Factors that Impact the Implementation of Service Excellence at the UAE Federal Government - Research Proposal Example

Factors that Impact the Implementation of Service Excellence at the United Arab Emirates Federal Government Name Grade Course Tutor’s Name Date 1.0 Introduction Modern day governments are increasingly facing demands to provide good returns for the taxes that they collect from the citizen taxpayers. Service excellence is one such demand, which the taxpaying population expects governments to provide them with. Although lacking in a precise definition, this research proposal will use Goutheir, Giese and Bartl’s (2012) definition of service excellence. The three authors state that service excellence refers to the “provision of excellent service quality through a management system, exceeding a customer’s previous expectations, to result in not only customer satisfaction but also customer delight and therefore greater customer loyalty” (Gouthier et al. 2012, p. 448). From the foregoing definition, several things emerge; first, a management system needs to be in place for an organization or government entity to successfully provide excellent service quality – in other words, service excellence takes deliberate actions by the provider of services to provide the best possible service encounter; and second, service excellence goes beyond meeting customers’ expectations and making them satisfied, into making the customers delighted and loyal. Arguably, service excellence is the epitome of superior service provision; it is a state that every service provider would like to be (especially because it develops delight and loyalty among customers), but which, most service providers have a hard time attaining. Despite the possible benefits of service excellence, it has been indicated that the ideal tactic of achieving the same remains uncertain (Gouthier et al. 2012). The uncertainty is deeper in government agencies because not much research has been done on the same. In the proposed research, service excellence in the UAE will be investigated. The proposed research will seek to identify any hindrances to the attainment of service excellence in United Arabs Emirates, their impact on the quality of service, and the reasons why the factors have an impact on service quality. The UAE is made up of seven emirates which include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah, Ajman and Fujairah. At the federal level, all seven emirates are governed as one entity under one King. The place of service excellence in the UAE was underlined by a report by the Dubai government and AT Kearney (cited by Abbas 2013, para. 3), which indicates that “developing a citizen-centric government will be crucial to sustaining the country’s economic growth and meeting its goals – and will require some changes to the current operational practices”. If the foregoing is true, then it is pretty clear that the UAE government is yet to achieve service excellence. Citing the same report, Abbas (2013) indicates that the UAE government and AT Kearney indicated the need for government services to be more proactive, service-oriented, personalized, accountable (i.e. receptive and reactive to constructive feedback), and must be equipped with systems and processes that enable citizens to contribute in policy making. The short-comings of government service provision notwithstanding, there are areas where the UAE government has performed considerably well. For example, the government has a program called mystery shopper in which the quality of services offered by government agencies is rated during undercover surprise inspections (Ministry of Cabinet Affairs 2013). The government also launched a program dubbed ‘Emirates Government Service Excellence Program’ in 2011. The program was intended to “enhance the quality of federal government services to the public so as to reach new levels of customer service with uniform quality across the country” (Abbas 2013, para. 6). Apart from awarding government agencies that have proven superior customer service provision, the aforementioned program also offers training in order to develop the abilities and enhance the skills of government workers to provide superior services to the citizenry (Abbas 2013). The UAE also launched a Customer Service Charter in 2011, which recognizes the importance of government to provide speedy and efficient services to the citizenry in order to generate the highest possible levels of satisfaction in regard to government services (Gulf News 2011). The Charter indicates the rights of customers as: the right to be received well in government offices, the right to receive speedy service delivery and performance, and the right to good personal treatment among others. However, the Charter also indicates that in order for superior service delivery by the government to become a reality, the public has to play its rightful role in matters such as upholding mutual respect, preparing necessary documents in good time, notifying the public sector staff of any changes in circumstances, personal information, or data, and responding to questions by the government service team (Gulf News 2013). Based on the foregoing government initiatives, it is evident that the UAE government has a will to enhance customer service provision to its citizens. The proposed research will therefore seek to determine whether the efforts