Abstract
This research involved 397 participants selected through stratified and simple random sampling methods. The objective was to assess the influence of service quality delivery on customer satisfaction within Nekemte Town Police Administration, utilizing the SERVQUAL model. To fulfill this goal, a quantitative research study incorporating both descriptive and causal (inferential) research designs was conducted. Questionnaires with a five-point Likert scale were employed, drawing from the annual target population of 51,480 Nekemte Town Police Administration customers. Data was gathered through personally administered questionnaires, and subsequent analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27, employing descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated minimal customer satisfaction, making it challenging to precisely determine customers' expectations and perceptions regarding service quality dimensions. Notably, all service quality dimensions positively influenced satisfaction levels. Specifically, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy emerged as significant contributors to customer satisfaction, while reliability and tangibility had a comparatively lesser impact. In light of these results, the researcher recommends that the Nekemte Town Police Administration implement training, corrective measures to enhance responsiveness, motivational initiatives, and the utilization of fault-free technologies to improve overall customer satisfaction.
Keywords
Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, SERVQAUL Model, Nekemte Town Police Administra
1. Introduction
The police play a crucial role as a public service in safeguarding the lives and property of citizens. However, there has been a notable lack of increased satisfaction among citizens in our country regarding police services
| [1] | Abdissa, G. (2019). the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction. Annals of social sciences and management studies, 4(1), 7-11. |
[1]
. In an endeavor to modernize the nation, Emperor Haile Selassie implemented several reforms to enhance law enforcement.
As per Ethiopian Federal Police Commission Proclamation No.313/2003, the police are mandated to uphold laws aligned with the Constitution, equipped with the necessary training for their profession
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[2]
. They are also tasked with serving the public, respecting and ensuring the observance of human and democratic rights, and maintaining peace and order in the community
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[3]
. Despite these regulations, citizen satisfaction with police services has not seen an improvement
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[4]
. Responses from citizens about their confidence in the police often reflect dissatisfaction, citing issues such as delayed response, failure to resolve crimes or recover property, corruption, brutality, and ineffective control of high-crime areas
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.
Various factors influence the quality of police services in developing countries like Ethiopia. These include insufficient knowledge and skills, ineffective leadership, inadequate policy procedures and supervision, improper selection of police personnel, work overload, violation of suspects' rights, and instances of corruption and misconduct
| [6] | Biruk, T. (2017). the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction: the case of ERCA, lideta sub city branch office. |
[6]
. The primary mission of the police, as outlined in the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission Proclamation and Oromia police regulation No.32/95, is to maintain peace and order in society
| [7] | Cathy, P., & Brian, P. (2001). Customer Satisfaction: contrasting academic and consumers interpretations. Marketing intelligence and planning, 19(1), 38-44. |
[7]
. However, a 2022 evaluation by the Oromia police commission revealed that regular police services were ineffective and inefficient, leading to lower satisfaction among the community
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.
In the realm of service delivery, customers are pivotal assets for organizations. To thrive, customer-centered organizations must adeptly cater to their customers
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[9]
. Despite the ultimate goal of satisfying customers, many service delivery organizations fail in this aspect, often due to a lack of understanding of customer interests
| [9] | Dabholkar, P., & Thorpe, D. (1994). Does customer satsfaction predict shopper intentions? Journal of Customer Satsfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complianing Behavior, 7, 161-171. |
[9]
. In today's rapidly growing service sector, firms engage in creativity and innovation to provide superior service and gain a competitive edge.
Quality is defined as the appearance and features of a product or service that align with the ability to meet expectations
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[10]
. When a company's service meets or exceeds customer expectations, it is deemed to have provided quality service, a crucial factor in achieving customer satisfaction
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[11]
. Therefore, there exists a strong correlation between service quality and customer satisfaction. Companies that offer higher quality services tend to achieve greater customer satisfaction, contributing to profitability through effective pricing and cost strategies
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.
Service quality is measured as the extent of the difference between customers' expectations and their perceptions of service performance
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[13]
. In essence, service quality is the process of aligning the desires and beliefs of customers with the service provided
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.
