Service quality in the South African corporate banking industry

M.Com. (Business Management)Abstract: Excellent service quality and high customer satisfaction is considered a key success factor for organisations to be profitable and sustainable. Achieving service excellence requires that the leadership of corporate banks implement strategies that will drive and measure internal service quality that is experienced by the frontline managers who interact with the external corporate customers. Academics and practitioners argue that employees who are satisfied with their work will be productive and motivated, which is key for the profitability and success of any corporate company. This research endeavoured to evaluate the frontline employee’s perception of internal service quality at Bank X CIB, which has a direct impact on the external service quality that is experienced by the corporate banking customers. Quantitative research was conducted to collect data from service managers and relationship managers of the bank via a self-administered online survey. The questionnaire asked the respondents to rate their level of agreement with statements using a Likert scale (1=disagree completely and 7=agree completely) and two open-ended questions. The findings from the study revealed that the employees perceive the internal service quality of the Bank X CIB as not satisfactory. The majority of the dissatisfaction is as a result of poor service quality that is received from the supporting staff, which is supposed to enable the frontline managers to deliver excellent service to corporate customers. The findings further revealed that there is no difference in how service managers and relationship managers perceive service quality. The study offers recommendations on how the bank can improve internal service. In order to improve internal service quality in the bank, it is recommended that management focuses on the following factors: communication, reward and recognition, leadership support, technology and systems, support functions and corporate culture