customer satisfaction survey among iium students: hostel service

KULIYYAH OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

(MGT 3010)

GROUP ASSIGNMENT 1

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY AMONG

IIUM STUDENTS: HOSTEL SERVICE

NAME MATRIC NO. AFIFAH NABILAH BT MOHAMAD SAFEI 1321976

BAI JING 1126260 LAN ZHENG YAN 1228762

MARIAM AHAMADA 1030856

Lecturer’s Name : Dr. Noor Hazilah Abd Manaf

Section : 3

Session : Semester 1, 2015/2016

Submission date : 11 December 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................3

LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................5

Development of Questionnaire ............................................................................................5

Data Collection ...................................................................................................................6

ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................7

Hightlights ..........................................................................................................................7

Detailed Results ..................................................................................................................7

1) Overall Satisfaction with the Management Services ..................................................7

2) Overall Satisfaction with the Cafeteria Services ........................................................8

3) Overall Satisfaction with the Room Facilities and Services ..................................... 10

4) Overall Satisfaction According to Mahallah (Hostel) .............................................. 11

5) Complaints and feedback ........................................................................................ 12

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 14

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 15

APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................... 16

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INTRODUCTION

A customer satisfaction survey was conducted among the IIUM students, focusing on

the satisfaction of the IIUM hostel services. This customer satisfaction survey was conducted

for the purpose of evaluating the level of satisfaction among the IIUM hostels’ residents.

Since the survey was conducted to research the level of satisfaction on IIUM hostels as a

whole, the survey was then presented into five main categories which will be discussed

further in the latter sub-topic. The categories are as follow:

1. Overall satisfaction with the management services

2. Overall satisfaction with the cafeteria services

3. Overall satisfaction with the room facilities and services

4. Overall satisfaction according to mahallah (hostels)

5. Complaints and feedback

Since IIUM students are compulsory to stay inside the campus unless they have the

permission to stay outside the campus, it is easier to conduct the survey due to a huge amount

of potential respondents. The survey was made online and successfully conducted on 28th

November 2015 and ended on 30th

November 2015. Further discussion on the literature

review, research methodology and the analysis of the results will be presented under the latter

sub-topics in this report.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Customer satisfaction is one of the popular topics among the business and marketing

practitioner and academic researcher. It has been like that since the Cardozo's (1965) initial

study of customer effort, expectations and satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is typically

defined as a post consumption evaluative judgement concerning a specific product or service

(Gundersen, Heide and Olsson, 1996). It is the result of an evaluative process that contrasts

prepurchase expectations with perceptions of performance during and after the consumption

experience (Oliver, 1980).

The expectancy disconfirmation theory (McQuitty, Finn and Wiley, 2000) is the most

widely accepted conceptualization of the customer satisfaction concept. Oliver, who

developed the theory, proposed that satisfaction level is the result of the difference between

expected and perceived performance. Satisfaction (positive disconfirmation) occures when

product or service is better than expected. In contrast, dissatisfaction (negative

disconfirmation) is a performance that is worse than the expected results. Studies show that

customer satisfaction may have direct and indirect impact on business results. Luo and

Homburg (2007) concluded that customer satisfaction positively affects business profitability.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

At the beginning stage of making the research, we planned to conduct a one-on-one

interviews among the IIUM students. However, due to the time constraint, we then decided to

conduct the survey by passing the questionnaire to the students. Even though we decided to

do so, after further discussion among the group members, we then changed the plan to

conduct a survey throughout an online form so that we can get more crowd response within

seconds.

Since the survey is to evaluate the level of customer satisfaction on the IIUM hostel,

the survey was conducted inside IIUM with more than 7,000 potential respondents from 28th

November 2015 until 30th

November 2015. The only specific respondent requirement is he or

she should be an IIUM student who is currently staying or accomodating inside the IIUM

hostel (mahallah). There is no restrictions such as the survey is only for specific gender or

specific level of studies. It is open to all of the IIUM students as long as they are staying

inside the campus.

