EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION IN NIGERIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
By
ERNEST E. INYANG, A. D. O. OTONKUE AND JUDE U. BASSEY
ABSTRACT
Information technology may be considered to be the harnessing of electronic technology in its various forms to improve the operations and profitability of the business as a whole. Information Technology provides significant improvements with facilities such as word processing (improving secretarial, typing and some reprographic services) communication facilities in the form of electronic mail, databases in relation to filing and data retrieval. Such advances improves business efficiency eliminating unnecessary delays in communication between different parts of the
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The analysis indicated that the quality of customer interface positively influences service quality. However, the study used a composite measure for the quality of customer interface that includes various factors such as responsiveness to customer inquiries, accuracy of account statements, timeliness of mailing account statements, customer complaints and processing errors. According to Kinshnan etal (1999), in the financial services business, the notion of customer interface is multifaceted and may vary, depending upon the channel of service delivery. While all the service encounters mostly involve the customer in one way or the other the nature of personal interactions with customers at branches differs from that of IT enabled automated delivery channels. There is a need for a deeper understanding of this distinction for firms to leverage overall customer satisfaction. Different components of the customer interface may have varying impacts on satisfaction across the customer population.
METHODOLOGY The various information generated in the course of this research were obtained through participatory observations of twenty–four selected financial institutions and through questionnaires administered to the management and the customers of the selected financial institutions. The set of questions asked from the respondents were such that will elicit
Information systems (IS), technically are a set of interrelated components that collect and retrieve information, process and store it and support the organization in decision making. Information Technology (IT) is a shared technology and provides the platform for specific information. It consists of hardware and software for a business to achieve their objectives. Included is the computer systems, the computer, any hand-held devices, software the company needs to operate and storage. (20)
Information technology can allow departments to more efficiently and successfully perform their business operations. Information technology is an important enabler of business success and innovation.
This article is written by Nicholas Carr and it has become so popular because of its important topic about information technology in business today. Information technology has become a very important component in the success, efficiency and effectiveness of business.
Customer satisfaction and service quality are the two important components that direct anyone’s attention in every concept related to marketing, services, etc. (Spreng and Mackoy, 2006). In today’s competitive era, the success lies in
An information system is a base in today’s business world. Everything is electronic. In various businesses, the survival and ability to succeed strategic business goals is challenging without extensive use of information system. Businesses improve the efficiency of their operations in order to accomplish higher profitablity. Besides that, information systems are important tools available to managers for achieving higher levels of efficiency and productiviy in business operations. For an example, Zara uses the PDA technology to gather customer feedback and input.
Since classical times technology has been associated to development. The more the use of technology, higher the degree of development. This technological change has had an impact on all organizations and sectors which includes manufacturing, designs, entertainment and healthcare. By 1991, U.S. companies spent more on information technology than any other form of investment; total spending on computers and related services doubled from approximately $80 billion in 1984 to over $160 billion in 1998 (Taylor, 1998). These numbers have at least multiplied by 4 if not more from 1998 to 2017. These include a broad array of communication media and devices which link information systems and people including voice mail, e-mail, voice conferencing, video conferencing, the internet, groupware and corporate intranets, smart phones, personal digital assistants, and innumerable others.(e.g., Andolsen, 1999; Campbell, 1999; Edwards, 1999; Gramm, 1999; Schober, 1999; Spiegelman, 1999; Tarabour, 1999; Wildstrom, 1999).
