THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this Project title “THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION” CASE OF IUGET- BONABERI is written and presented
by MICHEAL AYAMBA TABESON with registration number UbaISTTITL1925 in the
option MARITIME TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS of the UNIVERSITY INSITUTE
OF THE TROPICS (IUGET) DOUALA-BONABERI BRANCH in partial fulfillment of the
award of a BACHELOR DEGREE.

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR
Name:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Signature:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISOR
Name:

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Signature:

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 THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

DEDICATION

TO MY LOVELY PARENTS

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 THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my Academic supervisor engineer SOFA MEJI
LESLIE CHE for his continuous support and guidance throughout the development of this
project. I am also thankful to my committee members, Miss. KEVINE, Miss
IMMACULATE, Mr. ARMAND ULRICH, Mr. NJIGNIA JULES and lastly Mr. TABOULA
For their helpful feedback and invaluable suggestions to my research. I thank my parents for
always believing in me and encouraging me to meet my full potential. My successful
completion of the dissertation would not have been possible without them. Special thanks go
to all the administration of IUGET University especially the coordinator of IUGET Bonaberi
Dr. Djou Andree Ilaire and Director of ISTTI for his encouragement. Also, my special thanks
go to all the workers of IUGET BONABERI. I owe a special thanks to my professional
supervisor Dr. DJOU Andree Ilaire for serving on my committee as an expert and for
providing insightful guidance to the empirical study of this dissertation. I am grateful to my
faculty members of the Department of Maritime Transport Management who worked with me
at various times through the program and from whom I learned much, particularly Mr.
CHEFOIN OLIVER and MANYOR DANIEL. I have received a great amount of moral and
intellectual support from my family members especially my elder sister EMILIA NYOMA,
EBOT AGNESS TABESON, OBEN CHARLES, AND HONORINE TABESON not
forgetting my fellow students and friends; NDIMBEH PATIENCE, OBI IRENE BESONG,
AICHA AMAH AJAH, and TALANKA MILDRATE.

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 THE IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

ABSTRACT

This research aims to investigate the relationship between the service quality and customer
satisfaction in IUGET University by using SERVQUAL analysis. It also aims to examine the
influence and effect of applying quality service towards customer satisfaction and to identify
which of the five (5) dimensions of SERVQUAL has the greatest influence on customers’
satisfaction. The five dimensions of SERVQUAL, which are tangibles, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, are the identified independent variables, while
customer satisfaction as the identified dependent variable. Each of the dimensions of
SERVQUAL was tested to determine and measure the relationship with customer satisfaction.
Besides that, this study also wants to concentrate on the customers’ perception and evaluation
toward service performance in IUGET University. The questionnaires were filled by the
customers who already acquired knowledge and engaging the service at the university
institute of the tropics and also customer who come to IUGET university showroom and
intended to study or lecture as a lecturer. A total of 200 respondents participated in the survey.
The participating respondents represented a return rate of 80% after distribute the
questionnaire directly to the respondents, email and mail.

Key words: Service quality, Quality Management, Service Management, Customer

Satisfaction

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SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

RESUME

PREFACE
Cette recherche vise à étudier la relation entre la qualité du service et la satisfaction du client à
l'Université IUGET en utilisant l'analyse SERVQUAL. Il vise également à examiner
l’influence et l’effet de l’application d’un service de qualité sur la satisfaction du client et à
identifier laquelle des cinq (5) dimensions de SERVQUAL à la plus grande influence sur la
satisfaction des clients. Les cinq dimensions de SERVQUAL, qui sont le tangible, la fiabilité,
la réactivité, l'assurance et l'empathie, sont les variables indépendantes identifiées, tandis que
la satisfaction client est la variable dépendante identifiée. Chacune des dimensions de
SERVQUAL a été testée pour déterminer et mesurer la relation avec la satisfaction client. En
outre, cette étude souhaite également se concentrer sur la perception et l’évaluation des clients
vis-à-vis de la performance du service à l’Université IUGET. Les questionnaires ont été
remplis par les clients qui ont déjà acquis des connaissances et engageant le service de
l'institut universitaire des tropiques et également des clients qui viennent au showroom de
l'université IUGET et ont l'intention d'étudier ou de donner des conférences en tant que
conférencier. Au total, 200 répondants ont participé à l'enquête. Les répondants participants
représentaient un taux de retour de 80% après avoir distribué le questionnaire directement aux
répondants, par e-mail et par courrier.

Mots clés: qualité du service, gestion de la qualité, gestion du service, satisfaction client

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PREFACE

The training offer has grown considerably in Cameroon over the past decade and this change
has affected all training cycles. With regard to Higher Education, the government, by
encouraging and facilitating the creation of private higher education institutes (IPES), has
enabled students to benefit from higher vocational training in the ten regions of
Cameroonian territory. In order to ensure its development and provide its industry with
supervisors and executives competent in different specialties, the State of Cameroon, by
ministerial decree N ° 90 / E / 58 / MINEDUC / DUET of December 24, 1971, has instituted a
cycle of Brevet de TechnicienSupérieur (BTS) and the High National Diploma (HND). Many
higher institutes have been created, like ISTTI (now IUGET) which has chosen to bet on
quality by focusing on professionalism and ethics.
Indeed, the Higher Institute of Tertiary and Industrial Techniques in abbreviation ISTTI,
created by authorization N ° 08/0095 / MINESUP of May 5, 2008 and opened by
authorization N13 / 06874 ° / N / MINSUP / SG / DDES / ESUP / OAGS / year of September
11, 2013, was raised to the status of University Institute of Grandes Ecoles des Tropiques
(IUGET) by decree N ° 18/03976 / L / MINSUP / SG / DDES / ESUP / SDA / AOSB from May 15,
2018. With its two schools (ISTTI and SOUTH POLYTECH). This institute has set up a training
cycle leading, after two years, to obtaining the Brevet de TechnicienSupérieur (BTS) and the
High National Diploma (HND) in several specialties such as: SPECIALTIES: SOUTH POLYTECH
SPECIALTIES: ISTTI
BTS cycle BTS cycle

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ACRONYMS AND
ABBREVIATIONS

3PL Third Party Logistics

INS Institut National de la Statistique (National Institute of Statistics)

JIT Just-In-Time

PAD Port Authority of Douala

SCP Supply Chain Planning

SCM Supply Chain Management

BL Bill of Lading

Communauté Economique des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (Central

CEMAC
AfricanEconomic and MonetaryCommunity)

CNSS Caisse nationale de Sécurité sociale

DIT Douala International Terminal

IMF International MonetaryFund

SERVQUAL Service Quality

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATION ......................................................................................................................................... i
DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ iv
RESUME ....................................................................................................................................................v
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. vi
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... xii
CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................................... 1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF IUGET UNIVERSITY. ......................................................................... 1
1.3 THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF IUGET UNIVERSITY ............................................................ 2
ORGANIZATION, OBJECTIVE AND THE OPERATION OF IUGET ................................................................ 6
1.4 CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND (DEFINITION OF TERMS)..................................................................... 8
1.4.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 8
1.5 CONTEXT OF SERVICE QUALITY ....................................................................................................... 10
1.6 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................................................................... 10
1.7 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY............................................................................................................ 11
 To determine service quality dimensions that brings satisfaction to IUGET customers ........... 11
 To identify factors that hinder customer satisfaction in IUGET ............................................... 11
 To determine what should be done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET. .................... 11
1.8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................... 11
1.9 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS ................................................................................................................... 12
Here we have the null hypothesis denoted as Ho and the alternative hypothesis denoted as H1 ...... 12
1.10 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 12
1.11 JUSTIFICATION OF TOPICS ........................................................................................................... 12
1.12 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................... 13
1.13 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................................... 15

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LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 15

2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 15
2.2 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................. 15
2.2.1 Service quality .............................................................................................................................. 15
2.2.2 Quality Concept ............................................................................................................................ 16
2.2.3 Product Quality............................................................................................................................. 16
2.2.4 Service Quality Concept ............................................................................................................... 17
2.2.5 Customer Satisfaction .................................................................................................................. 17
2.3 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 18
2.3.1 Service Quality Models ................................................................................................................. 18
2.3.2 The Development and Evolution of the SERVQUAL Model.......................................................... 22
Criticisms of SERVQUAL Model ............................................................................................................. 23
Theoretical Criticisms ............................................................................................................................ 23
Factors that Affect Customer Satisfaction ............................................................................................ 25
Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction ....................................................... 25
Customer Service Communication ........................................................................................................ 26
Feedback in Customer Service Communication .................................................................................... 27
Empirical Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 28
Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................................... 31
Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................................... 31
Dimensions of Servqual and Modified Servqual ................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................................... 33
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 33
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 33
3.1. Research design.............................................................................................................................. 33
3.2. Target population ........................................................................................................................... 33
3.3. Sample and sampling technique .................................................................................................... 33
3.5.3 Validity of the instrument ............................................................................................................ 34
3.5.4 Reliability of the instrument......................................................................................................... 34
3.5.5 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS..................................................................................................... 34
3.5.6 Variables and Measurement Procedures ..................................................................................... 34
3.5.7 Method of Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 35
Data Collection Tools............................................................................................................................. 36
CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................................................... 38
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULT ............................................................ 38

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4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 38

TABLE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO GENDER ............................................................ 38
Figure 1: Pie chart displaying the gender results .................................................................................. 39
TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO AGE ....................................................................................... 39
Figure 2: pie chart showing distribution of age .................................................................................... 40
TABLE 3: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO MARITAL STATUS .............................................. 40
Figure 3: pie chart showing distribution of marital status .................................................................... 41
TABLE 4: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION ........................ 41
Figure 4: pie chart showing distribution of educational qualification .................................................. 42
TABLE 5: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF YEARS IN SERVICE ........................ 42
Figure 5: pie chart showing distribution of number of years in service................................................ 43
TABLE 6: Ideal IUGET University should have modern equipment. ...................................................... 43
Figure 6: pie chart showing distribution of Sample according To the Question; Ideal IUGET University
should have modern equipment ........................................................................................................... 44
TABLE 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing ................................................................................. 44
Table 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing .................................................................................. 45
TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of service industry ............ 45
TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of service industry ............ 46
TABLE 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat. ................................................... 46
Figure 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat. ................................................... 47
TABLE 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response .................................................. 47
Figure 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response .................................................. 48
TABLE 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has problems ....................... 48
Figure 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has problems ....................... 49
TABLE 12: They are dependable ............................................................................................................ 49
Figure 12: They are dependable ............................................................................................................ 50
TABLE 13: They provide their services at the times promised .............................................................. 50
Figure 13: They provide their services at the times promised .............................................................. 51
TABLE 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the service will be performed.
............................................................................................................................................................... 51
Figure 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the service will be performed.
............................................................................................................................................................... 52
TABLE 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers. ........................................ 52
Figure 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers. ........................................ 53
TABLE 16: It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to customer requests ..................................... 53
TABLE 17: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers ......................................... 54

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Figure 16: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers ......................................... 55
4.3 Hypothesis Testing (Regression Analysis) ....................................................................................... 55
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)................................................................................................................ 56
CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................................ 60
DISCUSSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................................... 60
AND CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 60
5.1 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................................... 60
5.1.1 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................... 60
5.1.2 Implications of the Findings ......................................................................................................... 62
5.2 Recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 63
5.2.1 Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 63
GENERAL CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 65
SUGGESTIONS FOR ................................................................................................................................ 66
FURTHER STUDY .................................................................................................................................... 66
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 67
APPENDIXES........................................................................................................................................... 68

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO GENDER .......................................... 38

TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO AGE ......................................................................... 39
TABLE 3: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO MARITAL STATUS ........................ 40
TABLE 4: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
............................................................................................................................................................... 41
TABLE 5: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF YEARS IN SERVICE
............................................................................................................................................................... 42
TABLE 6: Ideal IUGET University should have modern equipment. .................................................. 43
TABLE 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing ............................................................................. 44
TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of service industry.......... 45
TABLE 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat. .................................................. 46
TABLE 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response.................................................. 47
TABLE 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has problems ....................... 48
TABLE 12: They are dependable .......................................................................................................... 49
TABLE 13: They provide their services at the times promised ............................................................ 50
TABLE 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the service will be performed.
............................................................................................................................................................... 51
TABLE 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers. ...................................... 52
TABLE 16: It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to customer requests .................................... 53
TABLE 17: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers ....................................... 54

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SATISFACTION CASE OF: IUGET - BONABERI

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Pie chart displaying the gender results ..................................................................... 39

Figure 2: pie chart showing distribution of age........................................................................ 40
Figure 3: pie chart showing distribution of marital status ........................................................ 41
Figure 4: pie chart showing distribution of educational qualification ..................................... 42
Figure 5: pie chart showing distribution of number of years in service ................................... 43
Figure 6: pie chart showing distribution of Sample according To the Question; Ideal IUGET
University should have modern equipment .............................................................................. 44
Figure 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing .................................................................. 45
TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of service industry
.................................................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat. ....................................... 47
Figure 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response ....................................... 48
Figure 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has problems............ 49
Figure 12: They are dependable ............................................................................................... 50
Figure 13: They provide their services at the times promised ................................................. 51
Figure 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the service will be
performed. ................................................................................................................................ 52
Figure 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers. ........................... 53
Figure 16: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers ............................ 55
Figure 17: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers………….............54

