Service Quality of the Saudi Telecom Company - Essay Example

The current research aims to determine s’ assessments of the service quality of STC’s services and their satisfaction towards these. Customer loyalty, word-of-mouth behaviours, and cultural values have also been measured through a self-administered survey questionnaire. The correlations among these variables have also been ascertained. 200 customers of Saudi Telecommunications Co (STC) were enlisted for this purpose. The present study found that STC has been neutrally or unfavourably rated by its customers in terms of the aspects of service quality that are considered to be the most important, namely, empathy, reliability, assurance, the ability to be responsive and tangibles. Moreover, it has also established low ratings in aspects such as the satisfaction of customers, how loyal customers are and consumers behaviours through word-of-mouth. Significant, positive relationships have been found between customer satisfaction and each of the aspects of service quality that were discussed above; as well as between satisfaction with service and customer loyalty; and word-of-mouth consumer behaviours with customer loyalty. There was no significant correlation found between cultural values and service quality assessments. To measure the degree to which customers uses word of mouth in line with the services provided by the Saudi Telecom Company. To analyse and examine the relationship that is present between customer satisfaction and the quality of service in Saudi Telecom Company. To analyse the relationship between the satisfaction and the loyalty of customers in Saudi Telecom Company. To analyse the relationship that has developed between word-of-mouth and customer loyalty in Saudi Telecom Company. This study will achieve the purpose of research by answering the following questions: How highly do customers rate the service quality provided by the Saudi Telecom Company? How do cultural values affect the way STC customers perceive the quality of the service they receive? What is the level of satisfaction that customers have with Saudi Telecom Company’s services? To what extent does Saudi Telecomm Company encourage loyalty among its customers? To what extent does the loyalty among STC customers affect their word-of-mouth? Is a relationship present between customer satisfaction and service quality in Saudi Telecom Company? Is the loyalty of customers and their satisfaction related in Saudi Telecom Company? Are customer loyalty and word-of-mouth linked in Saudi Telecom Company? The model presented above serves as the present study’s theoretical framework. It has been influenced by the studies conducted by Parasuraman et al. (1988). Upon the formulation of the framework, the hypotheses would be tested for validity purposes (Parusaraman, Zeithamal, Berry, 1985; Newman & Benz, 1998). 8.2.1. Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Mittal and Kamakura (2001) stated that an individual’s satisfaction is the general assessment of a performance of a particular item or service at present. The significance of the role of customers in business is emphasized by Kassim (2001) through stating that 75 percent of a firm’s budget allocated for marketing purposes should be allotted for strategies that would retain customers, as well as to build and reinforce relationships with profitable ones. Mittal and Kamakura (2001) discussed that a customer’s satisfaction towards an item, service or the company, is in accordance with the degree of relationship that will be formed between the consumer and the company, as satisfaction is tantamount to one’s predilection to repurchase (Kassim, 2001; Mittal and Kamakura, 2001). The hypotheses for the research questions above are: H1aa: A positive relationship exists between the level of customer satisfaction and tangibles in relation to the services that are provided by the Saudi Telecom Company. H1a0: There is no relationship present between tangibles in the services that Saudi Telecom Company provides and the amount of customer satisfaction. H1ba: Customer satisfaction is positively related to reliability within the services which Saudi Telecom Company offers. H2b0: Reliability is unrelated to customer satisfaction for the services which are provided by Saudi Telecom Company. H1ca: Responsiveness and the satisfaction of customers in the services of Saudi Telecom Company are positively related. H1c0: How satisfied customers are and service responsiveness are unrelated in Saudi Telecom Company. H1da: Customer satisfaction is positively related to assurance for the services which Saudi Telecom Company Provides. H1d0: For Saudi Telecom Company’s services, assurance and customer satisfaction are unrelated. H1ea: In the services of Saudi Telecom Company, empathy is positively related to customer satisfaction. H1e0: Empathy and the satisfaction of customers are not related in Saudi Telecom Company for the services that it provides. 8.2.2. Service Quality and Cultural Values A customer's assessment of the quality of service provided by a business organization is affected by one's cultural values. These cultural dimensions affect how a customer would think and decide towards purchasing a specific product or service. Thus, it is important for service providers to take into account the prevalent cultural dimension on providing service quality (Coyles and Gokey 2005). Not only does cultural values affect the customer's perception towards the services being offered, but it also redefines the degree of the customer's expectations of the company. H4aa: Cultural values have a positive relationship to service quality for the Saudi Telecom Company. H4a0: Service quality is not related to cultural values in the Saudi Telecom Company. 8.2.3 Customer Satisfaction and Consumer Loyalty Consumer loyalty is an individual’s intent to continue patronage of a certain business to offer positive feedback towards other customers (Oliver 1999). What relationship is present between how loyal customers are and their satisfaction is yet to be tested, although it has been indicated that customer satisfaction serves as a predictor of customer loyalty. However, it is also important to note that not all satisfied customers are loyal ones. Consumer loyalty is an individual’s intent to continue patronage of a certain business to offer positive feedback towards other customers (Oliver 1999). It is also defined as the degree in which consumers’ process the cycle of repeat purchase from the service provider (Oliver, 1999; Winer, 2001). It has also been noted that one’s loyalty is a critical indicator in most business associations. Hart and Johnson (1999) discussed that customers who are loyal have a direct affirmative influence towards consumer loyalty. H3aa: Customer satisfaction and the loyalty of customers are in a positive relationship within the Saudi Telecom Company. H3a0: No relationship is present between customer loyalty and the satisfaction of customers Saudi Telecom Company. 