Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-197). Also available on the Internet.

Diss.--Universität Graz, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-197). Also available on the Internet.

M. Tech. Contact Center Management / The University of South Africa's (UNISA) main mode of interacting with students up to July 2011 was through the UNISA Contact Centre (UCC). The UCC supported the academic progress of students by answering questions ranging from admissions to graduation. A student satisfaction survey conducted in 2009 by UNISA's Bureau of Market Research among students revealed that the UCC was rated the most unsatisfactory service. On 29 July 2011, UNISA closed the UCC. The university therefore introduced new modes of interacting with students, including, among others, sms responses, email responses, telephone, MyUnisa and social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The aim of this study was to explore students' perceptions of interaction with the UCC. The major findings show that the majority of the respondents did not agree with the decision to close the UCC and that the majority of the respondents had positive experiences and ratings of the UCC indicating only a few areas for improvement.

M. Tech. Business Administration / South Africa has been marred by an increase in service delivery protests, with communities demanding service delivery. The purpose of the study is to assess service quality at the Victor Khanye Municipality. The objective of the study is to identify the gap that exists between residents' expectations and perceptions and leads to residents' dissatisfaction.

The recent worldwide shift in focus from goods production to service provision in Western countries has resulted in the expansion of the service sector. The front-line worker has become a central figure in the new workplace, forming an important link between the company and the customer. The nature of the interaction between customer service staff and clients influences the perceived quality of service rendered by the company. Call centre work requires a high degree of personal contact with the public and the performance of emotional labour. Previous research found emotional labour to be a significant predictor of burnout. Given the above scenario, the lack of empirical research that systematically investigates burnout in a customer services environment in South Africa is a source of concern. The objectives of this study were to determine the construct validity and internal consistency of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS) (Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach & Jackson, 1996) in a customer services environment, and to compare the relationship of burnout with various demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population consisted of an accidental sample of customer services personnel (N = 228). The Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS) was used to determine the level of burnout in the participants. A biographical questionnaire was used to gather additional information. Structural equation modelling (SEM) methods as implemented by AMOS were used to test the factorial model for the MBI-GS. Cronbach alpha coefficients and inter-item correlation coefficients were used to assess the internal consistency and construct validity of the MBI-GS. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. T-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine differences between the sub-groups in the sample. Tukey tests were done to indicate which groups differed significantly when ANOVAS were done. The results confirmed a three-factor model of burnout, consisting of Exhaustion, Cynicism and Professional Efficacy. All three factors showed acceptable internal consistencies. The results also showed that customer service staff who measured high on exhaustion and cynicism (compared with those who measured low) experienced less job satisfaction. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

No description available.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Business Studies Unit, Durban University of Technology in the Faculty of Commerce, 2008 / The conditions for doing business are changing rapidly. In the last decade, the resin market has witnessed a substantial growth and rapid changes globally as well as domestically. Customer satisfaction is a critical issue in the success of any business system, hence, one of the key challenges of this market is how to satisfy and retain their customers. This issue is strongly related to how service quality is managed and which holds a significant importance to customers’ satisfaction and their perceived performance of companies. In order for companies to survive and grow, they must find new ways of thinking, which has led to doing marketing researches, especially those related to customer satisfaction. In this study, the SERVQUAL model was employed to establish the customers’ perceptions versus their expectations of service quality at Cray Valley Resins. Both primary and secondary data were used to inform this particular research. The research was quantitative in nature and conducted in the form of a self-administered survey. The type of study used was the cross-sectional analytical survey method. The summary of the findings reveals that the dimensions with the highest expectation were tangibles followed by responsiveness. Coincidently these two dimensions also had the largest gap scores. The overall mean gap score (-0.326) is relatively small. Thus, it can be concluded that although the customers hold a good opinion of the quality of the services provided, expectations of the services were higher.

This report presents the summary of findings of the 2003 image and customer service-tracking survey for the Jewel bank. The overall objectives of the survey were to: -Monitor any changes which may have occurred over the past years in usage of the Jewel Bank, perceptions of the banks image, and the service delivery offered by the bank in respect of existing Jewel Bank customers, and -Obtain the perceptions of non-customers of Jewel Bank with regard to awareness of the bank, its image and service delivery Face-to-face interviews were carried out with respondents in the following categories: Respondent category' Sample size Customers who joined Jewel Bank before the transformation from CBZ to Jewel bank 30 Customers who joined Jewel Bank during the transformation from CBZ to Jewel bank 30 Customers who joined Jewel Bank after the transformation from CBZ to Jewel bank 30 Potential customers of Jewel Bank 30 Total 120 / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.