Thesis (Ph.D. (Marketing))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2004.

With the emergence of a new service delivery model, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), interest in quality management in the planning and operation of SaaS systems is increasing significantly. Most current quality management approaches for SaaS focus primarily on the perspective of service provider. They largely ignore the perspective of service customer as well as the nature of ongoing business relationship between the service provider and customer. Based on an extensive exploration of this relationship, the thesis research makes contributions in the following four areas: 1. A theory of SaaS business relationships is introduced by integrating an adapted quality paradigm with the notion of value co-creation (co-value) for the service provider and customer. In the theory, we define a specification of four quality-based service types (Ad-hoc, Defined, Managed and Strategic). 2. The theory is used as the foundation for building a model that assists service customers in SaaS evaluation in support of service planning and ongoing operations. 3. Based on the model, an evaluation tool is designed and used in a particular service area. As an example, a case study is undertaken to assist the decision making of email service adoption in the University of Alberta. 4. Two surveys are conducted to assist in the building and evolution of the evaluation model, as well as in the use of an email service evaluation tool.

Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand in order to remain competitive in business and hence grow. It is very important for companies to know how to measure these constructs from the consumers’ perspective in order to better understand their needs and hence satisfy them. Service quality is considered very important because it leads to higher customer satisfaction, profitability, reduced cost, customer loyalty and retention. Purpose – The main purpose of this study theoretically is finding out how applicable the SERVQUAL model is in the context of grocery stores and empirically, describe how consumers (students) perceive service quality and whether they are satisfied with services offered by these stores in Umea. Design/methodology/approach – A self-completion questionnaire was developed from the SERVQUAL instrument and distributed using a convenience sampling technique to students in the Umea University campus to determine their perceptions of service quality in grocery stores. Findings – From the analysis carried out, it was found out that, the SERVQUAL model was not a good instrument to measure service quality because some of the items under the dimensions overlapped and regrouped under different dimensions from the factor analysis carried out. It also showed some items associated to more than one component. Some dimensions showed a reliability scale of less than 0.7 which could have been as result of the wordings used in the questionnaires or the number of items used under each dimension. Also, it was found that the overall service quality perceived by consumers was not satisfactory meaning expectations exceeded perceptions and all the dimensions showed higher expectations than perceptions of services. Research implications – Theoretically, from the findings, it implies that the SERVQUAL model is not the best tool to use measure service quality in grocery stores because the dimensions do not best measure the construct in that context. Practical implications suggest that grocery stores in Umea are not providing the level of service quality demanded by customers. The findings suggest that grocery stores need to improve all the dimensions of service quality from the gap analysis carried out. Originality/value – This study contributes to the already existing studies examining service quality in grocery stores using the SERVQUAL model and also provides empirical results that could guide management dealing with retail activities to take corrective actions that lead to growth in the company.

The ‘Hierarchical structure for airport service quality expectations’ model originally comes from theory of service quality assessment and was created by Fodness and Murray in 2007 after a study at six U.S. airports. It reveals the most important factors that comprise service quality. This thesis tested the model in a Swedish context with an empirical study among passengers at two Swedish airports; Arlanda and Umeå. With the help of literature, the empirical study, and reasoning, the original model has been modified by the authors of this thesis. There are minor modifications but the three main factors remain as they were in the original model, namely function, interaction, and diversion.

The assurance of customer satisfaction is an increasing challenge for airline companies. Bridging the gap between passenger expectations and the perceived image of service quality is a permanent problem that is in the need to be optimized. Therefore, it is indispensable for the company to identify these gaps and develop strategies to increase customer satisfaction. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify gaps between perceived and required service quality, and strategies to increase customer satisfaction. Consequently, the customer as well as the company perspective shall be considered carefully. The theoretical foundation for this dissertation can be referred to the service quality model of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985). To illustrate the coherencies and provide actual data from the reality, the cases of the airline companies Air Berlin, TUIfly and Lufthansa are chosen. By conducting a survey, quantitative data was collected from the customer. In order to collect data about the company perspective, qualitative methods like an interview and secondary information from the companies’ homepages are used. Based on the cases of the three airlines, specific gaps are identified. From this, concrete needs for action and strategies on the part of the companies can be derived. The findings of this study show that core and secondary service quality attributes can be identified. Consequently, the improvement of certain attributes can be more important than the improvement of other attributes to increase customer satisfaction. These priorities depend also on the size of a service quality gap and on the access to company resources.