by government have improved service provision, and whether service excellence has been achieved in the UAE. 2.0 Aims and Objectives The proposed study seeks to indicate the level of service provision by the UAE government. Specifically, the research seeks to find out whether: a) The UAE is anywhere near attaining service excellence in its service provision b) Factors (both negative and positive) that affect implementation of service excellence in the UAE c) Government’s measures towards enhancing service provision to the citizenry and their perceived efficacy 3.0 Research questions In order to meet the above stated aims and objectives, the proposed research will seek to answer the following questions: a) How does the UAE measure up to the dimensions of service excellence? b) What factors hinder or reinforce service excellence in the UAE? c) How can the UAE enhance service provision (and increase its chances of attaining service excellence) in future? 4.0 Literature review The reviewed literature herein is related to the concept of service excellence, and other concepts related to it. Such include service quality, business excellence, total quality management (TQM), European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), mystery shopping, culture of service, customer feedback, and the SERVQUAL Model. The dimensions of service excellence have been identified as “reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy” (LeBlanc 2012, para.1). It is indicated that regardless of the organization type that customers are seeking services from, they will always look for the five indicated dimensions. Reliability refers to a service provider’s ability to perform a promised service accurately and dependably. The tangibles dimension on the other hand refers to the appearance of the personnel, equipment, facilities and communications material to the customer. The responsiveness dimension refers to the service provider’s willingness to assist service seekers and the ability to offer fast and efficient service. On its part, the assurance dimension refers to the service provider’s ability to serve customers courteously, with confidence, knowledge and trust. Finally, the empathy dimension refers to the individualized and caring attention that the service provider gives to customers (LeBlanc 2013). It has been indicated that the attainment of service excellence is based on business excellence and the rigor and effectiveness of self-assessment at all levels of an organizations involving all employees (McAdam, Keogh, El Tigani & Gardiner 2013). On its part, business excellence is defined as “outstanding practices in managing the organization and achieving results, all based on eight fundamental concepts” (EFQM 2013, n.pag). The ‘eight fundamental concepts’ are indicated in figure 1 below, and are according to EFQM, critical to the attainment of service excellence and in extension, business excellence. Figure 1: The eight fundamental concepts of attaining service excellence as indicated by EFQM Source (EFQM 2013) As evident from the figure above, ‘adding value for customers’ is a fundamental concept which determines whether a business is able to attain business excellence. To successfully add value for customers, the organization has to consistently understand, anticipate and fulfill customers’ “needs, expectations and opportunities” (EFQM 2013, para.2). Through self-assessment, the government (management and employees in government institutions) are able to identify improvement opportunities, create focus on total quality management (TQM), identify a plan for process improvement and provide motivation with which the management and employees can improve processes and manage the organization (McAdam et al. 2013). To successfully carry out self-assessment, Dale (1994) suggests that organizations need to have practiced TQM for three or more years before adopting self assessment. TQM is defined as “management philosophy and company practices that aim to harness the human and material resources of an organization in the most effective way to achieve the objectives of the organization” (Dale 1996, p. 28). TQM has also been defined as a management philosophy that aims at optimizing and integrating the organization’s functions and processes in order to provide existing customers with continuous improvements (Mubaraki 2012). To effectively apply TQM, an organization has to identify areas where it is performing well, as well as areas where improvement is needed, hence the need for self-assessment. EFQM is cited as one of the common models that organizations use to judge their performances and identify areas for continuous improvement (Dale 1996, p. 28). In other words, EFQM is a model through which organizations seeks to attain TQM. Ruiz-Carrillo and Fernandez-Ortiz (2005, p. 32) indicate that EQFM assumes that “the satisfaction of customers...employees and a positive impact on society can be achieved by means of political and strategic leadership, right management, and effective use of the resources available and an adequate definition of the processes, which finally lead to excellence results”. In other words, the EQFM model has an organizational focus. The model’s desired outcomes include customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and societal satisfaction (Gouthier et al. 2012, p. 457). The link between TQM and service excellence is