Unit 11 Research Project Assignment Customer satisfaction

Program	Diploma in Travel and Tourism
Unit Number and Title	Unit 11 Research Project Customer satisfaction
QFC Level	Level 5

Task1

1. Understand on how to formulate research specification.

1.1 Formulate and record possible research project outline specifications

Customer Satisfaction

Introduction: Customer satisfaction is the primary objective for any company offering products and services. The major objective of customer satisfaction of the organization will enhance the brand image and goodwill for that organization. Customer satisfaction is the process of meeting customer expectations by providing the expected products and services. Every company should concentrates on the customer satisfaction for improving the business performance. (Scotti, et.al, 2016)

Today for every organization it is important to take into consideration the customer satisfaction and operate according to improve the business performance and meet the customer expectation. The research is being done on the Easy jet Airways which provides its domestic and international services over 32 countries and 820 routes. It is basically a European company which mainly operates in UK. This research project is based on the problem which can emerge in the Easy jet Airways because of the easy and affordable services the company may lost the  customer satisfaction  and may generate hurdles in meeting the customer expectation which can decrease the performance level. This research project is conducted to identify whether the customers of Easy jet are satisfied with the services of the company.( Ansari, et.al, 2014)

Aims and Objectives: The aim or the objective of conducting this research project is:

• To study about the Customer Satisfaction.
• To study about the easy jet airways and its services.
• To examine the level of customer satisfaction of the customers of the company.
• Identifying the causes of low customer satisfaction and its impact on the business.
• To provide the solutions to the company for enhancing the services. (Sarkar, et.al, 2011)

Literature review: Oksana Mont and  Andrius Plepys in a review on customer satisfaction states that understanding consumer behaviour and balancing customer satisfaction is the two basic activities that the companies have to take into consideration. The companies for maintaining the customer services all over the world have to adopt the policy of satisfying customers. According to them, in the present scenario the customers are gaining the maximum knowledge and understand the quality of the products and services offered. The customers expect the maximum quality services from the companies in return of their value. The customers are becoming aware of best quality of the products and services. To maintain the brand image and the customers the companies have to make the customer satisfaction as their priority.

Resource implications: The resources needed in conducting the research are the human resources and the financial resources. The human resource is the people who conduct the research and collect the required data for the research and by analysing the research data they prepare the research project on the particular issue. Financial resources are the money required to meet the cost of the research project. The research project is the costly activity which increases the expenses of the researcher due to various methodologies needed to conduct the research.  The resources are needed by the researcher to conduct the research effectively. (Anonymous 2011)

1.2 Identify the factors that contribute to the process of research project selection.

The factors which influence or contribute to the research project selection are:

• Human resources- The research has been conducted to gain the knowledge about customer satisfaction in the easy jet airways which has made changes in the ticket fare of the flights of domestic as well as international tours which may result in the low level of service in the flights and customer dissatisfaction. The research for this need the human resource to conduct and analyse the questionnaires and collect the various information from different sources.
• Time- The research is influenced by the time as it is time consuming and takes time in collecting information through questionnaire and other sources.
• Cost- Cost is another factor which influence in the research as it is to be conducted by the different sources it needs the financial resources. (Madar, A. 2015)

1.3 Undertake a critical review of key references about customer satisfaction.

The area in which the research has been conducted is the customer satisfaction in the services of the easy jet airways. The research has been conducted on the level of customer satisfaction by the services of easy jet airways in domestic as well as international flights. The companies in the today’s world require focusing on the customer satisfaction as the satisfied customer provides the maximum profits to the organization. The companies require focusing on matching the products and services with the expectation of the customers for providing the better services. The customer satisfaction is the crucial stage for the companies or the organization providing services. The problem which generally occurs to the organizations is in attaining the expected level of customer satisfaction. The companies to match the services with the expected level of customer have to raise the quality of providing the services and the products. The problem for which the research has been conducted is in meeting the customer satisfaction by the easy jet airways because of the cheap and affordable tour to the public internationally and domestically. This will decrease the quality of service the easy jet provides which will result in losing the customers.

