M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Research on the relationship between organisational culture and service quality is still in its early stages. Mostly, the evidence in such research tends to be either prescriptive or anecdotal. Based on the literature survey conducted it is the purpose of this study to offer a framework by which both concepts could be integrated. Utilising an exploratory case study design, qualitative and quantitative data from two Scottish Universities' student residential service has been collected. Quantitative data was collected through student service quality questionnaires. Performance based measurement was deemed the most appropriate. Qualitative data was gathered through in-depth interviews with members of the service as well as the examination of organisational publications. Association between questionnaire variables as well as the coding of the qualitative data, formed the backbone of two case studies examining the interaction between organisational culture and service quality. It has been demonstrated from the data the utility of the framework, in terms of data fit as well as explanatory power. It has been found in the results that the existing organisational cultures put more of an emphasis on tangible aspects of the service package. However, this research aims to demonstrate that an equal emphasis on the intangible service aspects is needed. That is potentially, the intangibles may offer more in terms of the enhancement of the service experience. Consequently, organisational culture analysis is put forward as the means for enhancing the intangibles of the service.

Fock Kwong Yin Henry. / "June 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-211). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

M.Comm. (Business Management) / The aim of a service organisation functioning in the maintenance or repair market is the repair of components and products. Every contract quoted for is unique. Different procedures and processes must be followed before the repair is successfully completed. Due to this fact, the forecasting of costs to be incurred is made most difficult. The proportion of material costs to labour costs is generally low in this industry and if the labour force is permanently employed, the rued costs to variable costs ratio is high. It is thus difficult to obtain accurate costing information before a contract has been completed. Management have to, on a daily basis, make short term operational decisions and the cost information obtained from the company's costing system, is important in the making of these decisions. At present, there is no costing system that takes into account the unique circumstances of an organisation operating within the maintenance environment and at the same time provides enough relevant costing information for the organisation to recover its costs and quote on a competitive basis. Rotek Engineering, a service organisation that undertakes service, repairs and maintenance in the heavy engineering market, is used as a representative model in this research. The literature study undertaken, investigated which costs and costing systems, from an academic point of view, could provide management with the most relevant and accurate costing information in a service organisation. Rotek Engineering was investigated in order to determine to what extent their current costing system meets their costing information needs in terms of short term decision making and quoting. Shortcomings of the current costing system were also investigated. Rotek Engineering's competitors in the maintenance market were also interviewed in order to get some insight into how their costing systems have been adopted in their ongoing struggle to gain market share. As a result of the information obtained from the research and also the literature study, it is recommended that a marginal costing system be implemented in order to provide cost information for short term operational decision making. The recommendation involves a warning that the bookkeeping and productivity problems will not necessarily be solved as a result of the implementation of a marginal costing system. The company must urgently focus attention on solving these problems and also on phasing out the permanent labour force.

The thesis concerns quality of service in the context of business advisory services. The economic rationale for improving any quality standard is based on the theory that by creating customer satisfaction and a perception of service quality, an organisation can retain its existing customers and attract new business, thus improving market share. This argument is based on the assumption that by improving the quality of the service delivered to customers, product offerings can be differentiated in such a way as to improve customer value. This is a customer defined approach to quality and assumes that the provider has understood and responded to customer requirements. In order to achieve this it is necessary to understand the particular situational characteristics of this market and the criteria customers use to assess the service they receive. In order to investigate service quality in business advisory services, the public relations industry in Scotland is considered as a specific case. Public relations is a business advisory service concerned with the management of image or reputation. However it is not a homogeneous product and is made up of a number of specific functions that equate to two main product variants. Based on these product variants, the research identifies three main purchaser groups in Scotland. However, although outcome expectations are consistent across purchaser groups, there are different expectations of the process of delivering the service according to the product variant purchased. The research concludes that when purchasers are buying a task level service their perceptions of quality are based upon tangible, measurable service features, whilst purchasers of a managerial product variant are concerned with process factors that lead to developing a relationship of trust. There are also a number of 'bottom-line' expectations, common across purchaser groups, which are essential to a perception of quality. Service quality, in the business advisory service context, is dependant on recognising what constitutes the core product and tailoring the process of delivery to satisfy purchaser expectations. The implications of this research are that an understanding of context is essential when considering service quality, in order that customer expectations and provider delivery combine to achieve added value. Secondly, that product definitions are required in determining the expectations associated with performance quality; and thirdly, that customer segmentation based upon product variant is a viable proposition in business advisory services.