2. Statement of the Problem
The police bear a direct responsibility to the local community they serve, founded on the consent given by the community for individuals to assume the role of a Police officer and serve
| [4] | Anderson, D., & Bowland, J. (1984). Evaluation of buck wheat (fagopyrumesculentum) in diets of growing pigs. can. j. anim. sci, 64(4). |
[4]
. In line with the institutional mission, organizations have increasingly sought to identify the factors influencing quality service delivery and rectify practices leading to failure. This necessitates a reassessment of service delivery status by numerous organizations to align with community needs and expectations
| [9] | Dabholkar, P., & Thorpe, D. (1994). Does customer satsfaction predict shopper intentions? Journal of Customer Satsfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complianing Behavior, 7, 161-171. |
[9]
. Such considerations are crucial, as communities tend to develop negative attitudes and place blame on the institution when services are unsatisfactory and fail to meet expectations.
Governments, both at the Ethiopian federal level and within different regions, have introduced various initiatives to enhance service operations. Despite these efforts, customer complaints persist across different offices. Particularly in Ethiopia, there is a prevalent dissatisfaction among customers with services provided by organizations, especially government entities. It has become commonplace to hear that government organizations fail to meet customer expectations, serving as a notable source of complaints in society at large and, more specifically, in business sectors, especially in security sectors where regular police administration plays a central role. Drawing from preliminary observations and informal interviews regarding the branch office in the selected town/area, the researcher aims to evaluate service qualities and customer satisfaction.
Overall, it is imperative to assess and evaluate service quality and customer satisfaction within the organization to determine necessary improvements. The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of service quality on the dimensions of the SERVQUAL model (Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy).
3. Objective of the Study
3.1. General Objective
The foremost objective of this study was to measure the effect of service quality up on customer satisfaction in case of Nekemte town regular police administration.
3.2. Specific Objectives
1. To assess the impact of customers level of expectation and perception towards service quality of Nekemte town regular police administration?
2. To examine the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction in terms of service quality dimensions; in Nekemte town regular police administration.
3. To identify factors that highly affects customer satisfaction in Nekemte town regular police administration.
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Location and Description of the Study Area
Nekemte town is one of the oldest towns in Ethiopia, which has been established in the mid-19th century. It is found in Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia at a distance of about 327 km towards the west from the capital city of Addis Ababa. Currently, the town covers an area of about 53.62 square kilometers. Its astronomical location is 90 46’ N and 360 31’ E, whilst its elevation is 2088 meters above sea level (M.S.L). About the relative location, it shares common boundaries with Northern Gidda Woreda, South Guto Gidda, and Western part Sasiga and Guto Gidda woreda. Nekemte town is administratively divided into seven subunits: Kaso, Bakanisa Kese, Chalalaki, Burqa Jato, Darge, sorga, and Bake Jama. The town linearly stretches over 14.2 km from east to west, mainly along with the Addis Ababa to Assosa highway and 7.7 km from North to South.
4.2. Sampling Design and Procedure
4.2.1. Target Population
The target populations for the study were the Nekemte town police administration customers come to be served in the station. As the current total number of customers taken average of three consecutive years indicates that there were 51,480 customers per year in two stations, which are combinations of 34,575 Male and 16,905 female categories respectively the researcher will use these customers as a target population to carry out the study.
4.2.2. Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
Since the type of the customers in each category are not homogeneous/high proportion of male customer and moderate female/ and to address all the categories the researcher plan to use a Probabilistic sampling technique which is stratified sampling by considering the categories as strata. And to distribute the questionnaire in each stratum, simple random sampling method will undertake. This will apply by using the proportion of customers in the town under each two (2) woredas and also the proportion of the selected samples and then collects the data from these proportions.
To gather appropriate and reliable data for the accomplishment of this study, the researcher was using both primary and secondary data sources.
It is clear that data obtained from primary source first hand and gives the right information because no one manipulate or used the data before, the Primary data will be obtained through the designed questionnaire.
