LAssessing Public Library Services to Homeschoolers Thesis

LAssessing Public Library Services to Homeschoolers - Thesis Example Other objectives will be to investigate how libraries attempt to respond to the needs of homeschoolers, the challenges for libraries in delivering services to homeschoolers, and discerning what might constitute best future service improvements for librarians. The level of services offered to homeschoolers is uneven in the United States; this may be due to the philosophical or political stance of institutions, personal bias, resource availability, lack of information or absence of a communicated need. Requests by homeschoolers for library services are occasionally denied and homeschoolers do experience a negative reception in some cases. This research will seek to gain an understanding of how homeschoolers use and perceive the public library. It will also look at how effectively library staff responds to the needs of homeschoolers as a user group. Proposals and recommendations for service improvements are also included. Participatory observation of participants and staff, over an eleven-week observation period, during which, a six-session targeted homeschooling program was conducted, at Manross Memorial Library was used. A questionnaire for participants in this program was also administered on-site at the beginning of the observation/program period. The sample population consisted of 21 children and 10 families. I would like to thank the faculty and staff of Aberdeen Business School for their responsiveness and helpfulness during the course of my degree program—absolutely priceless to a distance learner from across the ocean! I am especially grateful to Dr. Peter Reid who went to bat for me more than once when it counted. Thank you. I would also like to thank my advisor Roddy Smith for his advice and feedback during the dissertation process. Homeschooling is generally defined as the home-based education of a preschool or school-age child, by a parent or guardian,

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS CONTEXT Essay

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS CONTEXT - Essay Example It shows that the entire process starts from the time the employee is recruited, though it is a long procedure and the organization tries to be as fair as they can in selecting employees, but there is no guarantee that the employee would keep the job, so from this view the redundancy threat starts taking place in the mind of the employee, only a strong bond with the organization can keep this fear out of employee’s mind. The human resource department in any organization of this world has gained most importance in the modern era, it is because of the fact that what ever an organization achieves, it achieves on behalf of human resources, today human resource gains the utmost importance in every field simply because of the growing demands of the world, there is an entire process used in organization for employees, which includes all the happenings from their selection to retirement or redundancy. The employment is always related to the well being of the economy, if an economy is having job saturation and the employment cycle is not working well than it automatically makes an economy weaker and unstable, as a consequence other related factors are also affected, such as GDP/GNP, so in order to keep an economy healthy the working of the employment cycle should be proper and the various sectors running a country’s economy should keep in view those important things that can disturb the economy of that country. The entire unemployment process starts from the point when the disturbance is caused in the society, which in the case of Europe was the beginning of the nineteenth century when the industrial sector gained popularity and concepts of trading started getting prominent, in that time the employment and unemployment had taken place, the growing number of policies and rules were also causing unemployment, it had almost discouraged every person from the working class, because they had no surety of their current job, it was becoming a problem, but

Fiscal policy and regulation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fiscal policy and regulation - Term Paper Example The scope of Fiscal policy is wide and involves several government functions all of which are aimed at ensuring spending is contained and restricted to those areas cum sectors where they have the greatest and positive effect on the economy. (Creel et al pp.8) The main entities for the fiscal policy are government revenues, government expenditures and debt management. Fiscal policy is usually as a result of a well thought process mainly involving the best economic minds that a country may have who are organized as Public Service Program or Capital Improvements Program. This paper will examine the various aspects of Fiscal Policy and its use by the government to achieve its various economic milestones. (Weil pp.1) Besides these, we will look at the main proponents of the Fiscal policy and the main reasons that fail the working of the policy. At the end of this essay, the reader should be able to understand fully the workings of the Fiscal policy and its various aspects. In the end, one maybe able to give an indication of why Fiscal policy may not work as intended. It is important though to note that though the impact of economic changes are felt by certain groups in the economy such as family units especially when the government offers tax cuts, the disposable income of this family increases. (Mont pp.75) The fiscal policy is not aimed at an examination of such mild changes or impacts but is focused on the effects of changes in the government budget as a whole. Fiscal policy is usually looked one sided but a study of it reveals two types of fiscal policies which are not necessarily founded on different bases but are as a result of budget movement. These budget movements on the other hand are determined by the finances available to the government for the purpose of meeting its budgetary requirements. (Creel et al pp.32). These are either budget deficits or budgetary surplus

