The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Case Study of Hotel Industry in Afghanistan (Published)
The contemporary business world is very much competitive and success in the competition is achieved mainly through giving satisfaction to the ultimate consumer. In a service-oriented industry, it is very difficult to set a standard rule to satisfy customers. Several factors influence customers’ decision-making to take the service from an organization. The Hotel industry is a service industry; it provides the customer with various hospitality services. So a Hotel must be keen in identifying the factors that influence their decision to take the hospitality service. Thus the Hotel also needs to know the perception and satisfaction level of the customers about their performance. Referring to social exchange theory, the present study investigated a conceptual model SERVCUAL. The model examined the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty by five dimensions of service quality. The result of this study was based on the sample gathered from 180 customers in four hotels in Afghanistan. Based on the results, this study suggested that the quality of service in hotels and its direct effect on customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction respectively has a direct and positive impact on customer loyalty.
Keywords: Afghanistan, Customer Satisfaction, Customer loyalty, hotel industry
The Relationships between Adoption of Proactive Environmental Strategy, Organizational Performance and Organizational Culture: Evidence from the Hotel Sector (Published)
This study examines the significance of the adoption of proactive environmental strategy (APES) as a source of competitive advantage for the organization. The relationship between adoption of environmental proactivity and their environmental performance (ENVP) and economic performance (ECP) were studied, and then the prevailing organizational culture (OC) was introduced to explore whether it plays a moderating role in the relationship between APES and performance. A research model is developed and tested using a sample of 314 managers from star graded hotels in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through survey questionnaire and self- reported measures on APES, ENVP, ECP and OC were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS and structural equation modeling with AMOS. The findings of the study suggest that hotels with a higher degree of environmental proactivity obtain better environmental and economic performance and show significant positive impact of environmental performance on firm’s economic performance. In particular, the study found that flexible organizational culture seemed to be the more suitable cultural type that enhances organizational performance through environmental proactivity.
Keywords: Adoption of proactive environmental strategy, Organizational Culture, Organizational Performance, hotel industry
EFFECT OF INTERNAL CUSTOMER CARE ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION IN TANZANIA’S SMALL AND MEDIUM HOTEL INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES (Published)
This article presents the findings of the study carried out in Tanzania on the influence of internal customer care on the satisfaction of employees. The hotels, which largely depend on customer care for their success in the hospitality industry, were used as a case study. The paper utilises data generated in two phases. The initial data was originally collected by the author during postgraduate diploma studies at the University of Dar es salaam in 2007. Supplementary data was collected between June and December 2012 using semi-structured and descriptive study. A sample of 79 respondents was selected purposive. Based on the literature, the author developed a conceptual framework for analysing the relationship between internal customer care and employee satisfaction. Although customer care has become a celebrated concept in the existing literature, the application appears limited largely to taking care of the buyer at the expense of the internal customer, the employee. Indicative qualitative responses of the employees in the current study show that those hotels, which honoured internal customer care boosted their employees’ morale and commitment, thus leading to job satisfaction, which is a crucial factor in promoting quality service in the hotel industry. On the other hand, hotels that downplayed and overlooked the significance of internal customer care mainly had employees who expressed a low degree of job satisfaction and just served external customers as strategy of protecting their employment and keeping their contractual obligations.. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends that hotels in this East African country need to invest strategically in internal customer care as a way of augmenting and promoting external customer care.
Keywords: Employee Satisfaction, Internal customer care, Tanzania, hotel industry
DOES THE CONSEQUENCES OF OVERALL SERVICE QUALITY AND TRANSACTION SPECIFIC SERVICE QUALITY DIFFER? (Published)
The goal of the present paper is to propose an integrated model that assessing the relative impact of “overall service quality” and “transaction specific service quality” on customer (dis)satisfaction, complaint behavior, word of mouth and repurchase intention independently. A model is proposed that integrates the overall service quality and transaction specific service quality under a single framework. The paper uses confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to analyze and confirm the conceptual model proposed in this research. According to findings, consumers feel dissatisfaction and complaint if they perceive transaction specific service quality low. However, overall service quality significantly effects loyalty and word of mouth behavior of hotel visitors
Keywords: Behavioral Consequences, Overall service quality, Transaction specific service quality, hotel industry
The Influence of Internal Customer Care on SMEs Employees’ Satisfaction: The Case of Hotel Industry in Tanzania (Review Completed - Accepted)
This article presents the findings of the study on the influence of internal customer care on satisfaction of employees. The hotels, as a business sector that largely utilizes customer care as a success factor was used as a case study. The paper utilizes data, which was collected by the author during postgraduate Diploma studies at the University of Dar es salaam in 2007. Supplementary data was collected between June and December 2012. Based on the literature, the author developed a conceptual framework for analyzing the relationship between internal customer care and satisfaction of employees. The data show that customer care has become a celebrated concept in the existing literature, but the concept and its enticement is limited to taking care of the buyer at the expense of the internal customer, the employee. Indicative qualitative responses of the employees who were involved in the study show that those hotels, which honored internal customer care succeeded to improve employees’ morale and commitment, and thus leading to satisfaction. On the other hand, hotels that underplayed internal customer care proved that their employees were just saving external customers as away of protecting their employment and keeping their contractual obligations; on the other hand, they expressed a low degree of job satisfaction. The study recommended that hotels need to strategically invest in internal customer care as a way of augmenting external customer care.
Keywords: Internal customer care, Tanzania, employees’ satisfaction, hotel industry