Therefore, measuring this service quality will lead to the customer satisfaction through measuring quality dimension to evaluate the services and to measure the gap between customer perceptions and expectations, any bank that fails to surpass customer expectations and meet customer satisfaction will not be able to compete with other banks. It is the most difficult challenge for a bank that its customers transfer their accounts to rival banks because of better services. Five dimensions of SERVQUAL have been developed for the service sectors: assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tangibility (Van Iwaarden et al.,
The combined multi-attribute and Kano model provide some guidance regarding how service is perceived by bank customers in the mass affluent segment. There exists a substantial heterogeneity in customer perceptions of the service quality items (Strandberg et al., 2012). An alternative model presented by Gronroos (1990) emphasizes the functional (how), technical (what), and servicescape (where) dimensions. Gronroos (1990) includes the servicescape attributes in the functional dimension, while others (Bitner, 1992; Rust and Oliver, 1994) see the servicescape as a discrete dimension. According to Kang (2006), recent studies have attempted to include more items in models of perceived service quality, particularly items related to Gronroos’ dimensions (Strandberg et al., 2012). According to Kano et al. (1984) quality attributes can be divided into four distinct categories: taken-for-granteds, which produce dissatisfaction if they are performed unsatisfactory but will not result in increased satisfaction if they are performed above that level; proportionals, which produce more satisfaction the superior the performance and more dissatisfaction the poorer the performance; delighters, which creates satisfaction if they are performed but not necessarily in dissatisfaction if they are not performed; & neutrals, which are traits to which the customer is indifferent (Strandberg et al., 2012).
Information technology: this word changed the face of the earth, lives of the people and everything in it. It changed everything not only by its definition but also by sheer integration into the lives of people. One of the major reasons that information technology is integrated into every business now is that it made life of every human being easy. It gave them daily comforts: both in personal and professional life. Among the many aspects of information technology, one aspects that is giving competitive advantage to businesses and products is information. Because of information technology and business application it creates, businesses are able to generate mammoth of data and trying to infer the behavior of consumer to create products that will cater to the need of the consumers. According to Michael E. Porter (ME. Porter and Victor E. Millar, 1985), the information technology has done 3 things with respect to the information: first, it changed every industry structure and how the businesses compete with each other. Second, it gave platform build with information to the business to create competitive advantage in their product and services. And lastly, new gathered information gave rise to new business and industry, which gave push to increase the economy of every country.
Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and
Initially, Company A was not able to reach their minimum service level goal of 85%. However, through a series of reviews, feedback and process measurement, Company A was able to increase customer satisfaction by 18%. Since no product or service can address all needs of a consumer, there are many factors to consider when servicing a large customer base. You must develop a strategy to address your diverse customer base, because no two customers are the same. This paper will discuss how Company A improved the level of service, by reforming their approach to customer service.
Information technology is determined by the demands of the new, competitive business environment. Information technology come in the form of many technologically innovative devices such as internet, computer, scanner, analytic tools, software and smart phone which help distribute important information from top level to bottom level management which in turn use all these useful information generated to make crucial decision making regarding the objective and mission of the organization itself.
Today’s marketplace is constantly changing and requires a completive advantage which includes giving excellent service which satisfies customers. Most businesses are based customer based and most business that deliver a service rely on their frontline employees to make a link between the customer and the organization. Research has found that good customer service is essential for a relationship between the customer and a business.
The matter of which a business’s implements customer service has much more effect on the bottom-line that one may think. According to Johnson (2015) a Harvard Business Review study recently quantified the value of the customer experience, demonstrating that delivering excellent support generates high returns. With that being said staff need to be adequately trained on quickly resolving customer problems that may arise. Staff also needs to be made aware of exactly how customer service affects overall profitability for the company. The study came to conclude the top five affects in relation to customer service and the bottom-line. First the study shows that satisfied customers are much more likely to spend more money. Johnson (2015) states the Harvard Business Review study shows that customers who said their experience met or exceeded their expectations spent approximately 140% more than customer who reported a negative experience. Second customers who are dissatisfied actually end up costing the company money by returning products, and exhausting their time with supporting company staff. Third a happy customer tends to be a repeat customer for years to come, leading to an increase in revenue for the company. According to Johnson (2015) the Harvard study shows that members who report high levels of satisfaction have a 74% chance of still being a customer a year later while only 43% who rate
Information technology is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, often in the context of a business. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, e-commerce, and computer services. (Wikipedia)