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

This study has empirically analyzed the significance of emotional satisfaction in the financial service encounters. The specific focus of this study is around finding out if the relationship between emotional satisfaction and the following important concepts exists i.e. service quality, customer loyalty and relationship quality. Furthermore, the study seeks to clarify the role of emotional satisfaction in predicting customer loyalty and relationship quality. The relationship between emotional satisfaction, service quality, customer loyalty, and relationship quality as a context, was utilized, as well as data from a sample survey of 1,261 Inland West First National Retail Bank customers. The aim of this study is to establish using probable sampling technique if there are merits in support of customer experience strategic choice within retail banking sector. A survey approach has considerable ability in generating answers to business questions such as the what? why? and how? through use of questionnaires. Interviews will also be conducted as part of the greater FNB survey. The results showed that service quality is positively associated with emotional satisfaction, which is positively associated with both customer loyalty and relationship quality. In addition, customer's feelings of enjoyment proved a best predictor of customer loyalty, while feelings of happiness served as the best predictor of relationship quality. The findings of the survey imply the need for a FNB to strategically leverage of the key antecedents of customer loyalty and relationship quality in its pursuit of customer retention and long-term profitability / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

This research specifically addresses the issue of construct validity as it applies to past research in the study of services. Existing empirical research efforts examining the services sector have largely produced mixed results and have consistently failed to support a theoretical framework from which a greater understanding of service organizations could be developed. This has been the case in spite of the seemingly correctness and strong theoretical support for existing models. Thus, this study did not undertake an attempt to develop a new model for understanding services, rather, the goal was to extend existing theory through operationalizing a construct valid definition of the service concept. / Ph. D.

There is an increased emphasis in management literature on the use of strategic management as the primary means of adapting organizations to their changing environments. For firms in the maturing hospitality industry to survive and succeed, they will have to depend upon their ability to strategically align themselves with the turbulent environment, and select appropriate strategies to create defendable competitive positions. Success in strategy implementation depends partly on whether a firm's strategy is congruent and complementary with its structure, and this match is expected to have a positive impact on financial performance. With that in mind, a study was carried out in 1987. The objectives of the study were: 1) to examine restaurant firms based on the context of Porter's strategic typologies at the business unit level to see if they espouse one of his three generic strategies: overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus; 2) to examine the relationship between structural attributes and generic strategy in restaurant firms, these attributes were specialization, formalization, and centralization; 3) to examine the relationship between strategy, structure, and financial performance of restaurant firms. Three performance measures were used: return on assets, return on sales, and growth in unit sales. Following a pilot-test phase, the top management team in 296 American multi-unit restaurant firms were surveyed, using a structured questionnaire. Ninety-one firms participated in the survey, giving a 30.7% response rate. The sample was well represented by all major segments in the restaurant industry. Based on the purposes and research questions, three sets of hypotheses were derived to determine the relationship of strategy and structure in restaurant firms, the relationship of strategy and performance, and the differences in structure among the high performers and low performers in each of the strategy groups. T-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical analyses were conducted to examine these relationships. The level of significance, alpha value, was set at 0.05. Results indicated that strategy was not related to structure in restaurant firms, and that it only affected one of the performance measures, return on sales. It was found that certain performance measures were related to structure for companies espoused in low cost and focus strategy, but not to differentiation strategy. These findings were inconclusive in validating Porter's model. Some of the probable reasons are: 1) Porter's generic strategies may not be applicable for the service industry due to the existence of the fundamental differences in manufacturing and service, 2) the unique characteristics of the restaurant business and the relatively short life cycle of an innovative product or service. / Ph. D.