Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO), state owned monopoly that generates, transmits, and distributes and sales electric power nationwide, has been undergoing various continued utility management practices. One of the major improvements, as part of the transformation, was the introduction of Prepayment (Metering) System, over that of the conventional metering service, which had been forcing the Corporation to follow lengthy service processes, in order to support the realization of its long term strategic vision of providing quality electric service and being competitive in an energy export. However, despite the introduction of this new type of service-prepayment customer service, the Corporation has not been able to attract more than only about five percent out of the two million total customers. Therefore, this study tried to assess and analyze the existing practice (quality) of prepayment customer service both from the employee and the Corporation’s perspectives, and thereby propose possible marketing strategies that are capable of improving the customer service quality for the subsequent adoption of prepayment service. SERVQUAL, as a methodological approach to service quality measures, was employed to measure the prepayment service quality by comparing customers’ perception of the received service against their expectations. Accordingly, the study revealed, despite its limitations, that there has been a substantial gap between customers’ expectations and perception of the service rendered, for which different possible marketing strategies were suggested for improvement.

Research question How does the customers´ perceived service quality change when an industry becomes privatized? Purpose The purpose of our study is to examine how the customers´ perceived service quality change after a privatization of an industry. We have investigated if the pharmaceutical industry´s state-owned and privately-owned enterprises deliver different levels of perceived service quality. Methodology This study is of a quantitative approach where empirical data is collected through a questionnaire which is handed out to 120 respondents. Findings There are no statistically proven difference in perceived service quality between state-owned and privately-owned enterprises. Conclusion                         State-owned and privately-owned enterprises are similar in sense of delivering customer service quality in a deregulated and competitive marketplace. Implications Our study contributes to the understanding of privatization. Privatization is a well-debated measure, and citizens of almost any society shares different opinions about its effect on our well-being, and the result from this study gives an understanding how privatization actually affects the society in sense of the service quality provided.

Contact Centre agents operate in closely monitored and highly controlled environments and their work consists of solving service requests or assisting customers with information on products or services. Consequently their work involves a great deal of emotional labour and stress. It is not surprising then, that the working environment of the Contact Centre is reported to have a negative impact on the levels of Quality of Worklife of Contact Centre agents, and that in the Contact Centre context, it is likely that low levels of Quality of Worklife exist. It is argued that it is important for organisations to be particularly aware of the Quality of Worklife perceptions of their employees should they want to address Quality of Worklife levels and benefit from the positive consequences of higher levels of the construct. Numerous variables are reported to play either an antecedent, moderating, mediating, or consequential role in relation to the Quality of Worklife construct. A systems model of Quality of Worklife is developed, which illustrates the inter-relationships of these variables and how they affect and are affected by the Quality of Worklife construct. It is argued that leadership is an important antecedent to Quality of Worklife, and this is the antecedent of interest in this study. It is proposed that it is not just any leadership that will contribute to an improved Quality of Worklife, particularly within a challenging context such as the Contact Centre environment. Rather, it is suggested that certain qualities of leaders will have a greater influence on Quality of Worklife. For example, leaders who focus on relationships and are caring - characteristics associated with servant leaders - are deemed more suitable for the Contact Centre context. The research also proposes that there are close associations between Servant Leadership and Trust, which in turn has the potential to affect Quality of Worklife positively. It is argued, therefore, that Trust mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife in the customer service frontline context. While there is a broad base of literature available on servant leadership that focuses on the senior or executive level of leadership, Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011) have argued that it is also relevant at the middle level of management and have validated an eight dimensional measure of servant leadership that is suitable for this management level. The Van Laar, Edwards and Easton (2007) Quality of Worklife model is also argued to be an appropriate model and measure of the Quality of Worklife construct, due to the robustness of the instrument design and the appropriateness of its underlying theory to the context of this research. Research has shown that leadership can have a significant relationship with Quality of Worklife. Moreover, a review of the literature on servant leadership reveals that trust, satisfaction, general well-being, and commitment to their jobs increases when employees are exposed to leadership behaviours associated with servant leadership. There is however, no evidence in the literature of any investigation of the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife, or of research investigating the partial mediating effects of Trust between these two constructs. Research was conducted to test this relationship. A survey questionnaire was administered amongst a sample of 555 Contact Centre agents, who were employed in eight different organisations. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures were conducted in STATA (V15.0), to test and validate the factor structure of Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife models. The research also produced a Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife structural equation model that supported the hypotheses of the relationships between the constructs. Mediation analysis confirmed Trust’s role as a mediator between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. The structural equation model confirmed that synergies between Servant Leadership, Trust and Quality of Worklife exist, and that Trust partially mediates the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife. It is therefore argued that an increase in Servant Leadership behaviour by the manager or supervisor of frontline staff has a positive association with increases of Trust, as well as positive associations with Quality of Worklife experienced by employees in the frontline context. Moreover, it is also posited that the relationship between Servant Leadership and Quality of Worklife is partially mediated by Trust of the supervisor. The implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations made for management practice and further research.

