CHALLENGES FACING CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY IN PUBLIC

ORGANISATIONS: A CASE OF THE GHANA IMMIGRATION SERVICE

(PASSPORT OFFICE) SUNYANI

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

SUBMITTED TO THE

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF GHANA, FIAPRE

FACULTY: ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PROGRAMME: MANAGEMENT

By

EUNICE YEBOAH ANTWI

PROJECT SUPERVISORS NAME: DR. KWAMENA SACKEY - AKOMEAH

NOVEMBER 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study.1
1.2 Problem Statement...3
1.3 Research Questions.3
1.4 Research Objectives........4
1.5 Significance of the Study.4
1.6 Organisation of Chapters.........5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction.7
2.1 Overview of Customer Service Delivery in Ghana ....7
2.2 Customer Satisfaction what it is.......................................9
2.3 Defining Customers...10
2.4 Customer Purchasing Process10
2.5 Attitude and Satisfaction...11
2.6 Approaches to determining customer satisfaction.12
2.7 Factors that hinder staff in Customer Service Delivery13
2.8 Consequences of Poor Quality Service.14
2.9 Institutional Framework14

ii

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction...16
3.1 Scope.................................16
3.2 Research Design16
3.3 Sample Population.....................................................................................................17
3.4 Sampling and Sampling techniques...17
3.5 Data Collection..18
3.6 Instrumentation..19
3.7 Data Analysis.19
3.8 Timetable...19
3.9 Limitations.20
3.10 Delimitations...20
Reference.23
Appendix.25

iii

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
In todays world of business, competitive demands have made it crucial for
organizations to strategize towards attracting and retaining more customers. For this
reason, central to the operations of every business organization is the improvement of
customer service. In as much as it can be taken for granted that many of the public
organizations in Ghana are doing their best to satisfy their customers in many respects,
one area seems unattended to: the minor issues that could mean so much to customers
but may not have caught the eyes of the bosses. May be they have, but these bosses see
them as too trivial, minor or petty to be given attention. These issues though may look
or sound trivial, may have the tendency to irritate customers-both existing and potential
and eventually push them away. It is most unfortunate for customers when it happens
that these organizations in question have no ready competitors to which they can turn.
If it happens this way, the option left to customers is to make do with whatever services
they obtain from these poor performers but with great disappointment.
In many Public organizations within the country, these trivial problems range
from poor power supply by the electricity company of Ghana, no advance warning
concerning Water cut by Ghana Water Company, continuous disruption of bus
schedules at intercity State Transport Company, long queues and poor customer service
rendered by the Ghana immigration service (passport office) and other similar instances
in different public organizations in Ghana. Good customers are an asset which, when

well managed and served will return a handsome lifetime income stream for the
company (Kotler, 1998).
Zeithaml (2000) stressed that leveraging service quality has been shown to assist
in both the retention and expansion of the existing customer base; thus in an attempt to
establish a competitive advantage, marketing practitioners often seek to differentiate
their service offering upon service quality.
Spreng & Mackoy (1996) indicated that service quality and customer
satisfaction are inarguably the two core concepts that are at the crux of the marketing
theory and practice. According to Shemwell et al., (1998) in todays world of intense
competition, the key to sustainable competitive advantage lies in delivering high quality
service that will in turn result in satisfied customers. The customers overall satisfaction
with the services of the organization is a function of all the encounters/experiences of
the customers with that organization. Similar to service quality, customer satisfaction
can occur at multiple levels in an organization, for example, satisfaction with the
contact person, satisfaction with the core service and satisfaction with the organization
as a whole.
According to a report by Daily Guide on modernghana.com on getting a
Ghanaian passport: nothing has changed, the Greater Accra Regional Immigration
Office at the ministries where receipts of applications and collection of passports are
done, revealed that many people who have applied, have not received their passports,
even though the four-week processing period had long elapsed. It was found out that the
delay might be due to genuine working constraints and limitations associated with the
processing of the passports. Again, there is administrative problems concerning the

operations of middlemen or passport contractors at the premises of the passport office

and

these

factors

are

posing

customer

service

delivery

challenges

(http://www.modernghana.com/news/28462/1/getting-a-ghanaian-passport-nothing-haschanged.html, 2014).

1.2 Problem Statement

The problem in relation to customer service delivery in Sunyani municipality and
particularly the Ghana Immigration Service illustrates failure to meet the expectations
of consumers which result in grave consequences on political, social and economic
growth of the state. Satisfying customers is based on knowing or understanding
customers need and behaviour and address such with a suitable quality products and
services as demanded by the business, and doing this above other competitors (Bitner,
1994; Boltan, 1998). A total quality customer satisfaction is a participative process that
empowers all levels of employees to work in groups to establish guest expectation and
determine the best way of meeting or exceeding those expectations (Fornell &
Anderson, 1996). In this context, the Ghana Immigration Service (passport office) in
Sunyani will be able to serve the variation in demand and preferences.

1.3 Research Questions

The main research question will be, what are the challenges the passport office
division of the Ghana Immigration Service in Sunyani face in serving customers?
Other questions the study will pose include:

1. What is the customers perception of the quality of service rendered by the

Ghana Immigration Service (passport office) in Sunyani?
2. What are the factors that hinder staff in customer service delivery?
3. What are the effects(s) of poor customer service on the organization?