Development of Questionnaire

The questionnaire (called as survey form) were developed based on the sample of

customer satisfaction survey that was found on the net. It was also referenced to the valuable

notes from specialists that were found on the net. Basically, the survey form is divided into 5

main categories which are as follows:

1. Basic Information: In this section, we asked about the demographic details of

the respondents so that we can categorized them according to their

demographic distribution.

2. Management satisfaction: In this management section, we asked the

respondents about their satisfaction towards the hostel management services.

3. Cafetaria satisfaction: This section is specially to evaluate the satisfaction of

the residents regarding the services provided at the cafetaria in the respective

hostels (mahallah)

4. Room satisfaction: This is the most important section where we asked the

respondents their level of satisfaction towards the room provided.

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5. Overall satisfaction and feedback: Lastly, we asked the respondents about

their overall level of satisfaction and getting feedback and recommendation.

This is to know whether they will continue using the service and recommend it

to the other potential customers or not. It is also to know what should be

improved from the feedback given by the respondents.

Data Collection

After developing the questionnaire, a survey form was then created online using the

google forms. The url of the survey form was then distributed among the IIUM students

through Whatsapp and Facebook. Within two days of operation, we managed to get a total of

101 respondents. The data was then categorized according to the respondents demographic

distribution as follows:

Mahallah (Hostel) Male Female Total Local International

Mahallah Maryam - - - - -

Mahallah Ruqayyah - 6 6 3 3

Mahallah Halimah - 9 9 7 2

Mahallah Asiah - 12 12 10 2

Mahallah Aminah - 3 3 3 -

Mahallah Asma - 4 4 4 -

Mahallah Hafsah - 12 12 12 -

Mahallah Sumayyah - 11 11 10 1

Mahallah Salahuddin - 4 4 4 -

Mahallah Nusaibah - 7 7 6 1

Mahallah Safiyyah - 10 10 9 1

Mahallah Zubair 3 - 3 2 1

Mahallah Uthman 5 - 5 4 1

Mahallah Siddiq 4 - 4 1 3

Mahallah Ali 1 - 1 1 -

Mahallah Faruq - - - - -

Mahallah Bilal 10 - 10 9 1

Total 23 78 101 85 16

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ANALYSIS

Hightlights

1. Out of 101 respondents, 85 are from the local students and 16 are from the

international students.

2. Out of 101 respondents, 23 are from the male students and 78 are from the female

students.

3. Respondents are all staying inside the campus at 15 out of 17 types of Mahallah

(hostels). Only Mahallah Maryam and Mahallah Faruq do not have any respondents.

4. Around 95% of the respondents said that they will continue and recommend their

friends to stay at IIUM hostels.

Detailed Results

The detailed results are presented below according to the sections.

1) Overall Satisfaction with the Management Services

The overall management services satisfaction is evaluated based on the six main elements

as shown in Figure 1. The purpose of asking these elements are to evaluate the level of

satisfaction that customers gain from the current performance of the management services.

The data were collected and shown in Figure 1.

8

7

9

16

5

17

13

17

12

24

13

15

44

37

49

37

35

43

27

29

21

20

34

21

9

11

10

4

14

5

Service at the Mahallah Office's counter

Mahallah's officer, fellows and principal

Mahallah Representative Committee

Maintenance Service

Cleaning Service

The value for the price paid

Overall Satisfaction (Management Services)

Poor Below Average Average Good Excellent

Figure 1

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Based on the above data, we can see that most of the students are unsatisfied with the

hostel fees as well as the maintenance services whereas they agree that the services that they

get from the hostel’s management are not compatible with the amount that they paid every

semester. However, most of the students satisfied with the cleanliness of the hostel’s compund

and public areas since this element got the highest positive feedback.

To conclude, 34% of the respondents give a positive rate to the management services at their

respective Mahallahs (hostels) whereas 25% of them rate it as good and the other 9% rate as

excellent. Most of the respondent rate the hostel management services as average (40%).

