Global pressures from within the oil industry has decreased profitability of
retail operations which has affected the large oil companies as well as
franchisees. A point of differentiation that has been identified is customer
service and although all the major players have more or less the same training
programmes - they are internally generated. There is very little literature to
suggest that oil companies carry out customer perception surveys and to this
end, this research has been tailored. Although it is impossible to react to all
customer's perceptions, there may be benefits in conducting further research
if certain aspects are highlighted by different respondents.
Using SERVQUAL as the basic measuring instrument of customer satisfaction,
it was adapted to suite the petroleum industry. Caltex Oil SA uses an
independent auditor Market Pulse and the main points of this questionnaire
were incorporated in the study. It is important to note that the Market Pulse
audit is internally generated, measuring the retailer's compliance to Caltex
standards. A new questionnaire was then developed to measure customer's
expectations and their perceptions of what a good service station should
offer. The gaps were then statistically identified and explored, and, possible
solutions to close these gaps are generated. / Thesis (MBA)- University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/2493 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Prithivirajh, Shaun. |
| Contributors | Thomson, Elza. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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