Challenges of restaurants facing in HK Essay

INTRODUCTION: It is well known that Hong Kong is a food paradise since there is an array of types of food and a wide range of restaurants can be founded in Hong Kong. The business of restaurants plays an important role in the food service sector in Hong Kong and it is gaining momentum due to the variety kinds of food provided. However, due to the cost, labor and competition factors, Hong Kong restaurants are facing challenges both internally and externally, and as a consequence, they are opening and closing at a fast pace. (Chung,2013) CHALLENGE 1: First and foremost, one of the crucial challenges facing by Hong Kong restaurants is the soaring rent of their locations. Due to the increasing tension of the land use in Hong Kong, the land price is increasing and as a result, the rent is rising. The tremendous amount of property rental increased by the property owners adds a large financial burden on the restaurants. Since they cannot gain any profits if they need to pay such an expensive rent, therefore, they will have no choice but to close down their restaurants. The famous Lei Yuen Congee Noodles (Chung, 2013) behind Sogo Department Store in Causeway bay is a case in point. It was forced to close because it was located in the core area in Causeway Bay and the rent was doubled. This case shows that the insurmountable rent may lead to an end of a restaurant business. Besides, the food cost is another challenges to Hong Kong restaurants. Due to the inflation, the cost of ingredients is increasing. Some commodities like vegetables, cooking oil, cheese and beef are costing higher, restaurants need to pay more and the profit is lower (Ryan, 2011). Some restaurants had tried not to increase the price od their dishes and make less profit they could get in order not to scare off their patrons initially, however, with the steady rise of food cost, they were not be able to impede the increase of their menu prices. Undoubtedly, the increase in the price of menus resulted in a loss of customers. CHALLENGE 2: Moreover, labor shortage is also a key challenge of Hong Kong restaurants.  (Wong, 2011) Because of the long working hours and tough work, many people are not willing to work in a restaurant, except those are passionate about food and beverage. With fewer newcomers in this industry, there is a lack of skillful staff. Although there is an implementation of minimum wage law in order to prevent workers from depriving, many people will prefer exploring in other industries rather that working in restaurants, especially the Generation Y who born in the 1980s and 1990s. McDonald’s Restaurants (Hong Kong) Limited is a case in point (Wong, 2011). The Generation Y group of staff has become increasingly mobile after the imposition of minimum wage law. They would like to seek better opportunities in other areas instead of working for long hours in the food industry. Since there will be fewer passionate people in food and beverage among the youngsters, as a consequence, there may be a sh ortfall of restaurants workers after the retiring of the current talented staff. The service quality and operational efficiency may not be maintained with a shortage of labor. Therefore, restaurants are facing a tremendous difficulty in the aspect of labor use. CHALLENGE 3: Last but not least, there is a fierce competition among restaurants. In today’s highly customer-oriented marketplace, maintain increasing levels of food hygiene and service quality is certainly important. Restaurants need to ensure that the basic service is good and the menu should not be dull and it should include some special dishes regularly in order to attract customers. However, it is not the only requirement for maintain restaurants’ competitive edge. Becoming a successful restaurant, not only do the food and service are in a good quality, media attention is also needed. Most of the upscale restaurants in Hong Kong are aggressive in holding events or collaborating with other business partners to offer promotions and to attract media attention. They will also add leisure components to the dining experience, such as wine tasting sessions, cooking classes or food photography courses(HKQAA,2011). Many casual restaurants also take advantage of the social media platform s, for instance, OpenRice and Facebook, to promote themselves by offering discounts. It shows that the competition among restaurants is extremely fierce and media attention plays a key role in the competition of restaurants. If the restaurants cannot stand out to  catch customers’ attention through media, the business may not be successful when they are comparing with other restaurants. CONCLUSION: To conclude, restaurants are facing many challenges in Hong Kong, ranging from internal challenges to external challenges. Although the monetary challenges, lack of labor and the fierce competition add a burden on running the restaurants business, there are always solutions to solve the problems. With the perfect service and tasty food provided, restaurants can succeed and always stand out from others. REFERENCES: Cathie Chung(2013),Attractiveness And Challenges Of Restaurant Business In Hong Kong (Website:http://www.joneslanglasalleblog.com/APResearch/retail-research/attractiveness-and-challenges-of-restaurant-business-in-hong-kong#.UmvxjRaA3X9) HKQAA(2013),VISION (Website : http://www.hkqaa.org/cmsimg/1375072136vision48.pdf) Nicolette Wong(2011),Challenges and incentives motivate young restaurant workers (Website http://cthr.ctgoodjobs.hk/article/show_article.aspx/1174-14129-challenges-and-incentives-motivate-young-restaurant-workers) RYAN(2011),Can Restaurants Increase Their Menu Prices In Response To The Rising Food Cost? (Website: http://www.kng.com/blog/food-and-beverage-news/can-restaurants-increase-their-menu-prices-in-response-to-the-rising-food-cost/)

The Crusades Seen as a Whole Had Primarily Negative Consequences for Europe

The Crusades referred to the series of military campaigns that Western European Christians carried out in order to free the Holy Land from Muslim control. From 1096 to the late 13th century, these religious wars were waged against both internal and external opponents of Christianity. The Crusades, however, eventually became â€Å"any (form of) military effort by Europeans against non-Christians† (MSN Encarta, n. pag. ). Under the guise of militant Christianity, it was used as a means of European expansion (MSN Encarta, n. pag. ).Most of the effects of the Crusades in Europe proved to be very detrimental. For one, the power of the Papacy was increased. Crusaders who were either preparing for battle or returning home from combat gave vast tracts of land to the Roman Catholic Church in exchange for prayers and pious benedictions (Middle-Ages. org. uk, n. pag. ). Consequently, the Pope abruptly became more affluent and influential than most monarchies during this period. This sudd en increase in wealth, in turn, allowed him to institute both spiritual and secular supremacy over the royalty (Infoplease, n. pag. ).It is no longer surprising, therefore, if the Popes during the Crusades were always involved in power struggles and disputes with several European monarchs. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I and King Henry II of England were embroiled in a squabble with Pope Alexander III. Despite strong opposition from Emperor Otto IV and Emperor Frederick II, Pope Innocent II declared himself as the virtual ruler of the West. The quarrels between the Popes and the monarchs in this period became so frequent that it ultimately became the basis for a papacy’s clout (Infoplease, n. pag. ).Another negative consequence of the Crusades in Europe was the senseless murder of non-Christian peoples both inside and outside the continent. The Crusaders’ decision to attack Constantinople, for instance, was motivated by the need to pay off their debt to Venice. The paym ent of the Crusaders to the Doge Enrico Donalo – 86,000 marks – ended up short of 34,000 marks. To compensate for the missing amount, he convinced them to assault Constantinople. Donalo had a hidden agenda – Constantinople â€Å"was the main obstacle to prevent Venice from rising to dominate the trade of the Mediterranean Sea† (Roman-Empire. net, n. pag. ).The Crusaders invaded Constatinople on April 13, 1204. They stripped Orthodox churches of their mosaics, vestments, religious scriptures and altar pieces. Thousands of innocent civilians were also killed. Moreover, Venice was able to occupy Greece shortly afterwards (Cooke, n. pag. ). The Roman Catholic Church used the Crusades within Europe to increase its membership and dominion. The Crusaders in the Baltic, for instance, were infamous for seizing the lands of Orthodox Christians in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.One of the Crusaders’ organizations in the Baltic, the Teutonic Knights, violently slaughtered pagan tribes such as the Letts, the Balts and the Livs. The Archbishop of Riga urged Pope Clement V in 1308 to put an end to the carnage, to no avail (Ekelund, Tollison, Hebert, Anderson and Davidson, 147). In Spain, paramilitary orders such as the Belchite and the Monreal sequestered lands for the nobles and the Roman Catholic Church. These groups were able to carry out their operations under the guise of â€Å"(opening) a new route to Jerusalem along the North African coast† (France, 145).But the truth was that they were merely pawns in the desire of the Roman Catholic Church and the nobles to acquire more land. Religion was used to get away with injustice. It would be fair to say, therefore, that the Crusades was one of the darkest chapters of human history. The original teachings of the Roman Catholic Church – charity, forgiveness, compassion – were distorted to suit secular and military interests. Consequently, other religions were vi olated and their followers killed. Religion became a means of enriching a selected few.Works Cited Cooke, Nicholas A. â€Å"The Sack of Constantinople. † 2000. St. Michael the Archangel Church. 14 November 2008 . â€Å"Crusades. † 2008. MSN Encarta. 9 December 2008 . â€Å"Effects of the Crusades. † n. d. Middle-Ages. org. uk. 9 December 2008 . Ekelund, Robert Burton, Robert D. Tollison, Robert F. Hebert, Gary M. Anderson, and Audrey B. Davidson.Sacred Trust: The Medieval Church as an Economic Firm. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. France, John. The Crusades and the Expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000-1714. New York: Routledge, 2005. â€Å"In the Middle Ages. † 2008. Infoplease. 9 December 2008 . â€Å"The Sack of Constantinople: The Conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders in AD 1203/1204. † n. d. Roman-Empire. net. 9 December 2008 .