8.2.4. Word-of-Mouth and Customer Loyalty A study written by Malthouse and Blattberg (2005) indicated that WOM presents a higher influence on the perception of consumers towards a certain product or service, as compared to traditional marketing and advertising strategies. The key feature of word-of-mouth communication is that it has the ability to convert unpleasing perceptions about a certain idea into a favorable one. Studies present that customer word of mouth is triggered by affective commitment, which is present in the aspect of how loyal customers are H4aa: The loyalty of customers and the level of word-of-mouth are positively related in the Saudi Telecom Company. H4a0: There is no relationship customer loyalty and word of mouth in the Saudi Telecom Company. 9.3 Summary The purpose of this study is to measure service quality, cultural values, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and WOM in Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and investigate the relationship between them. A questionnaire will be developed, using the SERVQUAL model, which was developed by Parasuarman et al. (1988), to measure perceived service quality, as well as validated Likert scale measures of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and WOM. The target population will be customers of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), in Saudi Arabia. Questionnaires will be distributed by survey link. A convenience sample of 200 respondents will be surveyed. Data will be analysed by using descriptive statistics, reliability coefficient and correlation between the quality of service, culture values, the satisfaction of customers, customer WOM, and customer loyalty. 5. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the results of the analysis which took into account the following factors: customer loyalty, quality of service, word-of-mouth, culture values and customer satisfaction as they occurred within Saudi Telecommunications. The discussion will include a consideration of the relationship between the research questions and the literature review. Finally, the research presented in this paper will be used to make a set of recommendations. 5.2 Discussion At the beginning of this study, a number of null and alternative hypotheses were proposed. The results of the research have led to the following seven alternative hypotheses being accepted. There hypotheses showed that for the services that Saudi Telecom company provided, a positive relationship existed between: H1aa: Customer satisfaction and tangibles H1ba: Customer satisfaction and reliability H1ca: The responsiveness of the company and the satisfaction of customers H1da: Assurance and customer satisfaction H1ea: Customer satisfaction and empathy H3aa: The loyalty and satisfaction of customers H4aa: Word-of-mouth and customer loyalty However, the alternative hypothesis for the relationship between the quality of service provided and cultural values has been rejected. Thus, for this test, the null hypothesis is true: Recommendations The outcomes of this study provide the opportunity to create recommendations that the organisation studied should take into account to improve its service, particularly in relation to the loyalty and satisfaction of customers, as well as the level of quality inherent in the service. The recommendations are as follows. Most participants in the study were between 18 and 36 years of age. This suggests that the organisation should take these ages into account in its marketing and service creation, and seek new services that have the ability to meet the needs of this age group. One potential service is the use of a third generation level of internet through mobile phones. Respondents who had remained with the organisation for a considerable time, many between four and nine years indicated that the company had not upgraded their status to VIP customers. This is a significant oversight, and the company should take into account customers who have purchased services for a long time, and provide ways of giving them priority or upgrading their service. An example of this would be that the call centre system of the company should be able to recognise the numbers of long-standing customers, and have call centre staff answer their calls immediately, rather than placing them in line. When asked whether the staff members correctly performed their roles, some respondents said that they did, while others did not feel this was the case. This suggests that the organisation should put a greater amount of effort into ensuring that service is effective and that mistakes do not occur. This could occur by providing employees with additional training about how to perform services correctly every time. Most participants felt that services were not immediately performed. The company should invest in the development of a faster system that is able to deliver service to customers in a reduced amount of time. In addition, employees at the company should make it evident to the customers that they are pleased to be involved in service delivery. The organisation should be involved in increased development of CRM, in order to increase customer satisfaction, and to ensure that customers know when provision of service is to be expected. The study found that customers varied in their perception of the service that the company provided, with the majority of customers were between neutral and dissatisfied about the company’s service. The address this, the company needs to develop their service with a strong focus on the wants and needs of consumers. For example, the company should consider listening to the comments of customers, because customers observed that the company often does not take their comments or opinions into consideration. Overall, this study showed that there was a wide range of opinion concerning the ALTEJWAL programme. While the programme did appear to be effective for some of the customers, there were a number of areas identified where improvement was needed. One example of this is the removal on restrictions which limit the number of points that are able to be collected. The result showed a wide spread of opinion about the ALTEJWAL programme. It might be true to say that the programme was effective for some customers but the company should improve the programme, for example by removing restrictions on the numbers of points collected. Word-of-mouth communication has always been informal, and in the digital age, this fact has coupled with how easy communication has become. The result of this is that communication is able to influence the marketplace in a way that was never previously possible. One downside of this is that it has the tendency to make quality service a risk consideration, especially when there are a wide range of different factors that can create a negative experience for the customer. In this scenario, many STC customers will try to determine the opinions that current subscribers of a particular network have, in order to try and estimate what they are likely to think of the network themselves. Thus, highly levels of customer loyalty means that word-of-mouth recommendations are more favourable (Brady & Robertson, 2001; Mittal & Wagner, 2001; Reinartz & Kumar, 2000). 6 Conclusion This chapter has examined the outcomes of the research in detail, and provided a link between this and the literature review, developed earlier in the document. The results agree with some of the perspectives forwarded by authors Chapter Two. After this, recommendations were created that would help Saudi Telecommunications to improve their quality of service and to increase the satisfaction of their customers. The next chapter will conclude this paper, and discuss what has been determined. Read More