The management of customer feedback in the development of service orientation in the public sector

This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 10 November 2006 until 10 November 2008.This thesis explores how service orientation can be developed in public sector settings, particularly through the management of customer feedback, in order to enhance service performance. This was seen as critical as public sector organisations have been experiencing increasing pressure to ameliorate services. However, little research has been conducted to understand how public management can achieve this objective. The research involved a literature review on service orientation, customer feedback in services and public sector management. The fieldwork which was undertaken at Scottish Enterprise included interviews with 18 members of senior management across the organisation's network, as well as an online survey of all business customer facing employees (322). The responses from 203 employees (63% response rate) were analysed in SPSS and AMOS. The findings suggest that there is a strong service orientation discrepancy in public sector organisations: while employees have a genuine desire to deliver effective services to the public, management practices introduced to address the Modernising Government agenda may act as counterproductive in the development of organisational service orientation as they mainly focus on efficiency savings. However, organisational service orientation is critical as it seems to mediate the link between service performance and job satisfaction. One of the management practices impacting positively on organisational service orientation is the management of customer feedback. Directly gathered customer feedback at a business unit level is perceived as being more meaningful than customer feedback collected through national survey initiatives, as it helps to improve services and to motivate employees. Moreover, particularly interactive channels to communicate customer feedback are effective as they allow for the simultaneous analysis of the data and employee involvement in action planning. More research is necessary to understand how business unit management can be supported in the development of organisational service orientation within complex public sector settings.This thesis explores how service orientation can be developed in public sector settings, particularly through the management of customer feedback, in order to enhance service performance. This was seen as critical as public sector organisations have been experiencing increasing pressure to ameliorate services. However, little research has been conducted to understand how public management can achieve this objective. The research involved a literature review on service orientation, customer feedback in services and public sector management. The fieldwork which was undertaken at Scottish Enterprise included interviews with 18 members of senior management across the organisation's network, as well as an online survey of all business customer facing employees (322). The responses from 203 employees (63% response rate) were analysed in SPSS and AMOS. The findings suggest that there is a strong service orientation discrepancy in public sector organisations: while employees have a genuine desire to deliver effective services to the public, management practices introduced to address the Modernising Government agenda may act as counterproductive in the development of organisational service orientation as they mainly focus on efficiency savings. However, organisational service orientation is critical as it seems to mediate the link between service performance and job satisfaction. One of the management practices impacting positively on organisational service orientation is the management of customer feedback. Directly gathered customer feedback at a business unit level is perceived as being more meaningful than customer feedback collected through national survey initiatives, as it helps to improve services and to motivate employees. Moreover, particularly interactive channels to communicate customer feedback are effective as they allow for the simultaneous analysis of the data and employee involvement in action planning. More research is necessary to understand how business unit management can be supported in the development of organisational service orientation within complex public sector settings