Assigment

Individuals in the work field are legalizing that developing good skills helps in the workforce and many concepts of project management helps with everyday lives. Advantages: Better control of financial, physical, and human resources Improved customer relatives Shorter development times Lower costs and improved productivity Higher quality and increased reliability Higher profit margins Better internal coordination Positive impact on meeting strategic goals Higher worker morale What is a project and what are the main attributes?How is a project different from what most people do in their day-to-day jobs? What is the triple constraint? A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Projects are not operations. Projects end when objectives are reached or had been terminated.Attributes of a project are the following: A project has a unique purpose A project is temporary A project is developed using a progressive elaboration A project requires resources, often from various areas A project should have a primary customer or sponsor A project sponsor provides direction of funding the project A project involves uncertainty As stated above projects are temporary and every day operations is work one in organizations to sustain the business.Triple constraint means scope, time, and cost. Successful projects must consider these objectives. Some consider quadruple constraint because quality is a key factor too, so scope, time, cost and quality. What is project management? Briefly describe the project management framework, providing examples of stakeholders, knowledge areas, tools and techniques, and project success factors.Project management is â€Å"the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. † Elements of ramekin are stakeholders- people involved in or affected by project activities and include project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users , supplies and opponents of project. Knowledge areas managers must develop. For core knowledge areas are project scope, time, cost, and quality management. These lead to specific project objectives.Project management tools and techniques assist managers and their teams in carrying out work in all nine knowledge areas: Knowledge- Integration Management- tools- project management software, change request, lesson earned reports, Scope Management- scope statements, work breakdown structures, requirement analysis, Time Management- Gaunt charts, Cost Management- net present value, return investment, payback analysis, earned value management, project portfolio, cost estimates, cost management plans, cost baselines, Quality Management, quality metrics, checklist quality control charts, diagrams, fish bone diagrams, maturity models, statistical methods, Human Resources Management, motivation techniques, emphasize listening, responsibility assignment, matrices, project organizational charts, resources castigator, team building exercises, Communication Management, kick off meetings, progress reports, Risk Management, risk management plans risk registers, probability, impact matrices, risk rankings, Procurement Management, make or buy analyses, contracts, requests for proposals or quotes, source elections, supplier evaluation matrices. Project Success Factors: The project met scope, time, and cost goals The project satisfied the customer or sponsor The results of project met its main objective, such as making or saving a certain amount of money providing a good return investment or making the pompons happy. What is a program? What is a project portfolio? Discuss relationships between projects, programs, and portfolio management and contributions they each make to enterprise success. Program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually.Infrastructure Application Development User Sup port Portfolio Management is organizations group and manages projects programs as portfolio investments. Program managers coordinate the efforts of project teams, functional groups, suppliers, and operations staff purporting projects to ensure that project products and processes are implemented to maximize benefits. Also responsible for not only delivery of projects but they are change agents. Responsible for success of products and processes produced these projects. Portfolio managers help organization make Wise investments decisions by helping to select and analyze projects from strategic perspective.Important principles make sure your projects are driven by strategy and engage stake holders. Portfolio management allows viewing and managing all projects at the enterprise level. These can be Rosen down into categories venture, growth and core of IT projects. Many organizations use specialized software Enterprise or portfolio to organize and analyze all types of projects data into p roject portfolio. What is the role of project manager? What are suggested skills for all project managers? Why is leadership so important for information technology project managers? Project managers can have different job descriptions which can vary from industry to organization but all they all have similar tasks.Skills for project managers are the following: The project management Body of Knowledge Application area of knowledge, standards and regulations Project environment knowledge General management knowledge and skills Soft skills or human relation skills Very important for IT project managers must be willing to develop more than their technical skills to be productive team members and successful project managers. â€Å"Leaders determine vision and managers achieve the vision. † â€Å"You lead people and manage things. † Ten key trades: People skills Leadership Listening Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent Strong at building trust Verbal communication Strong at building teamsConflict resolution Conflict management Critical thinking problem solving Understand, balances priorities Careers for information technology project managers are in demand. Although the new approach will be populated with versatility those with technical backgrounds will also need to know business sector inside and out. The IT project manager will need to architect and carry out IT plans that will add business value and can cultivate relationships both inside and outside company. IT executives listed the skills predicted would be most in demand in the next two five years. Project program management come first, followed by business process management, business analyst and application development.Briefly describe some key events in history of project management. What roles do the Project management Institute and other professional societies play in helping the profession? 191 7 Henry Gaunt developed famous Gaunt charts for scheduling work for factories. Now used for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities ad there corresponding start and finish date. Now used with the aid of computers. Military key holders for refining several project management techniques as well as critical path which are the longest path through a network diagram that determines the earliest completion of a project. Manhattan project key to modern project management.PM was founded in 1969. A large percent of members work in information technology field and because there are so many people working on projects in various industries, PM has created GIGS. Specific Interest Groups that enable members to share ideas about project management in particular application areas and other societies are available on PM website. They also offer certifications that continue to rise to higher demand. For a project manager or student it is important for a person to become member. What functions can you perform with project management software? What are some popul ar names Of low-end, mid-range, and high-end project management tools?

Information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information systems - Essay Example For Aalsmeer Flower Auction the first thing that needs to be done is to analyze and obtain the information requirements for the auction site. In order to do this they must first device a strategy for information gathering. An information strategy is defined as the process for capturing, integrating, processing, delivery and presentation of information in a constituent in a timely manner (Majid, 2007). Thus, information and requirements gathering forms the foremost and the most important part of the development process. The first step in gathering information is to conduct user surveys and a companywide review so that the development team can gain a better insight on the problem domain and the kind of solution it requires (Hansen et all, 1999). The development team will conduct meetings with the board of Aalsmeer flower auctions to determine what kind of auction strategy they will follow and what key features will be needed in the end product. The case study requires us to develop an online auction for buyers and sellers to interact, place orders, set prices and then receive goods through a distribution channel. Aaslmeer has to record the data for the financial transactions, customer details, distribution channels and ratings for individual customers and suppliers. The prices in the online auction will be set using the demand and supply mechanism. Buyers will bid on the products and sellers will determine the best the bid and then sell the products to the highest bidder. The auction will start off with a base price, which is then increased consequently when buyers bid on the product. The bidding process ends after a stipulated time and the highest bid becomes the selling price. The prices of different products will be stored in a database. The prices will usually follow world prices for flowers and related products, which

