Essay On Service Quality

CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction

In this chapter, the background of the study is given, a statement of the problem is made, research questions are posed, the objectives of the study are spelt out, the significance of the study captured, followed by the scope, limitations of the study, operational definition of key term and organization of the paper.

1.1 Background of the study

The world over, public sector organizations are responsible for providing essential goods and services for the benefit of the citizens of their countries. (Benjamin, 2012)

The primary objective of the service provider is identical to that of the tangible goods producer, i.e. to develop and provide offerings that satisfy customer needs, thereby ensuring their own economic

Kotler (2000) asserts that `` if the exceptions of customers are exceeded, customers become highly satisfied``. To achieve this objective, Kumar et al (1999)stress the importance of service firms developing a customer satisfaction program for measuring performance/satisfaction over time. Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) affirm that `` a sound measure of service quality is necessary for identifying aspects of service needing performance improvement and also assessing how much improvement is needed on each aspect of the service offerings``.

Service quality is critical particularly for the growth and development of service sector business enterprises (Juran, 1988). Service quality is an important antecedent of customer satisfaction, (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003). The deliverance of quality services to customers is the competitive advantages of any service giving companies, Parasuraman, et al (1985). The quality of services offered by a company determines the customer satisfaction and long term loyalty ( Naik et al,

Since independence the public sector of Ethiopia has undergone a number of reforms in order to meet the needs and aspirations of the citizenry. The public sector has under increasing pressure to improve upon service delivery and to demonstrate that it is customer – centric.

Public sector organizations are responsible and accountable to the citizens and communities of their countries as well as to their customers or clients. According to Gowan et al ( 2001) service provision is more complex in the public sector than in the private sector. This is because it is not simply a matter of meeting expressed needs but of finding out unexpressed needs, setting priorities, allocating resources and publicly justifying and accounting for what has been done.

Governments at all levels are engaged in giving services to the public under their jurisdictions. They provide various services to the society with the help of