However, some of them are also having the experience of getting poor (10%) and below

average (16%) level of services from the hostel management. These are the things that the

management needs to take serious and start taking actions to improve the services. This

analysis is shown clearly in Figure 2.

2) Overall Satisfaction with the Cafeteria Services

The purpose of evaluating the customer satisfaction for hostel cafeteria is to ensure that the

students get the best food services from the hostels cafeteria. It is also to prevent any kind of

unfairness and to ensure that the cafeteria provides the the best and affordable food to the

students. Therefore, the respondents have been asked about four major elements to evaluate

the level of customer satisfaction towards the cafeteria’s performance. The data were

collected and shown in Figure 3 below.

10%16%

40%

25%

9%

34%

Overall Satisfaction (Management Services)


Figure 2

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price of the food whereas they agree that the amount of food and services that they get from

the hostel’s cafeteria are not compatible with the price that they pay for the food. However,

most of the students satisfied with the friendly and fast services at the cafeteria’s payment

counter since this element got the highest positive feedback.

To summarize, 25% of the respondents give a positive rate to the cafeteria services at

their respective Mahallahs (hostels) whereas 19% of them rate it as good and the other 6%

rate as excellent. Most of the respondent rate the hostel’s cafeteria services as average (38%).

However, some of them are also having the experience of getting poor (15%) and below

average (22%) level of services from the hostel’s cafeteria. These are the things that the

cafeteria management needs to take serious and start taking actions to improve the services.

This analysis is shown clearly in Figure 4.

16

19

13

13

23

29

14

24

36

36

48

34

21

13

19

23

5

4

7

7

Menu variety

Value for the price paid

Service at the payment counter

Quality of food

Overall Satisfaction (Cafeteria)


15%22%

38%

19%

6%

25%

Overall Satisfaction (Cafeteria)


Figure 3

Figure 4

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3) Overall Satisfaction with the Room Facilities and Services

The room services satisfaction survey is the most important part to evaluate customers’

satisfaction as residents of IIUM hostels. Room fcilities and services are the crucial elements

that determine the willingness of the customers to continue using or accomodating at the

IIUM hostels instead of living outside the campus. In this section, we evaluate the customer

satisfaction based on six major elements as shown in Figure 5 below.


wifi services as well as the public facilities and amenities provided by the hostel’s

management. However, most of the students satisfied with the condition of the rooms and

furnitures since these elements got the highest positive feedback.

In short, 35% of the respondents give a positive rate to the room facilities provided at

their respective Mahallahs (hostels) whereas 28% of them rate it as good and the other 7%

rate as excellent. Most of the respondent rate the hostel’s room as average (32%). However,

some of them are also having the experience of getting poor (15%) and below average (18%)

level of room facilities and services. These are the things that the hostel upper management

needs to take serious and start taking actions to improve the room facilities and services. This

analysis is shown clearly in Figure 6 below.

8

4

9

10

28

31

12

11

10

20

28

26

34

40

36

37

28

22

36

37

38

30

12

17

11

9

8

4

5

5

Condition of the rooms

Condition of the furniture

Cleanliness of the rooms

Cleanliness of the toilets

Public facilities and amenities

Wifi service

Overall Satisfaction (Room Facilities)


Figure 5

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4) Overall Satisfaction According to Mahallah (Hostel)

15%

18%

32%

28%

7%

35%

Overall Satisfaction (Room Facilities)


Figure 6

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

3

1

1

4

2

1

6

2

6

2

1

5

6

2

2

3

4

6

2

3

2

3

2

2

4

2

2

1

1

1

3

1

1

Mahallah Ruqayyah

Mahallah Halimah

Mahallah Asiah

Mahallah Aminah

Mahallah Asma

Mahallah Hafsah

Mahallah Sumayyah

Mahallah Salahuddin

Mahallah Nusaibah

Mahallah Safiyyah

Mahallah Zubair

Mahallah Uthman

Mahallah Siddiq

Mahallah Ali

Mahallah Bilal

Overall Satisfaction (Mahallah)


Figure 7

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The above data shows the distribution of the overall satisfaction rated by the

respondents according to their respective Mahallahs (hostels). The combined analysis of the

data is shwon in Figure 8 below.

