M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Customer satisfaction and retention are critical for retail banks. Service quality is a major determinant of customer satisfaction, and is increasingly being seen as a key strategic differentiator within the financial services sector worldwide. However, little is known about service quality in an African context for retail banking. This research assesses customer expectations based on service quality factors for retail banks across ten countries in Africa. Specifically, the objectives are to determine whether cross-national differences in customer service expectations exist in the African retail banking sector, what the relative importance of key service dimensions in African retail banking are, and whether these service expectations are constant over time. A questionnaire based survey of 4035 respondents across ten African countries was used. The determinants of external service quality were identified, which include service quality dimensions and respective underlying attributes. The SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1990) was adopted for modelling the data. The results were rescaled to interval data and then analysed by way of ANOVA testing, t-testing and rank ordering. The research shows, with the exception of the Responsiveness service expectation dimension, that there are no commonalities of service expectations among the African countries of this study. The implications of this are significant for managers of multinational retail banks in Africa wishing to improve the quality of service delivery. The Responsiveness service expectation dimension was found to consistently be the most important expectation across all countries. Thereafter, the relative importance of subsequent service dimensions varied considerably for each country, but, on average, ranked as follows: Responsiveness, Reliability, Tangibles, Assurance and, finally, Empathy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 12, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to design and implement a customer service model that will assist the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to improve their levels of service delivery by providing world class customer services. A sample population of 51 managers or senior managers who are students at the University of Kwazulu Natal, Graduate School of Business were interviewed. The respondents were from different companies in both the private and public sectors. The results indicated that there is a strong correlation between client satisfaction and the quality of service provided by DHA. Data was gathered by means of interviews. This made it possible to address specific areas of interest for the study. The interview questions consisted of three areas of focus, namely demographical information, customer service-related issues and DHA service-related issues. The research questions were original as there were no pre-exiting interview questions that met the research criteria. The questions were based on a theoretical foundation. Interviews were conducted on a sample group of 51 respondents and consisted of open-ended questions in order that the respondents were able to fully express themselves when answering the questions. The non-probability sampling technique was used. SPSS was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that DHA has a serious problem with staff inefficiency and many members of staff lacked customer service skills that could help the Department to improve their service quality. The study also revealed that most of the clients had visited the DHA offices to apply for Identity Documents. It is was not clear if those were new documents or first applications, but the study can assume that since these people were adults, the possibility existed that most of them were applying for lost ID documents. The study highlighted the need to improve the levels of service by training staff members, but there is also a need to increase human capacity on counters especially in the sections dealing with ID collection, ID applications and Passports. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

eThekwini Municipality, as one of the public sector organisation, also subscribes to the Batho Pele approach. In improving the service quality, it has provided greater accessibility by introducing the Sizakala Customer Care Centres throughout its boundaries. In the public sector the endeavour should always be for actions which lead to the improvement of the quality of service rendered. Public sector institutions should constantly strive towards improving their service delivery. The concept of the Sizakala Centres within eThekwini Municipality is to ensure that services are easily accessible to its customers. This study focuses on the customer expectations and evaluation of the Sizakala Customer Care Centres, using the SERVQUAL model. The Sizakala Customer Care programme is a special programme aimed at helping people gain equal access to municipal and government services. It forms an important part of the city's Integrated Development Plan (IDP), and shows the municipality‟s commitment to ensuring service delivery and a better quality of life for all its citizens. The research aims to investigate customer perceptions on service quality in the Sizakala Customer Services Centres of eThekwini Municipality. Questionnaires will be used as a data collection tool for this study, and will be self-administered. These will be administered to the community which get services from these centres and officials working for the municipality. The collected data will be statistically analysed to obtain meaning, using SPSS. The empirical data will be the responses from community members who visit the Sizakala Customer Service centres and people who are responsible for the functioning of these centres. The findings of this study showed that the tangibility dimension achieved the highest average score (3.78) in the perceptions section and the assurance dimension achieved the highest average score (4.38) in the expectations section. When comparing the customers „expectations of service quality in the Sizakala Customer Centre to customer perceptions of service quality, it was evident that that gaps occurred in all 5 of the service quality dimensions. It was found that Sizakala Customer Centre needed to improve most on their responsiveness dimension which had the highest (-0.73) average gap score, in order to enhance the quality of service that they provided. It was indicated from the results obtained in this study that the major recommendations for improvement were with regards to Sizakala Customer centres insisting on providing error free service and ensuring that the centres‟ service levels are kept at the same standard all the time. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The study set to investigate customer care in the Mafikeng Post Office. This was achieved through the following. Highlighting any inadequacy of customer care process at Mafikeng Post Office, determining if the current customer care tools utilised are optimal or not, determining the extent at which such tools are utilised and determining where accountability lies for customer care within the organisation. The measuring instruments utilised was a questionnaire because of the descriptive nature of the study. The questionnaire was in a structured format. I 00 respondents participated in filling in the questionnaires. The findings indicated that most respondents are not satisfied with the service provided with only a few who are happy about certain elements of the questionnaire. The methodology adapted in this case was that of survey where a questionnaire was administered. The chapter which? further gave the statement of the problem and the objective of the study. In chapter two, the nature and scope of customer service was outlined from the literature consulted. The chapter defined terms like service, customer service and customer. The chapter also focused on the important things that customers loves and loathe, approaches to handling a customer especially an unhappy customer. The literature indicates that there is a need for good customer service. Customer service also requires that all the key players should get involved in. Chapter three presented research problems and posing some research questions. The questionnaire was the key instrument in the collection of data for the study. Chapter four presented the research design which incorporates the sampling design. The researchers recommends that staff need to be trained on the following: how to be friendly to customers and greet them with a smile. Greet them by name if possible as it will impress the customer to notice that staff members know them. To be polite and pleasant when talking to clients. To be trained on product knowledge as it improves competency and confidence of client in a person. Adequate training of staff is important as it ensures provision of quality service to the clients, thus reducing complaints. Even though the results of the study were not satisfactory, it is important for the management of the organisation to concentrate on those unhappy clients. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation, Technishce Universitat München, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.