that customer focus and satisfaction is one of the five principles of TQM (Mubaraki 2012). Continuous performance improvement as envisaged in TQM requires an organization to know what to do, how to do what is required, have the right equipment to do what is required, and have the capacity to measure performance and get feedback on the same. Based on the foregoing, customer satisfaction from a TQM perspective requires the organization to understand the needs, wants and requirements of the customer, do what is required to meet such needs, wants and requirements, and have a way of measuring and obtaining feedback from customers in regard to service provision. Zairi (2000) adds to the TQM debate by indicating that customer satisfaction is a continuous process that requires the organization to listen to the customer, conduct a root cause analysis, develop actions, and implement and monitor solutions that aim at improving service provision. Once TQM is in place, service measurement can begin and at that point, SERVQUAL is often considered. According to Shahin (2010) the SERVQUAL instrument has predominantly been used in different organizations and industries to measure the perception of service quality held by customers. SERVQUAL has five dimensions, which are indicated as tangibles – i.e. the personnel, equipment and physical facilities; reliability – i.e. the service provider’s ability to provide services accurately and dependably; responsiveness – i.e. the service provider’s willingness to offer prompt services and assist customers; assurance – i.e. courtesy and knowledge that the service provider has, and which they use to inspire confidence and trust among the customers; and empathy – i.e. the individual and caring attention that firms give to their customers. SERVQUAL’s five dimensions are similar to service excellence dimensions, which in other words means that the former is a tool that measures the latter. The SERVQUAL instrument measures a firm’s (in this case the UAE’s government’s) performance across the five indicated dimensions. According to Shahin (2004), a seven-point Likert scale is used to measure customer expectations and their perceptions. To adequately use the SERVQUAL instrument however, customers need to have adequate information on the quality of services provided by a subject firm/government entity. Additionally, respondents need to have perceptions regarding the services provided by the subject firm/government entity. Without information about the quality of services and perceptions regarding the same, Shahin (2004) observes that feedback obtained using the SERVQUAL instrument would be misleading at best. Notably, not much literature is available relating to service excellence (or the lack thereof) in the UAE. The closest one gets on getting factual analysis about UAE’s government service provision is in Al-Khouri’s (2012) article, in which he investigates government’s use of e-government (through ICT) to enhance service provision. Al-Khouri (2012) notes that government’s e-government adoption has not been questioned, largely because people believe it will lead to the provision of efficient and cost-effective services. Citing Atkinson and Castro (2008) Al-Khouri (2012), indicates that the anticipated benefits of e-government include better accessibility of service, enhanced transparency and accountability, improved services, and efficiency. Arguably, e-government plays a critical role in enhancing service provision because as Al-Khouri (2012, p. 129) notes, effective implementation of the same would mean that there would be “no queues, no waiting, services 24/7”. Yet, e-government would increase the public’s expectations regarding service provision, and this also means that their dissatisfaction would be high if their expectations are not met. Citing Longford (2002), Al-Khouri (2012) notes that one of the major sources of dissatisfaction with government service provision that is pegged on e-government is that instead of creating public-oriented systems, which would effectively encourage and promote citizen participation, most governments (the UAE government included) focus too much on administrative rationalization, service reform and cost-cutting. Service reform is especially relevant to service excellence, since, when done, it brings changes to the manner through which the public is attended to in government offices. Change is always hard to get used to and if the public is not mentored and/or guided properly in a manner that makes it easier for them to navigate through the changes, their level of dissatisfaction increases. Notably, UAE’s government strategy has its focus on enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. To ensure service excellence (which is marked by optimal customer satisfaction), the government underscores the need to transform, offer quality services, create awareness, build confidence among members of the public, and enhance e-government usage ( Al-Khouri 2012). In the 2011-2013 strategic plan, the UAE government (2010, p. 1) give emphasis to “putting citizens first” through “an accountable, lean, innovative and forward-looking government”. Whether the foregoing has led to the attainment of service excellence is a question that is yet to be answered. Notably however, the 2011-2013 strategic plan identifies seven principles that are set to steer the government towards realizing