To summarize the overall satisfaction according to Mahallah, 40% of the respondents give

a positive rate to the overall facilities and services provided at their respective Mahallahs

(hostels) in which 34% of them rate it as good and the other 6% rate as excellent. Most of the

respondent rate the overall satisfaction as average (37%). However, some of them are also

having the experience of getting poor (7%) and below average (16%) level of hostel facilities

and services. These are the things that the hostel upper management needs to take serious and

start taking actions to improve the room facilities and services.

5) Complaints and feedback

Some of the respondents left their complaints and feedback at the comment section in the

survey form. Based on the complaints and feedback made, we categorized them into seven

categories which are security, overall cleanliness, cafeteria and kiosk, management services,

room facilities, wifi service and public facilities and amenities. Figure 9 below shows the

result of the complaints and feedback.

7%16%

37%

34%

6%

40%

Overall Satisfaction (Mahallah)


Figure 8

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From Figure 9 above, we can see that most of the respondents complaint about the

public facilities and amenities such as the clothes-line area, pantry, laundry machine and

water cooler. Some of them also pointed out regarding the security of the female hostels since

recently, there was a strange male spotted in a female’s mahallah area at night along with the

stray dogs’ case. Besides, the students also complaint about the wifi service which cannot be

accessed and connected at Mahallah.

10

7

7

6

2

6

2

Public Facilities and Amenities

Wifi

Room Facilities

Management Services

Cafeteria and Kiosk

Overall Cleanliness

Security

Complaints and Feedback

Figure 9

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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Based on the above analysis, we can see that around 77% of the 101 respondents are

fairly satisfied with the hostel facilities and services provided by IIUM hostel management.

While another 23% are quite unsatisfied with the IIUM hostel. Since these 101 respondents

are representing the whole residents of IIUM hostels, the amount 23% of unsatisfied

customers are quite big. This shows that more than one-fifth of the residents are unsatisfied

with the current hostel facilities and services provided by the IIUM management. To be exact,

IIUM hostel management failed to fulfill the customer needs and satisfactions.

Hence, IIUM hostel management should starts taking the reasonable actions in regard

to this matter. They should start open their ears to listen to the students’ complaints and

suggestions. No matter how ridiculous the complaints and suggestions are, they should listen

to them carefully and consider for any reasonable actions that can be taken to solve the

complaints. Rather than spending more money on worthless things, they should spend the

money to improve the hostel’s facilities and increase the security system.

The students are the valuable customers to IIUM company. Without the students, there

will be no income comes into the IIUM bank accounts. Because they are the valuable

customer who generates the companys income. We agree that IIUM hostels are the best

among the other hostels provided by other universities. However, due to the slow action and

ignorance of the IIUM upper management, the reputation of the company is really bad among

the IIUM students itself. Students lost their trust towards the IIUM management and start

talking bad about the IIUM. Therefore, IIUM management really should start taking a real

action to improve the customer satisfaction among the students rather than just twisting bluffs

to shut up the students’ voice.

In conclusion, the result from this survey really gives us big impact as we know all the

unsatisfactions and complaints made by the students. Even though the complaint is as small as

not enough clothes-line to hang clothes, as long as the IIUM hostel management can do

something about it, they really should have done it. Because students pay for their

accomodations. They deserve to get the facilities and services which compatible with price

that they pay.

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REFERENCES

A Literature Review and Critique on Customer Satisfaction. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3,

2015, from https://www.aist-riss.jp/old/lca/ci/activity/project/sc/report/030319_document/S2-

1-Mont.pdf

Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions: 5 Sample Templates You Can Use Right Away.

(n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.qualtrics.com/blog/customer-

satisfaction-survey-questions/

Hostel Services Quality Assurance Review: Client Service Survey Final Report. (2013,

January 1). Reading Presentation.

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APPENDIX

customer satisfaction survey among iium students: hostel service

Business