Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality. A Study of Thai – born Customer Segment in the Swedish Banking Industry in Sweden Problem Statement: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services? Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to find out how a service company can measure Thai customer satisfaction and which factors to consider in order to improve their service qualities with respects to cultural dimensions. Theory and Method: The research is based on the quantitative approach in the form of questionnaires. The structure is developed in accordance to the Service Quality Gap of measuring Thai customer satisfaction by comparing their expectation and perception of service during and after service approach. Conclusion: From elaborate results of the distributed questionnaires, Thai customers are flexible and have integrated into the Swedish culture; therefore the current level of bank service approach is appropriate to their needs. / Tobias Eltebrandt

This paper is based on an assignment from Kvaerner Pulping in Karlstad, a company that supplies complete factories, machines, and systems to the pulp industry worldwide. The assignment was to do a customer survey looking at customer satisfaction focusing on quality. Our main purpose with this paper is to study the concept of quality. We wanted to know how Kvaerner Pulping’s customers’ perceptions differ. We also wanted to look at whether Kvaerner Pulping can offer what customers perceive as quality, and how customers rate Kvaerner Pulping compared to their competitors. Kvaerner Pulping decided which of their customers should be included in the research. A quantitative research was used based on structured telephone interviews. A total of 27 respondents were interviewed. Factories from three Nordic countries and six customers from two other European countries were included in the survey. We tried to interview two respondents from each factory as far as possible, including one person from the purchase department and one from the maintenance department. The theories that we have chosen for this paper concerns the network perspective, customer satisfaction looking at quality and customer-perceived value, after market support, and the process of ordering. Our research shows that quality is indeed a multifaceted concept since there are differences in how customers from different departments and countries rate characteristics on how important they are in a supplier. Also the fact that we added an additional value feature to the ones constructed by Bovik, shows that quality seen as customer-perceived value is indeed a multifaceted concept. When looking at the three characteristics with the highest general mean value (”keeps promises”, “has a good technical knowledge”, and “delivery security”), our results of the survey shows that purchase, the Nordic countries and Finland are more critical to Kvaerner Pulping’s performance than maintenance, the Other European countries and Sweden. Respondents stated that the company performs adequately on three quality categories “product quality”, “support quality” and “delivery quality”, but to get more satisfied customers, they need to be open for improvements. The customers from the research have compared Kvaerner Pulping to its competitors and the results showed that the company is “equal” on most characteristics. Using Bovik’s models (2004) we could see that all of value features on the get-side made adequate contribution to the creation of the value. However to strengthen competitive advantage and offer customers more value improvements are needed. / Uppsatsen har sin utgångspunkt i ett uppdrag från Kvaerner Pulping AB i Karlstad, ett företag inom reservdelsbranschen som tillhandahåller kompletta fabriker, maskiner och system till den kemiska massaindustrin världen runt. Uppdraget gick ut på att genomföra en kundundersökning där vi undersöker kundnöjdhet med fokus på kvalitet. Vårt huvudsyfte med uppsatsen var att studera kvalitet. Vi ville veta huruvida kundernas uppfattning skiljer sig åt när det gäller begreppet kvalitet. Vi ville också titta på huruvida Kvaerner Pulping kan erbjuda det kunderna uppfattar som kvalitet och hur kunderna rankar Kvaerner Pulping jämfört med konkurrenterna. Kvaerner Pulping valde ut vilka fabriker som skulle inkluderas i undersökningen. En kvantitativ metod användes grundad på strukturerade telefonintervjuer. Totalt intervjuades 27 respondenter. Kunder från tre nordiska länder och sex kunder från andra europeiska länder inkluderades i undersökningen. Så långt som möjligt intervjuade vi två respondenter från varje fabrik, en person från inköpsavdelningen och en person från underhållsavdelningen. Teorierna som vi har valt att använda i uppsatsen berör nätverks perspektiv, kundnöjdhet med fokus på kvalitet och customer-percieved value, aftermarket support och orderprocessen. Vår undersökning visar att kvalitet verkligen är ett mångskiftande koncept eftersom det finns skillnader i hur kunder från olika avdelningar och länder rankar karakteristikerna när det gäller hur viktiga de är hos en leverantör. Även det faktum att vi adderade ytterligare en value feature till de som Bovik konstruerat påvisar att kvalitet sett som custimer-percieved value verkligen är ett mångskiftande koncept. Om vi tittar på de tre karakteristikerna som har fått de högsta generella medelvärdena (”keeps promises”, “has a good technical knowledge”, and “delivery security”) visar våra resultat undersökningen att inköpsavdelningen, de nordiska länderna och då speciellt Finland är mer kritiska till Kvaerner Pulpings prestation än underhållsavdelningen, de andra europeiska länderna och Sverige. Respondenterna uppgav att företaget presterar tillfredställande på de tre kvalitetskategorierna ”product quality”, ”support quality” och ”delivery security” men för att få kunderna mer nöjda behöver Kvaerner Pulping vara öppna för förbättring. Kunderna från undersökningen har jämför Kvaerner Pulping med deras konkurrenter och resultatet visar att företaget är lika konkurrenterna på de flesta karakteristikerna. När vi använde Boviks modeller (2004) kunde vi se att alla value features på get-sidan gav ett tillfredställande bidrag till skapandet av värde. Dock för att stärka konkurrens fördelarna och erbjuda kunder et starkare mervärde krävs förbättringar. / Nous avons fait une étude de client fondée sur une demande de Kvaerner Pulping AB, une entreprise qui offre des systèmes de processus complet, des machines, des services et de la maintenance pour l’industrie mondiale de pulpe. La tâche était de faire une étude de client et examiner la satisfaction de la clientèle, surtout par rapport à la notion ”qualité”. L’ objet de ce mémoire est d’illustrer les multiples aspects de la notion “qualité”. Nous voudrions savoir si les perceptions des clients se différencient. Nous voudrions aussi savoir si Kvaerner Pulping peut offrir ce qu’est la qualité selon les clients, et comment les clients notent Kvaerner Pulping auprès des concurrents. C’est Kvaerner Pulping qui a décidé quels clients que doivent être inclus dans l’étude. Nous avons fait une étude quantitative fondée sur des entrevues structurées. Nous avons fait les entrevues par téléphone. Au total, 27 personnes ont été interviewées. Des personnes venant de trois pays nordiques et deux pays européennes. Nous avons essayé d’interviewer deux personnes de chaque usine dans la mesure du possible, incluant un employé de la maintenance et un employé du service des achats. Les théories que nous avons utilisées dans cette mémoire concernent la perspective de réseau, la satisfaction de client (customer satisfaction) centré sur la notion de « qualité » et la notion de « la valeur perçue des clients » (customer-perceived value), le support du marché après (aftermarket support) et le processus de commande (ordering process). Notre étude a montré que « qualité » est une notion à plusieurs aspects parce que des clients appartenant aux départements différents et venant de pays différents ont montré des opinions différentes par rapport á ce qui est important chez un fournisseur. Le fait que nous avons ajouté une caractéristique de valeur (value feature) à celles des Bovik (2004) montre aussi que la notion de « qualité » a plusieurs aspects. Au sujet des trois caractéristiques les plus importantes en général, notre étude montre que le service des achats, les pays nordiques et la Finlande sont plus critiques à la prestation de Kvaerner Pulping que le sont la maintenance, les pays européennes et la Suède. Les interviewées ont déclaré que les prestations de Kvaerner Pulping sont adéquates par rapport à trois catégories: “product quality”, “support quality” et “delivery quality”. Pour augmenter la satisfaction des clients, l’entreprise doit faire des améliorations. Notre étude montre aussi que Kvaerner Pulping est perçu le plus souvent comme égal à ses compétiteurs par rapport aux caractéristiques utilisées dans le questionnaire. En utilisant les models de Bovik (2004), nous pouvons voir que toutes les caractéristiques de valeur (value features) contribuent adéquatement à la création de valeur pour les clients. Kvaerner Pulping doit néanmoins faire quelques améliorations.

