Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree
of
Masters in Business Administration (MBA),
Business Studies Unit, Faculty of Management Sciences,
Durban University of Technology, 2008 / Customer satisfaction is the key ingredient to the success of any business.
This is the most important factor that creates loyal customers. Presently,
organisations are attempting to obtain increased customer satisfaction by
focusing on the quality of their products and the service provided. Students
were identified as customers of HEI’s.
This research focuses on the determination of customer perception of service
quality at the Business Studies Unit (BSU) of the Durban University of
Technology. The objectives were: to identify expectations of students of the
BSU; to identify the perceptions of students of the BSU and to measure and
compare the expectations and perceptions of students using the SERVQUAL
score.
Customer perceptions were determined by means of a quantitative survey
conducted at the BSU lecture venues using the self-administered SERVQUAL
questionnaire. One hundred and ninety five respondents were surveyed. Data
was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The questionnaire
measured students’ expectations and perceptions in five dimensions of
service that consists of tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and
empathy.
The results demonstrated that in each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions,
there was a negative quality gap. The largest gap was in the tangibles
dimension. Also, there were significant differences between perceptions and
expectations of students in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions (p<0.001)
Improvements are needed across all five dimensions. Results have shown
that students’ perception of service quality at the BSU falls below their
expectations, presenting a great challenge to the institution. In order to
improve service quality, it is recommended that the BSU regularly assesses
employees, as well as customers’ experiences and provide prompt feedback.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:ir.dut.ac.za:10321/418 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Manuel, Nishi |
| Contributors | Govender, Jeevarathnam Parthasarathy |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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