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS CONTEXT Essay

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS CONTEXT - Essay Example It shows that the entire process starts from the time the employee is recruited, though it is a long procedure and the organization tries to be as fair as they can in selecting employees, but there is no guarantee that the employee would keep the job, so from this view the redundancy threat starts taking place in the mind of the employee, only a strong bond with the organization can keep this fear out of employee’s mind. The human resource department in any organization of this world has gained most importance in the modern era, it is because of the fact that what ever an organization achieves, it achieves on behalf of human resources, today human resource gains the utmost importance in every field simply because of the growing demands of the world, there is an entire process used in organization for employees, which includes all the happenings from their selection to retirement or redundancy. The employment is always related to the well being of the economy, if an economy is having job saturation and the employment cycle is not working well than it automatically makes an economy weaker and unstable, as a consequence other related factors are also affected, such as GDP/GNP, so in order to keep an economy healthy the working of the employment cycle should be proper and the various sectors running a country’s economy should keep in view those important things that can disturb the economy of that country. The entire unemployment process starts from the point when the disturbance is caused in the society, which in the case of Europe was the beginning of the nineteenth century when the industrial sector gained popularity and concepts of trading started getting prominent, in that time the employment and unemployment had taken place, the growing number of policies and rules were also causing unemployment, it had almost discouraged every person from the working class, because they had no surety of their current job, it was becoming a problem, but

Business Biography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Biography - Essay Example At the tender age of 14, he focused and concentrated his efforts towards the development and growth of his first entrepreneurship venture, which was a web design company in the name of Flyte Design. The SME venture by this young first time entrepreneur went forward to win some of the reputed design awards of Canada. Besides Flyte Design, Tom Szaky also diverted his focus towards the establishment of three dot com companies, which ranged from an online home improvement site to an online fund raising school as well as online grade tracking software. In the year 2001, the serial entrepreneur moved to USA for the purpose of acquiring a degree from the reputed Princeton University. However, in 2002, he shifted his focus from academia to the development of TerraCycle Inc. It can be increasingly said that by the process of early venturing into social entrepreneurship through the formation of TerraCycle in the year 2002, he made it evident that he is an agent of change, who is focused on exp loiting opportunities that keeps on emerging in the social environment from time to time. However, besides being an entrepreneur, he was active member when it comes to community service. He took initiatives in the participation and organizing of various social activities, while increasingly raising and generating values for the stakeholders (CNBC, 2007). About the Business The main objective of TerraCycle is to focus on waste elimination through the process of application of evolutionary economics. Guided by this particular objective, the company focused on national level recycling chain for waste products that were difficult to reuse and recycle. The company focused on setting up a new principle of generating products of innovative nature as well as of high value from already disposed and utilized products by using organic means. The company recycles the waste for the purpose of product creation which focuses on fulfilling the needs of the clients and consumers, while increasingly enabling them to tackle their demand and subsequent elimination of relative and existing pain points (TerraCycle, n.d). The competitive advantage for this business was the fact that the business was started as an innovative venture and in an almost virgin market, in regards to its product portfolio, that Is being offered to the consumers. Hence it can be said that the business had the first movers’ advantage. As of today’s date, the company is focused on the process of value creation through the process of developing a variety of recycled product. The product variety comprises of a wide range of categories ranging from bags, garden accessories and fertilizers, gift accessories, home accessories, office accessories, school accessories. The product category also comprises of items of daily uses likes toys, pet bottles and even winter based essential products (TerraCycle, n.d ). On an overall note, TerraCycle produces over 250 different kinds of products, from a wide rang e of waste streams (Forbes, 2011). Industry Overview The United States, due to its focus on high level of consumption by the government as well as the consumers has become the largest market with the urgent need for waste management services. The waste management industry in the United States is a highly fragmented industry. The sector has grown tremendously over the last few years, till the year 2008. The slowdown all over the