Kano model of customer satisfaction bifurcate the features of the product and services on the basis of  how it perceive the customer and what is the level of the customer after consuming it. (Namukasa, J. 2013) Roger model explains the customer satisfaction in various steps such as knowing the information of the innovation, and then the customer forms an attitude towards the innovation idea of the product, after this the customer decides whether to adopt or reject the product, and at last decide the confirmation of the innovation and its satisfaction level occurred. It further describes that the different people accept different innovations.

The techniques or methodologies which will be used to conduct this research are primary and secondary. The primary techniques which will conduct the research are in the form of questionnaire and secondary techniques for conducting the research is internet, newspapers.

The  research project  has certain disadvantage such as it will be time consuming and also confined to the customer satisfaction of the airways industry. The problem in conducting the research occurs due to these advantages. The recommendations for the research project is that to increase the customer satisfaction level among the customers the airways industry should offer the quality services as well as the proper attention to the each customer and to some extent customize the services. Better allotment of resources and proper utilization of such resources should be done to increase the quality of services. This research on customer satisfaction also includes the references in the last from which the help to conduct the research has been taken. (Garrow, et.al, 2012)

1.4 Produce a research project specification

The various research project specifications are discussed below:

• Project title- The topic on which the research report will be prepared is the Customer Satisfaction. This research will be discussing that whether the easy jet is providing its customers the expected service or not.
• Summary- The project will be evaluating the problem in providing the customer satisfaction to the public. The easy jet airways by providing the services at very low and affordable prices reducing the quality of services.
• Introduction- The easy jet airways are the one of the leading airlines company which is providing the services to its customers at very cheap and affordable prices which can lead in the reduction of quality of services of the airlines. This research will be done to identify the problems and recommend the preventive measures. This research also includes the sample questionnaire to support the research.
• Research objectives- The aim to conduct the research is for finding the problems and their measures to avoid such problems of the companies in future and increase the customer satisfaction as well as the profits of the companies.
• Methodology- The methodology which will be used in conducting this research is primary and secondary techniques of collecting data. The primary technique includes the sample questionnaire and secondary technique includes the internet, and other media.
• Project plan- The project plan will include the Gantt chart and questionnaire. It will be discussing the planning of completing each task and the research in the particular time period. The time will approximately include 10-15 days for completing the research.
• Conclusion and recommendations- The findings of the research will be covered under this head. The conclusions of the research and the recommendations or suggestions to the company will be discussed under this head explaining the importance of customer satisfaction and how it can be achieved.

1.5 Provide an appropriate plan and procedure for the agreed research specification.

Action plan:

Action plan includes the steps in which the research is to be conducted within the particular days. The action plan should be in a tabular form explaining the sequence of actions to be performed and their specific time to complete. The action plan for the following research is provided below:

Activities	Particular	Startingdate	Timeslot(days)	Completion date	Description
1	Selecting the title for the research	25 October,2016	1	25 October,2016	Title is selected with the help of professor
2	Collected basic information	26 October,2016	3	28 October,2016	Different sources have been accessed to collect the information
3	Prepare documentation	29 October,2016	3	31 October,2016	Required documents are prepared such as questionnaire
4	Collection of data	1 November,2016	4	4 November,2016	Collection of data from various sources
5	Data evaluation	5 November,2016	3	7 November,2016	With the proper techniques the data is evaluated
6	Conclusion	8 November,2016	2	9 November,2016	Proper conclusion of the research

Gantt chart

Task 2

2.1 Match resources efficiently to the research questions or hypothesis.

The research questions under this research is the customer satisfaction is attained in the services of Easy jet or not.

Hypothesis: The hypothesis of the above question is:

• The easy jet airways company providing the low quality services to its customers.
• The company is providing affordable tour to the customers with limited services.
• The company is unable to meet the expectation of customers. (Uysal, et.al, 2003)

2.2 Undertake the proposed research investigation in accordance with the agreed specification and procedures.

Questionnaire:

• The company service representatives well trained.