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CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Service quality is one of the most important elements that play an important role in attaining
customer’s satisfaction. For an organization to achieve productivity and the objective of
satisfying customers, they must put in place quality services at the disposal of the customers.
Service quality can be defined as the conformance to customer requirements in the delivery of
a service. A business with high service quality will meet or exceed customer expectations
whilst remaining economically Competitive. IUGET University is a customer oriented
services enterprise. The enterprise depends upon the customers for their survival in the
market. The customer is the focus and customer service is the differentiating factors (Guoet
al., 2008). An enterprise can differentiate itself from competitors by providing high quality
customer service (Naeem&Saif, 2009). Efficacy of customer service is related with
progressive operation. In the competitive enterprises, customer satisfaction is considered as
the essence of success. Those service providers who establish a high level of service quality
retain a high level of customer satisfaction; they also obtained a sustainable competitive
advantage. Research indicates that companies with an excellent customer service record
reported a 72% increase in profit per employee, compared to similar organizations that have
demonstrated poor customer service. Measuring customer’s expectation is the key to being
able to serve the customer satisfactorily. Customer satisfaction is one of the important tools to
run a business and to achieve the mission statement. Indeed, customer satisfaction has great
significance for the future of an institution and it is seen as a basis for securing market
position and achieving other objectives of the institution. Therefore, achieving high levels of
service is one method to keep customers both satisfied and loyal (Perng, 2007). IUGET
University must consider various antecedents (tangibles, reliability, assurance,
responsiveness and empathy) of service quality in order to have delighted customers.
1.2 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF IUGET UNIVERSITY.
1.2.1 HISTORY
The Higher Institute of Tertiary and Industrial Techniques is a large private higher education
institution whose vocation is the intellectual and human training of students of Cameroonian

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and foreign nationality in the graduate technician, higher national diploma, professional
license cycles, bachelor, master and business administration, master and engineer, for the
development of companies and entrepreneurship in relation to the evolution of the industrial,
technological and business world.
Created by the Honourable Joseph NGUEPI in Bonamoussadi (Douala) following Ministerial
Order N ° 08/0095 / MINESUP of May 5, 2008 and is opened on September 11, 2013 by
authorization N ° 013/06874 / MINSUP / SG / DDES / ESUP / OAGS / year under the
supervision of the University of Douala. After 05 years of experience, it was elevated to the
rank of University Institute on May 15, 2018 by Ministerial Decree No. 18/03976 / L /
MINSUP / SG / DDES / ESUP / SDA / AOSB: ISTTI therefore becomes IUGET.
The University Institute of Grandes Ecoles des Tropiques has 03 establishments:

oriented towards the trade and management sectors;

industrial sectors.
medical Sciences (SHS), with its training oriented towards the health
sectors. This is how in 2018 Bonabéri was housed on the IUGET campus II.
1.2.2 EVOLUTION
After five years of existence, ISTTI has been able to rise above the competing IPES, thanks to
the presence and hard work of its experienced staff, experienced in the task and its highly
qualified teaching staff. For the first time in Bonabéri, a prestigious institution was born and
when it was created, it had a building which housed students and members of the
administration; it has eight classrooms and two administrative offices. IUGET BONABERI
therefore begins the training with the first promotion of BTS (Higher Technician Certificate),
HND (Higher National Diploma) and the BACHELOR DEGREE cycle. The table below
summarizes the courses open and distributed by cycle at the IUGET Bonabéri between 2018
and 2019.
1.3 THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF IUGET UNIVERSITY
The organisation has its main branch which is located in Bonamoussadi and its sub branch at
Bonaberi
The organisation of IUGET is how it is structured. It is structured officially to which Workers
consciously work. It is a channel for authority and accountability is hierarchical Order is as
follows:

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 THE PROMOTER
He is the owner of IUGET. He works closely with his employees to ensure the better
management of their wealth to generate returns to their investment.
 THE DIRECTOR
Its director is in charge of administration and management of the institution. His effectively
executed with the assistant fiscal and accounting consult. He ensures the General functioning
of its operation such as work group, establishing technical plant, attending meeting and other
formal matters.
 THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT
It is in charge of recognising the shortage of stocks in the company and places order. They
make sure the stocks demanded are exactly of the same quantity and quality required.
 COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT
The concern of this sub system in the constitution is to prepare information relating to
Present opportunities such as the marketing of the company’s services.
 LOGISTICS DEPARTMENT
According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (previously the Council
of Logistics Management) logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling
procedures for the efficient and effective transportation and storage of goods including
services and related information from the point.
 PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT
The procurement department is the office responsible for the acquisition of supplies, Services
and construction in support of the Authority’s business. The procurement issues Purchase
orders, develops term contracts and acquires supplies and services.
 HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT
This department is in charge of recruitment, training and remuneration of employees, Job
development and job enlargement.
 FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT
This department is in charge of all the budgets. The budget which is approved by other top
executives of the company, they ensure that the financial budget reaches their goals.
 THE SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT
They type the information of the company. The secretary also transmits information to other
companies. She also welcomes and orientates suppliers and also answers phone calls of the
company.
 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT
They may supervise or manage a team of administrators, allocating roles, recruiting and
training and issuing assignments and projects. As such the role is varied, often including

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responsibilities across a diverse range of functions such as: Book keeping, management
information systems.
- OPERATIONS OF IUGET
 BTS path (for French section) both day and evening with industrial and
Commercial fields
 Industrial path. It occurs both in the French and English cycle that is; in the
HND cycle, BTS cycle, capacité en droite. Furthermore, Bachelor, MBA, Cycle D’ingenieur
and other degree program are operational.
 HND (for English section) in specialities of Logistics and Transport Management,
Banking and Finance, Human Resource Management, Accountancy, Marketing.

THE ENVIRONMENT OF IUGET

This consists both internal and external factors that affect the firm. It is the total of all
Things, internal and external to firms and individuals who affect their organisation and
OPERATIONS
a) INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
The internal environments of a company are the forces that are of major influence to its
Functioning. They are the controllable forces within the organization.
 The Organisational Mission:
IUGET’s mission statement describes what the organisation needs to do now to achieve the
vision. The mission’s statements must support each other; the mission statement is more
specific. It defines how the organisation will be different from other organisations in its
industry. They include; organizing the world’s information and making it universally
accessible and useful, provide superior service in every aspect of our customer’s demand, to
enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news and information.
 The Organisational objectives
IUGET has cooperated organizational objective which is concern with the organisation
as a whole, they are fully committed to provide high quality of customer service. Some
of these objectives are; Profit maximization, Focusing on customer service (establish
objectives that focus on providing quality customer service. These objectives attempt to
measure customer satisfaction with costs and overall quality of a product or service), retaining
talented employees and lastly establishing brand awareness (e-marketing).
 The vision
It defines the desires and intended future state of the organisation. The vision of IUGET is to
be the pillar behind the success of its clients.

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 The organizations physical and human Resources

These resources can be financial and physical. It is what the organization has at its disposals.
Physical resources like vehicles, warehouse and well handed equipment are which are used to
top up their activities. Financial resources are findings and source of income. Without the help
of employees IUGET will not have been successful due to their enormous attachments and
hard work.
b) EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
The external environment is everything outside an organization that might affect it. The task
environment refers to those specific organisation or groups that are likely to influence an
organization. It consists of competitors, customers, suppliers, regulators, unions and owner.
THE MICRO ENVIRONMENT
They are the uncontrollable factors in the organization. Some of these factors are:
 The operation of IUGET with their customers
 Customers are those who consume or buy a firm product. The customers of IUGET
Includes her students; they constitute the main external factors because they assure the
Continuity in the organization’s operations by demanding for its services. Thus this
Organization is focused greatly on customer satisfaction building long term customer
 The operation of IUGET with their suppliers
It is all about the external partners of the organization who take care of the provision of the
institute according to their needs that is sellers of industrial materials of building, technical
installation and maintenance spare. They can create opportunity and threat which may arise
from their disconnection of their supplies that may cause operation blockage due to lack of
resources. For these resources, the organization ensures that they establish a long term
relationship with many suppliers dealing in similar supplies.
 The operation of IUGET with their competitors
These are external variables that provide similar services or are in the same line of operations
with the organization satisfying the same needs differently. They cause most threats arising in
large gaining institutes thus, the success or failure of an institution depends on their ability to
satisfy customer needs better than competitors. Some of these competitive firms are:
 ISSEM-IBCG
 ACESS UNIVERSITY
 ESG
 ISMA
 HIPE
THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT

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It is a major external and uncontrollable factor that influences an organization’s decision

making, its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors;
demographics; legal, political, and social conditions; technological changes; and natural
forces. These are also commonly known as PESTEL MODEL.
 Political Environment of IUGET
The government creates threats and opportunity to IUGET through its political action.
IUGET has an obligation by the government to register his name for right of operation
and to buy its taxes.
 Economic Environment of IUGET
IUGET in the society is out as a professional operating institution to form students to
become professionals in their domain, leading to professionals in the economic.
 Socio cultural Environment of IUGET
They are also threats and opportunity to IUGET. They can increase as well as decrease the
institutions reputation. Thus, the institution acts as a reputated corporate body by making
sure that their activities or output should not affect the lives of people in the society due to
their differences in culture like their attitudes and so on.
 Technological Environment of IUGET
The rapid development in technology has a great impact in the activities of IUGET; their
activities involve the use of higher technological tools like computers and machines of
classic standards. The management with the vision of being the best constantly carried out
technical studies on innovations in order to improve the skills of their students.
 Legal Environment of IUGET
Legislative changes take place from time to time. Many of these changes affect the
Business. Some of these legislative factors affecting IUGET are employment
regulations (labour code), competitive regulations.
ORGANIZATION, OBJECTIVE AND THE OPERATION OF IUGET
For efficient management, the enterprise must set up the objectives and missions that it will
have to follow. The mission and objectives of IUGET are sculpted as follows;
 MISSIONS
IUGET has a mission which is to contribute to the success of the national and foreign
Students, while offering them a good academic setting with qualified teachers who dispense
professional teachings.
 OBJECTIVES

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The creation of IUGET aims to innovate in the domain of quality formation. In this case,
IUGET shape itself under two objectives;
 To give Cameroonians and foreign youths a guide to be experts in their various domains
chosen and to use the knowledge acquired wisely in the society to earn a living.
 To give Cameroonians the possibility to exercise their knowledge out of the Country and
help develop the country.
 THE OPERATION OF THE OWNER
The establishment is placed under his whole authority that is the owner of which he is in
charge of the coordination of the set of the service that it represents. He/she is in charge of the
following
 To reach the general and strategic objectives of the organization
 To elaborate the yearly budget of the institute and follow his/her execution
 To coordinate the commission of reduction of the pension and moratoriums
 To coordinate the activities of the services in the organization according to their
department
OPERATIONS OF THE DIRECTOR
Placed under the promoter’s authority, the director of the establishment is put in charge of the
administrative, educational direction and the control of the establishment in respect of the
resolution and prescription of the advice of the establishment.
 THE OPERATIONS OF THE DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
He is under the authority of the director of the establishment. He has under its responsibility
several services that determine his or her role in the establishment.
 To collect teachings by level and by path the most applicable bibliography
Elements for acquirement.
 To purpose to the administration the best politics to cause the students obstruction from
reading.
 THE OPERATION OF THE DISCIPLINE SERVICE
 To supervise the internal organization of the exams
 To control the quality and regularity of the teachers
 To look after the respect of the interior regulations of the students
 To manage the availability of the resources
 To look after the respect of the schedule
 To control the cards of pointing

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 The service of discipline coins of its load the agency of household that
Takes care of;
 To clean rooms
 To empty trash cans
 To count the chairs and the tables damaged in the class rooms
 To manage the house keeping products
 To look after the cleanliness of the toilets
 To establish a house keeping planning
 THE OPERATIONS OF THE SERVICE OF EDUCATION
 To produce the biannual and yearly reports
 To supervise the management of the files of the students
 To supervise the demands of documents for the students
 To elaborate the academic documents
 To receive and to treat the request introduced by the students
 THE OPERATIONS OF THE SERVICES OF PROGRAMMING
 To supervise the activities of the department
 To supervise the internal organization of the exams
 To ensure the availability of rooms
 To program the courses
 To manage the available resources
 THE OPERATION OF THE COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
 To promote the picture of IUGET
 To put the strategies aiming to motivate the students in place
 To plan and organize the actions of communication and environment of IUGET
 THE OPERATION OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE
This service is under the promoter’s direct responsibility. His mission is;

 To reinforce the visibility of the establishment by the general public

 To negotiate on the jobs and partnership
 To negotiate the visits of the enterprise and to reinforce the number of registered Students.

1.4 CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND (DEFINITION OF TERMS)

1.4.1 INTRODUCTION
Individuals, associations, committees, professional groups attached meaning to their work
according to their culture and professional background. It is for this reason that we made an
attempt to define the meaning of some terms used in the study.