Service quality has become one of the key aspects among other factors that contribute to business growth and leading position in the business environment with mass competition. Service quality also plays a significant role in service sectors since due to its untouchable nature the features cannot be spelled out for consumers to directly make judgment before decisions are made.  In order for businesses to improve and maintain a better positioning in the competitive era, it is necessary to evaluate the performance of the services rendered to their customers. In recent times, service provider companies spend a great deal of time and money in configuring high quality services to satisfy their customers. Satisfied customers in most cases are likely to become loyal to companies. Customer satisfaction can be evaluated through an assessment of the quality of service delivered by the service provider to their customers and the level of service quality can also be measured considering customers‟ expectations and perceptions.  Purpose: This study is aimed to apply the SERVQUAL instrument in assessing patients (students of Umea University) perceptions of service quality and the level of satisfaction obtained from the services rendered by the Norrlands Universitets sjukhuset. Method: The convenience sampling technique was used to obtain data from the chosen population to enable an evaluation of perceptions of service quality at the Norrlands Universitets Sjukhuset. Findings and Conclusion: The factor analysis was used to analyze finding and test validity. Meanwhile the Cronbach Alpha enabled the determination of internal consistency and reliability. The gap score between perceptions and expectations was also deliberated. Results show that items from the same dimensions fall under more than one component. Although the other dimensions had a single factor, items from one dimension are not regrouped under the same factor but are affected by the different factors except for the Empathy dimension that was grouped correctly, but Empathy dimension alone is not sufficient to determine the extent of validity of the instrument applied. In this study the overall reliability coefficient is 0,933 more than 0.9 being the standard coefficient indicating an acceptable level of internal consistency. In conclusion patients from a chosen sample size of 201 students at the NUS expressed higher expectations than what they perceived in four dimensions and expressed satisfaction in one dimension. Result shows that in all the dimensions customers‟ expectations were higher than perceptions except the dimension of tangibility score implying that although people expect quite much from the hospital they expressed a satisfactory level on the Tangibility dimension (physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personnel). This study contributes to the already prevailing knowledge and studies that have explored both the concept of service quality and customer satisfaction in the health care service sector with the help of the SERVQUAL instrument. The empirical results from this study can also help in guiding managerial operations in the health care service sectors.