Ibrahim4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ibrahim4 - Essay Example There lacks a rule in Nebraska on the right of privacy. The Nebraska legislature has not stipulated a right of privacy by statute. The Nebraska court lacks the mandate in ruling over such a right unless the state’s legislature confers such a right to the state’s judicial legislature. Carson’s first cause of action would clearly state a claim in most state jurisdictions (OpenJurist). The Nebraska jurisdiction, however, does not provide a right to privacy. Judging by the Nebraska law, the plaintiff case would still get over ruled. Due to the complexity of the case at hand pitting Carson and the National bank, the court finds it hard to provide a ruling but rather infer on past cases with similar complaints (OpenJurist). The court remains aware that there may be truth behind the plaintiff’s complaint in regard to his right to privacy. However, the court lacks the mandate to make a ruling since there is lack of legislation in regards to the right of privacy. It is likely that the National Bank will win the case due to a lack of legislation in Nebraska. The case gets left for legislative determination

IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IBM - Essay Example The company and employees welcome change as the main driver of success and profitability. IBM has 32 leaders responsible for certain organizational activities and performance. Customers and technology are the primary driving factors in this arena. Customers want products that satisfy their needs or improve their productivity. IBM looks for ways to deliver these benefits at a lower cost, smaller size, and higher speed. Operating within an industry with this kind of rapid change presents several challenges for personal computer and notebooks, namely production costs, intellectual property owners, and monopolies. In general, IBM is one of the profitable Corporations today and, as predicted, in future (Bellis, 2001). Strengths of IBM Corporation include knowledge, relationships, selling and history. The challenges of the company are based on high quality of products and services. Direct sales force maintains a relationship. Among the weaknesses are high competition and rapidly changing technology market. The innovative PC technology is not cheap and that is why not all the potential customers can afford it today. IBM, in contrast to Dell Corporation, tries to maintain high standards of service proposing and selling (the most important) to its customers high quality products. Taking into account his vision of the company, it is possible to say that central planning and negotiating inputs from might have gone, but there remained the assumption that some other agency would solve the problems: an assumption the CEO himself appeared to share. All of this was taking place within a structure which remained hierarchical, with little involvement of junior management or the workforce, who believed that their product could only sell locally and clung to the assumption that they could sell everything they could produce. All of the IBM leaders participate in the change

STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT Essay

STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT - Essay Example p.141.). An organization with strong supply chain integration can easily achieve competitive advantage resulting in efficient performance of the operational activities. According to Dolgui and Proth, â€Å"a supply chain is a global network of organizations that cooperate to improve the flaws of material and information between suppliers and customers at the lowest cost with the highest speed† (Dolgui and Proth, (2010), p.113). The primary objective of supply chain management is to provide high satisfaction to the customer group through effective operational processes. The task of managing efficient supply chain for meeting its objectives is known as supply chain management (SCM). Monezka and colleagues defined SCM as a concept â€Å"whose primary objective is to integrate and manage the sourcing, flow, and control of materials using a total system perspective across multiple functions and multiple tiers of suppliers† (Mentzer, 2001, p.8). Retail market is a service industry where finished goods are sold to the final consumers. The core operational activity of a retailer is to provide service to customers by selling products manufactured by different organizations. Therefore, in retailing business, the activities related to supply chain are of paramount importance. Hence, managing supply chain in retail business is more challenging as it determines the level of consumer satisfaction. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the supply chain related issues of the supermarket and to develop a relevant and valid supply chain management for retailing business. The SWOT analysis of supermarket will help to realize its current position for framing its supply chain model. In order to support the proposal, two relevant research papers related to supply chain will be explained. Finally, the paper will be concluded by offering valid recommendations on the basis of the analyses and

Managing Business Relationships Laws Case Study

Managing Business Relationships Laws - Case Study Example John never said anything signifying a retraction of that offer and neither party made a counter-offer because Lee accepted the terms. John knowingly withheld the change in terms he was aware of because he knew Lee would not accept those terms. This sort of knowing deception can often void a contract. Because there is nothing in writing stating that Computerlink would provide support service 24 hour 7 days a week, it will be difficult for RCL to prove that this oral agreement existed. If Computerlink admits to saying that or if RCL somehow proves they said that, Computerlink will be held legally responsible for their breach of the contract. Dave, a young assistant of the chief technician of Computerlink, is left at RCL to wrap things up and finish the job. It was his responsibility to lock up and set the alarm system before he left, but he failed to do so. This failure to comply with necessary procedures allowed for some rowdy teens to cause an immense amount of damage to the property of RCL. While it may seem that Dave is to be held responsible, the Employment Relations Act of 2000 puts forth that Computerlink is to be held responsible. ... Law: Employment Relations Act 2000 - Employers are responsible for damage caused by their employees as it pertains to their employment. Special damages - compensate for damages that can be measured numerically/monetarily Direct losses - compensation for just the things that were damaged Consequential losses - compensation for loss of profits due to being closed to deal with or fix damages Application: Dave, a young assistant of the chief technician of Computerlink, is left at RCL to wrap things up and finish the job. It was his responsibility to lock up and set the alarm system before he left, but he failed to do so. This failure to comply with necessary procedures allowed for some rowdy teens to cause an immense amount of damage to the property of RCL. While it may seem that Dave is to be held responsible, the Employment Relations Act of 2000 puts forth that Computerlink is to be held responsible. Employers are responsible for any damage that may be caused by their employees while they are on the job. RCL will be able to claim special damages from Computerlink. This will include the direct losses of the cost associated with cleaning and replacing the walls and blinds and possibly also the consequential losses that may be felt if RCL must be closed while those damages are being repaired and thus lose profits. Conclusion: RCL can hold Computerlink legally responsible for the cost of cleaning and replacing the damaged walls and blinds. Section Two - Management - Question 1 After Red's death, new changes for Red Carpet Ltd. (RCL) were discussed and agreed upon by Lee, Mike and Janet. These changes involved new responsibilities for the staff. Lee and Mike utilized different strategies for initiating these changes, and with them came different benefits

The Internet and International Communication Essay

The Internet and International Communication - Essay Example Digital divide is also a barrier, in which internet inaccessibility poses a problem in convergence. Network convergence works on the basis of information flow for the purpose of decreasing the variance among the views and beliefs of the participants involved. Among a nation, these participants are the nation-states or ethnic groups. â€Å"†¦variance between groups or national cultures would become smaller over time as a result of international communication† (Barnett & Kincaid, as cited in author_last_name, p.159). When information flow is efficient and repetitive, network convergence will be able to unite the participants, and as a result, all the participants will achieve the same national identity due to decreased or even diminished variance among them. Yes, I believe so because universal culture will promote a universal set of accepted beliefs, values and standards. This will lead to lower variance and difference of opinions and perspectives among people of all nations. People will start accepting each other, and no one will consider the other persona as an

Importance of Water Essay Example for Free

Importance of Water Essay In order to fulfill his desires, man exploits the environmental factors to a greater extent, by which the environment loses its natural capacity for self-stabilization. The impact of mans various activities that are detrimental to the environment are: * Increase in population density. * Rapid urbanization * Massive industrial growth * Inadequate food and * Depletion of resources. To meet the increasing demands of time, human beings deliberately exploit the natural environment to improve their quality of life. Unknowingly, different environmental activities such as construction of roads dams, airports, buildings, irrigation projects, power plants and industries have some negative repercussions on the environment in which man lives. Thus, the developmental activities are unsustainable for global ecosystem. But we cannot stop these activities. For the development of the nation, these activities are essential. Industrial growth is directly related to nations economy. Construction of major and minor irrigation projects and development of new power plants must not be frozen. Hence at the present context, when man has reached at twenty first century, no body would want for technological stagnation. On the other hand, excessive exploitation of the environment through these technological implications leads to disaster. Hence, there is the problem of one word pollution. So what is needed is the environmental management and sustainable development. Sustainable development is implied to regulate the demands of man in such a manner that the ability of the same environment to sustain his development will remain un-repaired,. — is the version of Bindu N. Lohani. Hence much emphasis is given on environmental management and sustainable development. It is as a discipline by itself is growing rapidly and no way it proposes to halt economic growth and to stop technical development; rather it aims at achieving that sustainable rate of economic growth which is necessary to meet mans material needs whilst conserving scarce natural resources and protecting both the external and the internal environments, says Dr.  Uma Shankar, senior faculty member of Management Development Institute, New Delhi. Hence, sustainable development and environmental management are essential for improvement both the quality of the environment and the quality of human life. For that source areas are identified to give utmost priorities.

SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction

SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction In chapter 1, an overview of the whole dissertation has been provided. It can be considered as a backbone of the dissertation with the clear objectives and purposes stated. As an illustration, the chapter has mentioned about the overview of Vietnam banking system as well as credit services in Vietnamese bank in general and BIDV in particular. Moreover, chapter 1 has also presented about the significance of this study, research scope, research purpose, the research questions, research hypotheses. Moving to chapter 2 of this dissertation, SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction and its theories and concepts will be discussed. Moreover, some literature reviews of critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam as well as other countries will be mentioned. Lastly, the limitations of previous researches will be concluded. 2.2 SERVQUAL Model 2.2.1 Origins of SERVQUAL Model Managers in banking industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resources constrains under which banks must manage it is essential that customer satisfaction are properly met and measured and that from the customer satisfactions, any gaps in services quality are indentified. This information the assists a manager in identified cost effective ways of closing services quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scare resources. SERVQUAL Model which is a popular model of quality research of services and the most common application in the marketing research as well as other industries such as hospitality and economy. It can be said that the origin of SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 based on expectation perception gap model. In 1985 work, Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry illustrated that consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of four distinct gaps occurring in organizations. These gaps on the service providers side, which can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality, are: Gap1: Difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of consumer expectations. Gap2: Difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications. Gap3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered. Gap4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to consumers. Gap5: Difference between service expectation and perceived service quality According to Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry (1985), perceived service quality is defined in the model as the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, which in turn depends on the size and direction of the four gaps associated with the delivery of service quality on the marketers side. In addition, Brown and Bond (1995) stated that the conceptual of service quality also called the expectation perception gap model is one of the best received and most heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature. The model identifies the keys discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with service delivery to customers. The Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3 and Gap 4 are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality (Shahin A., 2006). 2.2.2 Dimensions of SERVQUAL Model As Shahin A.( 2006) concluded that one service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990). SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 and originally 10 dimensions of service quality were reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, tangibles. Later, ZeithamI, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988 tested the variables and reduced them to five factors including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (combining communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy) and empathy (combining understanding and knowing the customer with accessibility (Saleh, F. and Ryan, C., 1991). Figure 2.1 SERVQUAL MODEL Reliability Responsiveness Customer satisfaction Services quality Tangibles Assurance Sympathy Ravichandran et al, 2010 Reliability Reliability shows the ability to provide services accurately, on time, and credibly (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). This requires consistency in the implementation of services and respects commitments as well as keeps promises to customers. Responsiveness This criterion measures the ability to solve the problem fast, deal with customers complaint effectively and the willing to help customers as well as meet the customers requirements (Parasuman, 1988). In other words, responsiveness is the feedback from banks to what customers want. Tangibles Tangibles are the images of the facilities, equipment, machines, attitude of staffs, materials, manuals, and information systems of the bank (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). In others words, the tangibles refer to the effect of physical facility, equipment, personnel and communication materials on customer (Sureshchandar, Rajendran and Kamalanabhan, 2001). The atmosphere also called servicescapes influences directly both employees and customers in physiological, psychological, sociological, cognitive and emotional ways (Sureshchandar, 2001). Assurance This element creates credibility and trust for customers, which is considered through professional services, excellent technical knowledge, attitude courtesy, and good communication skills, so that customers can believe in the quality of firms services. Sympathy Sympathy is the caring, consideration, and the best preparation for customers, so that they can feel as guests of the firm and are always welcome at any times, anywhere. Human factors are the core of this success and the more caring the bank gives to customers, the more customer understanding increases. 2.2.3 Applications of SERVQUAL Model There is no doubt that a firm wants to survive in a competitive environment, they have to ensure about the quality of products and services they are supplying to the market. Some firms provide only services therefore the quality of services is an important issue for all of these firms. Competing goods firms such as department stores, supermarket may sell a wide range of products and quality of services is a primary means of competitive differentiation. Firms that supply only services like telecommunication companies, airlines etc. have a little to offer if their quality is not good (Berry, 1986). It can be said that SERVQUAL is multiple item scale with good reliability and validity that help firms to have better understanding evaluation the services expectations and perception of customer and improve the services as well. Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/ perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. SERVQUAL shows its best valuation when it is used to track service quality trends as well as in combination with other forms of service quality measurement. Moreover, SERVQUAL is used to evaluate the firms quality according to the five services dimensions by averaging the difference scores on items making up the dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,1985). Similarly, an overall measure of service quality in the form of an average score across all five dimensions. Determining the relative importance of the five dimensions affecting customers overall quality perception is one potential application of SERVQUAL. Another application of SERVQUAL is used in categorizing a firms customers into several perceived quality segments on the basis of their individual SERVQUAL scores (Parasuraman et al.,1988). 2.3 Theories and concepts of SERVQUAL Model 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.1.1 Service quality Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service quality. The most common definition used to define service quality is the extent to which a service meets customers needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can also be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and the result is customer dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). 2.3.1.2 Customer Satisfaction There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) Satisfaction is a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumers prior feelings about the consumption experience. While Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as: a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. While Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated 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, regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desire. 2.3.2 Service Quality Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service quality (Baumann, Burton, Elliott and Kehr, 2007; Bitner, Booms and Tetreault, 1990; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml, 1993; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993; Robledo, 2001). However, service quality is more difficult to measure than goods quality (Gronroos, 1982) due to the intangibility of services. For this reason, firms actually find it more difficult to understand how customers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981). According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) also shared the opinion with Lewis and Booms (1983) by the statement: Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance. To demonstrate the above statement, Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) proposed the SERVQUAL scale for measuring the service quality. Cronin et al. (1992) summarized four different measurement models for service quality these are SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, Weighted SERVQUAL, and Weighted SEVPERF. However, SERVPERF was regarded as the best of four models. Furthermore, Martilla et al. (1977) conducted the Importance Performance Analysis which was considered as another measurement for service quality. 2.3.3 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al Wugayan et al., 2007). Al Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customers initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customers perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations. There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995). In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customers needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customers wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organizations profitability. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word of mouth communication. From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of purchase. Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention. According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitability. Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001). 2.3.4 Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is often defined as the customers post-purchase comparison between pre-purchase expectation and performance received (Oliver, 1980; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed in numerous previous papers during the past decade. First of all, many researchers present that service quality has positive related relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, service quality influence customer satisfaction and vice versa customer satisfaction influence quality (Jun and Cai, 2010). There is no doubt that in the worlds today intensive competition, once a business wants to survive, they have to improve the service quality that helps them to achieve a different advantage over their rivalries. Service quality, therefore has become one of the critical factors for satisfying and retaining valued customers in every industries and banking is not an exception. Many scholars indicate that high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the product or service. A satisfied customer will have the willingness to recommend someone else, reduction in complaints and the bank can achieve the customer retention. Furthermore, a satisfied customer is likely to be a loyal customer who will give repeatin g business to the firm (Heskett et al., 1997). More importantly, according to Bedi (2010), the cost of retaining existing customer by improving the quality of product and services is perceived to be significantly lower than the cost of achieving the new customers. On the other hand, when regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in some industries as banking, some scholars point out that service quality is not related to customer satisfaction under certain circumstances. For example, through numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1985) indicated that even though customers were satisfied with a particular service, they did not think that it was of high quality. Another scholar also agrees with this idea, Storbacka et al. (1994, pp. 24) stated that: A customer could, therefore, respond on a questionnaire that a particular bank is of high quality, even if this did not mean this customer was satisfied with using the bank. Its interest rates on loans may be too high or it might not fit the customers preferences for some other reason. 