If obtaining primary data is impossible or difficult or as per the area of study, a secondary data may be used. Data’s that will be obtained from secondary sources are second hand and which someone has manipulated it before. But secondary data has also some benefits like economical advantage. In addition to this, other relevant documents, like research books, research studies, journals, articles, internet information concerning the organization, empirical findings to get better insight about service quality, customer satisfaction and their relationships will incorporate under this secondary source of data for the strengthen of the study.
4.3. Data Collection Methodology
As it is mentioned above, the study was undertaken using both primary and secondary data, where the primary data would be collected from the sample customers of Nekemte town police administration the two woreda police stations the questionnaire will arranged in a close ended (quantitative) form question, in which the sample customers would be asked to rate each statement under the questionnaire using the five-point Likert type scale of (1) „strongly disagree‟, to (5) strongly agree‟. The secondary data on the other hand, would collect from written documents such as broachers, annual reports, customer’s data base, books, research studies and journals in order to reaffirm the result findings and to strengthen the whole study.
4.4. Data Analysis Methods
After the appropriate data was collected using the designed questionnaire, it was carefully organized and analyzed by encoding each item using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 27. As it has been described on the data source, the type of data that was gathered from the respondents was Likert scale data on the satisfaction level of customer towards service quality. When the questionnaire was be designed, there would be multiple questions under each service quality dimensions to measure them. And therefore, the analysis was doing first by calculating (transforming) the mean of each question for all respondents. All the descriptive information on the quantitative data which includes, background information of respondents, mean, frequency, percentage and standard deviations was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The regression analyses on the other hand, was conducted to check the effect of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction and to identify factors that can highly affects customer satisfaction by using the inferential statistics. Generally, the first objective of the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics, whereas second and third objectives were analyzed using regression analysis method.
4.4.1. Validity
According to (Saunders & Lewis, 2007), the degree to which the data collection methods help to collect the accurate data as planed is known as Validity. The population of this study was the customers of Nekemte town police administration and for 95% level of accuracy or 5 % tolerable error, the sample (portion) is adequate to draw inference about the whole observations.
4.4.2. Reliability
Reliability measures the consistency level of tools that used to conduct a test. For this purpose, the researcher has conducted different test statistics to check the reliability of the model and analysis tools.
And therefore, first the values were transformed by calculating their mean, so as to check the normality of the data. However, the test result for Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk has indicated that the data are not normal, since the p-values are less than 0.05 for all variables and we fail to reject the null hypotheses. Once again the data was transformed into its log form to run the normality test. But again, the P-value is less than 0.05 for the data that has been transformed for the second time to its log form indicating that the data is not obtained from a population with normal distribution. The test result for normality is indicated on the
table 1 below.
Table 1. Tests of Normality.
| Kolmogorov-Smirnova | Shapiro-Wilk |
Statistic | Df | Sig. | Statistic | Df | Sig. |
Transformed Reliability | .115 | 387 | .000 | .978 | 387 | .000 |
Transformed Tangibility | .086 | 387 | .000 | .972 | 387 | .000 |
Transformed Responsiveness | .152 | 387 | .000 | .963 | 387 | .000 |
Transformed Assurance | .135 | 387 | .000 | .973 | 387 | .000 |
Transformed Empathy | .093 | 387 | .000 | .979 | 387 | .000 |
Transformed Satisfaction | .154 | 387 | .000 | .963 | 387 | .000 |
The other test that has been conducted was the model fit test, to check the fitness of the model and the test result from the model fitting information indicates a p-value less than 0.001 and we reject the null hypothesis because the result was found significant and we conclude that there is a significant difference between the baseline model and the final model. And also, the Goodness of fit value of 0.611 for Nagelkereke indicates that about 61% variation in the satisfaction level of the customers is explained by the independent variables. Therefore, as we can see from the different reliability testing statistics below the data is reliable to conduct the study.