1. Strongly agree
2. Moderately agree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Moderately disagree
5. Strongly disagree

• The company services are matched with quality standards.

1. Strongly agree
2. Moderately agree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Moderately disagree
5. Strongly disagree

• The services of the company are provided on the low prices.

1. Strongly agree
2. Moderately agree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Moderately disagree
5. Strongly disagree

• The customers are looking forward to travel more.

1. Strongly agree
2. Moderately agree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Moderately disagree
5. Strongly disagree

• The company is matching the satisfaction of the customers properly.

1. Strongly agree
2. Moderately agree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Moderately disagree
5. Strongly disagree

The questionnaire contains the questions related to the identification of the customers’ point of view regarding the easy jet services. The questionnaire is will be distributed to the 20 students who have already experienced the tour with easy jet airways and took their services. The questionnaire will be deciding the conclusion of whether the airways company has met the expectation level of its customers or they need to bring some changes in their services.

2.3 Record and collate the relevant data where appropriate.

• Primary data- The primary data is the information collected by the researcher on the provided problem with the help of primary sources such as questionnaires, population sample, surveys, and interviews. Primary data report is the first hand report which is collected for the research project by the researcher.
• Secondary Data- The secondary data collected by the researcher is the information which is collected by the different sources of the secondary information such as the internet blogs, the newspaper and other media available. It is the data which is already collected and not fresh. It is the data which is the research already done on the topic and is refined by the researcher for his matter. ("US airlines score lowest customer satisfaction in years", 2014)

S.no

Questions

Respondents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1

The company service representatives well trained.

B

B

A

B

B

B

A

C

B

B

A

A

B

B

C

C

C

B

B

B

2

The company services are matched with quality standards.

C

D

D

D

B

C

D

E

E

D

E

B

C

C

D

D

C

D

C

B

3

The services of the company are provided on the low prices.

B

A

A

D

C

B

A

A

D

E

E

D

A

B

A

A

D

B

A

A

4

The customers are looking forward to forward to travel more.

B

A

B

D

D

E

D

E

B

D

A

E

E

D

D

C

A

C

B

D

5

The company is matching the expectation of the customers properly.

E

D

E

E

C

D

B

D

C

E

E

D

B

B

E

C

D

E

D

D

Task 3

3.1 Use appropriate research evaluation techniques.

• Formative evaluation technique- Formative evaluation is the technique of assessing the report in during the development of the report. In this the evaluation is done in the early stage of the implementation and it is the technique of assessing the report before going ahead and improves the report if needed simultaneously.
• Summative evaluation technique- The summative evaluation technique is done on the after the whole report or the research has been conducted and are analyse the results on the collected data. In summative evaluation technique the feedback is obtained after completing the report and work is evaluated at the post implementation stage.

This research is conducted on the summative evaluation technique where the primary data is collected through the questionnaire formed for evaluating the customer satisfaction level of those experienced the services of Easy jet Airways in past some time. The primary data collected by 20 students asking about the customer satisfaction and the services provided by the easy jet company. ( Sabre Airlines Solutions implements Reaccommodation solution at JetBlue Airways' customer service 2011)This research project is conducted on the summative evaluation technique because it needed the feedback of the different people who have experienced the services of the company to provide the specific and exact results of the problem on which the research has been conducted.

3.2 Interpret and analyse the results in terms of the original research specification.

The analysis and interpretation done on the basis of the research conducted, the following results are shown in the tabular form

The company service representatives well trained.

S. No.	Responses	Number
A	Strongly agree	4
B	Moderately agree	12
C	Neither agree nor disagree	4
D	Moderately disagree	0
E	Strongly disagree	0
	Total	20
	mean	4
	median	4
	mode	4

According to the analysis of question 1 of the research, 16 students have agreed on the well trained representatives in the company service sector and are satisfies with the skills of the representatives. (Chauhan, et.al, 2014)

The company services are matched with quality standards.

S. No.	Responses	Number
A	Strongly agree	0
B	Moderately agree	3
C	Neither agree nor disagree	6
D	Moderately disagree	8
E	Strongly disagree	3
	Total	20
	mean	4
	median	3
	mode	3

As per the analysis of question 2 of the research conducted, 11 students have disagreed on the quality standards on the company.