its objectives in putting citizens first. Among the seven principles is one that indicates that the government will “focus on delivering high-quality, customer-centric, and integrated government services” (UAE Government Strategy 2010, p. 6). The strategic plan indicates that federal entities would focus more on customers (the public) in an effort to understand their needs. The strategic plan further indicates that government services would be “designed, re-engineered, and streamlined” in a manner that meets the needs, requirements and expectations of different customer segments (UAE Government Strategy 2010, p. 6). E-government is cited as one way through which government would provide high-quality and seamless customer experience. Customer segmentation is also cited as a way through which government would enhance its knowledge of its customers and their needs, hence making it easier to use innovative channels and to streamline and re-engineer processes for purposes of enhancing the quality of service delivered (UAE Government Strategy 2010). While all the foregoing looks good and promising on paper, it is worth noting that a search through literature does not provide results which indicate how the UAE government has performed on its strategic objectives. In other words, there is no telling whether the government has attained service excellence, and if not, the challenges that have hindered it from doing so. 5.0 Research gap and significance of the study Government services involve face-to-face interactions with the public (customers) and backroom components, which are out of the public view. According to Hirmukhe (2012), government services differ from pure service provision because in some cases there are high levels of contacts with the public, while in other cases, there is less or no public contact. The unique nature of government services therefore makes it hard to assess their quality. As Hirmukhe (2012) notes, the dimensions of service quality identified above can also be applied in government services (also known as public services). However, there are three characteristics that researchers need to be aware of. They include: it is more difficult to evaluate service quality; the expectations and perceptions that consumers have towards services determine quality perceptions; and the service quality gap is only evident if perceptions of service do not meet the consumer’s expectations. In the UAE, it is obvious from government initiatives that the government is fully aware that expectations by the public have increased significantly, especially as technology adoption becomes the conventional operational mode for governments throughout the world. Despite this awareness by government however, there is a gap in literature regarding whether the government initiatives do indeed succeed in meeting the expectations of government service delivery which are held by the public. The proposed research will try to fill the existing gap by investigating the public’s expectations and perceptions regarding the services offered by the UAE government. Notably, every organization has internal (employees) and external customers (Hirmukhe 2013). The UAE government is no different; it has employees who need to be satisfied with the service provision in government agencies before advancing quality services to the public. Existing literature about public service (especially related to service excellence in the UAE government sector) does not indicate the connection between service excellence for the public and the service satisfaction that government employees get from their employer. The proposed research therefore will seek to find out if a link exists between satisfied/dissatisfied internal customers and service excellence (or lack thereof) in the UAE government sector. The foregoing will be done in consideration of the research objectives that are indicated elsewhere in this proposal. It is also notable that literature about public service in the UAE does not indicate whether service provision has been measured since the introduction of government initiatives (e.g. mystery shopper) aiming to enhance the same, and as such, one cannot determine whether the UAE is anywhere near attaining service excellence in its service provision. The literature also does not indicate the factors (both negative and positive) that affect implementation of service excellence in the UAE. The foregoing is perhaps an indication that not much research has been carried out on the subject. Finally, while it is evident that the UAE government has adopted measures meant to enhance the quality of services provided to the public, a scan through literature reveals that not much is known about the efficacy or lack thereof of the measures’ perceived efficacy. Much of what is known (or at least what this proposal was able to gather) regarding service provision in UAE’s public sector is available from newspaper and Internet articles. For example, in 2011, PR Newswire (2011, n.pag.) reported that the UAE was bent on “creating a customer-centric community”. The article reports how the Customer Service Charter would enhance the quality of services provided by government to members of the public. In subsequent years, other articles have followed up on the service charter, but a search through academic literature does not return any results. This could mean that both the UAE and academic analysts have not taken time to analyze whether the Customer Service Charter has indeed had any effect on the quality of service provision in the country. Another gap in knowledge relates to the nature of government and the fact that it does not have competitors. Specifically, it would be interesting to find out the motivation behind pursuing service excellence even when the government is fully aware that the public has no other alternative from where to get services that only the government can provide. 