Perceptions of service quality and effects of personality traits of employees in the UAE Islamic banks

This thesis aimed at investigating the effects of employees" personality traits on customers" perceptions of the UAE Islamic bank service quality using two questionnaires (the Mini- Markers and SERVPERF) and a set of regression models. The sample consisted of 105 bank employees and 454 customers. The most important aspect of the originality and contribution of this thesis is that it is the first for the UAE banking sector in general and Islamic banks in particular. It is the first study to relate personality traits of employees of Islamic banks to quality perceptions of these banks' customers. The results reported in this thesis contribute toward the settlement of the debate about whether or not there are possible linkages between employees' personality traits and service quality perceptions. The evidence provided indicates that such linkages do not exist for all personality traits. This means that personality traits do not have their own independent effects on customers" perceptions of Islamic bank service quality. However, employees' gender was found to have significant effects on the empathy dimension of service quality. The thesis concluded with some recommendations for bank managers and future research