5. Data Presentation and Analysis
As it has been tried to be indicated under the methodology part for data analysis, after having a proper data insertion to SPSS and running the important test statistics before conducting the analysis, the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive analysis was made for the first objective and inferential statistics was used for the second and the third objectives. Coming to the respondents, from the 397 distributed questionnaires 388 questionnaires were collected or responded, which represent 99.5% of the total distributed questionnaires. After checking the retrieved questionnaires, the 359 were found valid for statistical analysis. So, 92.5% of the total sample size is undertaken for this study. Therefore, the discussion and interpretation of the result was done accordingly and presented on the next sections.
5.1. Descriptive Statistics
5.1.1. Demographic Background of the Respondents
According to the result from the analysis, from the 359 respondents 195 respondents or approximately 54% of the respondents are male, whereas the remaining 164 respondents or 46% of the total respondents were female. In terms of age, about 95% of the respondents are adults having an age of 26 and above. From this we may understand that the respondents can tell the true feeling of their satisfaction level, as they are matured enough.
In terms of the education level of the respondents, most of the respondents (59.3%) are diploma holders and above.
Most of the respondents (84% of the total respondents) have a regular contact with the branch office.
And when we come to their frequency of contact, around 40% of the respondents have quarterly contacts with the branch office and around 34% of the respondents contacted the branch office once a year.
Table 2. Demographic background of the respondents (Case Processing Summary).
Sex | Male | 195 | 54.3% |
Female | 164 | 45.7% |
Age | below 25years | 19 | 5.3% |
26 years and above | 340 | 94.7% |
Educational background | primary Education | 48 | 13.4% |
high school | 98 | 27.3% |
Diploma holders and above | 213 | 59% |
Customer contact with the branch office | Yes | 303 | 84.4% |
No | 56 | 15.6% |
Cumulative transformed satisfaction | Dissatisfied and highly dissatisfied | 120 | 33.4% |
Neutral or undecided | 103 | 28.7% |
Satisfied and highly satisfied | 136 | 37.8% |
Valid | | 359 | 92.5% |
Missing | | 29 | 7.45% |
Total | | 397 397 | 100.0% 100.0% |
The level of satisfaction of these respondents, the result does not indicate a clear picture whether there is satisfaction or no satisfaction on the services being provided by the branch office. Because the cumulative relative frequency of those who are dissatisfied and highly dissatisfied, were around 33% out of the total respondents. And around 29% feel neutral about their satisfaction level. However, small majority of the respondents, around 38% feels or agrees and strongly agree (cumulatively) that they are satisfied with the service quality being provided. Based on these data, it would be difficult to conclude that customers are satisfied or dissatisfied with the service that they get from the office. Because, the proportion of those respondents who feel unsatisfied and below (33%) is not a small number or it is not insignificant as it is compared to the proportion of those who felt satisfied and above (38%). Therefore, although small majority are satisfied, significant number of respondents are also unsatisfied. And this may indicate that much work needs to be done at the office to improve their services and to increase the satisfaction level of their customers at least by tuning those customers in the neutral category enter a satisfaction category.
5.1.2. Customer Expectation and Perception
The first objective of the study was to measure customer’s expectation and perception on service quality. For this purpose, the service quality dimensions were used to identify what the customers felt about them using a Likert scale measurement and the result of the analysis is presented here below on
table 3. First, transformation on the data was made to their mean and the analysis was run.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics for service quality dimension.
| Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std. Deviation |
Transformed Reliability | 1.25 | 5.00 | 3.2322 | .76223 |
Transformed Tangibility | 1.25 | 5.00 | 3.4313 | .81145 |
Transformed Responsiveness | 1.25 | 4.75 | 2.9832 | .80238 |
Transformed Assurance | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.2208 | .76808 |
Transformed Empathy | 1.40 | 5.00 | 3.2259 | .72671 |
Transformed Satisfaction Valid N (list wise) | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.0995 | .80545 |
Based on the analysis made to determine customer’s expectation and perception on service quality, the following conclusions were drawn. Of course, this is done by just observing the mean value of each response under each dimension of service quality which is obtained from the output of the analysis. Before discuss their level of perception, let us first see how to conduct the category. The interval for interpreting the mean is classified as follows. If the mean of the Likert scale falls between 1 and 1.80, it is concluded as “Strongly Disagree”, if it ranges between 1.81 and 2.60, it will be concluded as „Disagree‟, if the mean takes values ranging from 2.61 to 3.40, it takes „neutral, from 3.41 up to 4.20 „Agree‟ and finally values ranging from 4.21 to 5 takes Strongly Agree‟ conclusion (Zahra & Sima, 2019).
