Faculty of Accounting and Informatics
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Item Evaluation of healthcare services : cross-sectional case in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa(Kamla-Raj, 2015) Gumede, Peggy Pinky; Dlamini, Bongani; Green, PaulGlobally, there have been numerous studies conducted on the evaluation of service quality in public health institutions. However, there remains a challenge in South African public health to provide quality service under difficult circumstances, thereby resulting in the offering of the service perceived as being poor. The purpose of this paper is to report on the investigation of service quality provided by two Public Clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the quest to improve the delivery of service quality to the public. The study adopted a mixed methods’ methodology and a narrative research approach was employed using a case of two clinics. A purposive convenient sample of 35 patients per clinic was used. Data was collected via the distribution of questionnaires and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The data was captured using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 software and the results were processed using variables according to the importance of the statements. The findings reveal that patients are dissatisfied with the quality of service received in terms of courtesy and the waiting times are unacceptable at public health clinics.Item Factors affecting the improvement of service quality at Universities of Technology: the case of South Africa(IFRD, 2014) Green, Paul; Adekanmbi, OluwoleSeveral research studies have been conducted on the evaluation of service quality at conventional universities. However, this study focuses on universities of technology which are fast growing value-based educational institutions in South Africa. The uniqueness of this study highlights the issues that can affect the improvement of service at universities of technology. Three factors namely: Organizational issues, Educational issues and Staff &Student issues were extracted as the main foci in the improvement of service at universities of technology. A mixed method methodology and an action research approach were employed in this study. The results obtained using factor analysis provides a basis for driving an equation system for evaluating the impact of the issues with respect to the factors named above. The results also show that some extraneous factors that are external to service delivery, have a substantial effect on the quality of service at universities of technology.Item Measuring service quality in higher education: a South African case study(The Clute Institute, 2014) Green, PaulThe goal of this paper is to report on the SERVQUAL gap which causes unsuccessful service delivery at a University of Technology in South Africa. Using a quantitative research design, the study adopts a SERVQUAL model adapted to a tertiary environment containing five dimensions of service quality (tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, and reliability). A convenience sampling technique was applied, the data were collected from 280 respondents at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), and the results and discussion are presented. The findings reveal that, on average, customers had high expectations in tangibles, reliability, and assurance dimensions and their highest perceptions were found in the assurance dimension. This study will benefit management of higher education institutions in identifying cost-effective ways of reducing service quality gaps.Item A decision making tool for the improvement of service quality at universities(The Clute Institute, 2014) Green, PaulThere have been numerous studies conducted on the evaluation of service quality at universities. However, there remains a deficiency on using a Multi Criteria Decision making approach in determining factors to consider for the improvement of service quality at a university. The purpose of this paper is to report on the use of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a decision making tool in determining factors to consider for the improvement of service quality at a university. The study adopted a mixed method methodology and an action research approach was employed. A purposive convenient sample of 30 participants was used. Data was collected via questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. The data was captured in the software Expert Choice and the results were processed by taking the aggregated group judgements as the geometric mean of the individual comparisons. The findings reveal that organisational and educational issues are paramount to providing an effective service at tertiary institutions.