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 SERVICE QUALITY
The term Service Quality is an association of two different words; service' and 'quality.
Service means "any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially
intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything."'
Quality has come to be recognized as a strategic tool for attaining operational efficiency and
better performance of business. ‘Service quality' means the ability of a service provider to
satisfy customer in an efficient manner through which he can better the performance of
business.

 SERVICE QUALITY

Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong defined the term 'service quality' as "it is the ability of a
service firm to hang on to its customer. That is, in their opinion customer retention is the best
measure of service quality.
 CUSTOMER
A customer is an individual or business that purchases another company's goods or services.
Customers are important because they drive revenues; without them, businesses have nothing
to offer. Most public-facing businesses compete with other companies to attract customers,
either by aggressively advertising their products or by lowering prices to expand
their customer bases.
 SATISFACTION
Philip Kotler defines customer satisfaction as a ‘person’s feeling of pleasure or
disappointment, which resulted from comparing a product’s perceived performance or
outcome against his/her expectations’. Although Kotler uses abstract terms like pleasure and
disappointment, the definition is by no means ambiguous.
Customer satisfaction = f (perceived performance, buyer’s expectations)
 RELIABILITY
Reliability is defined as the ability to perform the promised service dependably and
accurately. In broad sense reliability means, service firms' promises about delivery, service
provisions, problem resolutions and pricing.
 RESPONSIVENESS
Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service. This
dimension focuses in the attitude and promptness in dealing with customer requests,
questions, complaints and problems.

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1.5 CONTEXT OF SERVICE QUALITY

Quality is a subjective concept, which depends on the individual’s perceptions and
expectations. These perceptions and expectations may be different from the other and they
may evolve in time. Quality is important for clients, for the personnel, it may contribute to
reducing costs and may provide a better service for the same budget. The main results of the
research have taken shape into "conceptual models of the quality of the services" (Dotchin
and Oakland, 1994; Juwaheer and Ross 2003; EdaAntilgan, et al., 2003). Some of these
models can also be applied in tourism, but what is important for those working in this field is
to know which these models are and how they can be used. The low quality of the services
provided in the enterprises and business places is invoked wherever its evolution is being
analyzed. As a consequence the company’ management should be permanently
concerned by the quality of the services their they provide. This is why the present
survey analyzes both the models to improve the quality of the services, and what quality for
the client’s means, taking the example of IUGET University and using the standard
proceeding SERVQUAL. We found out from the survey that there are differences between
the perceptions and the expectations of the clients, and that the most serious
complaints of the clients of the institution derive from responsiveness, seriousness and
empathy. Knowing all this the managers can make future decisions, according to the requests
of the clients.
1.6 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
According to the research by Caruana (2002), Butcher, Sparks, and O’Callaghan (2001),
Ehigie (2006) and Lam and Burton (2006), the overall satisfaction of the customers has a
mediating effect on the service quality dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
empathy and assurance).
Service quality and customer satisfaction have been proven from past researches to be
positively related (Baker-Prewitt, 2000; Kuo, 2003; Gera, 2011) but no study had tested the
service quality dimensions directly to see if it is related to customer satisfaction, thus, there is
a need to test the direct relationship between each of the service quality dimensions and
customer satisfaction. In addition to Universities, there are few owned and several private
universities. According to Rashid Al Karim (2014) the combination of tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy together has significant effect on customer
satisfaction. Universities in Cameroon are not exceptional. Therefore, conducting this
research on the case of Universities will fill the existing empirical literature gap for the next

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significant researches. Moreover, currently in Cameroon both public and private Universities
are involved in an intensive branch expansion programs to penetrate in the market and
increase their customer base. Being one actor in the industry, construction and business,
Universities have been in a reformation program to adopt new technology and increase the
number of branches to facilitate the service and meet its objectives through delivering its
services to the customers in the market of a strong competition. Hence, this activity perhaps
has brought changes in customer satisfaction for the Institution.
Therefore, to tackle the aforementioned situation, a study on the effect of delivering service
quality on satisfying customer with reference to the case company can be a fruitful base on
empirical work. Hence, the study will investigate the effect of an independent variables,
tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy on the dependent customer
satisfaction of the case institution.
1.7 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are made up of main and specific objectives
1.7.1 Main objectives of the study
The main objective of this study is to assess service quality and customer satisfaction using
SERVQUAL model in IUGET University
1.7.2 Specific objectives of the study are:
 To determine the overall service quality as perceived by customers within IUGET
 To determine service quality dimensions that brings satisfaction to IUGET customers
 To identify factors that hinder customer satisfaction in IUGET
 To determine what should be done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET.
1.8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions are made up of the main and specific research questions
1.8.1 Main research questions
 How to assess service quality and customer satisfaction using SERVQUAL model in
IUGET?
1.8.2 Specific Research Questions
i. How do customers perceive service quality in IUGET?
ii. Which service quality dimensions brings satisfaction to IUGET customers?
iii. What are the factors hindering customer satisfaction in IUGET?
iv. What should be done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET?

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1.9 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Here we have the null hypothesis denoted as Ho and the alternative hypothesis denoted as H1
1.9.1 GENERAL HYPOTHESIS
H0a There is no significant relationship between SERVQUAL and customers’ satisfaction
Hob: There is a significant relationship between SERVQUAL and customers’ satisfaction
1.9.2 Specific Hypothesis
Hoc: there is no significant relationship between tangibility and customer satisfaction
Hod: there is a significant relationship between tangibility and customer satisfaction
Hoe: there is no significant relationship between reliability and customer satisfaction
Hof: there is a significant relationship between reliability and customer satisfaction
Hog: there is no significant relationship between responsiveness and customer satisfaction
Hoh: there is a significant relationship between responsiveness and customer satisfaction
1.10 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Implementation of service quality delivery would be the stage for building a good partnership
with customers which consequently leads to services development and improvement. This
study was significant in the following regards;
I It will help IUGET university to develop and implement effective service quality
improvement initiatives.
ii. It will serve as a valuable source of information that high lights the switching intention of
customers to other operators.
iii. It will essentially uncover dimension of service quality that IUGET customer consider as
important as well as customer’s intention to switch to other operator.
iv. This study provides empirical support for management strategic decision in several critical
areas of their operation and to provide a justifiable valid and reliable guide in designing
workable service delivery improvement strategic
1.11 JUSTIFICATION OF TOPICS
Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty are the core of the relationship between
marketing theory and practice. To raise awareness about the vital connection of our
marketing, we have developed a framework for a comprehensive and flexible to theory,
analysis of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, while the use of SERVQUAL Model
by Berry, Zeithaml and Parasuraman (1990) as the premise of this study.
This study explored a new demographic field with SERVQUAL questionnaire by surveying
IUGET consumers in the central part and littoral area. This study compared customers‟

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perception level with their expectations and provides recommendations to improve service
quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The mediating role of customer satisfaction is
further supported by determining the direct / indirect effects of service quality on loyalty.
1.12 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study is mainly focused on examining the effect relationship between the service quality
and its impact on customer satisfaction. The independent variables of the study are; tangibles,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy with the identified dependent variable;
customer satisfaction.This study is limited to investigate the relationship between the service
quality and its impact on customer satisfaction by taking the two branches of businesses and
enterprise in Cameroon.
The limitations of this study are given below:
The sample size of this study is too small which may not represent the whole population.
 The data and information related with the topic will not easily available.
 The institution IUGET confidentially keeps the data. University’s policy of not disclosing
some sensitive data and information for obvious reason pose an obstacle to the practical
orientation that shall be very much useful.
1.13 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This gives a summary of each chapter of the thesis. Chapter one introduces the topic to the
reader. This chapter explains the background of the study and statement of the problem giving
a focus of the study. The Objective of the study and research questions is identified. Scope of
the study and organization of the study is also identified.
This chapter two gives the literature review, where all the concepts that are important to the
study will be presented. Conceptual definitions presented, thus all terms related to service,
quality, customer satisfaction, customer expectations and customer perception are to be
identified. Theoretical and empirical analysis will also be presented. After carefully analyzing
various research studies conducted so far using SERVQUAL model, research gap identified
and conceptual framework developed as well as theoretical framework described.
Chapter three describes how the study will be carried out, showing the measurement of the
constructs, the way data have been collected and coded. The purpose of this chapter is to
present, discuss and argue for the choices made in designing the research framework of this
study. The study is quantitative study and the research design is case study design in which
data collected from the respondents using self-completion questionnaires in order to make the
study very objective.

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Chapter four discusses the data collected from the field that would enable to answer research
questions. The data collected was mainly based on respondents’ expectations and perceptions
of the various items under the SERVQUAL model. Demographic description of the
respondents and factors hindering customer satisfaction will be identified. General description
of the consumers’ expectations and perceptions of the various dimensions was done using
descriptive statistics.
Also, gap score analysis was carried based on the difference between the expectations and
perceptions (P – E) in order to assess service quality and customer satisfaction. The use of
theory was necessary in this chapter in order to answer our research questions.
Chapter five gives a summary of the findings have been outlined and thereby providing
answers to research questions. Theoretical, managerial implications and finally possible
recommendations from findings have been provided. Limitations and suggestions for further
research topics are mentioned in this chapter

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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviews the literature and related models to research problem. The chapter
introduces the key concepts on customer service, service quality, customer satisfaction,
relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Service quality dimensions,
concept formations of customer satisfaction and empirical analysis of the Past studies. Also it
shows the research gap, conceptual framework and theoretical framework.
2.2 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS
From the title of this research work look at, to assess service quality and customer satisfaction
using SERVQUAL model, therefore all the term related to service, quality and customer
satisfaction were defined.
2.2.1 Service quality
A study carried out by Johns, (1998, p.954) points out that a word ‘service’ has many
meanings which lead to some confusion in the way the concept is defined in management
literature, service could mean an industry, a performance, an output or offering or a process.
He further argues that services are mostly described as ‘intangible’ and their output viewed as
an activity rather than a tangible object which is not clear because some service outputs have
some substantial tangible components like physical facilities, equipments and personnel. An
example of services offered by IUGET University, are voice services and data services which
have tangibles such as sales assistances, computers, self-service equipments, brochures. We
consider tangible components (service scape) when assessing activities offered by IUGET in
order to understand better service activities.
Lovelock &Wirtz (2007) describe in their research that the nature of service quality requires a
distinctive approach to indentify and measure service quality. The intangible, multifaceted
nature of many services makes it harder to evaluate the quality of a service compared to
products. This is because, customers are also involved in the service production so, a
distinction has to be drawn between the process of service delivery and the actual output of
the service which is called quality of service.

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Akroush, M, A & Khatib, F. A (2009) did a study on the Impact of Service Quality
Dimensions on Performance of Jordan’s Commercial Banks. In their study it was found that
the service quality dimensions, both functional and technical, have positive and significant
impact on banks performance which was assessed based on financial performance and
customer indicators. Moreover it was explored that the functional quality dimension has a
stronger effect on all commercial banks performance indicators compared with the technical
quality dimension. Further it was found that the effect of service quality dimensions
(functional and tech.nical) on the banks financial performance is still stronger than their
effects on banks customer indicators.
2.2.2 Quality Concept
Some definitions of quality pointed out by Hardie & Walsh (1994, p.53) include; “Quality is
product performance which results in customer satisfaction freedom from product
deficiencies, which avoids customer dissatisfaction” – (Juran, 1985, p.5) “Quality is the extent
to which the customers or users believe the product or service surpasses their needs and
expectations” – (Gitlow et al. 1989). “Quality: the totality of features and characteristics of a
product that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs”– International Standards
Organization (ISO). “Quality is the total composite product and service characteristics of
marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product in use will
meet the expectations of the customer” – (Feigenbaum, 1986). Quality has been considered as
being an attribute of an entity (as in property and character), a peculiar and essential character
of a product or a person (as in nature and capacity), a degree of excellence (as in grade) and as
a social status (as in rank and aristocracy) and in order to control and improve its dimensions
it must first be defined and measured (Ghylin et al., 2008, p.75). The above definitions of
quality shed light in understand quality concept and point out that quality has many views.
2.2.3 Product Quality
Product quality is defined as the collection of features and characteristics of a product that
contribute to its ability to meet given requirements. The characteristic of a product or service
that satisfies the customer's wants and needs in exchange for monetary considerations. If the
consumer is satisfied that he/she had a fair exchange, then the quality is acceptable. A
perception of high quality or that which is above expectations can help to create high brand
loyalty and in turn helps create brand equity for the company. If a consumer buys Maytag
washers due to past exceptional service, then this quality level has helped create brand
loyalty. According to Garvin, (1987) suggested eight dimensions of product quality which are