2.4 Previous research 2.4.1 Critical summaries of previous research a. Title: Lending Policies of Informal, Formal and Semiformal Lenders Evidence from Vietnam Authors: Thi Thu Tra Pham and Robert Lensink (2007) Country: Vietnam Data collection: the data used in this study are from a household survey on living standard in Vietnam that conducted by Vietnams General Statistical Office in 1998 with the sample of 6,002 households. Summary: This paper aims to compare lending policies of formal, informal and semiformal lenders towards household lending in Vietnam. The study points out that the probability of using formal or semi formal credit increase when borrowers provide collateral, a guarantor and/or borrow for business-related activities. The probability of using informal credit increases for female borrowers. Formal loan contract terms such as loan interest rate and form of loan repayment affect strongly default risk of formal credit. While internal characteristics of the borrowing household influent much on default risk of informal credit. Lastly, this paper aims to explore how different types of lenders try to avoid adverse selection as well as moral hazard by screening, monitoring and enforcement instruments. b. Title: Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam Authors: Mikkel Barslund and Finn Tarp (2008) Country: Vietnam Data collection: A survey of 932 rural households (in four provinces of Long An, Quang Nam, Ha Tay and Phu Tho) in combination with information from the 2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. Summary: This paper aims to indicate how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households can obtain the credit provided by both formal and informal lenders. Normally, formal loans are used for production and asset accumulation, whereas informal loans are supplied for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are extremely different. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. The study indicates that credit policy in Vietnam only has one size fits all approach would be inappropriate. c. Title: Research on Customer Satisfaction: Take the Loan Market of the Taiwanese Region as An Example. Authors: Chih-Chung Chen, Su-Chao Chang (2006) Country: Taiwan Data collection: In this study, 650 questionnaires were distributed of which 413 valid questionnaires returned. Moreover, this research also conducted interviews five native branch office managers. Summary: This study aims to examine the feasibility of employing customer satisfaction model in the loan departments of banks. The research presents that once customer expectations are significantly as well as positively related to the banks performance, customer satisfaction and loyalty will be high and the complaints will be few as the result. d. Title: Credit and Non Interest Rate Determinants of Loan Demand: a Spanish Case Study Authors: Manrique, J. and Ojah, K. (2004) Country: Spain Data collection: This survey contains data for 21,155 Spanish households. 430 observations were excluded due to missing and/or inconsistent information, leaving a final sample of 20,725 observations. Summary: This research aims to investigate the potential relationship between the condition of being credit unconstrained and holdings loans as well as the determinants for a household being credit unconstrained, consumer loans and real estate loans. Spanish households desire and capacity to hold loans depends on the family size, education, permanent and transitory incomes. Lastly, this research provides deeply insights that attract credit consumers, credit suppliers, and policy makers in Spain. e. Title: Consumer Credit and Money Policy in Malaysia Authors: Kassim, Salina Hj and Manap, Turkhan Ali Abul (2008) Country: Malaysia Data collection: The study uses monthly data from January 1998 until March 2006. Data such as interest rates and bank loans come from Bank Negara Malaysias Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Data on the economic conditions such as the CPI and the IPI are gathered from the respective publications of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Summary: The study aims to find out the consequences of interest rate on consumer credit in Malaysia based on empirical investigation. The authors categorized aggregate consumer loans into specific types including loans for purchase of residential property, loans for credit cards, loans for personal needs, loans for purchase of securities and so on, so forth. Through categorizing types of loans, the paper aims to present the relative sensitivity of each loan to interest rate shocks. f. Title: Credit demand of Rural Enterprise and Loan Supply in China Authors: Du Zhixiong (2004) Country: China Data collection: The two databases were collected during two fields of rural enterprises, undertaken in 2000 and 2001 in different provinces, namely, Jiangsu province in coastal China, and Anhui province in the central part of China. Summary: This study aims to supply the information about the real situation of rural enterprises financing. Moreover, this paper also illustrates information on the banking systems restructuring and the ways banks provide credit for rural enterprises to overcome the financing constraints. Undoubtedly, the article shows useful information on financing of rural enterprises based on using data from two surveys of rural enterprises. g. Title: Deteriorating Bank Health and Lending in Japan: Evidence from Unlisted Companies under Financial Distress Authors: Fukuda, Shin-Ichi, Kasuya, Munehisa, and Nakajima, Jouchi (2006) Country: Japan Data collection: The data are taken from Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) Database Service about 3644 Japanese unlisted firms. Summary: This study aims to investigate the impacts of banks weakened financial conditions on loans outstanding to medium size firms in Japan. The paper examines the determinants of lending to unlisted Japanese companies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Moreover, the study indicates that the bank health, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and ratios of non-performing loans had opposite impacts on lending. In the case of regulatory capital adequacy ratios, its deterioration had a perverse impact on the banks lending. h. Title: An Investigation of the Relationships among Consumer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Market Share in Kuwaiti loan services Authors: Al-Wugaya, A., Pleshko, L.P., and Baqer, S.M. (2007) Country: Kuwaiti Data collection: the paper used the survey of nearly 700 customers using Kuwaiti loan services. Summary: This research aims to investigate the relationship among customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market share of loan services in Kuwaiti. Based on the research result, the authors indicate that the relationship between customer satisfaction and market share is not supported in banking industry. However, customer loyalty is pointed out to be related to market shares. Moreover, customer loyalty is not derived from customer satisfaction but rather on other factors like price, special deals or bank customer relationship. i. Title: Provisioning of Rural Credit: an Indian Perspective Authors: Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.R., and Choudhury, S. (2009) Country: India Data collection: the survey covering 90,000 rural households in 6,552 villages in India was conducted from January to December 2003 by the National Sample Survey Organization. Summary: The paper aims to analysis rural credit provisioning measures as well as the rural credit delivery scenario in India through different rural financial institution. The study indicates that rural credit delivery still has been suffered from low levels of access to credit by the farming community, declining share of agricultural loan as a share of the total credit uptake, inadequate coverage of small and marginal farmers and exclusion of tenant farmers and share croppers. j. Title: The Incidence of Loan Collateralization in Small Business Lending Contract: Evidence from the UK. Authors: Cowling, M. (1999) Country: the UK Data collection: the data were used as random samples of 272 small businesses from a survey conducted by Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Summary: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between small firms and banks focusing on the incidence of loan collateralization. The study indicates that age of the small firms and close relationship with the banks that helps to reduce the incidence of loan collateralization, which implies that relationship banking can bring tangible benefits to small businesses. 2.4.2 Limitations of previous research General speaking, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that previous research has provided readers comprehensive knowledge about sectors it mentioned especially in customer satisfaction as well as credit facilities provided in different countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. However, the previous papers also show their limitations as there were a few studies specializing in credit facilities provided by Vietnamese banks. Further the real situation of credit services in Vietnam including outstanding loans, loan structures well as the quality of credit facilities has not been comprehensively researched. Accordingly, the customer satisfaction on credit facilities was not paid much attention by previous scholars. Therefore it can be said that the previous studies do not provide adequate information about customer satisfaction on credit facilities in Vietnamese banks. 2.5 Criticism of SERVQUAL Model It can be denied that although SERVQUAL has grown popularly and widespread applied it still has been subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms as below. Under theoretical aspects, first of all SERVQUAL is criticized due to its inappropriate base on an expectations disconfirmation model rather than an attitudinal model of service quality. Secondly, it does not build on extant knowledge in economics, statistics and psychology (Francis Buttle (1996). Cronin and Taylor (1992; 1994) said that SERVQUAL is paradigmatically flawed because of its ill-judged adoption of this disconfirmation model. Moreover, they stated that perceived quality is best conceptualized as an attitude. They criticized Parasuraman et al. for their hesitancy to define perceived service quality in attitudinal terms, even though Parasuraman et al. (1988) had earlier claimed that service quality was similar in many ways to an attitude. Another criticism has been proposed by Anderson (1992), he indicated that SERVQUAL fails to draw on previous social science research, particularly economic theory, statistics, and psychological theory. Parasuraman et al.s work is highly inductive in that it moves from historically situated observation to general theory. Andersson (1992) reckoned that Parasuraman et al. renounces the principle of scientific continuity and deduction. For theoretical aspects, Francis Buttle (1996) also presented a related set of criticism of SERVQUAL including factors involved in Gaps model, process orientation and dimensionality. In Gaps model, there is little evidence shows that the customer assess quality in terms of Perception Expectation gaps. For process orientation: SERVQUAL has been criticized for concentrating on the process of service delivery rather than focusing on the outcomes of the service encounter such as technical dimensions (Kang and James, 2004). In other words, the SERVQUAL measurement does not adequately explain a technical attribute of service (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). Dimensionality: SERVQUALs five dimensions are not universals; the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a positive inter correlation between the five RATER dimensions (Buttle ,1996). Under operational aspects, many scholars have argued that the components of SERVQUAL fail to fully evaluate customer perception on service quality in certain industries (Cronin Taylor, 1992; Finn and Lamb, 1991). Two attributes of service was proposed by Gronroos (1984) which have been identified as dimensions of service quality relied on the conceptualization of service quality as between expectation of service and perceived service. Rust and Oliver (1994) extended Grunions model by providing a three-component model explaining service quality through service product, service delivery and service environment. Whereas Brady and Cronin (2001) suggested three service quality dimensions including service outcome, consumer-employee interaction and service environment. It can be said that the conceptualization of service product/service outcome and service delivery/consumer employee interaction is consistent with the idea of technical attribute as well as functional attribute derived fro m Gronroos model. (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). 