Purpose – The purpose of this research was to explain the determiners that influence customer loyalty in rural grocery stores with a comparison of Sweden and Spain. Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative research using a multi-cross sectional design with an explanatory approach. The data was collected with a questionnaire survey that was distributed using a face-to-face and online method. Findings – The findings of the research revealed significant support for customer perceived value, satisfaction, trust and commitment to influence customer loyalty. The research also confirms that there are differences in customer loyalty regarding rural grocery stores between Sweden and Spain. Research limitations/implications – This thesis extend previous research by testing an adapted conceptual model of customer loyalty in a context of rural grocery stores and explain the determiners of customer loyalty in Sweden and Spain. The limitations of the research are discussed and directions for future research areas are suggested. Practical implications – The study provides rural retailers with suggestions for marketing strategies related to the determiners (i.e. customer perceived value, satisfaction, trust and commitment) that might influence customer loyalty and attract the rural customers. Originality/value – This research adds to the current stream of rural research by investigating how customer loyalty can enhance profitability. This research has originality since it makes a comparison of two countries, which can be of great interest and inspiration for how to maintain and develop rural grocery stores. Lastly, the research is significant as it provides implications to rural retailers as well as Provincial Governments.

Abstract: Background: Sweden is one of the biggest coffee consuming countries in Europe with the average annual coffee consumption per capita as high as 8.2kg. This mass consumption of coffee therefore creates high level of competition amongst coffee providers in the Swedish coffee market. There are numerous coffee shops and even some food chains and retail stores selling their own brand of coffee. This study will focus on Generation Y, as they will soon be the majority of consumers. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and analyze what factors affect Generation Y’s loyalty to coffee shops and examine what forms the basis of Generation Y’s loyalty for coffee shops. Methodology: In this thesis, the research method is based on a quantitative approach using a questionnaire to collect data. The findings are established by using both existing literature and primary data. The questionnaire consists of 432 respondents and 400 respondents’ data was used to answer the research question. The respondents consist only of Generation Y who has lived in Sweden for longer than six months. Conclusion: This study has shown that the most important factor that affects people of Swedish Generation Y to become loyal customers to coffee shops is being provided a comfortable and suitable environment. The second important factor is product quality. The third factor is service. However, for those who are students and unemployed Swedish Generation Y, price is also a factor that could influence their loyalty. Moreover, Coffee shops can use loyalty programs to get their customers’ higher customer loyalty. Key words: Coffee shops, Generation Y, Customer loyalty, Customer satisfaction