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very important to customers since they lay much emphasis on quality when buying among
many similar products and they include; Performance- primary operating characteristics of a
product, Features- ‘bells and whistles’ of a product, Reliability- probability of a product
failing within a specified period of time; Durability- measure of a product life; Conformance-
degree that a product’s design matches established standards; Serviceability- speed and
competency of repair; Aesthetics- subjective measure of how a product looks, feels, sounds,
smells or tastes; Perceived quality- subjective measure of how the product measures up
against a similar product. In the case of TTCL, these factors play a very important role in
knowing how customers perceive service quality and therefore support in the measurement of
service quality for this study, the definition of quality used is the user-based
2.2.4 Service Quality Concept
Service quality is defined as the overall assessment of a service by the customer (Eshghi et
al., 2008, p.121). Ghylin et al., (2008, p.76) points out that, by defining service quality,
companies will be able to deliver services with higher quality level presumably resulting in
increased customer satisfaction. Understanding service quality must involve acknowledging
the characteristics of service which are intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability,
(Parasuraman et al., 1985, p.42); (Ladhari, 2008, p.172). In that way, service quality would be
easily measured. In this study, service quality can be defined as the difference between
customer’s expectation for service performance prior to the service encounter and their
perception of the service received. Customer’s expectation serves as a foundation for
evaluating service quality because, quality is high when performance exceeds expectation and
quality is low when performance does not meet their expectation (Asubonteng et al., (1996,
p.64). Expectation is viewed in service quality literature as desires or wants of customer i.e.,
what they feel a service provider should offer rather than would offer (Parasuraman et al.,
1988, p.17). Perceived service is the outcome of the customer’s view of the service
dimensions, which are both technical and functional in nature (Gronroos, 1984, p.39).
2.2.5 Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is conceptualized has been transaction-specific meaning it is based on
the customer’s experience on a particular service encounter, (Cronin & Taylor, 1992) and also
some think customer satisfaction is cumulative based on the overall evaluation of service
experience (Jones & Suh, 2000). These highlight the fact that customer satisfaction is based
on experience with service provider and also the outcome of service. Customer satisfaction is
considered as an attitude, Yi, (1990). In the case of TTCL, there is some relationship between

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the customer and the service provider and customer satisfaction will be based on the
evaluation of several interactions between both parties. Therefore we will consider
satisfaction as a part of overall customer attitudes towards the service provider that makes up
a number of measures (Levesque et McDougall, 1996, p.14). Organizations that consistently
satisfy their customers enjoy higher retention levels and greater profitability due to increased
customers’ loyalty, Wicks & Roethlein, (2009, p.83). This is why it is vital to keep customers
satisfied and this can be done in different ways and one way is by trying to know their
expectations and perceptions of services offered by service providers. In this way, service
quality could be assessed and thereby evaluating customer satisfaction. In our study, we use
customers to evaluate service quality by considering several important quality attributes in
TTCL and we think firms must take improvement actions on the attributes that have a lower
satisfaction level. This means customer satisfaction will be considered on specific dimensions
of service quality in order to identify which aspects customers are satisfied with.
2.3 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
2.3.1 Service Quality Models
As stated earlier service quality has been defined differently by different people and there is
no consensus as to what the actual definition is. We have adopted the definition by
Parasuraman et al., (1988, p.5), which defines service quality as the discrepancy between a
customers’ expectation of a service and the customers’ perception of the service offering.
Measuring service quality has been one of the most recurrent topics in management literature,
Parasuraman et al., (1988), Gronroos, (1984), Cronin et al., (1992). This is because of the
need to develop valid instruments for the systematic evaluation of firms’ performance from
the customer point of view; and the association between perceived service quality and other
key organizational outcomes, Cronin et al., (2010, p.93), which has led to the development of
models for measuring service quality. Gilbert et al., (2004, p.372- 273) reviewed the various
ways service quality can be measured. They include;
 The expectancy-disconfirmation approach which is associated with the identifying of
customer expectation versus what they actually experienced. It focuses on the comparison
of the service performance with the customer’s expectations. The customer’s expectations
could be assessed after the service encounter by asking him/her to recall them.
 Performance-only approach merely assesses service quality by merely asking customers
about their level of satisfaction with various service features following a service
encounter.

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 Technical and functional dichotomy approaches identify two service components that lead
to customer satisfaction namely, the technical quality of the product which is based on
product characteristics such as durability, security, physical features while functional
quality is concerned with the relationships between service provider and customer such as
courtesy, speed of delivery, helpfulness.
 Service quality versus service satisfaction approach which mainly focuses on two service
components that are interrelated; the transition-specific assessment which evaluates
specific features of quality and the overall assessment which evaluates overall quality.
This approach links perceived quality at the time of the service encounter or immediately
after it and overall satisfaction with the service. Perceived quality is based on attributes of
the service over which the company has control and it is a measure of the customer’s
assessments of the service’s value without comparison to customer’s expectation.
1. Attribute importance approach focuses on the relative weight on the importance the
customer places on attributes found to be linked with service satisfaction.
2. Parasuraman et al., 1985, (p.41-50) developed a conceptual model of service quality
where they identified five gaps that could impact the customer’s evaluation of service
quality in four different industries (retail banking, credit card, securities brokerage and
product repair and maintenance).
These gaps were;
i) Gap 1: Customer expectation - management perception gap
Service firms may not always understand what features a service must have in order to meet
customer needs and what levels of performance on those features are needed to bring deliver
high quality service. This results to affecting the way customers evaluate service quality.
ii) Gap 2: Management perception - service quality specification gap
This gap arises when the company identifies want the customers want but the means to
deliver to expectation does not exist. Some factors that affect this gap could be resource
constraints, market conditions and management indifference. These could affect service
quality perception of the customer.
iii) Gap 3: Service quality specifications – service delivery gap
Companies could have guidelines for performing service well and treating customers
correctly but these do not mean high service quality performance is assured. Employees play
an important role in assuring good service quality perception and their performance cannot be

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standardized. This affects the delivery of service which has an impact on the way customers
perceive service quality.
iv) Gap 4: Service delivery – external communications gap
External communications can affect not only customer expectations of service but also
customer perceptions of the delivered service. Companies can neglect to inform customers of
special efforts to assure quality that are not visible to them and this could influence service
quality perceptions by customers.
v) Gap 5: Expected Service – perceived service gap
From their study, it showed that the key to ensuring good service quality is meeting or
exceeding what customers expect from the service and that judgment of high and low service
quality depend on how customers perceive the actual performance in the context of what they
expected. Parasuraman et al., (1988), later developed the SERVQUAL model which is a mult
item scale developed to assess customer perceptions of service quality in service and retail
businesses. The scale decomposes the notion of service quality into five constructs as follows:
Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and empathy. It bases on capturing the gap
between customers’ expectations and experience which could be negative or positive if the
expectation is higher than experience or expectation is less than or equal to experience
respectively.
The SERVPERF model developed by Cronin & Taylor, (1992), was derived from the
SERVQUAL model by dropping the expectations and measuring service quality perceptions
just by evaluating the customer’s the overall feeling towards the service. In their study, they
identified four important equations: SERVQUAL = Performance – Expectations Weighted
SERVQUAL = importance x (performance – expectations) SERVPERF = performance
Weighted SERFPERF = importance x (performance) Implicitly the SERVPERF model
assesses customers experience based on the same attributes as the SERVQUAL and conforms
more closely on the implications of satisfaction and attitude literature, Cronin et al., (1992
p.64). Later, Teas, (1993, p.23) developed the evaluated performance model (EP) in order to
overcome some of the problems associated with the gap in conceptualization of service
quality (Grönroos, 1984; Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). This model measures the gap
between perceived performance and the ideal amount of a feature not customers expectation.
He argues that an examination indicates that the P-E (perception – expectation) framework is
of questionable validity because of conceptual and definitional problems involving the
conceptual definition of expectations, theoretical justification of the expectations component

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of the P-E framework, and measurement validity of the expectation. He then revised
expectation measures specified in the published service quality literature to ideal amounts of
the service attributes (Teas,1993, p.18) Brady & Cronin, (2001), proposed a multidimensional
and hierarchical construct, in which service quality is explained by three primary dimensions;
interaction quality, physical environment quality and outcome quality. Each of these
dimensions consists of three corresponding sub-dimensions. Interaction quality made up of
attitude, behavior and expertise; physical environment quality consisting of ambient
conditions, design and social factors while the outcome quality consists of waiting time,
tangibles and valence.
According to these authors, hierarchical and multidimensional model improves the
understanding of three basic issues about service quality:
a) What defines service quality perceptions?
b) How service quality perceptions are formed
c) How important it is where the service experience takes place and this framework can help
managers as they try to improve customers’ service experiences Brady & Cronin, (2001,
p.44). Saravanan & Rao, (2007, p.440), outlined six critical factors that customer-perceived
service quality is measured from after extensively reviewing literature and they include;
i. Human aspects of service delivery (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy)
ii. Core service (content, features)
iii. Social responsibility (improving corporate image)
iv. Systematization of service delivery (processes, procedures, systems and technology)
v. Tangibles of service (equipments, machinery, signage, employee appearance)
vi. Service marketing
From their study, they found out that these factors all lead to improved perceived service
quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty from the customer’s perspective. According to
Brady & Cronin, (2001,), based on various studies, service quality is defined by either or all
of a customer’s perception regarding 1) an organisations’ technical and functional quality; 2)
the service product, service delivery and service environment; or 3) the reliability,
responsiveness, empathy, assurances, and tangibles associated with a service experience.
Mittal and Lassar’s SERVQUAL-P model reduces the original five dimensions down to four;
Reliability, Responsiveness, Personalization and Tangibles. Importantly, SERVQUAL-P
includes the Personalization dimension, which refers to the social content of interaction
between service employees and their customers (Bougoure & Lee, 2009, p.73)

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2.3.2 The Development and Evolution of the SERVQUAL Model

“Parasuraman et al. (1985) identified 97 attributes which were found to have an impact on
service quality. These 97 attributes were the criteria that are important in assessing customer’s
expectations and perceptions on delivered service” (Kumar et al., 2009, p.214). These
attributes were categorized into ten dimensions (Parasuraman et al., 1985) and later subjected
the proposed 97 item instruments for assessing service quality through two stages in order to
purify the instruments and select those with significant influences (Parasuraman et al., 1988,
p.13). The first purification stage came up with ten dimensions for assessing service quality
which were; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, credibility, security,
competence, courtesy, understanding, knowing, customers, and access. They went into the
second purification stage and in this stage they concentrated on condensing scale
dimensionality and reliability. They further reduced the ten dimensions to five which were;
i. Tangibility: physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel.
ii. Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
iii. Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
iv. Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and
confidence.
v. Empathy: caring individualized attention the firm provides to its customers.

Functioning of the SERVQUAL

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Figure 2.1: Measuring Service Quality Using SERVQUAL Model Source: Kumar
et al., (2009)

SERVQUAL represents service quality as the discrepancy between a customer's expectations

for a service offering and the customer's perceptions of the service received, requiring
respondents to answer questions about both their expectations and their perceptions
Parasuraman et al., (1988). The use of perceived as opposed to actual service received makes
the SERVQUAL measure an attitude measure that is related to, but not the same as,
satisfaction (Parasuraman et. al., 1988). The difference between expectations and perceptions
is called the gap which is the determinant of customers’ perception of service quality as
shown on Figure 2.1.
Criticisms of SERVQUAL Model
Notwithstanding its growing popularity and widespread application, SERVQUAL has been
subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms which are detailed below:
Theoretical Criticisms
i. Paradigmatic objections: SERVQUAL is based on a disconfirmation paradigm rather than
an attitudinal paradigm; and SERVQUAL fails to draw on established economic,
statistical and psychological theory.
ii. Gaps model: there is little evidence that customers access service quality in terms of P – E
gaps.
iii. Process orientation: SERVQUAL focuses on the process of service delivery, not the
outcomes of the service encounter.
iv. Dimensionality: SERVQUAL’s five dimensions are not universal; the number of
dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to
the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a high degree of inter correlation
between the five dimensions (Reliability, assurance, tangible, empathy and
responsiveness).
Operational Criticisms
i. Expectations: the term expectation is polysemic meaning it has different definitions;
customers use standards other than expectations to evaluate service quality; and
SERVQUAL fails to measure absolute service quality expectations.
ii. Item composition: four or five items cannot capture the variability within each service
quality dimension.

