published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

The property management industry develops with the real estate market which is one of the major economy contributors in Hong Kong. Since property management is considered as service-oriented industry, satisfying customers mean business successful. The goal of this research aimed at analyzing the impact brought by value-added services in current private housing market through assessing the customer satisfaction level. This research intended to analysis the relationships among value-added services, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The first part of the research comprises the introduction including background, aims and objectives, signification, scope and limitation of the study. Second part is the literature review that provides information on the definition, concept and theoretical framework of value-added services, services model, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Third part mentions the methodology of the research while the fourth part illustrates and analyzes the finding of the survey. Finally, it comes to the conclusion part that consists of comment of the finding result and provision of recommendation to property management company on how to enhance and pursuit customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The business thus become success. The common survey tool that widely use in this research is questionnaire. All data are collected through questionnaire. Since the questionnaires are designed to evaluate residents’ view and how it affected residents’ satisfaction level towards value-added service, answer is designed in 5-point scale. The relationship between score and satisfaction is positive which refers higher score means high satisfaction level. Moreover, the concept of SERVQUAL Model is applied to testify whether respondents satisfy the service by comparing their perceived and expected value of value-added service under the idea of Gap 5. Result of the survey reflects that value-added service with high customer satisfaction level may gain customer loyalty only by positive word of mouth. Unlike the previous studies related to customer loyalty that causing customer re-purchase and higher profit return is the most important point. The research shows that value-added service may not bring high profit return to the property management company as not must respondents will re-consume the services. Although the satisfied catering service cannot make higher profit, the power of spreading out positive word of mouth should not be neglected. Catering service cannot make higher profit through residents’ re-purchase. However, it brings positive word of mouth and develops personal communication between residents and the property management companies. So it is suggested that the companies choose the most suitable and applicable value-added service so as to achieve some positive impacts such as profit return, positive word of mouth and improved resident relationship. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

With the increasingly fierce competition in the business environment of Hong Kong, customer satisfaction is a critical success factor for servicing industries. This factor is especially important in the rapidly growth of shopping centres. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on the factor structure of customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the shopping behavior of customers and the critical factor affecting their overall satisfaction are still unclear. Without these kinds of information, the operators of the shopping centres may be incapable to satisfy all customers with unique marketing and management programs. As a result, the utilization of resources and the maximization of profit may not be complete. In this research, factors for measuring customer satisfaction are identified. The relationship between the demographic profiles of customers and their decision criteria in centre choice is investigated. The critical factors of overall customer satisfaction are compared across different groups of shoppers. The literatures have been reviewed to identify the factors affecting the customer satisfaction of shoppers in the industry of shopping centre. In order to further investigate the customers' opinions on the factors which will affect their customer satisfaction in the shopping centres, a survey was carried out in the multi-function shopping centers in Hong Kong with a sample size of 300. The shoppers are asked to rank the importance of these factors in affecting their customer satisfaction in these shopping centres. The results indicate that five factors are significant in affecting the customer satisfaction of the shoppers in these two multi-function shopping centres which are "Transportation", "Shopping Center Design, "Management Service", "Promotion Activities" and "Tenant and Trade Mix" as the way affecting the customer satisfaction of the shoppers in the shopping centres."Promotion Activities" is found to be significant in affecting the customer satisfaction of the shoppers in "East Point City" but not in "Park Central". No unilateral conclusion is drawn on their significance in influencing the patronage. This findings imply that "Tenant and Trade Mix" could affect the customer satisfaction of the shoppers in shopping centres in number of ways even though the location of the shopping centre is determined. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Using consumer satisfaction as an example of complex communication and a virtual world as a mediating platform, a novel framework for eliciting consumer satisfaction has been developed. Consumer satisfaction is a key element for business success, while the elicitation of satisfaction perceptions from consumers can help vendors to assess and to improve their business performance. The objectives here are: how consumer satisfaction is defined, understood and measured; how virtual worlds function, both as a platform and a product; how users typically perceive their experiences in virtual worlds; and how consumer satisfaction metrics can be translated into a virtual environment. Second Life is used as an enabling technology for gathering requirements as well as for the construction, refinement and validation of the framework. Second Life is a virtual world, a multi-user, 3D, immersive environment, which has its own internal economy. The choice of using this social virtual world was due to Second Life being a resilient and widely used platform. The main contribution of this thesis is a framework that can be used to identify and categorise the complex and inter-related factors that affect the use of Second Life in terms of consumer satisfaction perceptions. Another contribution here is a novel approach to Search Engine trend analysis, which focuses on the number or search results returned as opposed to the number of queries for a given search phrase. Based on the research conducted by the author and knowledge gained from the literature, a framework has been developed which identifies interrelated components that provide a wider context to perceive the user experience of Second Life. The approach taken by the framework enables it to be used as a means to comprehend Second Life both as a product and as a platform. A Straussian Grounded Theory approach was taken to data gathering, analysis and interpretation in the context of the framework; further refinements are made to the framework as a consequence of emergent themes revealed through the process of analysing the gathered data. Guidance is given in brief as to how the framework can be adapted to reveal consumer satisfaction perceptions from other internet based services.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) is an institution of higher learning that was established in 2004 as a result of merger of three independent institutions. TUT Directorate of Accommodation Residence Life and Catering has outsourced the entire university student catering division which includes its restaurants, dining halls, tuck-shops, kiosks and a sports bar. Due to the many and recent student protests against the services delivered by contracted firms, there is a need to gain a better understanding of what, specifically, the students are unhappy about. To this end it is sensible to assess this situation, by means of a survey, which is intended to investigate students' levels of satisfaction with various aspects of the catering division. This study intends therefore, to determine the impact of outsourcing on one university service area, namely, catering, by assessing levels of student satisfaction in this area.

