairness Queueing). Os resultados mostraram que as modificações propostas foram efetivas. O tempo de acesso à serviços de WWW e e-mail durante períodos de congestionamento foi drasticamente reduzido, em alguns casos, de cerca de 1 minuto para menos de 10 segundos. / [en] The development of Quality of Service (QoS) architectures for the Internet is a problem that has received significative attention recently. The large scale deployment of such architectures has being blocked by several reasons, such as, the dificulty in establishing Service Level Agreements (SLA) of QoS policies between users, Internet Service Providers (ISP) and operators, and the lack of mechanisms on the network to request services with quality guarantees. Despite of not having access to a service that can guarantee certain levels of performance per aplication, the Internet users are getting more and more concerned about the network quality. That can be confirmed by the number of users that are migrating to the broadband Internet access. The ISP´s, specially the broadband ones, must take measurements to manage their resources to satisfy the users´ expectations of quality and stay competitive on the market. In this work, problems have being identified at the processes used by a broadband ISP, the MLS Wireless. With the old system, certain situations could cause the denial of service due the number of simultaneos connections or degradation and increased latency due the lack of fairness to share the network resources. This work suggests some solutions for these deficiencies, implementing and analyzing their effectiveness. To fix the denial of service, we suggest the limitation of resources per user, so that the total capacity won´t be depleted. To have the resources more fairly distributed among the users, a new mechanism of sharing is implemented, based on a discipline named SFQ (Stochastic Fairness Queueing). The results show that those modifications have being effective. The time to access services like WWW and e-mail during congestion periods was drasticaly reduced, in some cases, from about 1 minute to less than 10 seconds.