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iii. Moments of truth (MOT): customers’ assessments of service quality may vary from MOT
to MOT.
iv. Polarity: the reversed polarity of items in the scale causes respondent error.
v. Scale points: the seven-point Likert scale is flawed.
vi. Two administrations: two administrations of the instrument (expectations and perceptions)
cause boredom and confusion.
vii. Variance extracted: the over SERVQUAL score accounts for a disappointing proportion
of item variances.
Customers’ Expectations Compared to Perceptions
Gronroos, (1982); Parasuraman et al., (1985) have proposed that customer’s perception of
service quality is based on the comparison of their expectations (what they feel service
providers should offer) with their perceptions of the performance of the service provider.
Parasuraman et al., (1988, p.17) point out that expectation is viewed differently in both
satisfaction literature and service quality literature. In satisfaction literature, expectations are
considered as ‘predictions’ by customers about what is likely to happen during a particular
transaction while in service quality literature, they are viewed as desires or wants of
customers, that is, what they feels a service provider ‘should’ offer rather than ‘would’ offer.
For this study, expectations define as desires or wants of customers because this allows us to
know exactly what service providers show offer and this is based on based past experience
and information received (Douglas & Connor, 2003, p.167). It is important to understand and
measure customer’s expectations in order to identify any gaps in delivering services with
quality that could ensure satisfaction, Negi, (2009). Perceptions of customers are based solely
on what they receive from the service encounter (Douglas & Connor, 2003, p.167).
The study is mainly based on this discrepancy of expected service and perceived service from
the customer’s perspective. This is in order to obtain a better knowledge of how customers
perceive service quality in IUGET. We are not focusing on the 1st four gaps because they are
mainly focused on the company’s perspective even though they have an impact on the way
customers perceive service quality in IUGET and thus help in closing the gap which arises
from the difference between customer’s expectation and perception of service quality
dimensions.
Parasuraman et al., (1985, p.47) identified 10 determinants used in evaluating service quality;
reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, Credibility,
security, understanding the customer, and tangibles. Most of these determinants of service

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quality require the customer to have had some experience in order to evaluate their level of
service quality ranging from ideal quality to completely unacceptable quality. They further
linked service quality to satisfaction by pointing out that when expected service is greater than
perceive service, perceived quality is less than satisfactory and will tend towards totally
unacceptable quality; when expected service equals perceived service, and perceived quality
is satisfactory; when expected service is less than perceived service, perceived quality is more
than satisfactory and will tend towards ideal quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985, p.48).
Factors that Affect Customer Satisfaction
Matzler et al., (2002), classify factors that affect customers’ satisfaction into three factor
structures;
i. Basic factors: these are the minimum requirements that are required in a product to
prevent the customer from being dissatisfied. They do not necessarily cause satisfaction
but lead to dissatisfaction if absent. These are those factors that lead to the fulfillment of
the basic requirement for which the product is produced. These constitute the basic
attributes of the product or service. They thus have a low impact on satisfaction even
though they are a prerequisite for satisfaction. In a nutshell competence and accessibility
ii. Performance factors: these are the factors that lead to satisfaction if fulfilled and can lead
to dissatisfaction if not fulfilled. These include reliability and friendliness.
iii. Excitement factors: these are factors that increase customers’ satisfaction if fulfilled but
does not cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled which include project management.
Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction
According to Sureshchandar et al., (2002, p. 363), customer satisfaction should be seen as a
multi-dimensional construct just as service quality meaning it can occur at multi levels in an
organization and that it should be operational zed along the same factors on which service
quality is operational zed. Parasuraman et al., (1985) suggested that when perceived service
quality is high, then it will lead to increase in customer satisfaction. He supports that fact that
service quality leads to customer satisfaction and this is in line with Saravana & Rao, (2007,
p.436) and Lee et al., (2000, p.226) who acknowledge that customer satisfaction is based
upon the level of service quality provided by the service provider.
Fen & Lian, (2005, p.59-60) found that both service quality and customer satisfaction have a
positive effect on customer’s re-patronage intentions showing that both service quality and
customer satisfaction have a crucial role to play in the success and survival of any business in
the competitive market. This study proved a close link between service quality and customer

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satisfaction. Su et al., (2002, p.372) carried a study to find out the link between service quality
and customer satisfaction, from their study, they came up with the conclusion that, there exist
a great dependency between both constructs and that an increase in one is likely to lead to an
increase in another. Also, they pointed out that service quality is more abstract than
customer satisfaction because, customer satisfaction reflects the customer’s feelings about
many encounters and experiences with service firm while service quality may be affected by
perceptions of value (benefit relative to cost) or by the experiences of others that may not be
as good.
Customer Service Communication
Customer service is a large concept related to various areas such as marketing, economy,
management, psychology, and then spreads to communication research (Ford, 1994). Though
service interactions are an integral part in our lives, they have not been retained much
attention in communication research (Ford, 2001). Overall, many researchers on customer
service encounter attempted to propose various definitions to understand the con concept of
customer service communication. Customer service encounter is “a communication process in
which an organizational representative presents products or professional assistance in
exchange for another individual’s money or cooperation” (Ford, 1999:p.341).
Besides, communication of service encounters between customers. (Solomon et al., 1995).
Service encounter is also defined as “a personal (and social) interaction between service
provider and service customer” in which human behavior is assembled (John, 1996:61). He
added, a service encounter is a social encounter in which interactions create the chance for
customers and service providers to establish relationship or assess the service quality (John,
1996). Thus, it is necessary to have the mutual understanding of both individuals in the
service encounters context. Shostack defined service encounter as “a period of time during
which a consumer directly interacts with the service” (Shostack, 1985:243). According to
Durvasula, this definition is more broadly and implies several factors such as "personnel and
physical facilities" that related to a service process (Durvasula et al., 2005:2). And employees
is a human dyadic interaction and is interdependent each parties.
Customer service encounter have different outcomes that are emphasized by service
organizations, for instance, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer relationship or
service quality, etc. Building relationship with customers was chosen as the focused issue for
this research. In customer service communication, building relationship with customer is one
of the primary goals of service organizations, in particular service organizations as Koermer

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stated: “building relationships with customers is an important part of conducting business”

(Koermer, 2005:247). In building relationship with customer, service encounters are
considered as an early sign to predict the development or discontinuation of a provider-
customer relationship (Bolton, 1998). Koermer believed also that “one could ascertain that the
communicative interplay between providers and customers plays a significant role in fostering
relational development” (Koermer, 2005:248). Overall, effective customer service encounter
is the fundamental part for organization's success and customer relationship retention (Julian
& Ramaseshan, 1994).
From different definitions and perspectives on the customer-employee relationships by
researchers in customer service, we can find that customer and service provider are the two
important elements involving in an interaction of service encounter. The authors believed that
customer in a service encounter would be enjoyable and satisfying through contacting with
helpful, experienced and pleasant service employee. By doing so, customer will stay loyalty
and organization can retain relationship with customer. In reality, customer is a critical factor
for activities and existence of an organization, in particular organizations that provide service
to customers.
Deng et al. (2010) argued that how to satisfy and maintain relationship with customers in
order to have customer loyalty is the essential survival of profit organizations. Therefore, it is
needed for organizations to understand the connection between customers’ satisfaction and
their durability of relationship with service provider (Bolton, 1998). Furthermore,
organizations need to have policies for the "customer gratitude" (Palmatier et al., 2009) to
have long-term relationship with customers.

Feedback in Customer Service Communication

Feedback plays a crucial role in communication. Feedback makes sense and effective for
communication. In the context of service, feedback is a channel where customers can express
their needs, perspectives or judgments about organizations’ activities and performances. Thus,
feedback allows organizations to assess the effectiveness of their service quality and
customers' satisfaction. According to Crowell et al, "feedback may serve more as a
consequence than as an antecedent in the control of behavior"(Crowelletal., 1988:66).
Sources of feedback can be diverse but customers would be the best reference and primary
source of information for organizations’ feedback because of frequent and direct interactions
with service providers. From customers, organizations can learn new and interesting

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information that can help them to improve their service more successful and productive. In
doing so, the process of improvement of these organizations may occur faster than those do
not acquire any feedback from customers (Voss et al., 2004). Thus, it is critical for
organizations to encourage feedback from customers.
Feedback that organizations received can be positive or negative. Negative feedback is a sign
of customers’ dissatisfaction and indicates that organization’s service does not meet
customer’s needs. Meanwhile positive feedback confirms the good service quality of
organizations that allow them to reinforce relationship with customers. Voss et al. believed
that “customer feedback is an often-overlooked factor in explaining the relationship between
service quality and customer satisfaction” (Voss et al., 2004:212).
Empirical Analysis
According to Negi, (2009, p.33), the idea of linking service quality and customer satisfaction
has existed for a long time. He carried a study to investigate the relevance of customer-
perceived service quality in determining customer overall satisfaction in the context of mobile
services (telecommunication) and he found out that reliability and network quality (an
additional factor) are the key factors in evaluating overall service quality but also highlighted
that tangibles, empathy and assurance should not be neglected when evaluating perceived
service quality and customer satisfaction.
This study was based only on a specific service product in telecom industry (mobile service)
and we think it is very important to identify and evaluate those factors which contribute
significantly to determination of customer-perceived service quality and overall satisfaction.
Researchers have yet to come to conclusion on the antecedents to service quality and
satisfaction. A study carried out by Bitner (1990) on 145 tourists in international airport
suggests satisfaction as antecedent to service quality (satisfaction-service quality). On the
other hand, there are many other researcher who concluded that service quality is antecedent
to customer satisfaction (Ahmad and Kamal, 2002; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Yavas et
al,.1997). Kumar et al, (2009) used the SERVQUAL model in a research to determine the
relative importance of critical factors in delivering service quality of banks in Malaysia
(Kumar et al., 2009, p.211).
In this article they modified the SERVQUAL model and considered six dimensions;
tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance empathy and convenience and these consist
of 26 statements. They considered convenience because it is an important determinant of
satisfaction for banking customers in Malaysia and contributes very highly in the customers’

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appreciation of the quality of services offered by the bank (Kumar et al, 2009, p. 214). The
respondents are asked questions based on the 26 statements and they seek to know about their
expectations and experience. They carried this study on banking customers regardless neither
of which bank you use nor
How you do your transactions, could be domestically, internationally among others (Kumar et
al, 2009, p.215).
After they carried out their study they realized that there are four critical factors; tangibility,
reliability, convenience and competence. These variables had significant differences between
expectations and perceptions with tangibility having the smallest gap and convenience has the
largest gap. They end up with the recommendation that banks need to be more competent in
delivering their services and fulfilling the assurance of customers and providing the banking
services more conveniently (Kumar et al, 2009, p.211). Curry et al., (2002, p.197) in an
attempt to assess the quality of physiotherapy services used the SERVQUAL model and three
physiotherapy services in Dundee, Scotland.
They considered the ten original criteria for evaluation and combined them into five;
tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (including competence, courtesy, credibility,
and security) and empathy (including access, communication, and understanding). The quality
gap is measured with these five dimensions with the application of an adaptable 22 item
survey instruments. The survey involves questions relating to customers’ expectations and
perceptions. They sought to measure five gaps developed by Parasuraman et al., (1985).
They found out that the services were highly appreciated by customers even though they
realized that the perception gaps were slightly negative and the services could be improved.
Their studies proved that assurance and empathy were very important in their research. In
spite of the criticisms of the SERVQUAL model they confirm its potential applicability in
measuring service quality in the public sector to determine consumer priorities and measure
performance. Badri et al., (2003) made an assessment and application of the SERVQUAL
model in measuring service quality in information technology centre. For their research gap
they used a larger sample which also differs from other studies that addressed the
dimensionality problem of the SERVICE QUALITY centre-adapted SERVQUAL
instruments. The second gap was to identify the gaps in service quality in the qualities centers
in the three institutions of higher education in the United Arab Emirates. Their findings
showed that there was an inadequacy of dimensions for a perfect fit.

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On the other hand, based on their feedback, respondents felt that SERVQUAL is a useful
indicator for qualities center service quality in institutions of higher education. SERVQUAL
identified gaps in service quality for the three institutions. Empirical results of SERVQUAL
scores for the qualities centers in the three institutions are also presented. Negi, (2009, p.31-
38) used the model to determine customer satisfaction through perceived quality in the
Telecommunication industry and found out that reliability, empathy and network quality
proved to significantly effective in contributing to overall service quality and overall customer
satisfaction with mobile services. Akan, (1995, p.39-43) used the SERVQUAL model in the
four stars hotels and found out that competence and courtesy combined with assurance where
most important attributes influencing the perception of quality.
In a nutshell, try to apply this instrument in the context of IUGET and find if its dimensions
do measure service quality and customer satisfaction, hence are adequate for a perfect
measure of the constructs. This will also enable to identify gaps in service quality and find out
what dimensions consumers are satisfied with. The study by Urio was on “factors influencing
customers to move from IUGET to other mobile companies “that was done in the year 2011 at
Mzumbe university. The study took IUGET as case study. where the findings was that, high
price charged by IUGET, lack promotion campaigns and lack of innovative products and
services which can retain customer not to move to other mobile companies.
While this study intend to assess the service quality and customer satisfaction using
SEVQUAL model within a company, These differences are expected to influence the result of
the study, although they may be somehow related. Urio study look at high price charged by
IUGET, poor innovative product and promotion campaign still lack critical analysis on key
dimensions of service quality that lead to customer satisfaction that IUGET should focus.
Research Gap
After carefully analyzing various research studies conducted so far using the SERVQUAL
model, has been realized that many research works have been carried in different service
industries such as education, restaurants, banking, health care, etc., but limited empirical
study has been conducted using the SERVQUAL model to assess service quality in
telecommunication industry. Researcher considers telecommunication industry as part of the
service industry providing voice services and data services. There are some of research which
find out the relationship between perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty and it was proven that perceived service quality had a positive relationship
with customer satisfaction and this supports the argument of linking service quality and

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customer satisfaction. They did not use the SERVQUAL model but rather the performance to
assess service quality. Therefore using the SERVQUAL model would be a contribution to
existing research on IUGET. These is the research gap and in order to fill the gap, try to
measure service quality and customer satisfaction using the SERVQUAL model from the
customer’s perspective in order to know their perceptions.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework (Figure 2.2) explains the underlying process, which is applied to
guide this study
Service expectation

Service quality dimensions

Perceived Customer
Service
Tangibles
Satisfaction
Quality
Reliability
Assurance
Service
Empathy
Performanc
Responsiveness
e

Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework Source: From field data (2012)

Theoretical Framework
As shown in Figure 2.2, the SERVQUAL model is suitable for measuring service quality and
customer satisfaction in IUGET offering telecommunication. The same dimensions used to
measure both service quality and customer satisfaction because it assumed both are related
(Parasuraman et al., 1988) and customer satisfaction is an antecedent of service quality (Negi,
2009). The SERVQUAL approach integrates the two constructs and suggests that perceived
service quality is an antecedent to satisfaction (Negi, 2009, p.33). Therefore, in this research,
the initial 20 items of SERVQUAL model (in the attached appendix) are modified to measure
the perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in IUGET. The model is a summary
for the 20-items and researcher want to find out the overall service quality perceived by
customers and which dimensions customers are satisfied wit

Conceptual framework of service quality and its relationship to customer satisfaction

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SReferences Source ( Parasuraman et al. (1985).

