Adapting to Modern Customer Needs in the Public Sector: A Study to Strengthen E-services Facilitating Online Language Teaching to Multicultural Students
Dolmans, Dio (2024)
Dolmans, Dio
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404267969
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404267969
Tiivistelmä
This case study aims to give recommendations to Villa Victor on how they can strengthen their e-service of online teaching to multicultural students. The case study does this by utilizing the GAPS Model of Service Quality. This model aims to identify if any causes of quality problems have occurred within the design, marketing, and service delivery processes with the focus being on how these problems affect the customers perception of the service to analyse the service quality. Furthermore, as this case study is focused on online teaching being provided to multicultural students, technology and cultural differences factors were also analysed to determine how these factors affect the customers’ perception of the service. These factors include software perception and the various matters stated in the eight principles of effective online teaching, as well as different learning strategies employed by people from different cultural backgrounds.
For this case study, a mixed method approach was used to collect data from the senior management, service personnel, and customers. This method included 5 semi-structured interviews followed by an online survey completed by 77 students of which 28 were found to be useable for this case study.
The findings reveal that only two gaps could be identified, one of which was found in the service delivery and the other being influenced by the emergence of the former. These gaps were caused by poor technology-job fit caused by the software in use for every analysed course, as well as lack of perceived control for one course caused by a policy decision to let beginner level students attend higher level courses. Furthermore, the findings reveal that such technology factors as software perception and communication with students, based on the eight principles of effective online teaching, have affected the students’ perception of the service quality to an extent.
Based on these findings, recommendations were given to the case company to solve the identified issues and in turn strengthen the e-service. These recommendations were to change the software in use to resolve the poor technology-job fit and improve the students’ perception of the service, create promotional videos for the higher level courses so that beginner level students can have an example of how these courses are carried out without disrupting the class, and create more courses to divide the large groups into smaller groups so that teachers are able to properly give feedback and instruction, etc.
For this case study, a mixed method approach was used to collect data from the senior management, service personnel, and customers. This method included 5 semi-structured interviews followed by an online survey completed by 77 students of which 28 were found to be useable for this case study.
The findings reveal that only two gaps could be identified, one of which was found in the service delivery and the other being influenced by the emergence of the former. These gaps were caused by poor technology-job fit caused by the software in use for every analysed course, as well as lack of perceived control for one course caused by a policy decision to let beginner level students attend higher level courses. Furthermore, the findings reveal that such technology factors as software perception and communication with students, based on the eight principles of effective online teaching, have affected the students’ perception of the service quality to an extent.
Based on these findings, recommendations were given to the case company to solve the identified issues and in turn strengthen the e-service. These recommendations were to change the software in use to resolve the poor technology-job fit and improve the students’ perception of the service, create promotional videos for the higher level courses so that beginner level students can have an example of how these courses are carried out without disrupting the class, and create more courses to divide the large groups into smaller groups so that teachers are able to properly give feedback and instruction, etc.