M. Tech. Business Administration / In many developing countries, including South Africa, the banking sector is highly concentrated resulting in intense competition among the big four banks in South Africa (e.g. Standard Bank, Nedbank, First National Bank and Absa, and one emerging bank Capitec). In favourable economic conditions, the banking sector plays an essential role in the economic growth of the country. However, the global financial crisis of late 2007 changed the outlook for an already slowing economy, and South Africa was not immune to the impact of the global financial crisis-induced economic slowdown. The banks have been faced with increasing competition and rising costs as a result of regulatory, financial and technological innovation, entry of the foreign banks in the retail banking environment, local competitors who are introducing new and innovative product offering and the challenges of the recent financial crisis. These changes have had a dramatic impact on the performance in sales for commercial banks. Retail banking offers a comprehensive suite of products (e.g. Home Loans, Vehicle Finance, Sales and Investments and Cheques) to customers. It also provides these products through extensive branch networks. Over a period of six months, certain branches of Absa Bank have not been able to meet set targets in sales of the banking products and have caused under-performance in sales for the relevant branches. There are 47 branches in the Gauteng East Region and, among these, six branches were randomly selected under-performing branches in terms of sales targets. This research aims to determine the causes behind under-performance in these East Gauteng branches, as such information would provide management with useful information. The aim of the study is to tests the influence of employee satisfaction, service quality, and customer satisfaction on sales performance, i.e., how these variables impact on sales performance at the branch level.

M. Tech. Information Networks / This dissertation reports on a systematic evaluation of the quality of services that are provided by clothing industry in South Africa. Textile and apparel clothing industry is an important leading segment of the world economy. Clothing retail stores are continuously striving to improve their service quality towards delivering customer satisfaction, which has surfaced as one of the foundational blocks of modern competitive business. The methodological evaluation of clothing stores follows two essential steps. The first step applies Partial Least Squares algorithm to Taiwan-, Europe- and American customer satisfaction models to identify suitable quality criteria that influence customer satisfaction of clothing store service. The second step uses the identified quality criteria in a multiple criteria decision making algorithm to evaluate a set of 17 popular clothing stores in South Africa. The results of the evaluation of the clothing stores revealed the core competence of South African clothing industry in quality service delivery. The results of this study can be used to guide clothing stores on how to better improve the quality of their services. This supplies confirmation for additional enhancement on corporate competitiveness.

M. Tech. Tourism and Hospitality Management / Events, specifically festivals, have experienced significant growth in South Africa over the past ten years in size, numbers, diversity and popularity. There is a growing need in the broader social circles to embrace various forms of art and to create the opportunity to celebrate culture. For this reason Arts festivals have become a feature in the South African cultural landscape. The long term success and sustainability of these events rely on aggressive marketing and emphasis on service quality, thereby highlighting sustainability of festivals and events through service quality. The questionnaire, based on the SERVQUAL model and an adaption of Grönroos was used to identify service perceptions and expectations of service quality at Innibos National Arts Festival in Mbombela, South Africa. This study aimed at quantifying the gap between attendee's expectations and perceptions of service quality and overall customer satisfaction. This study aims to assist the Management of Innibos and other arts festivals to improve the service quality and meet the expectations of their customers.