Participatory Action Research Essay Example for Free

Participatory Action Research Essay The youth group was started in 2004 after the youths realized something was going wrong in the community and they were the right people to rectify the situation. They then came together and registered with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services Youth Affairs. It’s a non-profit making organization whose purpose is to address the needs of the youths and to improve the living standards of the community. The group brings together youths of both genders and has no ethnic or racial barriers as it believes youths from whatever background experience the same problems and must come together in order to solve them. Majority of the youths are trained in various fields of education and so it’s a pool of educated young men and women committed to be difference makers in other people’s lives. Currently the group has thirty five fully registered and active members but there is room for more members to join them. Since its formation, the group has provided their voluntary services beyond area of operation to improve the well being of the community. Their areas of activities include youths and community mobilization and awareness on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), guidance and counseling services, education on income generating activities, youth and community education on alcohol and drug abuse, education on leadership and administration, planning and accountability, tree planting exercise and offering voluntary services for the well being of the community. The group is seeking to address the most pressing needs that are affecting them and the community where they are living. These pressing need collaborative efforts as they cannot be solved by the community alone as they need technical expertise and some substantial funding. These needs were prioritized according to their impact in the community and they include; the high unemployment rate among the youth, gender disparity due to the culture, and idleness among the youths leading to irresponsible youth behavior, high infection rate of AIDS and other venereal diseases, drug abuse, poor farming methods leading to food insecurity and afforestation problem.. The members agreed that they had the brains, knowledge and skills and if put together and shared will bring a big change among the group members, other youths and the community at large. Though they have had challenges especially from the elderly community members when discussing on sexual issues, the group is committed to continue working until they have attained their set objectives. Their services to the community have effected some positive changes, which have commended by the community members. The group also works with other major stakeholders who have been helpful to the group in terms of training and financial support. These include the Community Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Religious Organizations, Society and the Government to improve the living standards of the community. These stakeholders have been very helpful to the youth group because they have been offering training without charging them any fee, giving the youths some incentives as well as the community and funding their projects at some level. They have been able to work with the group since it was started and have promised they will continue working with them as long as keep the agreement with them. The possible research question that could be answered if the researcher collaboratively worked the major stakeholders is to find out whether their input into the group has had and positive impact to the youth group and to the community. This research question will be a guide to getting some critical information which will be used by the group to improve on the areas that they are not performing well (The research question could be as follows; What has been your input to the group and has it had any impact to the group and to the society? ) The benefits of doing the work the researcher is proposing is that it could again help the group to be able to identify their weakness and then find out solutions for them. It will also open another door for them to meet other partners through the researcher who will pump in some more useful input to the group. Through their interaction with them some critical issues may rise which could not have been solved, but it will be an opportunity to solve them. In one way the group could be advertising or selling itself and what they are undertaking through these formal discussions as the contents of the discussions will be published somewhere, which will get some support for the group. This could be beneficial to the group and to the researcher as he/she will be able to learn more about how groups work. As concerns to the ethical issues, the protocol has to be followed and the group has to be consulted first before anything happens. There should be respect for the group and any information about the group should be kept secret as it is. The researcher should make sure that he/she work within the guidelines of the group and should she/he need any information should follow the right channels but not go to public and tell the public about the group against their wishes References Luft, J (1984). An Introduction to Group Dynamics (3rd Edition). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Toseland, R Rivas, R. (2005) Introduction to Group Practice, Allyn Bacon. New York.