2.5 Chapter Summary To conclude, first of all SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction as well as its theories and concepts have been presented. After that this chapter has reviewed many academic previous researches about critical factors determining customer satisfaction in di SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction In chapter 1, an overview of the whole dissertation has been provided. It can be considered as a backbone of the dissertation with the clear objectives and purposes stated. As an illustration, the chapter has mentioned about the overview of Vietnam banking system as well as credit services in Vietnamese bank in general and BIDV in particular. Moreover, chapter 1 has also presented about the significance of this study, research scope, research purpose, the research questions, research hypotheses. Moving to chapter 2 of this dissertation, SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction and its theories and concepts will be discussed. Moreover, some literature reviews of critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam as well as other countries will be mentioned. Lastly, the limitations of previous researches will be concluded. 2.2 SERVQUAL Model 2.2.1 Origins of SERVQUAL Model Managers in banking industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resources constrains under which banks must manage it is essential that customer satisfaction are properly met and measured and that from the customer satisfactions, any gaps in services quality are indentified. This information the assists a manager in identified cost effective ways of closing services quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scare resources. SERVQUAL Model which is a popular model of quality research of services and the most common application in the marketing research as well as other industries such as hospitality and economy. It can be said that the origin of SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 based on expectation perception gap model. In 1985 work, Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry illustrated that consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of four distinct gaps occurring in organizations. These gaps on the service providers side, which can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality, are: Gap1: Difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of consumer expectations. Gap2: Difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications. Gap3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered. Gap4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to consumers. Gap5: Difference between service expectation and perceived service quality According to Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry (1985), perceived service quality is defined in the model as the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, which in turn depends on the size and direction of the four gaps associated with the delivery of service quality on the marketers side. In addition, Brown and Bond (1995) stated that the conceptual of service quality also called the expectation perception gap model is one of the best received and most heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature. The model identifies the keys discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with service delivery to customers. The Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3 and Gap 4 are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality (Shahin A., 2006). 2.2.2 Dimensions of SERVQUAL Model As Shahin A.( 2006) concluded that one service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990). SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 and originally 10 dimensions of service quality were reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, tangibles. Later, ZeithamI, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988 tested the variables and reduced them to five factors including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (combining communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy) and empathy (combining understanding and knowing the customer with accessibility (Saleh, F. and Ryan, C., 1991). Figure 2.1 SERVQUAL MODEL Reliability Responsiveness Customer satisfaction Services quality Tangibles Assurance Sympathy Ravichandran et al, 2010 Reliability Reliability shows the ability to provide services accurately, on time, and credibly (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). This requires consistency in the implementation of services and respects commitments as well as keeps promises to customers. Responsiveness This criterion measures the ability to solve the problem fast, deal with customers complaint effectively and the willing to help customers as well as meet the customers requirements (Parasuman, 1988). In other words, responsiveness is the feedback from banks to what customers want. Tangibles Tangibles are the images of the facilities, equipment, machines, attitude of staffs, materials, manuals, and information systems of the bank (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). In others words, the tangibles refer to the effect of physical facility, equipment, personnel and communication materials on customer (Sureshchandar, Rajendran and Kamalanabhan, 2001). The atmosphere also called servicescapes influences directly both employees and customers in physiological, psychological, sociological, cognitive and emotional ways (Sureshchandar, 2001). Assurance This element creates credibility and trust for customers, which is considered through professional services, excellent technical knowledge, attitude courtesy, and good communication skills, so that customers can believe in the quality of firms services. Sympathy Sympathy is the caring, consideration, and the best preparation for customers, so that they can feel as guests of the firm and are always welcome at any times, anywhere. Human factors are the core of this success and the more caring the bank gives to customers, the more customer understanding increases. 2.2.3 Applications of SERVQUAL Model There is no doubt that a firm wants to survive in a competitive environment, they have to ensure about the quality of products and services they are supplying to the market. Some firms provide only services therefore the quality of services is an important issue for all of these firms. Competing goods firms such as department stores, supermarket may sell a wide range of products and quality of services is a primary means of competitive differentiation. Firms that supply only services like telecommunication companies, airlines etc. have a little to offer if their quality is not good (Berry, 1986). It can be said that SERVQUAL is multiple item scale with good reliability and validity that help firms to have better understanding evaluation the services expectations and perception of customer and improve the services as well. Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/ perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. SERVQUAL shows its best valuation when it is used to track service quality trends as well as in combination with other forms of service quality measurement. Moreover, SERVQUAL is used to evaluate the firms quality according to the five services dimensions by averaging the difference scores on items making up the dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,1985). Similarly, an overall measure of service quality in the form of an average score across all five dimensions. Determining the relative importance of the five dimensions affecting customers overall quality perception is one potential application of SERVQUAL. Another application of SERVQUAL is used in categorizing a firms customers into several perceived quality segments on the basis of their individual SERVQUAL scores (Parasuraman et al.,1988). 2.3 Theories and concepts of SERVQUAL Model 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.1.1 Service quality Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service quality. The most common definition used to define service quality is the extent to which a service meets customers needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can also be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and the result is customer dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). 2.3.1.2 Customer Satisfaction There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) Satisfaction is a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumers prior feelings about the consumption experience. While Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as: a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. While Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated 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, regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desire. 2.3.2 Service Quality Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service quality (Baumann, Burton, Elliott and Kehr, 2007; Bitner, Booms and Tetreault, 1990; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml, 1993; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993; Robledo, 2001). However, service quality is more difficult to measure than goods quality (Gronroos, 1982) due to the intangibility of services. For this reason, firms actually find it more difficult to understand how customers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981). According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) also shared the opinion with Lewis and Booms (1983) by the statement: Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performance. To demonstrate the above statement, Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) proposed the SERVQUAL scale for measuring the service quality. Cronin et al. (1992) summarized four different measurement models for service quality these are SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, Weighted SERVQUAL, and Weighted SEVPERF. However, SERVPERF was regarded as the best of four models. Furthermore, Martilla et al. (1977) conducted the Importance Performance Analysis which was considered as another measurement for service quality. 2.3.3 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al Wugayan et al., 2007). Al Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customers initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customers perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations. There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995). In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customers needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customers wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organizations profitability. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word of mouth communication. From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of purchase. Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention. According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitability. Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001). 2.3.4 Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is often defined as the customers post-purchase comparison between pre-purchase expectation and performance received (Oliver, 1980; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed in numerous previous papers during the past decade. First of all, many researchers present that service quality has positive related relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, service quality influence customer satisfaction and vice versa customer satisfaction influence quality (Jun and Cai, 2010). There is no doubt that in the worlds today intensive competition, once a business wants to survive, they have to improve the service quality that helps them to achieve a different advantage over their rivalries. Service quality, therefore has become one of the critical factors for satisfying and retaining valued customers in every industries and banking is not an exception. Many scholars indicate that high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the product or service. A satisfied customer will have the willingness to recommend someone else, reduction in complaints and the bank can achieve the customer retention. Furthermore, a satisfied customer is likely to be a loyal customer who will give repeatin g business to the firm (Heskett et al., 1997). More importantly, according to Bedi (2010), the cost of retaining existing customer by improving the quality of product and services is perceived to be significantly lower than the cost of achieving the new customers. On the other hand, when regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in some industries as banking, some scholars point out that service quality is not related to customer satisfaction under certain circumstances. For example, through numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1985) indicated that even though customers were satisfied with a particular service, they did not think that it was of high quality. Another scholar also agrees with this idea, Storbacka et al. (1994, pp. 24) stated that: A customer could, therefore, respond on a questionnaire that a particular bank is of high quality, even if this did not mean this customer was satisfied with using the bank. Its interest rates on loans may be too high or it might not fit the customers preferences for some other reason. 