Based on the above category, the first variable to measure customer’s expectation and perception was reliability. To know whether the customer’s satisfactions are reliable or not, four questions were raised to measure reliability and the transformed mean shows a mean value of 3.23 for reliability.
This mean value falls in the category of neutral; indicating that the respondents neither nor feel reliable on the services provided by the office. The analysis indicate that respondents are undecided whether employees at the office provide services at a time they promises to do so, they are undecided whether the branch shows a sincere interest to solve their problems, they are undecided whether the workers prioritize among the services they need and also they are undecided about whether services are given based on their schedules or not. Although it requires a further investigation, to the absence of clear and standard procedures, the absence of standard time that it takes to process certain tasks at the branch office and the lack of transparency in service provisions. And this indicates works have to be done at the branch office to make their customers feel reliable on the branch’s services.
Secondly, tangibility was taken to measure expectation and perception of the customers to see if the branch office has conducive working environment and facilities to provide the service to the customers satisfactorily. Based on this, the transformed mean value of the variable indicates a value of 3.43 which is categorized under „Agree‟. Customers perceive that the office is equipped with organized and modern working equipment, features a comfortable, clean, and attractive physical facility, employees maintain an appropriate appearance for service provision, and the office is equipped with comfortable service facilities. Overall, customers agree that the office provides tangible and comfortable services from a facility perspective. Could this be attributed to the government's office renovation plan for public offices in general? This hypothesis requires further investigation.
On the aspect of responsiveness, respondents express a neutral and undecided sentiment regarding the employees' level of responsiveness in delivering required services and assisting customers with their inquiries. The transformed mean value of 2.98 suggests that customers find it challenging to assert whether employees understand and respond to their questions promptly, express uncertainty about receiving timely service, and are unsure about the willingness of employees to help with their problems or make efforts to provide answers. This might be indicative of the challenging work culture prevalent in Ethiopia.
Finally, in measuring customer opinions related to assurance and empathy, the results fall into the neutral category, with transformed mean values of 3.22 and 3.10, respectively. This implies that customers are undecided about their confidence in the service process, the suitability of the service, the consistency, courtesy, and respect displayed, as well as the level of knowledge and experience in addressing their questions.
5.2. Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction
The examination of normality in the test results revealed that the data did not originate from a normally distributed population. Consequently, the researcher opted against using a parametric test, being compelled to employ a non-parametric test for the analysis. An ordinal regression model was selected to assess the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction. Following the execution of ordinal regression with customer satisfaction as the dependent variable and service quality dimensions as independent variables, the resulting regression model was developed as follows: [Include the developed regression model if available].
Table 4. Variable Estimates output (ordinal regression results).