Customer Satisfaction: Hotel Industry

Customer Satisfaction: Hotel Industry The Hotel Industry had a great pickup in early 1980s, at that time hotel businesses all over the globe tried their best to grew up to international level, different mergers and new continental hotels group came into existence in late 1980s. As research figures indicate tourism and hotel industries have turned into one of the most profitable sources of income throughout the world especially in last two decades. In 1990s Electronic businesses had approach hotel industry very quickly where that became a milestone for the said industry that was beginning of this realistic approach to be followed up by hotel industry. Capital expands from rich countries to least developed countries and than the life standard of the people improved on the global very quickly, more wellbeing requisites introduced to satisfy human needs in the shape of technology, more comfort necessities became familiarized and if we could try to portray the current picture of the world we could see hotel industry affected directly in this regard, hotel industry is responsible for the fulfillment of the human desire up to maximum level. It is an instinct of human nature to be creative all the time, measuring once level of satisfaction in hotel industry is quite difficult but there are obvious rules which can be followed to find the level of customers satisfaction attainment in the hotel industry, Express by Holiday Inn GSTS system has great responsibility to judge all customers issues and tell true pictures of the services levels of the hotel. Abstract The study mainly reviews and discusses the topic of customer satisfaction and its application to the Hospitality industries. Defines the concept and analyzes its importance to services and its importance to serves in general and to hospitality / tourism services in particular. Following a discussion on the dimensions and attributes of satisfaction, lists the main methods of measuring satisfaction and concludes with a review of global and cross-cultural issues that affect satisfaction in hotel industry. consequently this research aims to investigate the customer satisfaction level in Express by Holiday Inn hotel, London City (Firoka Group of companies UK Ltd), to apply a tool of SERVQUAL model in Express by holiday Inn hotel, London City. Study has also enlisted descriptive survey, feedbacks, trends, approaches research collection questionnaire; the research questionnaire data contain 25 questions. We discussed approaches toward integration and comprehensive model of satisfaction and loyalty, The quality of the Relation Customer Orientation The competitive Advantage We will focus on rational questions Why should we measure customer satisfaction and who should be involved? What will be the process involve? Where Do I Start? How Do I measure Satisfaction? How can I get insight from the result? How do I communicate and action the results and then what? The analyzed obtained data revealed that guests perceptions of the offered services were below than expected average level of an index indicating, which gives us an idea that service level not at optimal level. The overall services quality standards needs to be calculated in terms of satisfaction to encounter the differential gap of optimization. List of Tables List of Figures Declaration Chapter 1 1.0 Introduction: Living in competitive world today wasnt being challenged ever before, Economic, Socio Cultural environmental effects are deciding future of the world businesses today, this era is more complex due to its immense finance requirements, More competitive tools have been evolved to satisfy human needs, Presently Service industry prevailing great deal of challenges where! Every customer has high demands on lowest prices, Life standards are increased with the passage of time so as expectations! and it is very important for one business to calculate its expectation level towards its customers and judge where it is standing in the markets, In the Hotel industry the trust of the customer is very much fragile, It is almost necessary for all hotel businesses to keep themselves well updated about customers needs and market demands, To count prompt responses of the hotel customers there are many systems are being utilizing by the hotel industry, Express by holiday Inn is a franchise hotel of InterContinental hotel group, IHG Group has centralized reservation department which looking after all customers issues, They also responsible to prepare performance report of an individual affiliated franchise hotel world wide on monthly basis, the report GSTS encounter all areas which need to be focus in terms of customers satisfaction, later we will discusses in details all main areas of that report. Customer satisfaction is the leading decisive factor for determining the quality and standard which is actually delivered to the customer through the product, service or by the accompanying servicing. (Vavra, 1997); Its simply stated, Customer satisfaction is essential for corporate survival Several studies have found that it costs about five times as much in time, money and resources to attract a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer (Neumann, 1995). This creates the challenge of maintaining high levels of service, awareness of customer expectations and improvement in services and product. Hayes states that; Knowledge of customer expectations and requirements is essential for two reasons it provides understanding of how the customer defines quality of services and products, and facilitates the development of a customer satisfaction questionnaire (Hayes, 1997, p7). Furthermore, customer satisfaction is recognized as of great importance to all commercial firms because of its influence on repeat purchases and word of mouth recommendations (Berkman and Gilson, 1986). The researcher interest is to carryout a study of customer satisfaction at Express by Holiday Inn, London. 