The services of the company are provided on the low prices.

S. No.	Responses	Number
A	Strongly agree	9
B	Moderately agree	4
C	Neither agree nor disagree	1
D	Moderately disagree	4
E	Strongly disagree	2
	Total	20
	mean	4
	median	4
	mode	4

According to the analysis of question 3 of the research conducted, 13 students have agreed on the company providing cheap and affordable prices tours to its customers. (Hunter, J.A. 2011)

The customers are looking forward to travel more.

S. No.	Responses	Number
A	Strongly agree	3
B	Moderately agree	4
C	Neither agree nor disagree	1
D	Moderately disagree	6
E	Strongly disagree	4
	Total	18
	mean	4
	median	4
	mode	4

According to the analysis done of the question 4, 13 students have disagreed on travelling more with the Easy jet Airways in future.

The company is matching the satisfaction of the customers properly.

S. No.	Responses	Number
A	Strongly agree	0
B	Moderately agree	3
C	Neither agree nor disagree	3
D	Moderately disagree	7
E	Strongly disagree	7
	Total	20
	mean	4
	median	3
	mode	3

 According to the analysis of question 5 of the research, 14 students have disagreed on company matching expectation of the customers properly.( Robson, K. 2012;2013;)

3.3 Make recommendations and justify the areas for further consideration customer satisfaction in easy jet.

The easy jet airways have adopted grasping  business strategy  to attract the maximum customers by reducing the tour fares for the domestic as well as international lights of the company. The company decided to provide the services at very cheap and affordable prices to its customers for gaining maximum profit. But with the reducing strategy of the fares the company should increase the customer satisfaction. To gain the customer satisfaction and meeting their expectations in the services the company needs to manage the resources accordingly and in optimum manner. The company have invited the huge crowd to their travelling but cannot meet the expectations of the customer. (Namukasa, J. 2013)

According to the research conducted and primary data collected the customers who have experienced the services of the easy jet airways, the maximum people are not satisfies with the companies services and believe that company have the potential representatives or the employees but unable to meet with the customer expectations.

The company should make changes in the services provided to the customers and should maintain the quality in offering services. The customers who are paying for the travelling should be satisfied. The company should give priority in matching the needs of the customer and accomplishing the expectations of its customer for better goodwill and future profits. This will enable and help the company to enhance the performance and to maintain better relationship with its customers. (Schmitt, et.al, 2010;2003;)

In future the research could be done on the quality of services provided by the easy jet airways, the performance measurement in providing services to the customers and making better customer relations. This will enable to understand the company and its operations in detail and help in improving performance of the company and its representatives and gaining the company’s position in the airlines industry. (Mun, K. 2011)

Conclusion

The research conducted helped us to draw the conclusion that the services provided by the company to its customers are unable to meet the customer expectation which can destroy the image of the company and also destroy the relationship of the customers and the company. The company provides the services to its customers but to increase the level of satisfaction among them the company needs to improve the quality of its services which are to be provided in future.

References

Scotti, D., Dresner, M. & Martini, G. 2016, "Baggage fees, operational performance and customer satisfaction in the US air transport industry", Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 55, pp. 139-146.
Ansari, Z.A. &Qadri, F.A. 2014, "An Analysis of the Customer Satisfaction from the Service Quality of General Services of Saudi Airlines", International Review of Management and Business Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 1564.
Sarkar, T. &Batabyal, A.K. 2011, "Evaluation of customer satisfaction in R&D organization: a conceptual framework", Asian Journal on Quality, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 20-29.
Anonymous 2011, Sabre Airlines Solutions to assist JetBlue Airways' customer service, Normans Media Ltd, Coventry.
Madar, A. 2015, "Implementation of total  quality management  Case study: British Airways", Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 125-132.
Namukasa, J. 2013, "The influence of airline service quality on passenger satisfaction and loyalty: The case of Uganda airline industry", The TQM Journal, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 520-532.