| Estimate | Std. Error | Wald | Df | Sig. | 95% Confidence Interval |
Lower bound | Upper bound |
Threshold | TransS =1.00 | 4.092 | .656 | .576 | 1 | .000 | 2.806 | 5.377 |
TransS =1.50 | 5.608 | .576 | 94.722 | 1 | .000 | 4.478 | 6.737 |
TransS =2.00 | 6.951 | .581 | 143.337 | 1 | .000 | 5.813 | 8.089 |
TransS =2.50 | 8.614 | .617 | 195.079 | 1 | .000 | 7.405 | 9.822 |
TransS =3.00 | 10.751 | .703 | 233.928 | 1 | .000 | 9.373 | 12.129 |
TransS =3.50 | 12.358 | .768 | 259.089 | 1 | .000 | 10.853 | 13.863 |
TransS =4.00 | 13.987 | .818 | 292.337 | 1 | .000 | 12.384 | 15.590 |
TransS =4.50 | 15.633 | .894 | 305.532 | 1 | .000 | 13.880 | 17.386 |
Location | Transformed Reliability | .545 | .211 | 6.698 | 1 | .010 | .132 | .958 |
Transformed Tangibility | .376 | .176 | 4.587 | 1 | .032 | .032 | .720 |
Transformed Responsiveness | .484 | .237 | 4.173 | 1 | .041 | .020 | .948 |
Transformed Assurance | .244 | .232 | 1.104 | 1 | .293 | -.211 | .700 |
Transformed Empathy | 1.481 | .241 | 37.639 | 1 | .000 | 1.008 | 1.954 |
5.3. Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction
Customers of the Nekemte Police Administration office were surveyed to prioritize service dimensions that should be improved, taking into account their respective importance for ensuring satisfaction. The results were obtained through a ranking analysis using multiple response analysis in the Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. Out of the total 388 observations, 333 observations, representing 86%, were deemed valid for ranking purposes.
Table 5. Observations validity for ranking purposes (Case Summary).
| Cases |
Valid | Missing | Total |
N | Percent | N | Percent | N | Percent |
Prioritya | 338 | 85.8% | 59 | 14.2% | 397 | 100.0% |
Table 5 illustrates the frequency of respondents' first choices in ranking the service dimensions. The decision to solely consider the first choice was made because, based on the frequency of first choices, the remaining ranks could be determined accordingly.
According to the table, approximately 28% of respondents ranked "Responsiveness" as their first choice. This suggests that the majority of respondents believe that the branch office and its employees should be willing to help and provide prompt services. Therefore, improving the level of responsiveness is crucial for enhancing customer satisfaction with service quality. Indicators used to measure responsiveness include the extent to which employees are informed about their duties, the promptness of service delivery, willingness to assist customers, and the level of concern displayed while providing services. All these aspects require improvement to make the branch office more responsive and, consequently, enhance customer satisfaction.
The variable securing the second position is "Assurance," with around 26% of respondents ranking it second. Additionally, approximately 22% of respondents placed "Empathy" in the third position. Assurance was assessed by considering the employees' confidence in providing services, the sense of safety customers feel during their visit, the level of respect and treatment received, and the employees' knowledge and understanding while delivering services. These factors significantly impact customer satisfaction, as reflected in their rankings. It indicates a need for employees to be aware of customer service requirements, meet expectations, and treat customers with respect. Establishing standards and policy procedures for customer service can enhance employee confidence levels.
From the findings in
Table 5, it is evident that a substantial proportion of respondents prioritize improving responsiveness, assurance, and empathy as their top three choices, respectively.
Table 6. Priority Rank for Improvement ($Priority Frequencies).
| Response | Percent of cases |
respondent | percent |
What must be Reliability: ability to perform the promised service needed to improve dependably, timely and accurately by the branch the office. | 69 | 13.8% | 20.7% |
Tangibility: appearance of physical facilities, office: equipment and employees. | 55 | 11.0% | 16.5% |
Responsiveness: willing to help and provide prompt service. | 97 | 27.5% | 41.1% |
Assurance: knowledge, credibility and courtesy of employees. | 90 | 26.1% | 39.0% |
Empathy: provision of individually caring, easy access, good communication and attention to customers. | 86 | 21.6% | 32.4% |
Total | 397 | 100% | 149.8% |
In the ranking process, "Reliability" and "Tangibility" secured the fourth and fifth positions, with relative frequencies of 14% and 11% (rounded to the next level). These variables also require improvement, as their current state affects overall satisfaction. The analysis indicates that factors such as responsiveness, willingness to help, and providing prompt service have a higher impact on customer satisfaction, while tangibility has a relatively lower impact.
Qualitative data collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGD) revealed several challenges faced by service providers that contribute to a reduction in service quality. Firstly, there is an imbalance in the number of customers (community) per employee/police member, which is notably high. Over the past three consecutive years, the average number of customers has been 51,480. This heavy workload places a significant burden on service providers and results in the delivery of unsatisfactory services to customers.