1.1 Aims Objectives of the Study The main objective is to conduct the customer satisfaction and its measurement in the hotel industry with special reference to Express by Holiday Inn Hotel, London. Subsidiary Objectives Analyses of costs demonstrating that customer retention is substantially less expensive than customer acquisition. Customer behaviorists in the area of lodging, restaurant, food services and tourism. Customer satisfaction is a psychological concept. Customer purchase goods and service with pre purchase expectations about anticipated performance. Assessment of satisfaction is made during the service delivery process. Satisfaction is not a universal phenomenon and everyone is not getting the same satisfaction out of the same hospitality experience. Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Tangibles. Research Problem Customer satisfaction research is not an end into itself. The purpose, of course, in measuring customer satisfaction is to see where a company stands in this regard in the eyes of its customers, thereby enabling service and product improvements which will lead to higher satisfaction level. Satisfaction is not a universal phenomenon and not everyone gets the same satisfaction out of the same hospitality experience. The reason is that customers have different needs, objectives and past experiences that influence their expectation. The results of a customer satisfaction survey need to be evaluated to determine what needs to be improved. Goals should be as specific as possible. Hotels are often challenged on how to best increase guest satisfaction, and how to optimize both price and occupancy. Employee satisfaction, guestroom cleanliness, amenities, appearance, food and services all contribute to customer satisfaction, and increase customer satisfaction is a proven driver of guest retent ion and higher occupancy rates. Understanding customer experience through research is widely recognized as a key factor in improving long-term business performance. Express by Holiday Inn Hotel had a requirement to obtain daily feedback at an individual level by rooms/reception questionnaire in general for its GSTS (Guest satisfaction tracking system). It has to introduce web based questionnaire survey to create an opportunity to built feedback interface for general public to get provided a cost-effective and practical methodology so hotel future guest see the reviews in term of past feedbacks. In the customer arena, we believe that regular, quantitative measurement of customer satisfaction provides a much better lead indicator of future organizational health than profitability of market share change (Tom Peters, Management guru) Significance of Study Customer Satisfaction measurement (CSM) consists of on two major roles Providing Information Enabling Communication with Customers The initial or primary reason for taking the time to measure customer satisfaction is based on to collect the information. It means that what customers say that need to be done differently or on the other hand to assess how well an organization is currently meeting its customer needs or requirements. But the secondary is not less important function of CSM in hospitality industry that by surveying customers. An organization is emphasis its interest in communicating with its customers. In hotel industry, its always finding out customers needs, pleasures, displeasures and overall well being. Though it is impossible to measure the satisfaction of every single customer needs. The customer satisfaction may different from organization to organization or hotel to hotel. Here we would like to quote Neumann (1995) five objectives suggestions as follows: To get close to the customer Measure continuous improvement To achieve customer driven improvement To measure competitive strengths and weaknesses To link Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM) data to internal systems hypothesis Customer Satisfaction is a psychological concept. Customer purchase goods and services with pre purchase expectations. Assessment of satisfaction is made during the service delivery process. Satisfaction is not Universal phenomenon. Recognition of the employees who contribute to the Customers satisfaction Customer based improvement goals Plans for improving operational variables Incorporation of customer satisfaction skills into employees training program Measurement and plan for improvement of employee satisfaction Importance of my Study To satisfy each and every customer or to meet his / her expectation every time is not an easy task especially in hotel industry. This work is to investigate and examine the psychology of the customer, their expectations and behaviour. Tools of data Collection The data collection would include the use of questionnaire, scheduled interviews, guest feedback, and management feedback, guest services track system (GSTS), guest survey, and personal experience along with personal observation. In the questionnaire design, I will use the respondent completes short closed ended questions and long open ended questions. In the interview design, I would like to use personal forms, sharing their experience and work directly with the respondent. In the guest feedback, I would like to get the guest feedback while they are checking out from the hotel, compare their past and current experience. In the management feedback, I would like to get the information from management regarding the standard and complaint level of the guest activities in the hotel. 