2.4 Previous research 2.4.1 Critical summaries of previous research a. Title: Lending Policies of Informal, Formal and Semiformal Lenders Evidence from Vietnam Authors: Thi Thu Tra Pham and Robert Lensink (2007) Country: Vietnam Data collection: the data used in this study are from a household survey on living standard in Vietnam that conducted by Vietnams General Statistical Office in 1998 with the sample of 6,002 households. Summary: This paper aims to compare lending policies of formal, informal and semiformal lenders towards household lending in Vietnam. The study points out that the probability of using formal or semi formal credit increase when borrowers provide collateral, a guarantor and/or borrow for business-related activities. The probability of using informal credit increases for female borrowers. Formal loan contract terms such as loan interest rate and form of loan repayment affect strongly default risk of formal credit. While internal characteristics of the borrowing household influent much on default risk of informal credit. Lastly, this paper aims to explore how different types of lenders try to avoid adverse selection as well as moral hazard by screening, monitoring and enforcement instruments. b. Title: Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam Authors: Mikkel Barslund and Finn Tarp (2008) Country: Vietnam Data collection: A survey of 932 rural households (in four provinces of Long An, Quang Nam, Ha Tay and Phu Tho) in combination with information from the 2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. Summary: This paper aims to indicate how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households can obtain the credit provided by both formal and informal lenders. Normally, formal loans are used for production and asset accumulation, whereas informal loans are supplied for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are extremely different. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. The study indicates that credit policy in Vietnam only has one size fits all approach would be inappropriate. c. Title: Research on Customer Satisfaction: Take the Loan Market of the Taiwanese Region as An Example. Authors: Chih-Chung Chen, Su-Chao Chang (2006) Country: Taiwan Data collection: In this study, 650 questionnaires were distributed of which 413 valid questionnaires returned. Moreover, this research also conducted interviews five native branch office managers. Summary: This study aims to examine the feasibility of employing customer satisfaction model in the loan departments of banks. The research presents that once customer expectations are significantly as well as positively related to the banks performance, customer satisfaction and loyalty will be high and the complaints will be few as the result. d. Title: Credit and Non Interest Rate Determinants of Loan Demand: a Spanish Case Study Authors: Manrique, J. and Ojah, K. (2004) Country: Spain Data collection: This survey contains data for 21,155 Spanish households. 430 observations were excluded due to missing and/or inconsistent information, leaving a final sample of 20,725 observations. Summary: This research aims to investigate the potential relationship between the condition of being credit unconstrained and holdings loans as well as the determinants for a household being credit unconstrained, consumer loans and real estate loans. Spanish households desire and capacity to hold loans depends on the family size, education, permanent and transitory incomes. Lastly, this research provides deeply insights that attract credit consumers, credit suppliers, and policy makers in Spain. e. Title: Consumer Credit and Money Policy in Malaysia Authors: Kassim, Salina Hj and Manap, Turkhan Ali Abul (2008) Country: Malaysia Data collection: The study uses monthly data from January 1998 until March 2006. Data such as interest rates and bank loans come from Bank Negara Malaysias Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Data on the economic conditions such as the CPI and the IPI are gathered from the respective publications of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Summary: The study aims to find out the consequences of interest rate on consumer credit in Malaysia based on empirical investigation. The authors categorized aggregate consumer loans into specific types including loans for purchase of residential property, loans for credit cards, loans for personal needs, loans for purchase of securities and so on, so forth. Through categorizing types of loans, the paper aims to present the relative sensitivity of each loan to interest rate shocks. f. Title: Credit demand of Rural Enterprise and Loan Supply in China Authors: Du Zhixiong (2004) Country: China Data collection: The two databases were collected during two fields of rural enterprises, undertaken in 2000 and 2001 in different provinces, namely, Jiangsu province in coastal China, and Anhui province in the central part of China. Summary: This study aims to supply the information about the real situation of rural enterprises financing. Moreover, this paper also illustrates information on the banking systems restructuring and the ways banks provide credit for rural enterprises to overcome the financing constraints. Undoubtedly, the article shows useful information on financing of rural enterprises based on using data from two surveys of rural enterprises. g. Title: Deteriorating Bank Health and Lending in Japan: Evidence from Unlisted Companies under Financial Distress Authors: Fukuda, Shin-Ichi, Kasuya, Munehisa, and Nakajima, Jouchi (2006) Country: Japan Data collection: The data are taken from Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) Database Service about 3644 Japanese unlisted firms. Summary: This study aims to investigate the impacts of banks weakened financial conditions on loans outstanding to medium size firms in Japan. The paper examines the determinants of lending to unlisted Japanese companies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Moreover, the study indicates that the bank health, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and ratios of non-performing loans had opposite impacts on lending. In the case of regulatory capital adequacy ratios, its deterioration had a perverse impact on the banks lending. h. Title: An Investigation of the Relationships among Consumer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Market Share in Kuwaiti loan services Authors: Al-Wugaya, A., Pleshko, L.P., and Baqer, S.M. (2007) Country: Kuwaiti Data collection: the paper used the survey of nearly 700 customers using Kuwaiti loan services. Summary: This research aims to investigate the relationship among customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market share of loan services in Kuwaiti. Based on the research result, the authors indicate that the relationship between customer satisfaction and market share is not supported in banking industry. However, customer loyalty is pointed out to be related to market shares. Moreover, customer loyalty is not derived from customer satisfaction but rather on other factors like price, special deals or bank customer relationship. i. Title: Provisioning of Rural Credit: an Indian Perspective Authors: Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.R., and Choudhury, S. (2009) Country: India Data collection: the survey covering 90,000 rural households in 6,552 villages in India was conducted from January to December 2003 by the National Sample Survey Organization. Summary: The paper aims to analysis rural credit provisioning measures as well as the rural credit delivery scenario in India through different rural financial institution. The study indicates that rural credit delivery still has been suffered from low levels of access to credit by the farming community, declining share of agricultural loan as a share of the total credit uptake, inadequate coverage of small and marginal farmers and exclusion of tenant farmers and share croppers. j. Title: The Incidence of Loan Collateralization in Small Business Lending Contract: Evidence from the UK. Authors: Cowling, M. (1999) Country: the UK Data collection: the data were used as random samples of 272 small businesses from a survey conducted by Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Summary: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between small firms and banks focusing on the incidence of loan collateralization. The study indicates that age of the small firms and close relationship with the banks that helps to reduce the incidence of loan collateralization, which implies that relationship banking can bring tangible benefits to small businesses. 2.4.2 Limitations of previous research General speaking, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that previous research has provided readers comprehensive knowledge about sectors it mentioned especially in customer satisfaction as well as credit facilities provided in different countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. However, the previous papers also show their limitations as there were a few studies specializing in credit facilities provided by Vietnamese banks. Further the real situation of credit services in Vietnam including outstanding loans, loan structures well as the quality of credit facilities has not been comprehensively researched. Accordingly, the customer satisfaction on credit facilities was not paid much attention by previous scholars. Therefore it can be said that the previous studies do not provide adequate information about customer satisfaction on credit facilities in Vietnamese banks. 2.5 Criticism of SERVQUAL Model It can be denied that although SERVQUAL has grown popularly and widespread applied it still has been subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms as below. Under theoretical aspects, first of all SERVQUAL is criticized due to its inappropriate base on an expectations disconfirmation model rather than an attitudinal model of service quality. Secondly, it does not build on extant knowledge in economics, statistics and psychology (Francis Buttle (1996). Cronin and Taylor (1992; 1994) said that SERVQUAL is paradigmatically flawed because of its ill-judged adoption of this disconfirmation model. Moreover, they stated that perceived quality is best conceptualized as an attitude. They criticized Parasuraman et al. for their hesitancy to define perceived service quality in attitudinal terms, even though Parasuraman et al. (1988) had earlier claimed that service quality was similar in many ways to an attitude. Another criticism has been proposed by Anderson (1992), he indicated that SERVQUAL fails to draw on previous social science research, particularly economic theory, statistics, and psychological theory. Parasuraman et al.s work is highly inductive in that it moves from historically situated observation to general theory. Andersson (1992) reckoned that Parasuraman et al. renounces the principle of scientific continuity and deduction. For theoretical aspects, Francis Buttle (1996) also presented a related set of criticism of SERVQUAL including factors involved in Gaps model, process orientation and dimensionality. In Gaps model, there is little evidence shows that the customer assess quality in terms of Perception Expectation gaps. For process orientation: SERVQUAL has been criticized for concentrating on the process of service delivery rather than focusing on the outcomes of the service encounter such as technical dimensions (Kang and James, 2004). In other words, the SERVQUAL measurement does not adequately explain a technical attribute of service (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). Dimensionality: SERVQUALs five dimensions are not universals; the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a positive inter correlation between the five RATER dimensions (Buttle ,1996). Under operational aspects, many scholars have argued that the components of SERVQUAL fail to fully evaluate customer perception on service quality in certain industries (Cronin Taylor, 1992; Finn and Lamb, 1991). Two attributes of service was proposed by Gronroos (1984) which have been identified as dimensions of service quality relied on the conceptualization of service quality as between expectation of service and perceived service. Rust and Oliver (1994) extended Grunions model by providing a three-component model explaining service quality through service product, service delivery and service environment. Whereas Brady and Cronin (2001) suggested three service quality dimensions including service outcome, consumer-employee interaction and service environment. It can be said that the conceptualization of service product/service outcome and service delivery/consumer employee interaction is consistent with the idea of technical attribute as well as functional attribute derived fro m Gronroos model. (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). 2.5 Chapter Summary To conclude, first of all SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction as well as its theories and concepts have been presented. After that this chapter has reviewed many academic previous researches about critical factors determining customer satisfaction in di

