An assessment of customer perception about service quality at public organizations.(A case study of the Kenya Power and Lighting company LTD)

Abstract

Provision of quality service is an area of interest globally. This is as a result of emerging competitive markets and increased customer awareness. Many organizations have heavily invested in innovative processes and employed experts just to get a clue of how their customers perceive about their products and services, in order to get an opportunity for improvements. This has left few options like research to bridge the gap and probably act as a yard stick to measure consumers perceptions about services and products consumed in the market.

The energy industry in developing economies is an emerging market of interest to many investors especially Kenya where power distribution has only been a monopoly of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. The sector has not been performing well compared to developed world due to severe resource constraints like under funding; shortage of skilled personnel resulting to a growing deterioration of service quality and this trend has led to a significant shift to alternative energy sources.

The purpose of this study is to assess the customers perceptions about service quality offered to customers at public organizations in Kenya. These views of the customers will help KPLC management benchmark best practices valued by customers so that the public can regain confidence in public service provision organizations.

Through the use of service quality framework (SERVQAL) developed by Parasuraman (1988), a service satisfaction survey will be conducted amongst KPLC customers. The attitudes of the customers will be tested regarding pre-identified service quality aspects related to provision of electricity. A total of customers will be selected at random and personally interviewed or given questionnaires to fill (for those who can read and write).

A five point Likerto type scale will be used to measure their expectations and perceived performance. The areas to be assessed include tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The feedback will be analyzed with the help of statistical package for social science (SPSS) software and presented in graphs and tables.