1.2 Objectives 1.3 Rationale 1.4 Background of the Organisation 1.5 Structure of the Dissertation 1.5.1 Introduction 1.5.2 Literature Review 1.5.3 Methodology 1.5.4 Analysis Results 1.5.5 Discussions 1.5.6 Conclusion Recommendations Chapter 2 2.0 Literature Review 2.1Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is an important topic for both researchers and managers, because a high level of customer satisfaction leads to an increase in repeat patronage among current customers and aids customer recruitment by enhancing an organizations marker reputation. Being able to successfully judge customers satisfaction levels and to apply that knowledge are critical starting points to establishing and maintaining long term customer retention and long term competitiveness (Yuksel Yuksel, 2002). Customer satisfaction brings many benefits. Satisfaction increases customer retention and customer retention is dependent on the substance of the relationship between parties which is also affected by the service delivered. Satisfaction is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customers anticipate and what they receive (Zineldin, 2000), regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desire. For most products or services, aspects of performance can be objectively assessed. Although these attributes can be objectively measured, customers assessments may not objectively reflect measured performance. Some clients may be taken to several homes that fit their criteria but are unsuitable to the clients personal taste which leads to the clients assessment of the service as being unpleasant because they did not see listings that they liked. Kano, Bentler and Li-tze (1984) developed a model to categorize the attributes of a product or service based on how well they are able to satisfy customer needs. Considering Kanos model, one sees how it may not be enough to merely satisfy customers by meeting only their basic and performance needs. In a highly competitive marketplace, organizations need to adopt strategies and to create product attributes targeted specifically at exciting customers and over-satisfying them (Tan Pawitra, 2001). In real estate to excite or over satisfy customers, an agent would need to have a thorough and vast knowledge of all listings in the local area. In essence, it is the experience and attitudes of the individuals in closest contact with customers that are most likely to affect whether or not customers are satisfied and willing to return to the company. It is also the people in direct contact with customers who determine who the retained and satisfied customers are, and their experience determines how they treat the customers (Hansemark Albinsson, 2004) thus impacting on the service quality delivered. 2-4-1-Customer satisfaction and measuring system: To realize customer satisfaction, everyone within the organization should consider continuous improvement as something normal. As part of this strategy it is important to define the product or service and the customers needs, making an inventory of customers data and complaints, and selecting processes which cause most of these complaints. The central questions in this case are: which products or services do we provide? Who are our customers? What do they want, what are their requirements? Is it measurable? Which critical processes need improvement? By answering these questions continuously, the customer will be better understood, and the product or service will be better in and to create product attributes targeted specifically at exciting customers and over-satisfying them (Tan Pawitra, 2001). In real estate to excite or over satisfy customers, an agent would need to have a thorough and vast knowledge of all listings in the local area. In essence, it is the experience and attitudes of the individuals in closest contact with customers that are most likely to affect whether or not customers are satisfied and willing to return to the company. It is also the people in direct contact with customers who determine who the retaine and satisfied customers are, and their experience determines how they treat the customers (Hansemark Albinsson, 2004) thus impacting on the service quality delivered. To realize customer satisfaction, everyone within the organization should consider continuous improvement as something normal. As part of this strategy it is important to define the product or service and the customers needs, making an inventory of customers data and complaints, and selecting processes which cause most of these complaints. The central questions in this case are: which products or services do we provide? Who are our customers? What do they want, what are their requirements? Is it measurable? Which critical processes need improvement? By answering these questions continuously, the customer will be better understood, and the product or service will be better in tune with the market demand. Which Products/ Services do we provide? First of all, define the most important product or services as concretely as possible. This Definition must indicate what you are really doing as a supplier. The more specific the definition, the better the customers need can be met. Who are our customers? It is important to understand the entire chain of customers. This means that you should know all of your customers. The needs of each customer must be examined separately. Not only the external, but also the internal customers should be considered. In fact, if the company does not satisfy the needs of the internal customers, how will it be able to comply with the needs of the external customer? All employees determine the degree of customer satisfaction. Employees from within different departments must be considered customers of each other. By