Managing Change at SLMC Essay examples -- Change Management

If organizations are to thrive and be sustaining, they need to respond to the dynamics of their environment with change. However, change is not a singular event with an isolated focus (Spector, 2007). Effective strategic renewal is a combination of â€Å"the three faces of change†Ã¢â‚¬â€turnaround, which targets costs; technology, which targets internal process; and behavioral, which targets employee actions and interactions (Spector, 2007). In a discussion on change management, particularly management-by-control versus management-by-shaping, Palmer, et al. (2009) draw a similar conclusion that â€Å"organizations and human systems are complex and evolving and therefore cannot be reduced to a single, linear objective of maximizing shareholder value† (p. 50). Leaders and managers must be able to champion change in their organizations. Initiating and implementing new business strategies are some of the most significant and challenging of a leader’s duties (Mullins, 2011). Because people are often satisfied with the status quo, resistance to change is common. Therefore, a successful change leader must be capable of managing people and the process well. Unfreeze In order for SLMC to transform and achieve strategic renewal, which would require focus on the company’s fully insured health plan, the new leadership team made a compelling argument for change. By being able to demonstrate a need for change people will be less likely to resist change efforts (Mullins, 2011). Sloans’ new leadership was able to provide adequate justification for change by demonstrating the urgency that was required in order for the organization to survive. In addition, the new leadership explained the opportunities for success and advancement within the organ... ...Dunford, ,. R., & Akin, ,. G. (2009). Managing organizational change (2n ed.). New York, NY.: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Preziosi, R. C. ((n.d.)). Organizational Diagnosis Questioinnaire (ODQ). NA: NA. Robbins, & Coulter. (2007). Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2012). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Spector, B. (2010). Implementing organizational change: Theory into practice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall. Tyson, B. (2010, August 25). Overview of Lewin's three stage change model. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/84148.aspx. Vecchio, R. P. (2008). Leadership understanding the dynamics of power and influence in Organizations,( 2nd ed.). Notre Dame, Indiana: university of Notre Dame Press.

To Characterize a Character :: essays research papers

To Characterize a Character   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Character is the combination of qualities and features that distinguish a person, group, or thing from others. The wise Benjamin Disraeli once said, â€Å"Characters do no change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.† This statement is worth acknowledging, however, I disagree. Characters are an essential part of any literary piece, and in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I have observed several characters alter and change. Of course, Disraeli is referring to the character within a person and I am referring to characters (or imaginary people) in a novel, but they do have a relation. What would a novel’s character be without an inner character, or personality? Drastic alterations of character occur in both Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth. But who, in reference to my statement of what character is, has more of it?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hester Prynne is the social outcast of the Puritan village due to her sin of committing adultery. She wears a large letter â€Å"A† on her bosom and is constantly put to shame by it. The townspeople (including children) openly mock her as she walks about. But even so, Hester endures it and has gained great strength from it. Though she is an outcast, she works hard and continues to keep herself and her daughter, Pearl, alive and well. Hester achieves survival through sewing. She has, â€Å"†¦bore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skills†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 56). She even sews clothing for the homeless, but they are ungrateful for it. Because of her ability to stay alive, and help the needy even though nobody ever helped her, some referred to the letter â€Å"A† on her chest as â€Å"Able.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Roger Chillingworth, who is secretly the husband of Hester Prynne, has a great amount of character, also. He arrives in town and decides to stay upon his promise to discover the father of Hester’s child. He serves as a physician knowing several medicine concoctions from roots and weeds, as taught by the Indians. Soon, it is suggested by people of the town that Chillingworth should move in with Reverend Dimmesdale in order to care for him during his time of illness. After living together for a while, Chillingworth realizes that Dimmesdale’s illness is not a physical illness. It is due to some internal and spiritual illness, such as guilt. Chillingworth takes advantage of this finding and plays with the Reverend’s emotions already knowing that he is the father of Pearl.