6.0 Research methodology 6.1 Sample Ten government departments will be identified for inclusion in the research. They will include departments drawn from the ministries of education and scientific research, social affairs, education, health, labor, justice, energy and environment and water. The staff working therein will be included in the survey as part of the internal customers. From the ten government departments, 1200 random emails from members of the public who have had a service encounter in the various departments in the last six months will be chosen for inclusion in the survey. 6.2 Questionnaire Self-completion questionnaires have been described as cheap and useful in a survey where “people are dispersed over a wide geographical area, where travelling demands on the interviewed would be excessive” (Phellas, Bloch & Seale 2011, p. 197). Additionally, using such questionnaires reduces biasing errors since the interviewer and the respondent do not usually meet (especially if the questionnaires are emailed or posted to the respondents). They also provide anonymity to respondents, making them more comfortable in answering questions that they would otherwise hesitate to answer on a one-on-one interview (Phellas et al. 2011). This implies that the reliability of responses is high when questionnaires are used. Questionnaires however have some negatives which include: low response rates, they need to be short for purposes of enhancing comprehension by respondents, the researcher has no control over who responds to the questions, and in case of emailed questionnaires, they may not reach all targeted respondents in good time, especially those who have poor email habits (e.g. those who do not check their emails regularly). The above negatives notwithstanding, the proposed research will use a questionnaire, which will be a modified version of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry’s (1988) SERVQUAL instrument. The questionnaire will be sent by email to randomly selected respondents. Instead of the Parasuraman et al.’s (1988) seven-point scale however, the questionnaire will have a four-point scale, which will make it easier for respondents to fill, and will also make the analysis simpler. 6.3 Ontological assumptions Ontology in research refers to the assumptions that the research has in relation to social reality and its nature. According to Long et al. (2000), there are two ontological assumptions available to researchers; one assumes that reality is objective and external to individuals and is referred to as objectivism. The other assumes that reality is subjective and is cognitively constructed by individuals and is referred to as constructivism. In the proposed study, objectivism will be adopted since when applied in context, the ontological assumption suggests that satisfaction is affected by quality of service, and that realities of the quality of service offered and the satisfaction by customers can be captured by finding out customers’ perceptions regarding the services offered to them. Through adapting the questions used in the SERVQUAL instrument, the proposed research will use a structured approach to understand consumer perceptions and the gaps that exist between their expectations before consuming a service, as well as their perceptions after consuming the service. Notably, the proposed research will not be seeking to understand the perception of each respondent; rather, the research will seek to get general answers on consumers’ expectations and perceptions using the SERVQUAL model. 6.4 Epistemological assumptions Bryman and Bell (2007, p.16) broadly define epistemology as a study of knowledge. Positivism and interpretivism are the two main epistemological assumptions that researchers usually use. Positivism advocates the use of natural science methods in the study of social realities. Positivism researchers try to understand and explain human behavior (Bryman & Bell 2007). Interpretivism on the other hand is more concerned with understanding human actions as opposed to the forces that inspire human behavior (Bryman & Bell 2007). In the proposed research, a positivist epistemology will be adopted since the researcher will assess customer satisfaction in order to gauge the level of service excellence in the UAE. The foregoing is a social phenomenon, which includes service provision by the UAE government, the public’s expectations towards the same, and their perceptions after service provision encounter. Service quality (and excellence) will be gauged from the public’s (consumers’) point of view. Arguably, the quality of services offered by the UAE government and customers’ satisfaction are realities whose existence is outside the mind of the researcher. To understand (and explain) them therefore, the researcher needs to use methods of natural science – in this case the SERVQUAL instrument – to investigate and report findings about the same. From a positivist view, the research and the respondents are independent, and as such, none can influence the other. 