bringing individual employees together as customers and suppliers, the traditional barriers between departments will be broken. Each employee delivers something to a colleague, whereby one unction as the internal supplier and the other as the internal customer. What do they want, what are their requirements? As a supplier, you should try to figure out what the customer needs and wants. Communication is hereby very important. Talk to your customers and ask them what they think of your product or service. Try to figure out how they use it and what they really want. Listen especially to what they have to say and indicate which customer-supplier relationship needs improvements. The central questions hereby are: -Which needs and expectations do your customers have? -Which needs and expectations do you know? -To what extent do you comply with the needs and expectations of your customers? -If you do not satisfy their needs, what is the reason according to your customers? Making an inventory of customers data, customers complaints and benchmarking are important opportunities to improve the customer orientation of the organization. Information about the opinion of the customer regarding a product or service is of essential importance, and can be obtained in several ways, such as customer surveys, phone interviews, and customer panel discussions. Customer surveys are a powerful tool to get information about what the customer thinks and expects. In general, questionnaires are used with different questions, which may vary from organization to organization. Is it measurable? To comply with the needs of the customer, it is necessary to translate these into product specifications. Quality function deployment is a practical technique to do this. Usually, it is necessary to negotiate with the customer, which results in feasible and agreed on customers requirements, which are measurable and understood by all parties. All statements of the customer about qualitative aspects must be translated into quantitative specifications for the supplier. Define clearly and explicitly what they are talking about. Customer Satisfaction Measuring System: A customer satisfaction measuring system is shown in Table (2-1), to illustrate the activities needed to improve your customer satisfaction. Mark a possibility in this checklist with a cross at each question, and discuss the results of these measurements, and check why this customer Many of these recommendations also apply to your relationships with external suppliers. Treat your suppliers as though they are an integral part of your organization. Listen to their ideas on how you can work closely and productively together, create joint improvement teams with them, invite suggestions from them, assist them in improving their own processes, build mutual trust and respect, reward them if they achieve improvements, let them participate in the celebration of success, involve them in the development of new products and processes, and become a better customer yourself. Expanding your culture of continuous improvement to all your suppliers will ensure that the quality of your inputs is sufficient to meet your own improvement objectives. If possible, minimize the number of suppliers; go with the few best and improvement oriented suppliers with a demonstrated continuous improvement culture and effective leadership by top-management, based on a long term partnership contract. Table (2-1) Customer satisfaction measurement: I customers 1. Do you know who your customers are and how many customers you have? 2. Do you listen effectively to all your customers? 3. Do you regularly make up an inventory of all the needs and expectations of your customers? 4. Did you segment your customers based on their needs? 5. Do you routinely conduct surveys among your customers about your products and services? 6. Are all your employees informed about the results of these surveys? 7. Are more than 75 percent of your customers satisfied? 8. Do you anticipate customer needs? 9. Do you treat each customer as unique? 10. Are complaints replied to whit in two days and solved within one week? 11. Do you stimulate customers to register their complaints? 12. Do you use e-business tools to communicate with customers? 13. Do you have a customers helpdesk or a call center? 14. Do you know which percentage of the customers who terminated their relationship with your organization did this out of dissatisfaction? 15. Are complaints systematically registered and analyzed in your organization? 16. Did you establish complaints handling procedures and are these routinely used in your organization? 17. Do you measure the degree of customer loyalty? 18. Do you make recommendations to customers about the products or services that best suit their needs? 19. Do you know what the costs are when you lose a customer? 20. Do you know what the costs are to gain a new customer? 21. Do you know how much sales you lose due to unsatisfied customers? 22. Do you regularly visit your customers? 23. Do you regularly organize meetings with customers groups to learn about their needs, wants, ideas, and complaints? II. Leadership 24. As a manager, do you know how many complaints are received yearly? 25. is there commitment at top-management for customer orientation? 26. Did you integrate customer satisfaction into the norms and values of the organization? 27. Are these norms and values clearly communicated to all your customers? 28. Does management recognize visible trends and do they anticipate these in a timely manner? 29. Is management convinced of the importance of satisfied customers and do they act accordingly? 30. Does management try to express the importance of satisfied customers to the organization at every occasion? 