Magistro darbo tikslas – klientų aptarnavimo kokybės tyrimas valstybinėje mokesčių inspekcijoje. Tikslui realizuoti pasirinkti tyrimo metodai: su darbo tema susijusių Lietuvos Respublikos įstatymų, kitų teisės aktų, reglamentuojančių valstybės tarnybą, Viešąjį administravimą bei Lietuvos mokslininkų publikacijų analizė, interviu, anketinė apklausa bei statistinė duomenų analizė. Teorinėje dalyje analizuojami kokybės vadybos metodų taikymo ypatumai viešajame sektoriuje Naujosios viešosios vadybos ir Visuotinės kokybės vadybos aspektu. Darbe nagrinėjama Tarnybos visuomenei Lietuvoje dabartiniu metu samprata, apimtis, paskirtis, kokybinis santykis su paslaugų gavėju. Tyrimo rezultatuose analizuojama VMI Radviliškio skyriaus mokesčių mokėtojų aptarnavimo kokybė. Tyrimas atskleidė valstybinės mokesčių inspekcijos Radviliškio skyriaus mokesčių mokėtojų aptarnavimo kokybės lygį, darbuotojų kompetencijas, vadovų vizijas bei perspektyvas siekiant aukštesnių viešųjų paslaugų kokybės ir geresnių veiklos rezultatų rodiklių bei pačių mokesčių mokėtojų požiūrį į gaunamas paslaugas. / The aim of the master thesis is to reveal the quality of customer service at State Tax Inspectorate. To achieve the aim the following research methods were selected: analysis of laws of the Republic of Lithuania related to the topic of the present thesis, as well as analysis of other legal acts regulating public service and public administration, of publications by Lithuanian scholars, interview, questionnaire survey, and statistical data analysis. The theoretical part analyses the peculiarities of application of methods of quality management at the public sector in the aspect of New Public Management and Total Quality Management. The paper analyzes the concept, scope, purpose of serving the society in Lithuania at present as well as its qualitative relation to service recipient. Quality of taxpayer service at Radviliškis Department of State Tax Inspectorate is analyzed in the research results. The research revealed the level of quality of taxpayer service at Radviliškis Department of State Tax Inspectorate, its employees’ competences, managers’ visions and perspectives in seeking better indicators of public service quality and of activity results, it also revealed taxpayers’ attitude towards the services they get.

Final draft report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa / The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the major service quality variables that determine customer satisfaction for the Carbonated Soft Drink market which is dynamic and is also part of the highly competitive impulse beverage industry in South Africa. Amalgamated Beverages Industry (aka Coca Cola) still holds the lion’s share of the market although its share has fallen in the last 5 years presumably due to the growth in the consumption of substitutes such as bottled water, 100% fruit juices, energy drinks and dairy juice blends. The proliferation of “diet conscious” consumers has exacerbated the situation. These alternatives are the primary growth areas in the impulse beverage market. This has obviously threatened the viability and profitability of major players in this industry. To date the performance of Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) has been less than satisfactory. There are other key players which have penetrated this market namely Pepsi, trading as Pioneer Foods, Royal, Pioneer Foods, California Cola, Pick ‘n Pay and Quality Beverages. For purposes of this study the three key players were chosen namely ABI, Pepsi and Quality Beverages. These key players have made huge investments in this industry at the level of production and distribution. In addition heavy investments go towards advertising and promotional campaigns. This research is exploratory in nature and makes way for further research in order to reach a more logical conclusion. This study is conducted within the confines of Gauteng region and more specifically Johannesburg North and Central. These two regions were chosen because the researcher resides close to these regions and wanted to minimize the costs involved in this study. The researcher also assumed the findings are a true representation of the broader picture of the South African scenario. Before collecting information the researcher initially consulted recent articles, books, magazines, company reports and even the internet in order to develop a clear understanding of the industry. This also helped the researcher to make logical decisions in the course` of undertaking the research. To that effect the researcher adopted the service quality SERVQUAL and the Gaps models in coming up with a measurement instrument for the research. The CSD companies have two broad categories of customers namely the trader and the end user or consumer. The trader purchases the product for purposes of research whilst the end user buys for consumption. This research focused on the trade customer. According to research experts a sample of more than 5% of the total population does not compromise validity. However the researcher opted for more than 10% of the total population in order to increase reliability of the results. Thus from the population size of 965 trade outlets the researcher arrived at a sample of 100. The traders were classified into four major categories namely retail outlets, wholesalers, restaurants and service stations. Information was collected from these 100 traders using personal interviews. The researcher is the one who conducted all the interviews. Information was gathered from buyers, managers and owners. The researcher took advantage of the Statistical Package for Social Scientists in order to make a meaningful analysis of the data collected. Many service oriented recommendations have been promulgated by this research. They are neither exhaustive nor prescriptive given the time constraint within which this research was conducted.