6.5 Research strategy Qualitative and quantitative methods of research are the main strategies that researchers adopt. Quantitative strategy, as the name suggests, puts more emphasis on quantification of data through collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell 2007, p. 29). It employs deductive reasoning to connect theory and research and assumes positivism as a way of comprehending and explaining social realities (Bryman & Bell 2007). The proposed research will be quantitative in nature. The quantitative strategy will be adopted due to its suitability in answering the research questions indicated elsewhere in this proposal. With 10 departments drawn from different government ministries from the UAE government sampled in the research, the research findings will be considered a representation of the status of service provision in the larger UAE government. 6.6 Research design A research design provides researchers with a framework for use during data collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell 2007). Generally, researchers choose from five research designs, which include comparative design, case studies, longitudinal design, social survey design, and cross-sectional design (Bryman & Bell 2007). The chosen research design reflects on the priorities that a researcher has on matters such as expressing causal relationship variable, generalizing results to a bigger population in the research area, understanding behavior and its meaning in a social context, and appreciation of social occurrences and their connections with the subjects of study (Bryman & Bell, 2007). In the proposed research, a cross-sectional design will be used since it allows for the collection of data from many subjects and comparing their differences. As indicated elsewhere in this proposal, the research will need to establish whether there is a link between the satisfaction levels of internal customers (employees) and the quality of service provision as perceived by the public (external customers). The cross-sectional sample will provide the researcher with a snapshot of what service provision looks like in government departments, and will also provide the researcher with a snapshot of consumers’ perceptions in regard to government services. The sampled respondents, who as indicated above will be randomly drawn from the email databases in the 10 government departments, will be requested to fill a self-reported questionnaire regarding their expectations about government services, and their perceptions after being served in a government office. Variables like social background, gender and age among others will be hard to manipulate in a randomly selected sample, and as Bryman and Bell (2007), they cannot be amended. The self-reporting questionnaires have advantages which include being cheap and quick to administer, and affording respondents the autonomy of responding to questions. As such, they are free from researcher bias, since there is minimal interaction between the researcher and the respondent. 7.0 Limitations One of the most likely limitations to the proposed research will be in the choice of self-report questionnaires in the collection of primary data. While such questionnaires are fast and cheap to administer, they also attract low responses from targeted respondents. As such, only a fraction of the respondents may fill and return their responses. Additionally, and as noted by Bryman and Bill (2007), some respondents do not answer all questions in the questionnaire. Finally, there is always the risk of self-bias when a person is reporting about him/herself to someone else. Another limitation may emerge from the fact that government has no competitor. As such, the public understands that whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied, they are stuck with the government as their sole service provider. An element of bias is therefore possible from consumers who do not take offence in sub-standard service delivery (assuming there is not much that can be expected from government offices), and those who are overly critical of government performance, hence finding fault even where none exists. As indicated in the government’s service charter (discussed elsewhere in this proposal), consumers too have a role to play in ensuring that they receive good services. For example, they may need to update their contact information with relevant government agencies, and may also need to carry all the essentials (e.g. academic transcripts and other documents) when seeking relevant services from government offices. Unfortunately, the proposed research will have no way of finding out if a dissatisfied consumer suffered disappointment based on the service provider’s failure, or based on their own failures to meet the indicated requirements. 