The framework above shows proposed framework to serve as foundation of this study.
Purpose of this study is to examine the how tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance and empathy of service which are the independent variables can bring
impact on the dependent variables; customer satisfaction towards the service quality.
This chapter presents the overview of current literature in the frame of the presented
research problem.

Dimensions of Servqual and Modified Servqual

S. No Servqual Modified Servqual

1 Reliability Reliability
2 Responsiveness Responsiveness
3 Assurance Safety
4 Empathy Empathy
5 Tangibility Tangibility
6 -------------- Network Efficiency

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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
This chapter gives a brief description on how this research conducted. This include research
design, research approach, sampling design, variables and measurement procedures, method
of data collection and data analysis.
3.1. Research design
Research design is a plan or strategies to use to achieve the expected results. There are
different types of research design depending on the nature of a particular study. This includes
case study design survey study and experimental design study (Cooper et al, 1998). This study
carried out using a Case Study Design. Case study involved when researchers want to gain a
rich understanding of the context in the research. This method provides flexibility because it
allows the use of different data collection methods such as interviews, questionnaires,
observations and documentary review.(Saunders et al.,2009) Also, it is depth and breadth
study of variables and maintains a unitary nature of the unity of inquiry over a range of
variables. It allows the use of triangulation which is important in the process of validation
data.
3.2. Target population
According to Amin (2005), population is the aggregate or ability of objects or individuals
having one or more characteristics (collection of all elements that are of interest in a particular
investigation). The elements used for this research are staff of the enterprise IUGET and other
individuals. The population of our study is 50. Made up of workers; both male and female
with different ages and religious background
3.3. Sample and sampling technique
The sampling procedure involves was non probabilistic sampling because the research is Case
study design. According to Saunder (2009) non probability sampling (or non-random
sampling) provides a range of alternative techniques to select samples based on your
subjective judgment to answer research questions and meet the objectives. Non-probability
sampling techniques also provide researcher with the opportunity to select the sample

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purposively and to reach difficult-to- identify members of the population. The researcher
followed appropriate procedure to avoid errors that may occur and cost the whole study.
A sample is a subset of the target population and should be a suitable representative of the
study population (Kothari 2004). Therefore, the study considered a sample that appropriately
represented 30 who were both workers of IUGET and other individuals.
The sampling method made use of simple random sampling method. The reason for using this
method is because it is considered the simplest, most convenient and unbiased and free
selection method. It gives access to every member of the population to have an equal and
independent chance of being selected.
3.5.3 Validity of the instrument
The face validity of the instrument was established by presenting the instrument to the
supervisor and experts in quantitative analysis to ascertain that the items on the instrument
were related to the hypotheses which were required to be tested. Some of the items were then
modified while those that were irrelevant were removed and new ones introduced.
3.5.4 Reliability of the instrument
To ensure that the instrument measures consistently what it is purported to measure, a trial
study was conducted. The instrument was administered once to the respondents. After filling
the questionnaire, they were retrieved and scored. The items were split into two halves of
even and odd numbers. The two halves were then subjected to reliability analysis of the split
half method using Pearson product moment correlation analytical procedure. The correlation
coefficients obtained were converted to reliability coefficients using Spearman Brown
Prophecy formula. The correlation coefficient obtained ranges from 0.73 – 0.86. These
correlation coefficients were considered high enough for the instrument to be reliable.
3.5.5 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
The descriptive and qualitative method of data analysis was used. The data collected from the
questionnaire were the respondent’s opinion and will be expressed in frequency/percentage
tables. Conclusions were drawn from the observation made. Microsoft excel and SPSS was
used in the analysis
3.5.6 Variables and Measurement Procedures
There are two types of variables which are dependent and independent variables. A dependent
variable changes in response to changes in other variables. An independent variable causes
changes in a dependent variable Saunder (2009). For this study dependent variables was

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customer satisfaction where independent variables was service quality dimensions where any
change to any dimension resulted into change in satisfaction level.
The SERVQUAL model is used to assess customers’ expectations and perceptions regarding
service quality in IUGET. Both expectations and perceptions are measured using a 5-point
scale to rate their level of agreement or disagreement (1- strongly disagree and 5- strongly
agree), on which the higher numbers indicate higher level of expectation or perceptions.
Perceptions are based on the actual service they receive in IUGET while expectations are
based on past experiences and information received about IUGET. Service quality scores are
the difference between the perception and expectation scores (P-E) with a possible range of
values from -4 to +4 (-4 stands for very dissatisfied and +4 means very satisfied). The quality
score measures the service gap or the degree to which expectations exceed perceptions. The
more positive the P-E scores, the higher the level of service quality leading to a higher level
of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction and service quality are both treated together as functions
of a customer’s perceptions and expectations. In most cases, when expectation and perception
are equal, service quality is satisfactory.
In this study, we use the disconfirmation paradigm which is based on the discrepancy
theories. According to this paradigm, consumer’s satisfaction judgments are the result of
consumer’s perceptions of the difference between their perception of performance and their
expectations. Positive disconfirmation leads to increased satisfaction while negative
disconfirmation leads to decreased satisfaction. This theory has been used to develop
questionnaire.
3.5.7 Method of Data Collection
Both primary and secondary data sources used to answer research questions. Primary data was
mainly obtained through the administered questionnaires. Questionnaire as a general term to
include all techniques of data collection in which each person asked to respond to the same
set of questions in a predetermined order (deVaus 2002). Researcher used self-administered
questionnaires where it administered electronically using e mail and posted to respondents
who return them by mail after completion. Secondary data sources like past studies and
archives was accessed from various databases like, OUT database, IUGET in order to obtain
some reliable literature and empirical findings that applied in order to have a better
understanding the service quality construct and how the SERVQUAL model can be used to
measure it.

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Data Collection Tools

Questionnaires
The SERVQUAL 5 dimensions (Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and
Empathy) were used which are subdivided into 20 statements, which were directed to
measuring service quality in IUGET. As stipulated by the SERVQUAL model, the statements
are divided into two parts, the first part seeks to measure the expectations of customers and
the second part seeks to measure their perceptions. There was also a part which measure
satisfaction level for the purpose of knowing factors that hinders satisfaction, the measures to
be taken to improve customer satisfaction and the last party which is demographic part that
provides general information about respondents on age, gender, and average monthly
expenditures.
This was to enable to get a better understanding of the type of respondents and relate it to how
they perceive service quality in IUGET. The SERVQUAL model was used as the basis for the
structured questionnaire because it provides information in research questions in which it
trying to show how customers perceive service quality in IUGET by assessing the difference
between the expectation and perception of services experienced by customers in IUGET. This
enabled to know how perceived service quality by customers and identify which items in the
SERVQUAL dimensions customers are satisfied with. Also factors that hinder customer
satisfaction in IUGET and what should be done to improve customer satisfaction.
Administering of Questionnaires
As mentioned earlier in this study, a convenience sampling technique has used and had 175
questionnaires to administer which it took 7 days to administer these 175 questionnaires but
unfortunately I only received 151 questionnaires that were complete. This was because some
people got the questionnaires and went away with them and others did not completely answer
the questions and so considered them invalid.
Data Processing and Analysis
Data analysis refers to examining what has been collected in survey or experiment and
making deductions and inferences. Furthermore, data analysis is computation of certain
measures along with searching for patterns of relationship that exist among data-groups.
Whereas, data processing consists of a number of closely related operations: editing,
classification, coding, and tabulation. Data collected from respondents and documents was
processed, that was editing, classification, coding and tabulation. All completed

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questionnaires/schedules thoroughly checked for completeness, accuracy and uniformity. The

raw data obtained from field was prepared for analysis by transforming all of them into codes
and entering into spreadsheet packages. The analysis based on quantitative data to be
collected and some extent the qualitative information from questionnaires.

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CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND
INTERPRETATION OF RESULT

4.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents and discusses findings of data from the field on assessing customer
satisfaction and service quality using SERVQUAL model in IUGET, The study was aimed at
to determine overall service quality perceived by customer, service quality dimensions that
brings satisfaction, factors hindering customer satisfaction in IUGET and to determine what
should be done to improve customer satisfaction. Data analysis for this study was done in two
steps, the preliminary analysis and the main analysis. For preliminary analysis which involves
mainly descriptive statistics to summarize data, the demographic characteristics of the
respondents were outlined in order to simplify the understanding of the data. The main
analysis involved the gap score analysis whereby descriptive statistics were applied to
summarize means of perceptions and expectations of customers. We calculate the perception
minus expectation scores for each item and dimension in order to identify the service quality
gaps.
4.2: frequency and Pie Chart Distribution
TABLE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO GENDER
SEX FREQUENCY PERCENT

MALE 20 66.7

FEMALE 10 33.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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80
70
60
50
40 MALE
30 FEMALE
20
10
0
MALE FEMALE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 1: Pie chart displaying the gender results
From the finding, 66.7% of the respondent indicated that they were male while 33.3%
indicated that they were female. This means that both genders were represented in this study
with males being the dominant. This is because males easily accept responsibilities than
fameless given that females at times are unstable as they be nursing mothers and some take
maternity lives thus men are more focus and as a result of empowering them they become
more productive and can carry out technology work in the organization.

TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO AGE

AGE FREQUENCY PERCENT

20-30 3 10.0

31-35 5 16.7

36-40 10 33.3

41 years and above 12 40.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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45
40
35
30
25 20-30
31-35
20
36-40
15
41 years and above
10
5
0
20-30 31-35 36-40 41 years and
above

Source: field work 2019

Figure 2: pie chart showing distribution of age

In addition figure 2 display the as the dominant age group is represented by the red colour, 41
years and above with percentage of 40%, 36-40 represent the blue colour with percentage of
33.3%, 31-35 represent the green colour with percentage of 16.7%, 20-30 represent the
orange colour with the percentage of 10%
From the above 12 respondent are between the age 41 years and above with the percentage
40%, 10 respondent between age of 36-40 with the percentage rate of 33.3%, 5 respondent
between the age 31-35 with the percentage of 16.7%, 3 respondent between the age of 20-30
with the percentage of 10%. This indicates that the staff of IUGET is made up of workers
from the age of 41 years and above. Most

TABLE 3: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO MARITAL

STATUS
MARITAL STATUS FREQUENCY PERCENT
SINGLE 4 13.3
MARRIED 23 76.7
DIVORCE 3 10.0
TOTAL 30 100.0

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90

80

70

60

50 SINGLE

40 MARRIED

30 DIVORCE

20

10

0
SINGLE MARRIED DIVORCE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 3: pie chart showing distribution of marital status
In addition, figure 3 display dominant various marital status as represented by the different
colours. Orange colors for married people with a percentage of 76%. Green colour for single
group individuals with a percentage of 13%, lastly blue colour for Divorce people with a
percentage of 10%
From the table above, the majority of the respondent is made up of married with a total of 23
respondent and percentage of 76.7%, respondent are single with the percentage of 13.3%, 3
respondent are divorce with the percentage of 10%. This shows that the majority of the
workers at IUGET are married. It shows that the workers are more committed to their jobs
since they have families to take care of hence encourages them to work hard in other to take
care of their families.
TABLE 4: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL
QUALIFICATION
EDUCATION QUALIFICATION FREQUENCY PERCENT
ADVANCE LEVEL 5 16.7
HND 8 26.7
DEGREE 10 33.3
OTHERS 7 23.3
TOTAL 30 100.0

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35

30

25

20 ADVANCE LEVEL
HND
15
DEGREE
10 OTHERS
5

0
ADVANCE HND DEGREE OTHERS
LEVEL

Source: field work 2019

Figure 4: pie chart showing distribution of educational qualification
In addition, figure 4 display the various educational qualification of it workers as represented
by the different colors. Blue colors for OTHER certification and qualification with a
percentage of 23%. Dark blue color for HND holders with a percentage of about 26%. Green
color for DEGREE with a percentage of 33% and lastly orange color for ADVANCED
LEVEL.
Figure 4 demonstrate the distribution as the color portrays on the above diagram. Majority of
the respondent is made up of those having degree with the percentage of 33.3% and those
with other higher certificate that is 36.7%. This shows that the organization GOS is full with
educated, skillful and knowledgeable employees who can perform very high if there are
provided with the right information that they need to work
TABLE 5: DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO NUMBER
OF YEARS IN SERVICE
YEARS IN SERVICE FREQUENCY PERCENT

LESS THAN 2 10 33.3

3-4 YEARS 15 50.0

5 YEARS AND ABOVE 5 16.7

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40

LESS THAN 2
30
3-4 YEARS
20 5 YEARS AND ABOVE

10

0
LESS THAN 2 3-4 YEARS 5 YEARS AND
ABOVE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 5: pie chart showing distribution of number of years in service
According to table 5, 15 of the respondent have work for 3-4 years with the percentage of
50%, 10 of the respondent have work for less than 2 years with the percentage of 33.3% and 5
of the respondent have worked for 5 years and above with the percentage of 16.7%. since the
majority of the employees have worked for 3-4 years, it mean that they are vest with the
system put in place and have better knowledge of how to go about with work around it
business environment.
TABLE 6: Ideal IUGET University should have modern equipment.
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 1 3.3

AGREE 12 40.0

STRONGLY AGREE 16 53.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 6: pie chart showing distribution of Sample according To the
Question; Ideal IUGET University should have modern equipment
Figure 7 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 3.3% of the respondent strongly disagree that Ideal IUGET University should have
modern equipment, 3.3% of the respondent disagree with the statement,, 12 of the respondent
agree with the percentage of 40% and 16 of the respondent strongly agree with percentage of
53.3%. Since most of the respondents agree that Ideal IUGET University should have modern
equipment, it therefore implies that Ideal IUGET University having modern equipment will
increase customer satisfaction.