Secondly, the town of Nekemte experiences a high annual unemployment rate, particularly among graduates from various colleges and universities. Additionally, there is a high migration rate from rural areas of Wollega woredas to the town. The influx of people, combined with the high unemployment rate, has led to an increase in crimes over time. While there is a need to control these rising crime rates, there is insufficient manpower to achieve the mission and ensure good governance, peace, and security to meet customer satisfaction.
Thirdly, despite attempts to improve the salary and benefits packages of police members, it still falls short of meeting the current market situation. Consequently, many members struggle to combat inflation with their current salaries. This financial constraint becomes a factor influencing employees' ability to deliver quality service. Additionally, security problems were identified as another significant impact on service quality.
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1. Conclusion
In conclusion, the main objective of the study was to assess service quality and customer satisfaction, as well as to explore the impact of various service quality dimensions on both aspects in the Nekemte town police administration office. The study considered five service quality dimensions: reliability, tangibility, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The following conclusions were drawn from the discussions and analyses:
1. Customer Satisfaction: The analysis revealed that the number of customers satisfied with the service quality provided is not significantly higher than those dissatisfied. Although 38% of customers expressed satisfaction compared to 33% dissatisfied, a substantial number of customers are unsatisfied. This suggests potential issues in service delivery, requiring further investigation. The measured service quality level and customer satisfaction were found to be below average, indicating overall dissatisfaction with services from the municipality of Nekemte town. While these findings may not represent all government organizations, they serve as indicators of poor service quality in Ethiopia, especially in government offices.
2. Dependency between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: A strong dependence between service quality and customer satisfaction was identified as a significant factor contributing to customer dissatisfaction with the services provided by the Nekemte town police administration office.
3. Service Quality Model Findings: The service quality model used to assess satisfaction levels indicated low expectations and perceptions among customers regarding the service quality delivered by the branch office. The five service quality dimensions (Reliability, Tangibility, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) were utilized to measure customer expectations and perceptions.
4. Regression Analysis: In the regression analysis, certain variables (dimensions) were found to be insignificant in affecting customer satisfaction. Specifically, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy were identified as highly significant contributors to customer satisfaction, while reliability and tangibility were deemed insignificant in their impact on customer satisfaction.
In summary, the study underscores the importance of addressing service quality dimensions, particularly responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, to enhance customer satisfaction in the Nekemte town police administration office. The findings also highlight the need for broader efforts to improve service quality in government organizations in Ethiopia.
6.2. Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, which indicate that all five dimensions of service quality have a positive impact on overall service quality and customer satisfaction, the following recommendations are suggested for Nekemte town police administration office:
1. Employee Training: Provide training for employees on customer handling issues and ensure that there is adequate manpower to serve customers effectively. This will enhance the skills and capabilities of the staff in meeting customer needs.
2. Assessment and Corrective Actions: Assess the ratio of employees to customers and take corrective actions to improve responsiveness. Ensuring an appropriate balance between staff and customers is crucial for delivering quality service.
3. Motivational Schemes: Implement various motivational schemes for employees to inspire them to deliver their maximum potential in serving customers. Motivated employees are more likely to contribute to customer satisfaction.
4. Modern Systems Automation: Introduce modern systems automation, such as electronic systems or electronic traffic management, to provide quick and error-free services to customers. This can streamline processes and enhance efficiency.
5. Incentive Mechanisms: Establish different incentive mechanisms for employees to motivate them and encourage the delivery of quality services to customers. Recognizing and rewarding good performance can contribute to improved customer satisfaction.
6. Conducive Environment: Create a conducive environment that facilitates prompt service delivery to customers. This includes ensuring that employees possess the necessary knowledge, credibility, and courtesy, as responsiveness and assurance are identified by customers as areas to be improved.
7. Holistic Improvement: Recognize that all service quality dimensions listed in the study's model have an impact on overall service quality and customer satisfaction. Given that customers perceive the overall service quality and satisfaction as low, the office should focus on improving all dimensions to enhance service quality and customer satisfaction.
