published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The search for service and product quality has come to the forefront of business studies as the most important consumer trend of the past two decades. Studies conducted indicate that the 1990s saw a dramatic change in customer expectations concerning service quality and standards with a corresponding increase in the number of complaints from disgruntled customers. In response to this, many organisations have established customer care and complaints management services to respond to the need of customers. A substantial amount of literature exists on the subject of complaints management and its role in service quality, however, the focus has been on organisations in the private sector. The research undertaken in this paper aimed to investigate the role of complaints management systems (CMS) to evaluate service quality. The focus of this research was on local government with special attention on George Municipality. A literature review was done to establish the importance of service quality for local government as well as to investigate the link between an effective complaints management system and improvement in service quality. Furthermore, it was necessary to investigate the characteristics, design and implementation of an effective complaints management system. A questionnaire was developed in order to obtain primary data from a selected sample group. The data obtained from the questionnaire was statistically analysed and interpreted. The core findings from the analysed questionnaire indicated the following:  service quality is relevant in local government;  there is no clear method to measure service quality;  no formal and structured complaints management system exist, and  the implementation of an effective complaints management system will both improve service delivery and provide benefits to all involved. iv This study recommends that:  service quality standards and measurement be of strategic importance to local government;  customers should be consulted and involved when determining the service quality standards and measurement, and  an organised and structured complaints management system that seeks to address all complaints in order to improve the level of service quality to customers be developed. Finally, the success of the CMS will depend on management’s commitment to change on a continuous basis as well as the degree to which management proactively resolves customer complaint through the involvement of the customer.

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The purpose of this research study is to investigate the correlation between the level of customer satisfaction and demographic data. The correlation between the level of customer satisfaction towards THAI'S reservation staff and customer's attitude, and the communication behavior of THAI's reservation staff.

Word of mouth has been considered a big factor for why brands do not need to make excessive marketing efforts, due to consumers recommending their products or services to other consumers through WoM. Given this thesis explores the relationship between WoM, complaints and repurchase intentions of consumers when it comes to fast-food restaurants, the WoM mostly is that of a negative aspect. This to see how the consumers feel about the area of fast-food and how they themselves spread their Word of Mouth, how and if they complain and what their intentions are on repurchasing. The empirical findings were obtained using a qualitative method. There were 25 interviews conducted with different consumers from three different countries. Later these findings were analyzed with the theoretical framework of this thesis.  The conclusion of the thesis is that the consumers are more likely to spread WoM, both positive and negative depending on their experience with the brands. As the theory mentions, it is the experience that the consumer is after. However, also that if a product is excessively marketed, and that the product does not live up to said marketing, how dissatisfied the consumer becomes with it. / <p>Då kursen bedrevs via zoom, så hade vi presentationen via zoom också. </p>

We are constantly struggling to understand how nature works, trying to identify recurrent events and looking for analogies and relations between objects or individuals. Knowing patterns of behavior is powerful and fundamental for survival of any species. In this thesis, datasets of diverse systems related to transportation, economics, sexual and social contacts, are characterized by using the formalisms of time series and network theory. Part of the results consists on the collection and analyzes of original network data, the rest focuses on the simulation of dynamical processes on these networks and to study how they are affected by the particular structures. The majority of the thesis is about temporal networks, i.e. networks whose structure changes in time. The new temporal dimension reveals structural dynamical properties that help to understand the feedback mechanisms responsible to make the network structure to adapt and to understand the emergence and inhibition of diverse phenomena in dynamic systems, as epidemics in sexual and contact networks. / Vi är ständigt kämpar för att förstå hur naturen fungerar, försöker identifier återkommande evenemang och söker analogier och relationer mellan objekt eller individer. Veta beteendemönster är kraftfull och grundläggande för överlevnad av arter. I denna avhandling, dataset av olika system i samband med transporter är ekonomi, sexuella och sociala kontakter, som kännetecknas av att använda formalismer av tidsserier och nätverk teori. En del av resultatet utgörs av insamling och analys av ursprungliga nätdata, fokuserar resten på simulering av dynamiska processer i dessa nätverk och att studera hur de påverkas av de särskilda strukturer. Huvuddelen av avhandlingen handlar om tidsmässiga nät, i.e. nät vars struktur förändringar i tid. Den nya tidsdimensionen avslöjar strukturella dynamiska egenskaper som hjälper till att förstå den feedback mekanismer som ansvarar för att göra nätverksstruktur att anpassa sig och förstå uppkomsten och hämning av olika företeelser i dynamiska system, epidemier i sexuella och kontaktnät. / Constantemente nos esforçamos para entender como a natureza funciona, tentando identificar eventos recorrentes e procurando por analogias e relações entre objetos ou indivíduos. Conhecer padrões de comportamento é algo poderoso e fundamental para a sobrevivência de qualquer espécie. Nesta tese, dados de sistemas diversos, relacionados a transporte, economia, contatos sexuais e sociais, são caracterizados usando o formalismo de séries temporais e teoria de redes. Uma parte dos resultados consiste na coleta e análise de dados de redes originais, a outra parte concentra-se na simulação de processos dinâmicos nessas redes e no estudo de como esses processos são afetados por determinadas estruturas. A maior parte da tese é sobre redes temporais, ou seja, redes cuja estrutura varia no tempo. A nova dimensão temporal revela propriedades estruturais dinâmicas que contribuem para o entendimento dos mecanismos de resposta responsáveis pela adaptação da rede, e para o entendimento da emergência e inibição de fenômenos diversos em sistemas dinâmicos, como epidemias em redes sexuais e de contato pessoal.