Department of Enterprise Development and Management

Permanent URI for this community

http://hdl.handle.net/11070/3528

Browse

Browsing Department of Enterprise Development and Management by Advisor "Saruchera, Fanny"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An evaluation of service quality and challenges faced by the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund
    (University of Namibia, 2020) Elago, Petrus Uugwanga Tulinane; Saruchera, Fanny
    Service quality is the ability of the organization to meet or exceed customer expectations. The late payment of loans to the Higher Tertiary Institutions (HTI's) in Namibia has been a major concern to both students and parents for the past years. HTI's put students in jeopardy when they are not allowed to write their examinations or receive their examination results due to unpaid tuition fees. It is on this basis that the researcher intended to evaluate the quality of service being offered by NSF AF from the viewpoint of students and from NSF AF' s point of view as an institution. The objectives of the study were: to evaluate the customer perceptions of service quality at NSF AF; to determine if customers were satisfied with NSF AF service; to establish the service delivery challenges faced by NSF AF and to identify possible strategies to improve service efficiency at NSF AF. A mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative was used in order to gain an understanding of underlying perceptions and opinions for staff members and beneficiaries. This study was a combination of descriptive research and exploratory research. A case study research design was adopted and primary data was collected using researcher administered questionnaires from 127 students and 89 NSF AF staff members who were randomly sampled. The study made use of both descriptive and inferential statistics in drawing conclusions from the results. The study found that there was a significant difference between the customers' perception of service quality at NSF AF and service offered by NSFAF. In addition, the study concluded that the majority of students were not satisfied with the service delivered by NSF AF. The study further revealed that internal business processes, IT systems, recovery, policies and procedures were the main internal challenges the fund was faced with. Furthermore, the study revealed that NSF AF had the necessary resources to deliver effective and timely service to customers. The study further concluded that government directives and the economic downturn were the main external challenges that NSF AF was faced with. The study recommends that NSF AF acquires proper IT systems, to train its staff members on customer care and service, disburse student funds timely, improve communication and hire more employees in order to improve and enhance service delivery