In recent years, large efforts have been put on enhancing effectiveness in organizations. No resources are dispensable, and a dollar saved is a dollar earned. This is probably something that is rather easy to compute and control within the production sector. However, the service sector is another thing, how do we squeeze everything out of the resources in service organizations? This question caught our interest, and made us want to investigate the subject in the context of the airline business, and especially in its interaction with passengers.   We have asked 100 respondents of their opinions of interaction with the airline when traveling by air – from the booking step to disembarking of the aircraft. The respondents were asked about what different attributes they thought were important in every step, and in relation how their real experience really was. By comparing these two factors, we can present the differences between desired and perceived levels of service quality, regarding the interaction with airlines.   Six hypotheses were stated prior to our work. The results were rather expected, with a few exceptions. Our regression analysis told us that we could statistically verify almost everything we had assumed, but falsify parts of some hypotheses. For instance, friendliness in interaction is extremely appreciated throughout the entire process. How is that observed in reality and to who is that necessary? Read the study to find out.

Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality. 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

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

Date: May 29, 2009 Course: Master thesis, EFO705 Authors: Uliana Kovaleva, 830906, Karolina Turbak, 850710 Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality among the Customers with Swedish, Polish and Russian Backgrounds. Strategic question: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services? Research questions: If customers with Polish and Russian origin differ in their perceptions of the service quality attributes from Swedish customers, what kind of influence do culture and the level of acculturation have on their perceptions of service quality? Method: Apart from secondary data, the questionnaire results were collected as a source of the primary data. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The questionnaire results were analysed in SPSS by applying T-tests, and the answers for the open-ended questions were analysed additionally. Theoretical Framework: The theories which were used include service quality dimensions, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the level of acculturation. The results of previous studies addressing the cultural influences on the service quality were applied extensively. The theories were chosen according to the purpose of the study and used in analysis in a comprehensive way. Conclusions: According to the study culture and the level of acculturation have influence on the perceptions of service quality. The Polish and Russian customers with the low and medium levels of acculturation have lower overall service quality perceptions compared to the highly acculturated customers with foreign background and Swedish. In particular, the perceptions of assurance and empathy dimensions are significantly different between the studied groups. / “The impact of cultural recognition on service‐consumtions among customers in Sweden with foreign background.”

Den ekonomiska strukturen har under de sista decennierna genomgått en stor förändring. Service sektorn har vuxit till att bli en drivande kraft i de utvecklade länderna. Därför är konceptet med tjänstemarknadsföring relativt nytt. Fastän fler och fler tjänsteföretag är numera medvetna om hur viktigt det är att marknadsföra sitt företag och dess varumärke, finns det fortfarande många tekniska tjänsteföretag som inte har tillämpat konceptet. Det svenska konsultföretaget SWECO, som kommer att användas som fallstudie i uppsatsen, är en av dem. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur viktigt det är för tekniska tjänsteföretag att marknadsföra sitt varumärke och hur de kan förbättra sin image samt sitt varumärke. Undersökningen har tillämpats med hjälp av elektroniska enkäter. Som ytterligare förstärkning, har tre teorier använts som analysverktyg. Studien visar att SWECO är ett relativt okänt företag. Trots att företaget agerar på ett internationellt plan, så har det inte utvecklat en marknadsföringsstrategi. De slutsatser som kunde dras demonstrerar att ett starkt varumärke för tekniska tjänsteföretag är väldigt viktigt eftersom de 7 p:na för tjänster anses vara otillräckliga som marknadsföringsmedel. Den högt upplevda kvaliteten av företagets tjänster samt deras finansiella styrka ger företaget goda förutsättningar för att marknadsföra sitt varumärke internationellt. / The economical structure has faced a great change during the last decades; the service industry has grown into a dominant force in the developed countries. Therefore, the concept of services marketing is relatively new. Although more and more service companies are realizing the importance of marketing and branding, there are still technical service companies that has not adapted the concept. The consultancy firm SWECO, which will serve as a case study, is one of them. The purpose with this essay is to examine the importance of branding for technical service firms and how they do to improve their image and brand. The research issue has been studied with the assistance of electronic surveys. As further assistance, three theoretical models has been used as instruments for the analysis. The study shows that SWECO is a relatively unknown company. Although the company is operating in an international arena, it has not developed a marketing strategy. The conclusions attained demonstrate the importance of creating strong brands for technical service companies since the 7 P’s of services are insufficient as marketing tools. The highly perceived quality of the company’s services and their financial strength give the company good prerequisites for marketing their brand internationally.