Final draft report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa / The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the major service quality variables that determine customer satisfaction for the Carbonated Soft Drink market which is dynamic and is also part of the highly competitive impulse beverage industry in South Africa. Amalgamated Beverages Industry (aka Coca Cola) still holds the lion’s share of the market although its share has fallen in the last 5 years presumably due to the growth in the consumption of substitutes such as bottled water, 100% fruit juices, energy drinks and dairy juice blends. The proliferation of “diet conscious” consumers has exacerbated the situation. These alternatives are the primary growth areas in the impulse beverage market. This has obviously threatened the viability and profitability of major players in this industry. To date the performance of Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) has been less than satisfactory. There are other key players which have penetrated this market namely Pepsi, trading as Pioneer Foods, Royal, Pioneer Foods, California Cola, Pick ‘n Pay and Quality Beverages. For purposes of this study the three key players were chosen namely ABI, Pepsi and Quality Beverages. These key players have made huge investments in this industry at the level of production and distribution. In addition heavy investments go towards advertising and promotional campaigns. This research is exploratory in nature and makes way for further research in order to reach a more logical conclusion. This study is conducted within the confines of Gauteng region and more specifically Johannesburg North and Central. These two regions were chosen because the researcher resides close to these regions and wanted to minimize the costs involved in this study. The researcher also assumed the findings are a true representation of the broader picture of the South African scenario. Before collecting information the researcher initially consulted recent articles, books, magazines, company reports and even the internet in order to develop a clear understanding of the industry. This also helped the researcher to make logical decisions in the course` of undertaking the research. To that effect the researcher adopted the service quality SERVQUAL and the Gaps models in coming up with a measurement instrument for the research. The CSD companies have two broad categories of customers namely the trader and the end user or consumer. The trader purchases the product for purposes of research whilst the end user buys for consumption. This research focused on the trade customer. According to research experts a sample of more than 5% of the total population does not compromise validity. However the researcher opted for more than 10% of the total population in order to increase reliability of the results. Thus from the population size of 965 trade outlets the researcher arrived at a sample of 100. The traders were classified into four major categories namely retail outlets, wholesalers, restaurants and service stations. Information was collected from these 100 traders using personal interviews. The researcher is the one who conducted all the interviews. Information was gathered from buyers, managers and owners. The researcher took advantage of the Statistical Package for Social Scientists in order to make a meaningful analysis of the data collected. Many service oriented recommendations have been promulgated by this research. They are neither exhaustive nor prescriptive given the time constraint within which this research was conducted.

Title: Research of sports center KK - aerobik service quality. Objectives: The aim of this thesis is a marketing research of quality of service provi-ded by the fitness center KK - aerobik in Prague 4 Modřany. After evalua- ting the empirical data obtained marketing research, using Brady's model define problem areas and suggest measures to improve the quality and in-crease customer satisfaction with the offered services. Methods: In this thesis the method of quantitative interviews with Brady's model in modification for fitness was used. Evaluated data were organized in excel sheets. Based on these data graphs have been processed of which the re-sults are clearly visible. Results: After evaluating all of the data and their comparison we identified several remedial measures that should contribute to improving the quality of ser-vices provided by the researched subject. Improving the quality will con-tribute to higher client satisfaction and thus to increase the traffic and thus to higher satisfaction of the management. Keywords: Service, quality, service quality, business, marketing research, questionary, customer, customer's satisfaction.

Данная работа посвящена прогнозированию эффекта от внедрения цифрового сервиса в деятельность компании «М.Видео». Актуальность темы обусловлена неэффективностью форм организации бизнес-процессов в сервисном центре компании «М.Видео». Разработанная в среде имитационного моделирования Powersim модель позволяет спрогнозировать и обосновать эффективность внедрения дополнительного функционала в приложение для обслуживания клиентов на основе анализа изменения количества клиентов. / This work is devoted to predicting the effect of introducing a digital service into the activities of the M.Video company. The relevance of the topic is due to the inefficiency of the forms of organization of business processes in the service center of the M.Video company. The model developed in the Powersim simulation environment allows predicting and justifying the effectiveness of introducing additional functionality into a customer service application based on an analysis of changes in the number of customers.

The purpose of the study was to identify a comprehensive measure of performance by assessing the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction on the profitability of the commercial banking industry in Ethiopia. The study adopted unidimensional path models, multivariate approach and factor analysis in predicting the dependent variable, determining the independent variables and the sample size and justifying the objectives of the sturdy. Primary data were obtained through structured questionnaires from valid sample responses of 180 employees and customers selected on convenient sampling method. Profitability (ROA & ROE) was measured based on the average data from the financial statements of 2007/8-2001/12 of the banks. Variant of empirical studies and theoretical frameworks, drawn from motivational, psychological and behavioural theories, were used to formulate the hypothesis and establish the relationship between internal service quality, employee satisfaction, customer service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability. Results of the study indicated internal marketing influenced employee job satisfaction which in turn partially influenced customer service quality and customer satisfaction; customer service quality influenced customer satisfaction which then influenced customer loyalty. But, no relationship was observed between customer loyalty and profitability. However, due to the timing gap of the data on profitability and the data on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, the relationship is apparently realizable in the long run. Therefore, due emphasis is required by the management of the banks to exert the necessary strategic effort on employee satisfaction, customer service quality, and customer satisfaction because of their implicit effects on profitability. Finally, the relevance of the research to the literature on performance measurement is demonstrated by contextualizing comprehensive models in the context of commercial banking industry in Ethiopia. / Business Management / D.B.L.