8.0 Conclusion The limitations in the proposed research and the weaknesses of the research methodology notwithstanding, it is evident that there is a need to evaluate the quality and levels of service provision in the UAE. As indicated herein, the government has put in place several programs and processes which are intended to enhance service delivery in the public sector. As is evident from literature however, not many studies have been done to indicate whether the programs or processes have enabled the UAE to attain service excellence. Additionally, it would appear that the role played by government employees has not been sufficiently appreciated (at least in the available literature) hence signaling the need to study the same. Specifically, and in line with the identified research objectives, the government employees will be investigated in their roles as enablers and/or hindrances to the attainment of service excellence. Notably however, the proposed research is expected to contribute to knowledge by filling the above identified knowledge gaps. The UAE government will also benefit from an independent evaluation of their service provision, and this may lead to corrective action on their part, or the government may choose to investigate findings from the proposed research further. Overall, it is clear that the proposed research will awaken debate about service provision in UAE’s government sector, and this is a positive thing considering that governments have no competitors and as such, holding them to account can be tasking. Findings from the proposed research might also be helpful to governments throughout the world, which might be interested in the pursuit of service excellence. References Abbas, R 2013, ‘The genesis of citizen-centric government in the GCC: when citizens are customers,’ customer Service.ae, viewed 3 Dec 2013, http://www.customerservice.ae/the-genesis-of-citizen-centric-government-in-the-gcc-when-citizens-are-customers. Al-Khouri, A 2012, ‘eGovernment strategies the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),’ European Journal of ePractice, no. 17, pp.126-150. Bryman, A & Bell, E 2007, Business research methods, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, New York. Dale, B G 1996, ‘Benchmarking on total quality management adoption: a positioning model,’ Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, vol. 3, no.1, pp. 28-37. European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) 2013, ‘Fundamental concepts’, viewed 2 December 2013, < http://www.efqm.org/efqm-model/fundamental-concepts> Gouthier, M, Giese, A & Bartl, C 2012, ‘Service excellence models: a critical discussion and comparison,’ Managing Service Quality, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 447-464. Gulf News 2013, ‘Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid launches ‘Customers Service Charter’ for UAE federal government,’ AL Nasir Publishing LLC, viewed 12 December 2013, http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/shaikh-mohammad-bin-rashid-launches-customers-service-charter-for-uae-federal-government-1.812360 Hirmukhe, J 2012, ‘Measuring internal customers’ perceptions on service quality using SERVQUAL in administrative services,’ International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 1-6. Johnston, R 2007, ‘insights into service excellence’, In Gouthier, M, Coenen, C, Schulze, H & Wegmann, C (Eds), Service excellence als Impulsgeber, Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden, pp. 17-35. Lasierra, J 2007, ‘Labor relations in Spanish public administration in a context of change: The role of context regulation’, International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 20, no.1, pp. 63-74. Le Blanc, J 2012, ‘The five dimensions of service excellence,’ HR Info, Fall, viewed 4 December 2013, Long, R, White, C, Friedman, W & Brazeal, D 2000, ‘The qualitative versus quantitative research debate: a question of metaphorical assumptions,’ International Journal of Value-Based Management, vol. 13, pp. 189-197. McAdam, R, Keogh, W, Tigani, AA & Gardiner, P 2013, ‘An exploratory study of business excellence implementation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public sector: management and employee perceptions,’ International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 426-445. Ministry of Cabinet Affairs 2013, ‘Excellence awards,’ United Arabs Emirates, viewed 2 December 2013, http://www.moca.gov.ae/?page_id=1415&lang=en Mubaraki, M 2012, ‘Application of total quality management principles in small and medium firms,’ European Scientific Journal, vol. 8, no. 25, pp. 20-27. Parasuraman, A, Zeithaml, V A &Berry, L L 1988, ‘A multiple-Item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality,’ Journal of Retailing, vol. 64, no.1, pp. 12-40. Phellas, C N., Bloch, A & Seale, C 2011, ‘Structured methods: interviews, questionnaires and observation’, In Seale, C (Ed), Researching society and culture, 3rd edition, Sage, London, pp. 195-205. PR Newswire 2011, ‘Creating a customer-centric community in the UAE’, viewed 6 December 2013, Ruiz-Carrillo, J & Fernandez-Ortiz, R 2005, ‘Theoretical foundation of the EFQM model: the resource-based view,’ Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, vol. 16, no.1, pp. 31-55. Shahin, A 2004, ‘SERVQUAL and model of service quality gaps: a framework for determining and prioritizing critical factors in delivering quality services,’ pp. 1-10, viewed 4 December 2013, . UAE Government Strategy 2010, ‘Highlights of the UAE government strategy 2011-2013,’ United Arabs Emirates, pp. 1-29, viewed 6 December 2013, < http://www.economy.ae/English/Magazine/UAE%20Economy%204-E_L.pdf>. Zairi, M 2000, ‘Managing customer satisfaction: a best practice perspective’, The TQM Magazine, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 389-394. Read More