TABLE 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing

DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

AGREE 10 33.3

STRONGLY AGREE 19 63.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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70

60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 AGREE

20 STRONGLY AGREE

10

0
STRONGLY AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Table 7: Physical facilities are visually appealing
Figure 8 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 33.3% of the respondent strongly agree that Physical facilities are visually
appealing, 3.3% of the respondent Strongly disagree with the statement,, 19 of the respondent
agree with the percentage of 40% and 16 of the respondent strongly agree with percentage of
63.3%. Since most of the respondents agree that Physical facilities are visually appealing, it
therefore implies that Physical facilities are visually appealing will increase customer
satisfaction.
TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of
service industry
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 15 50.0

STRONGLY AGREE 12 40.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

TABLE 8: Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent with the type of
service industry
Figure 9 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50. % of the respondent agree that Appearance of the physical facilities is consistent
with the type of service industry, 3.3% of the respondent Strongly disagree with the
statement,, 15 of the respondent agree with the percentage of 50% and 12 of the respondent
strongly agree with percentage of 40%. Since most of the respondents agree that Physical
facilities are visually appealing, it therefore implies that Appearance of the physical facilities
is consistent with the type of service industry
TABLE 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat.
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 15 50.0

STRONGLY AGREE 12 40.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 9: Their employees should be well dressed and appear neat.
Figure 10 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50. % of the respondent agree that Their employees should be well dressed and
appear neat., 40% of the respondent Strongly disagree with the statement,, 2 of the respondent
disagree with the percentage of 6% and 1 of the respondent strongly disagree with percentage
of 3%. Since most of the respondents agree that employees should be well dressed and appear
neat. It therefore implies that the neatness of employees is consistent with the type of service
industry

TABLE 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response
DECISIONS FREQUENCY PERCENT

AGREE 14 46.7

STRONGLY AGREE 16 53.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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54

52

50
AGREE
48

STRONGLY
46
AGREE

44

42
AGREE STRONGLY
AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 10: The firm meets their promised time-frames for response
Figure 10 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 53. % of the respondent strongly agrees that the firm meets their promised time-
frames for response. 14 of the respondent with percentage of 46% agree. Since most of the
respondents strongly agree that the firm meets their promised time-frames for response. It
therefore implies that the firm meets their promised time-frames for response

TABLE 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has
problems
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 3 10.0

DISAGREE 1 3.3

AGREE 13 43.3

STRONGLY AGREE 13 43.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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50
45
40
35
30 STRONGLY DISAGREE
25 DISAGREE
20
AGREE
15
STRONGLY AGREE
10
5
0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 11: The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when the customer has
problems
Figure 11 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 43.3. % of the respondent strongly agrees that the firm is sympathetic and
reassuring, when the customer has problems. 13 of the respondent with percentage of 43.3%
agree. 3 of the respondent with percentage 3.3% disagree with the statement, 3 of the
respondent with percentage 10% strongly disagree. Since most of the respondents strongly
agree that the firm meets their promised time-frames for response. It therefore implies that the
firm meets their promised time-frames for response

TABLE 12: They are dependable

DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 10 33.3

DISAGREE 8 26.7

AGREE 6 20.0

STRONGLY AGREE 6 20.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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35

30

25

20 STRONGLY DISAGREE
DISAGREE
15
AGREE
10 STRONGLY AGREE
5

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 12: They are dependable
Figure 12 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 33% of the respondent strongly disagrees that they are dependable. 8 of the
respondent with percentage of 26% disagree. 6 of the respondent with percentage 20% agree
with the statement, 6 of the respondent with percentage 20% strongly agree. Since most of the
respondents strongly agree that they are dependable. It therefore implies that they are
dependable

TABLE 13: They provide their services at the times promised

DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 18 60.0

STRONGLY AGREE 10 33.3

TOTAL 30 100.0

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70

60

50

40 DISAGREE
AGREE
30
STRONGLY AGREE
20

10

0
DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 13: They provide their services at the times promised
Figure 13 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 60.0% of the respondent agrees that they provide their services at the times
promised. 10 of the respondent with percentage of 33% strongly agree. 2 of the respondent
with percentage 6% disagree with the statement, since most of the respondents agree that they
provide their services at the times promised. It therefore implies that they provide their
services at the times promised
TABLE 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the
service will be performed.
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 1 3.3

AGREE 13 43.3

STRONGLY AGREE 15 50.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

WRITTEN AND PRESENTED BY: MICHEAL AYAMBA TABESON Page 51

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 14: They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the
service will be performed.
Figure 14 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50% of the respondent strongly agrees that they shouldn’t be expected to tell
customers exactly when the service will be performed. 13 of the respondent with percentage
of 43% agree. 1 of the respondent with percentage 6% disagree with the statement, 1 of the
respondent with percentage 3% strongly disagree. Since most of the respondents strongly
agree that they shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when the service will be
performed. It therefore implies that they shouldn’t be expected to tell customers exactly when
the service will be performed.

TABLE 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers.

DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 13 43.3

STRONGLY AGREE 15 50.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40

STRONGLY DISAGREE
30
AGREE
20 STRONGLY AGREE

10

0
STRONGLY AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 15: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers.
Figure 14 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50% of the respondent strongly agrees that Employees do not always have to be
willing to help customers. 13 of the respondent with percentage of 43% agree. 2 of the
respondent with percentage 6% strongly disagree with the statement, Since most of the
respondents strongly agree that Employees do not always have to be willing to help
customers.. It therefore implies that Employees do not always have to be willing to help
customers.

TABLE 16: It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to customer

requests
DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 15 50.0

STRONGLY AGREE 12 40.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 16: It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to customer requests
Figure 14 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50% of the respondent agrees that It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to
customer requests. 12 of the respondent with percentage of 40% strongly agree. 2 of the
respondent with percentage 6% disagree with the statement, 1 respondent with percentage 3%
strongly disagree since most of the respondents agree that Employees do not always have to
be willing to help customers. It therefore implies that it’s OK to be too busy to respond
promptly to customer requests

TABLE 17: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers

DECISION FREQUENCY PERCENT

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1 3.3

DISAGREE 2 6.7

AGREE 15 50.0

STRONGLY AGREE 12 40.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

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60

50

40
STRONGLY DISAGREE
30 DISAGREE
AGREE
20
STRONGLY AGREE
10

0
STRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE STRONGLY
DISAGREE AGREE

Source: field work 2019

Figure 16: Employees do not always have to be willing to help customers
Figure 14 show question been ask and different response approach .From the table above it is
seen that 50% of the respondent agrees that Employees do not always have to be willing to
help customers. 12 of the respondent with percentage of 40% strongly agree. 2 of the
respondent with percentage 6% disagree with the statement, 1 respondent with percentage 3%
strongly disagree since most of the respondents agree that Employees do not always have to
be willing to help customers. It therefore implies that Employees do not always have to be
willing to help customers
4.3 Hypothesis Testing (Regression Analysis)
Regression analyses help us to investigate on the impact of tangibility of quality service, and
customer satisfaction. The finding are shown in the table below
COMPUTE BPO= (Q1+Q2+Q3+Q4) / 4.

EXECUTE.

COMPUTE tangibility= (Q5+Q6+Q7+Q8) / 4.

EXECUTE.

COMPUTE service quality= (Q9+Q10+Q11+Q12) / 4.

4.3.1: First Hypothesis Testing

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Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of the Estimate

Square
1 .973a .944 .944 .15499
a. Predictors: (constant), tangibility of SEQUAL
Source: computed by author using SPSS 20
The coefficient of correlation R which captures the relationship between the studied variables,
that there is a strong positive relationship between the study variables as depicted by the value
of 0.973.
The coefficient of determination (R-square) measures the variation in the dependent variable
(outsourcing campaign) due to changes in the independent variables (tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness). From the findings, the R-square value of 0.946 indicates that 94.6% of the
variation in number of service quality satisfaction is due to changes in tangibility, reliability,
and responsiveness of product service at 95% confident level while 15.5% of the variation in
outsourcing strategies is explained by other factors not considered in the model.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
The findings on the table below depict the analysis of variance ANOVA which is used to test
the overall significant of the regression model as pertains to differences in means of the
dependent and independent variables. The ANOVA test produces a Fisher-value of 493.157
with a responding p-value of 0.131. Thus, the regression model is statistically significant in
predicting how tangibility, reliability, responsiveness on the profitability of an organization.
ANOVAa
model Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig
Regression 11.846 1 11.846 493.157 .000b
Residual .673 28 .024
Total 12.519 29
Source: computed by author using SPSS 20

a. Dependent Variable: tangibility of SERQUAL

Predictors: (constant), reliability, responsiveness

Regression coefficients

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The table below illustrates result of a linear multiple regression analysis determining
the effect of the independent variables (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness) in
order to attain customer satisfaction,
Coefficientsa
model Unstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients t Sig

B Std. Error Beta

(constant) .228 .147 1.556 .131
SERVQUAL .943 .042 .973 22.207 .000
a. Dependent variable: BPO
Source: field survey, August 2019
The result of the study indicates that there is a positive significant effect of tangibility of
SERQUAL in order to attain customer satisfaction is at 5% level of significant
(p=0.131>0.05). The B coefficient of 0.228 indicates that a unit increase in service quality
strategies will lead to 0.228 units increase in customer satisfaction.
Considering our first hypothesis, this is the null and alternative state;
Hoc: there is no significant relationship between tangibility of SERQUAL and the
customer satisfaction
Hod: There is a significant relationship tangibility of SERQUAL and customer
satisfaction. Based on the above results, our alternative hypothesis is rejected since the p-
value is greater than the critical value of 5% (p=0.131>0.05). We thus conclude that there
is no significant relationship between BPO and the profitability of organizations.
4.3.2: second Hypothesis Testing
model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .906a .821 .814 .28312
a. Predicators: (constant), reliability of SERQUAL
ANOVA
model Sum of squares df Mean f sig
square
Regression 10.274 1 10.274 128.178 .000b
Residual 2.244 28 0.80
Total 12.519 29

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a. Dependent variable: tangibility of SERQUAL

b. Predictors: (constant), SERQUAL
coefficientsa
model Unstandardized coefficients Standardized t Sig
coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(constant) .897 .229 3.912 .001
SERVQUAL .824 .073 .906 11.322 .000
a. Dependent variable: tangibility of SERQUAL
b. Predictors: (constant), reliability of SERQUAL
The result of the study indicate that there is a positive significant effect of tangibility of
SERQUAL on customer satisfaction at 5% level of significant (p=0.001<0.05). The B
coefficient of 0.897 indicates that strategies were been develop to improve customer
satisfaction to 0.897 unit in most business organizations.
Considering our second hypothesis, which is the null and alternative state that;
Hoe: there is no significant relationship reliability of SERVQUAL and customer satisfaction

Hof: there is a significant relationship between reliability of SERVQUAL and customer

satisfaction

Based on the above results, our null hypothesis is rejected since the p-value is less than the
critical value of 5% (p=0.001<0.05). We thus conclude that there is a significant relationship
between reliability of SERVQUAL and customer satisfaction.