31. Does management set a good example with regard to customer friendly behavior? 32. Is management open to suggestions and ideas of customers? 33. Does management personally reward those employees who deliver a valuable contribution to increased customers satisfaction? 34. Are relationships with customers reasonably supported and stimulated by management? 35. Is management at all times available to the customer? 36. Does customer satisfaction also belong to the evaluation criteria of management? 37. Are the customers wishes continuously taken into consideration when taking decisions? 38. Does top management also personally handle complaints of customers? 39. Do all members of management in the company have personal contact with external customers at least once a week? III- Policy 40. Is customer satisfaction part of your organizations vision? 41. Did you formulate concrete goals regarding the degree of customer satisfaction? 42. Have you developed e-business strategies for the next two years to increase customer satisfaction? 43. Is the customer satisfaction policy continuously communicated to all employees? 44. Do you have a partnership relation with all your customers based on mutual respect and trust? 45. Do you involve your customers in the development of promotional activities? 46. Do you guarantee your customers a minimal service level and/or complete satisfaction? 47. is there continuous benchmarking with regard to customer satisfaction? 48. Do you involve your customers with the execution of improvement processes in your company? 49. Are more than 50 percent of your employees involved with the improvement of customer orientation? 50. Do you have guidelines with regard to optimally satisfying the customer? 51. Are all employees following these guidelines? 52. Do you have an up-to-date databank in which all characteristics of your customers are registered? IV- Products / services and process 53. Are products delivered within the period expected by the customer? 54. Have you fully integrated the telephone, fax, internet, and any other technology that the customer wants to use to do business? 55. is the phone in you organization answered within three rings in more that 90 percent of the cases? 56. Is every function and each process in your organization arranged to optimally comply with the expectations of your customers? 57. Do these expectations form the basis of internal performance indicators? 58. Are these indicators continuously measured and analyzed? 59. Do you use measured customer satisfaction as an indicator for process improvement? 60. Did you appoint process owners for controlling processes? 61. Do you involve your customers in the development of new products and processes? 62. Do you measure the satisfaction of your internal customers? 63. Do supporting departments within your organization guarantee quality of the work they deliver? V. Human resource management 64. Does customer orientation belong to the profile of the desired employee? 65. Do you have an introduction program in which new employees are also educated concerning the importance of satisfied customers? 66. Are your employees who continuously perform in a customer-oriented manner rewarded? 67. Is training mandatory for each employee in your organization? 68. Are customer orientation and continuous work towards improvement criteria for promotion? 69. Do you regularly organize excursions for your employees and your important customers? 70. Do your marketing employees receive a training of at least two weeks each year in customer orientation? 71. Are your marketing employees free in taking decisions to satisfy customers? 72. Are your marketing employees free to spend what is necessary to correct a mistake made with a customer? 73. Do you involve your employees in improvement projects about increasing customer satisfaction? 74. Do you stimulate your employees to generate ideas about increasing customer satisfactions? 75. Are the employees interest and the interest of the customer related? 2-5. Service quality The concept of service quality as a whole construct is large and varied. The theory has been elaborated on by many researchers. Berry, Parasuraman and Zeithaml (1985) write service quality as perceived by consumers stems from a comparison of what they feel service firms should offer (i.e. from their expectations) with their perception of the performance of the firm providing the services. Perceived service quality is therefore viewed as the degree and direction of discrepancy between consumers perceptions and expectations. For example in real estate, this would be what the client is expecting from the agent in comparison to which is actually delivered by that agent. In real estate, that interaction occurs from the moment the client and agent s peak either verbally or electronically. It is evident that research on goods quality is inadequate in the service field, which has three inherent characteristics: intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability between production and consumption (Berry, Parasuraman and Zeithmal, 1985). 2-5-1. The Customers Perspective of Service Quality Service quality is usually expressed as a function of customers expectations of the service to be provided (based upon their previous experience, the organizations image, the price of the service for example) compared with their perceptions of the actual service experience (Gronroos, 1984; Berry et al, 1985; Johnston and Heineke, 1998). Perceptions are defined as the consumers judgment of the service organizations performance. However, Parasuraman et al (1988) delve deeper and define the service performance gap as the discrepancy between the specifications of service and the delivery (Chenet, Tynan Money, 2000).