In summary, a comprehensive approach to improving service quality and customer satisfaction involves addressing various dimensions, training employees, implementing modern systems, providing incentives, and creating a conducive environment. By implementing these recommendations, Nekemte town police administration office can enhance its overall service quality and better meet the expectations of its customers.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Assefa, B., Etana, H., Deressa, M. (2024). The Impact of Quality Public Service Delivery on Customer Satisfaction: In Case of Nekemte Town Police Administration, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia. Science Journal of Business and Management, 12(3), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
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Assefa, B.; Etana, H.; Deressa, M. The Impact of Quality Public Service Delivery on Customer Satisfaction: In Case of Nekemte Town Police Administration, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia. Sci. J. Bus. Manag. 2024, 12(3), 64-73. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
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Assefa B, Etana H, Deressa M. The Impact of Quality Public Service Delivery on Customer Satisfaction: In Case of Nekemte Town Police Administration, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia. Sci J Bus Manag. 2024;12(3):64-73. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
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@article{10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12,
author = {Bulcha Assefa and Habtamu Etana and Mosisa Deressa},
title = {The Impact of Quality Public Service Delivery on Customer Satisfaction: In Case of Nekemte Town Police Administration, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia
},
journal = {Science Journal of Business and Management},
volume = {12},
number = {3},
pages = {64-73},
doi = {10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjbm.20241203.12},
abstract = {This research involved 397 participants selected through stratified and simple random sampling methods. The objective was to assess the influence of service quality delivery on customer satisfaction within Nekemte Town Police Administration, utilizing the SERVQUAL model. To fulfill this goal, a quantitative research study incorporating both descriptive and causal (inferential) research designs was conducted. Questionnaires with a five-point Likert scale were employed, drawing from the annual target population of 51,480 Nekemte Town Police Administration customers. Data was gathered through personally administered questionnaires, and subsequent analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27, employing descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated minimal customer satisfaction, making it challenging to precisely determine customers' expectations and perceptions regarding service quality dimensions. Notably, all service quality dimensions positively influenced satisfaction levels. Specifically, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy emerged as significant contributors to customer satisfaction, while reliability and tangibility had a comparatively lesser impact. In light of these results, the researcher recommends that the Nekemte Town Police Administration implement training, corrective measures to enhance responsiveness, motivational initiatives, and the utilization of fault-free technologies to improve overall customer satisfaction.
},
year = {2024}
}
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of Quality Public Service Delivery on Customer Satisfaction: In Case of Nekemte Town Police Administration, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia
AU - Bulcha Assefa
AU - Habtamu Etana
AU - Mosisa Deressa
Y1 - 2024/08/27
PY - 2024
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
DO - 10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
T2 - Science Journal of Business and Management
JF - Science Journal of Business and Management
JO - Science Journal of Business and Management
SP - 64
EP - 73
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2331-0634
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20241203.12
AB - This research involved 397 participants selected through stratified and simple random sampling methods. The objective was to assess the influence of service quality delivery on customer satisfaction within Nekemte Town Police Administration, utilizing the SERVQUAL model. To fulfill this goal, a quantitative research study incorporating both descriptive and causal (inferential) research designs was conducted. Questionnaires with a five-point Likert scale were employed, drawing from the annual target population of 51,480 Nekemte Town Police Administration customers. Data was gathered through personally administered questionnaires, and subsequent analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27, employing descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated minimal customer satisfaction, making it challenging to precisely determine customers' expectations and perceptions regarding service quality dimensions. Notably, all service quality dimensions positively influenced satisfaction levels. Specifically, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy emerged as significant contributors to customer satisfaction, while reliability and tangibility had a comparatively lesser impact. In light of these results, the researcher recommends that the Nekemte Town Police Administration implement training, corrective measures to enhance responsiveness, motivational initiatives, and the utilization of fault-free technologies to improve overall customer satisfaction.
VL - 12
IS - 3
ER -
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