In Sweden today almost all people are connected to a bank in some way. It can range from loans, savings, shares, etc. They have a current account where salaries, student aid etc. is paid. Due to the large selection of banks, it has become more important for banks to be competitive in their services to their customers so they don’t change bank. This has led to that more and more banks are trying to get their customers to be more loyal to the bank by being more competitive. Loyalty is the result of several interrelated factors such as customer satisfaction and service. This leads to the purpose of this study to investigate if the demographic aspects have any influence on loyalty. Through a questionnaire survey, this study examined whether there is an influence of the demographic aspects on loyalty. The questionnaire consisted of questions based on previous research. It was distributed to people in Kristianstad on three different locations. Overall response rate to the questionnaires distributed gave us a participation of 110 respondents. The results were then statistically processed in order to test if there is a significant difference in loyalty within the various demographic aspects. According to this study, we could not find any differences in the demographic aspects. However, we were able to find small differences in the mean values ​​between the different groups in the demographic aspects / I dagens Sverige är i stort sett alla personer på något sätt kopplade till en bank. Det kan vara alltifrån lån, sparande, aktier m.m. Nästan alla personer i dagens Sverige har ett transaktionskonto dit lön, studiemedel m.m. utbetalas. På grund utav det stora utbudet av banker har det blivit viktigare för bankerna att vara konkurrenskraftiga i sina tjänster till sina kunder så att de inte byter bank. Detta har medfört att fler och fler banker satsar mycket resurser på att få sina kunder att bli lojala mot banken. Lojalitet är resultatet utav flera sammanhängande faktorer som exempelvis kundnöjdhet och service. Detta leder till uppsatsens syfte att undersöka ifall de demografiska aspekterna har påverkan på lojalitet. Genom en enkätundersökning har denna studie undersökt ifall det finns en påverkan av de demografiska aspekterna på lojalitet. Enkäten bestod av frågor som grundar sig på tidigare forskning. Den delades ut till personer i Kristianstad vid tre olika tillfällen. Totala svarsfrekvensen på de utdelade enkäterna gav oss ett deltagande på 110 respondenter. Resultaten har sedan bearbetats statistiskt för att testa ifall det råder signifikanta skillnader på lojalitet inom de olika demografiska aspekterna. Enligt denna studie kunde vi inte påvisa några skillnader inom dem demografiska aspekterna. Däremot kunde vi urskilja små skillnader i medelvärdena mellan de olika grupperna i de demografiska aspekterna.

The value of specific individuals for the success of a company has increased drastically because of the increased demand on knowledge and service orientation, and job satisfaction has become more important in the competition of the most attractive employees. Improving job satisfaction also brings along additional advantages. For example, it has been proven to have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. This study aims at providing a working procedure for organizations that wish to increase the level of employee job satisfaction, and a method has been developed that gives practical instructions on how to organize the improvement work. To evaluate the current level of job satisfaction in order to find improvement areas, the most important determinants to job satisfaction have been identified through a literature survey. The method has four phases, Prepare, Investigate, Design and Implement, and is shaped as a closed loop to symbolize the need of continuous improvements. To validate the usefulness and precision of the method, it has been tested in a single case study. The case study showed that the method is applicable in the sense that all four phases were possible to carry out, and that it is capable of providing a practical working procedure to increase job satisfaction. It is also useful when it comes to evaluating already existing working procedures. Most important when it comes to increasing job satisfaction is to let the employees actively participate in the improvement work. This will ensure that the solutions suggested are relevant and enduring, and it will make employees feel acknowledged and motivated to follow out the changes.

It is obvious that customers are important stakeholders in organizations and their satisfaction is a priority to management. Customer satisfaction has been a subject of great interest to organizations and researchers alike. In recent years, organizations are obliged to render more services in addition to their offers. The quality of service has become an aspect of customer satisfaction. It has been proven by some researchers that service quality is related to customer satisfaction. Others used service quality dimensions to evaluate service quality. What about the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality dimensions; the relationship between service quality and its dimensions?   Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality in service sectors with respect to the service quality dimensions.   Method: Convenience sampling technique was used to collect quantitative data from customers of Umeå University, ICA and Forex to get their satisfaction levels and meaning of service quality which were substituted in the SERVQUAL model. Chi-square test was used to test the hypotheses separately and in a group.   Findings: The study showed distinctive results for the relationship between service quality dimensions and service quality/customer satisfaction.ICA and Forex had significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction; butUmeåUniversity had no significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Meanwhile the group result showed that: ´responsiveness`, empathy´ and ´reliability´ were significantly related to service quality; ´reliability` and `empathy`, were significantly related to customer satisfaction but `responsiveness` was not significantly related to customer satisfaction; meanwhile service quality was significantly related to customer satisfaction.   Implication/Contribution: The findings imply that service quality is not the only factors that could lead to customer satisfaction in service sectors; that service quality dimension varies in the different service sectors. The findings suggest that to provide quality service in order to satisfy customers, organizations in this kind of service sectors need to improve on the dimensions of service quality. Also, to provide total satisfaction to customers, the service sectors need to improve on the other factors that were given as reasons for satisfaction. This study contributes to existing theories by confirming or adding value to the relationships that are involved in customer satisfaction, service quality and SERVQUAL dimensions. It provides results that could be useful to managers in business organisations for strategic planning.

