Service Quality of Building Maintenance Contractors in Zambia: A Pilot Study

Abstract This study examines service quality of building maintenance contractors in Zambia. It argues that improving service quality would help local contractors to enhance their competitiveness in a globalised environment. The study uses an international organisation as a unit of analysis through the perception of the Estate’s Manager in exploring service quality issues. An instrument based on the SERVQUAL approach was used to collect data. The determination of service quality was based on the comparison between the clients’ expected and perceived service quality levels. The findings show that few contractors exceed the clients’ expectations in all dimensions, while the majority fall below the clients expectations in all dimensions. The aggregate service quality scores for all contractors show that clients do not receive the expected service quality level. The findings also suggest that there is a correlation between service quality and customer satisfaction in projects undertaken by the contractors. Contractors therefore need to acknowledge this and improve on their service quality. The paper acknowledges that there are few empirical studies concerning service quality in the Zambian construction industry and therefore contributes to the understanding of quality issues in the industry. The findings provide useful insights into service quality in the Zambian construction industry.

[1]  Michael R. Crum,et al.  Quality management influences on logistics performance , 1998 .

[2]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Servperf versus Servqual: Reconciling Performance-Based and Perceptions-Minus-Expectations Measurement of Service Quality , 1994 .

[3]  Mats G. Holm,et al.  Service management in housing refurbishment: a theoretical approach , 2000 .

[4]  Esteve Xavier Rifà Ros,et al.  FIELD, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. London: SAGE Publications , 2006 .

[5]  S. Ahire,et al.  The impact of design management and process management on quality: an empirical investigation , 2000 .

[6]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[7]  D. Hanson,et al.  Causes of client dissatisfaction in the South African building industry and ways of improvement : the contractor's perspectives , 2008 .

[8]  Edward Shiu,et al.  Assessing the quality of police services using SERVQUAL , 2006 .

[9]  Mike Hoxley,et al.  Measuring UK construction professional service quality: the what, how, when and who , 2000 .

[10]  David A. Collier,et al.  Modelling the relationships between process quality errors and overall service process performance , 1995 .

[11]  A. Field.  Discovering statistics using SPSS for Windows. , 2000 .

[12]  J. E. Swan,et al.  SERVQUAL revisited: a critical review of service quality , 1996 .

[13]  H. Eriksson,et al.  The impact of TQM on financial performance , 2002 .

[14]  J. Rodney Turner,et al.  THE HANDBOOK OF PROJECT-BASED MANAGEMENT , 2008 .

[15]  M. Terziovski,et al.  The relationship between total quality management practices and operational performance , 1999 .

[16]  Yeng-Horng Perng,et al.  A Service Quality Improvement Dynamic Decision Support System for Refurbishment Contractors , 2007 .

[17]  Jasper Mbachu,et al.  Factors constraining successful building project implementation in South Africa , 2007 .

[18]  Michael Hoxley.  The fee tendering and service quality issue revisited , 2007 .

[19]  Florence Yean Yng Ling,et al.  Design-and-build contractors' service quality in public projects in Singapore , 2005 .

[20]  B. Flyvbjerg.  Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research , 2006, 1304.1186.

[21]  F. Lai,et al.  An empirical assessment and application of SERVQUAL in mainland China's mobile communications industry , 2007 .

[22]  Sameh M. El-Sayegh,et al.  Significant factors causing delay in the UAE construction industry , 2006 .

[23]  Christian N. Madu,et al.  An empirical assessment of the influence of quality dimensions on organizational performance , 1996 .

[24]  Andrew William Brown,et al.  Construction project management process quality research: An exploratory examination , 2002 .

[25]  Juan José Tarí Guilló,et al.  Critical factors and results of quality management: An empirical study , 2004 .

[26]  Steven J. Greenland,et al.  Evaluating service quality and consumer satisfaction in emerging markets , 2006 .

[27]  Pauric McGowan,et al.  Managing service quality for competitive advantage in small engineering firms , 1999 .

[28]  David Arditi,et al.  FACTORS THAT AFFECT PROCESS QUALITY IN THE LIFE CYCLE OF BUILDING PROJECTS , 1998 .

[29]  Kay C. Tan,et al.  Service quality in Higher Education using an enhanced SERVQUAL approach , 2004 .

[30]  Juan José Tarí,et al.  Critical factors and results of quality management: An empirical study , 2003 .

[31]  J. Carman.  Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions , 1990 .

[32]  Gertrude P. Pannirselvam,et al.  A study of the relationships between the Baldrige categories , 2001 .

[33]  David Arditi,et al.  Assessing the corporate service quality performance of design-build contractors using quality function deployment , 2003 .

[34]  Christopher Burke.  China's Entry into Construction Industries in Africa , 2007 .

[35]  S. Robinson,et al.  Measuring service quality: current thinking and future requirements , 1999 .

[36]  Riadh Ladhari.  Alternative measures of service quality: a review , 2008 .

[37]  W. S. Dlungwana,et al.  CONTRACTOR DEVELOPMENT MODELS THAT MEET THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBALISATION - A CASE FOR DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY OF LOCAL CONTRACTORS , 2005 .

[38]  Sanjay L. Ahire,et al.  Quality management in large vs small firms: An emperical investigation , 1996 .

[39]  K. Newman,et al.  Interrogating SERVQUAL: a critical assessment of service quality measurement in a high street retail bank , 2001 .

[40]  Martin Skitmore,et al.  Assessing the service quality of building maintenance providers: mechanical and engineering services , 2001 .

[41]  Leon A. Kappelman,et al.  Cautions on the Use of the SERVQUAL Measure to Assess the Quality of Information Systems Services , 1999 .

[42]  Andrew D.F. Price,et al.  Overview of funding for construction craft skills training in Sub‐Saharan Africa: a case study of Zambia , 2006 .

[43]  Brent M. Wren,et al.  Service quality as a competitive opportunity , 1998 .

[44]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research , 1985 .

[45]  François A. Carrillat,et al.  The validity of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF scales: A meta‐analytic view of 17 years of research across five continents , 2007 .