2.3: Second Hypothesis Testing

MODEL SUMMARY

model R R square Adjusted R square Std. Error of the estimate

.986a .972 .971 .11188
Predictors: (constant), responsiveness of SERQUAL

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ANOVA

model Sum of squares df Mean f sig

square
Regression 12.168 1 12.168 972.184 .000b
Residual .350 28 .013
Total 12.519 29
Dependent variable: responsiveness of SERQUAL

Predictors: (constant), reliability of SERQUAL

coefficientsa

model Unstandardized coefficients Standardized t Sig

coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
(constant) .351 .101 3.482 .002
SERQUAL .913 .029 .986 31.180 .000
Dependent variable: responsiveness of SERQUAL
Source: Field Survey 2019
The result indicate that there is a positive significant effect of responsiveness of SERQUAL
on customer satisfaction at 5% level of signifance (p=0.002<0.05). The B coefficient of 0.351
indicates that an improvement in SERVQUAL strategies will lead to 0.351 unit increase in
customer satisfaction. Considering the three hypothesis, which is the null state that
Hog: there is no significant relationship between responsiveness of SERQUAL and customer
satisfaction
Hoh: there is a significant relationship between responsiveness of SERQUAL and customer
satisfaction
Base on the above results, our null hypothesis is rejected since p-value is less than the critical
value of 5% (p=0.002<0.05). We thus conclude that there is a significant relationship between
project sourcing and profitability of an organization.

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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS
AND CONCLUSION

5.1 DISCUSSION
This chapter presents a summary of the findings, conclusion and recommendations from the
results obtained from the field survey. It also covers the limitation of the study, implications
(managerial and theoretical) and suggestions for further research topics.
5.1.1 Summary of Findings
From the analysis carried out in order to answer research questions and hence fulfill the
purpose of the study that include; finding out how customers perceive IUGET service quality,
factors hindering customer satisfaction, identifying what dimensions highly contribute to
customer satisfaction and what should be done to improve customer satisfaction for IUGET.
The findings from analysis reveal that the SERVQUAL model is not a better instrument to
measure service quality for IUGET business working environment. The gap score analysis
carried out, found that, the overall service quality is low as perceived by IUGET customers
and hence unsatisfactory customer satisfaction. Customers have higher expectations than what
they actually experience from IUGET even though the difference is not significant. To answer
the main research question which is; how customers perceive service quality, the gap scores
analysis carried out provided answers to these questions. The overall perceived service quality
is low as expectations exceed perceptions; implying that customers demand more than what is
being offered to them. Due to such prevailing gap, it is clear that customers are not satisfied.
Further evaluation on the perceptions and expectations of the customers, it has been observed
that no dimension of service quality that contributes to customer satisfaction. The findings on
the factors hindering satisfaction for IUGET, it has been found that most of customers were
not happy with IUGET customer care service, voucher availability, phones type and prices,
airtime charges and flexibility.
Evidence from the study shows that, IUGET have to improve performance on all dimensions
of service quality in order to increase customer satisfaction as customers expect more than
what is being offered by IUGET. By improving customer service quality means strengthening
company competitive edge within the industry

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This study was aimed at examining the impact of service quality on the customer satisfaction.
The finding here is therefore based on our results obtained from chapter four together with
other related literature. We came out with some objectives where the general and specific
objectives. The general objective was to assess service quality and customer satisfaction using
SERVQUAL model in IUGET. The specific research objectives where to determine the
overall service quality as perceived by customers within IUGET university, To determine
service quality dimensions that brings satisfaction to IUGET university customers, To identify
factors that hinder customer satisfaction in IUGET university, To determine what should be
done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET .The research objectives then gave rise to
research question which is How to assess service quality and customer satisfaction using
SERVQUAL model in IUGET?. The specific research questions where. How do customers
perceive service quality in IUGET? Which service quality dimensions brings satisfaction to
IUGET customers? What are the factors hindering customer satisfaction in IUGET? What
should be done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET? We then came out with research
hypothesis which where the null and alternative hypothesis
This was proven in chapter four where our hypothesis where tested. It was done at the last
part of chapter four, hypothesis testing: regression analysis. The test was done to verify the
significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables (Tangibility =
independent variable, customer satisfaction = dependent variable). This was done by reading
the p-value on the coefficient table and comparing with the critical value 0f 5% in other that
we could reject the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship
between tangibility and customer satisfaction and accept the alternative which states that there
is a significant relationship between tangible or we accept the null and reject the alternative in
case where the p-value is greater than the critical value
From testing our first hypothesis, we obtained from the coefficient table on the column of
significant a p-value of 0.131 which is greater than the critical value 5 %( 0.05) showing that
we reject the alternative and accept the null. By doing so, we came out with the result that
there is a significant relationship between tangibility of service quality tangibility and the
customer satisfaction. Its therefore implies that tangibility have an impact on customer
satisfaction.
With the second objective being to determine service quality dimensions that brings
satisfaction to IUGET customers, the study reveals that quality service has an impact on the
customer satisfaction. This was proven in chapter four where our hypothesis where tested. It

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was done at the last part of chapter four, hypothesis testing: regression analysis. The test was
done to verify the significant relationship between the independent and dependent variables
(tangibility=independent variable, customer satisfaction=dependent variable). This was done
by reading the p-value on the coefficient table and comparing with the critical value of 5% in
other that we could reject then null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relation
between tangibility of service quality and customer satisfaction or accepting the null and
rejecting the alternative in case where the p-value is greater than the critical value.
From testing our second hypothesis, we obtain on the coefficient table on the significant
column a p-value of 0.001 which is less than the critical value of 5% (0.05%) showing that we
reject the null and accept the alternative. By doing so we came out with the result that there is
a significant relationship between reliability and customer satisfaction. It therefore implies
that reliability has an impact on customer satisfaction.
With the third objective being to, identify factors that hinder customer satisfaction in IUGET,
the study reveals that reliability has an impact on customer satisfaction. This was proven in
chapter four where our hypothesis where tested. It was done at the last part of chapter four,
hypothesis testing; the test was done to verify the significant relationship between the
independent and dependent variables (responsiveness=independent, customer satisfaction=
dependent). This was done by reading the p-value of the coefficient table and comparing with
the critical value 5% in other we could reject the null hypothesis which states that there is no
significant relationship between responsiveness and customer satisfaction and accept the
alternative which state that there is a significant relationship between responsiveness and
customer satisfaction or accepting the null and rejecting the alternative in the case where the
p-value is greater than the critical value.
From testing our third hypothesis testing we obtain on the coefficient table on the significant
column a p-value of 0.002 which is less than the critical value of 5% (0.05) showing that we
reject the null and accept the alternative. By doing so, we came out with the result that there is
a significant relationship between project outsourcing and profitability of an organization. It
therefore implies that project outsourcing has an impact on the profitability of an
organization.
5.1.2 Implications of the Findings
General implication to management of IUGET is that they should focus on all dimensions of
service quality and make efforts to improve to have better performance that would lead to
higher perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. IUGET should focus on improving

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service quality by investing in equipment to enhance call quality , coverage, offer reasonable
pricing , offer price discounts, offer reasonable validity period and enhance customer care
service through intensive routine personnel training and provision of better customer- friendly
equipment to customer serving staff.
For improved service quality IUGET should not only rely on profit margins as a good
indicator of business performance. IUGET should also develop strategies that would enhance
customer’s perceptions capturing. The customer satisfaction strategy helps companies to
compare their performance against customer standards, compare customer standards against
internal process and identify opportunities for improvement.
5.2 Recommendations
i. IUGET should conduct ongoing research on service quality and customer satisfaction to
understand the changing customers satisfaction levels against offerings on what should be
done and what strategies to be implemented in order to achieve customer satisfaction
goals.
ii. IUGET and other private institutions operators should not just rely on profit margins
as good indicator of business performance, rather; they should develop strategies that will
assist them to capture customers’ perceptions on demand.
iii. Customer satisfaction strategy will help companies to compare their performances
against customer standards against internal processes, industry benchmarks and identify
opportunities for improvement.
iv. IUGET infrastructures like network towers should be improved. More investment
should be made in new modern technologies. On the customer access levels fiber optic
backbone networks are recommended for improved service and reliability.
v. IUGET should provide more training about service quality to customer serving staffs
for more understanding of the offering as this has direct impact to customers’ expectations
5.2.1 Limitations
There were some limitations associated with this study that need to be addressed.
The results obtained from this study cannot be generalized to a wide range of similar
situations concerning IUGET because of the non-probability sampling technique used even
though the methodology used in this study could be applied to these similar situations. The
issue of customers’ perceptions could be questioned because the sample size considered

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constituted respondents from both government organization and private organization therefore
the expectation may differ significantly.
Finance, time and material resources needed for a larger sample size was inadequate hence
opted for small sample size.
The above limitations however are less significant compared to the importance of carrying out
this type of study. Such study should be carried out frequently in order to monitor service
quality and satisfaction levels of customers and hence apply necessary adjustments for
addressing the prevailing weaknesses.

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GENERAL CONCLUSION

The main purpose of this study was to assess service quality and customer satisfaction using
SERVQUAL model from IUGET current business set ups. It also reveals how customers of
IUGET perceive service quality, see how applicable the SERVQUAL model in the context of
IUGET using its dimensions to measure service quality , factors hindering satisfaction in
IUGET and what to be done to improve customer satisfaction in IUGET. Knowing how
customers perceive service quality and being able to measure service quality will benefit
management of service organizations including IUGET. Measuring service quality helps
management to provide reliable data that can be used to monitor, maintain and improve
service quality. Findings show that IUGET customers expect more than what they perceive
therefore IUGET must strive hard to improve all the service quality dimensions for improved
customer satisfaction.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR
FURTHER STUDY

Further research should be carried out in order to enhance the understanding of the concepts
of service quality and customer satisfaction, how they are measured because they are very
important for service organizations in terms of profitability and growth. A similar study could
be conducted with a larger sample size so that results could be generalized to a larger
population. Similar study is recommended to other areas including the impact of poor support
to the customer satisfaction, the impact of regulatory policies to customer satisfaction and the
impact of customer retention strategies to the customer satisfaction levels.

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REFERENCES

 Asubonteng, P. (1996). A critical review of service quality, Vol.10. The Journal of service
marketing, 6, p.62-81.
 Cronin, J. (1992). Measuring service quality; a re-examination and extension. The Journal
of Marketing, Vol.56, Number 3, 55-68.deVaus, D. (2002). Surveys in social Research.
(5th edn). London: Routledge.
 Caruana, A. (2002). Service loyalty: The effects of service quality and the mediating role
of customer satisfaction. European Journal of Marketing, 36(7/8), 811-828.
 Edvardsson. (1998). Service quality improvement. Managing service quality,
Vol.8.Number 2, p.142-149.
 Garvin, D. (1998). Managing quality. New York: Macmillan.
 Ghylin, K.M., Green, B.D., Drury, C.G., Chen, J., Schulta, J.L., Uggirala, A., Abraham,
J.K. & Lawson, T.A. (2006). Clarifying the dimensions of four concepts of quality.
Theoretical issues in economics science, Vol.9, Number1, p.73-94.
 Gronroos, C. (1982). A service quality and its marketing implications. European Journal
of Marketing, Vol.18, Number 4, p.36-44.
 Gummesson, E. (1994). Service management. International Journal of service Industry
management, 77-96.
 Lewis, B. R., and Mitchell, V. W. (1990) Defining and measuring the quality of customer
service, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 8(6), 11-17.
 Kumar, M., Kee, F.T. & Manshor, A.T. (2009). Determining the relative importance of
critical factors in delivering service quality of banks. Managing service quality, Vol.19,
number 2, p.211-228.

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APPENDIXES

QUESTIONNAIRES TO STAFF
Dear respondents
My name is CHEFOIN OLIVER KAIN, a student of the University institute of the tropics
IUGET in the department of maritime transport and logistics carrying out research on the
topic ‘The impact of outsourcing on the profitability of an organization’. I plead with you to
fill the questions below with honesty which will help in the realization of this project. In
responding to the questionnaire we are assure of complete confidentiality knowing that
information given shall be used only for the purpose of this study.

Instruction; Mark an X on the correct answer

Demographic characteristics

SECTION A; PERSONAL INFORMATION demographic characteristics

1. Male female

2. Age range 0-19 years 20-30 years 31-40 years and above

3. Marital status: married single divorce

4. Level of education: FSL certificate Ordinary level certificate

Advance level certificate degree masters

5. What is your work experience? 1-3 years 4-6 years 7 years and above

SECTION B
Instruction; using the rating scale to answer these questions concerning road safety
campaigns, Indicate by marking X whether you;
1] Strongly disagree
2] Disagree
3] Agree
4] Strongly Agree

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SECTION C; TANGIBILITY
STATEMENT SD D A SA
Ideal IUGET university should have modern
equipments.
Physical facilities are visually appealing
Appearance of the physical facilities are
consistent with the type of service industry
Their employees should be well dressed and
appear neat.

SECTION D; RELIABILITY
SD D A SA
STATEMENT
The firm meets their promised time-frames for
response
The firm is sympathetic and reassuring, when
the customer has problems
They are dependable
They provide their services at the times
promised

SECTION E; RESPONSIVENESS
SD D A SA
STATEMENT
They shouldn’t be expected to tell customers
exactly when the service will be performed
Employees do not always have to be willing to
help customers
It’s OK to be too busy to respond promptly to
customer requests
Employees do not always have to be
willing to help customers

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