Aim:   It  has  been  demonstrated  that  customer  satisfaction  is  critically  important  to  the performance of grocery stores (Bamford and Xystouri, 2005). In Gävle, there is heavy competition among the three big brands - ICA, Willy:s and Coop. Therefore, the study of  customer  satisfaction  in grocery  stores  in  Gävle  is  worth  researching.  This  paper aims to establish major attributes that underlie sub-attributes, to examine which pose the  most  dynamic  influences  on  the  degree  of  customer  satisfaction  in  the  different store formats.  Method:  The  method  framework  consists  of  analysis  of  three  samples  of  customers who purchase in the three store formats of ICA, Maxi ICA, ICA Sätra Store and ICA Nära. Following  a  weighted  mean  calculation  of  the  15  sub-attributes,  thus  the  result  can show  us  the  influence  of  the  identified  attributes  and  sub-attributes  on  customer satisfaction.  Result & Conclusions:  The  degree  of  customer  satisfaction  in  Maxi  ICA  is  highest,  followed  by  Sätra  ICA and  ICA  Nära.  The  attributes,  such  as  additional  service,  store  location,  and  store environment exert greatest influence on customer satisfaction in the three  formats of   stores.  The  principal  sub-attributes,  such  as  opportunity  to  meet  friends,  attractive price,  convenient  car  parking,  location,  wide  range  of  food  and  helpful  staff act dramatically.  It is concluded that additional service and location satisfy customers most. The degree of customer satisfaction in grocery stores in Gävle, as different formats of stores can meet customers' different needs and requirements.  Suggestions for future research:   Four  suggestions  for  future  study  are  introduced.  Firstly,  researching  in  other  cities, such as Stockholm or Malmo, is advisable, as both of them differentiate from Gavle in terms  of  size  of  city  and  geographic  context.  Secondly,  research  on  comparison among ICA and its competitors is also advisable to be conducted as it can investigate Swedish retailing industry from a different aspect. Thirdly, Uutialo (2001)’s result appears  to  be  against  yours, the  gap  between  Uutialo’s and  ours  is  advised  to  be examine  further.  Lastly,  the  future  researchers  are  also  advised  to  concern  about  the relationship between traditional retailing industry and e-commerce.  Contribution of the thesis:  This work contributes to extant literature by assessing differences in the main factors that contribute to satisfaction in grocery stores in Gävle, depending on different store formats,  as  customer  satisfaction  is  commonly  linked  with  service  marketing. Moreover, the field of grocery market in Gävle has not studied before the way we did, so this thesis has its original value.

Service quality and customer satisfaction are important concepts to grocery industry.  It is therefore important for companies to know how to measure this construct of expectations and perceptions because consumers’ expectations of service quality are increasing and people are becoming more and more critical of the quality of service they experience. The service quality model SERVQUAL is discussed in this study and how it can be applied in the context of grocery stores. The data in use were gathered from consumers in a southern Swedish town, called Växjö and the goal was to measure their expectations and perceptions of the services provided to them. After going through a significant number of articles and literature, the SERVQUAL model was altered by adding more variables (products, location, and waiting time) to its five dimensions. The aim was to find out if consumers are satisfied with the services been provided to them by grocery stores. Purpose – The purpose of the paper was to identify the dimensions influencing consumers’ perceived service quality in the grocery retailing. Method/approach – Using a sample of 200 respondents, a self-completion questionnaire was given out to consumers in Växjö, to determine their expectations and perceptions of service quality in grocery stores. Findings – The results show that expectations exceeded perceptions, denoting gaps in service quality, which means that grocery stores do not provide the level of service demanded by customers. This entails that customer satisfaction is rather low and that there is still room for grocery stores to improve on their performance. Managerial implications – The findings show that the SERVQUAL model can be a very useful instrument in measuring service quality in grocery stores. The additional variables proposed show a strong correlation to customer satisfaction, with products and waiting time being of high importance to overall service quality. Managers can use this tool to understand how customers assess service quality in grocery stores and in turn enhance their service experience. Originality/value – We introduce three new variables in the SERVQUAL model which, we believe, complete the assessment of service quality in the context of grocery stores.