1.4 Research Objectives

The main research object will be challenges the passport office division of the
Ghana Immigration Service in Sunyani face in serving customers.
Other objectives the study will look at include:
1. To find out customers perception of the quality of service rendered by the Ghana
Immigration Service (passport office) in Sunyani.
2. To determine factors that hinder staff in customer service delivery.
3. To find out the effect(s) of poor customer service on the organization.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study is immensely significant in diverse ways to business/marketing
practitioners, policy makers and stakeholders.
To the management of Ghana Immigration Service, the findings and the results
that would be reported in this study will provide a more reliable and scientific measure
and perspective for describing and evaluating the level of their customer satisfaction
with the services they deliver. It will also serve as an invaluable source of information
that brings to lime light customers perception of the quality of service they render. It
will essentially uncover factors that hinder staff in quality customer service delivery.

This will provide empirical support for management strategic decisions in several
critical areas of their operations, and above all, provide a justifiable valid and reliable
guide to designing workable service delivery improvement strategies for creating and
delivering customer value, achieving customer satisfaction and loyalty, building longterm mutually beneficial relationship with profitable customers.
Nonetheless, to policy makes like government agencies such as Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the findings of this research will provide invaluable insights and a more
reliable guide to monitor the operations of the Ghana Immigration Service particularly
in the area of customer service delivery. It will also be a yardstick for measuring partly
their respective policy goals and objectives. Particularly, it will facilitate immensely the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ghana in achieving some of its policy goals which
include: enhancing the reliability and efficiency in the provision of passport services.
To stakeholders like investors, shareholders, pressure groups, the study will
provide invaluable information that will allow them to provide useful suggestions to the
improvement in service delivery of the Ghana Immigration Service.

1.6 Organisation of Chapters

This study will consist of three chapters. Chapter one, the present chapter gives an
introduction to the whole study. The chapter consists of the background of the study,
problem statement, research objectives and questions, significance of the study and
justification of the study, scope and limitations of the study, and organisation of the
chapters. Chapter two of the study reviews relevant literature on customer service
delivery and challenges. Sub-topics under this include: overview of customer service

delivery in Ghana, customer satisfaction what it is, defining customers, customer

purchasing process, attitude and satisfaction, approaches to determining customer
satisfaction, factors that hinder staff in customer service delivery, consequences of poor
quality service, and institutional framework. Chapter three is about the methodology
used in gathering the relevant data for the study. Sub-topics seen under this chapter are
introduction, scope, research design, sample population, sampling & sampling
techniques, data collection, instrumentation, data analysis, timetable, limitations, and
delimitations.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter is generally about reviewing relevant literature from text books,
journals, articles and other publications that are relevant to the study.

2.1 Overview of Customer Service Delivery in Ghana

It is sad to note that the quality of customer service in Ghana leaves much to be
desired. First of all, it is very difficult to reach most offices and public buildings by
telephone. Telephones ring endlessly without any response whatsoever. If one is lucky,
the call is answered after the sixth or seventh ring with a localised American southern
drawl, "yedooooww!!" The question is, does the Ghanaian customer service staff
perceive prompt answering of calls as a relevant and integral part of good customer
service? Does he or she know what that means to the customer? Promptly answering the
customer's call means prompt attention to your customer. It could further be translated
to mean that your company is readily available when the customer needs you. It
improves the customer's perception of your company's reliability, and promptness in
handling customer queries and requests. Even if the service delivered itself falls below
the customer's expectation or exact satisfaction, the ease with which you were reached,
and your readiness to assist leaves a very positive impression on your customer, which
in the long run, affects corporate image and the market positioning and perception of
the quality of your service (or product).

A second outstanding trait of customer service in Ghana is the typical "I am

doing you a favour" mentality. Basically it is perceived that the customer needs
something done for him or her and is therefore at the mercy of the whims and caprices
of the customer service staff. This translates into very hostile, rude and arrogant
behaviour by customer service staff in response to any customer perceived to be
demanding. Such customers are perceived as "beggars with choices", or "Oliver
Twists", asking for more, instead of being appreciative of what is being done for them.
Third, customer service in Ghana seems very disjointed. A simple service that could
have been rendered by one person is divided into several irrelevant and small functions.
One cannot tell whether this is meant to achieve better levels of efficiency through
specialisation and division of labour or simply create employment for more people. The
unfortunate consequence of this is that people build bottlenecks and entire empires with
the little functions they play as part of an entire process, hijacking the entire process and
in effect inconveniencing the customer beyond imagination.
Third, customer service in Ghana seems very disjointed. A simple service that
could have been rendered by one person is divided into several irrelevant and small
functions. One cannot tell whether this is meant to achieve better levels of efficiency
through specialisation and division of labour or simply create employment for more
people. The unfortunate consequence of this is that people build bottlenecks and entire
empires with the little functions they play as part of an entire process, hijacking the
entire process and in effect inconveniencing the customer beyond imagination.
Customer service staff in Ghana need to be made aware that the customers they serve
constitute the market share of the companies they work for, and that the quality of

service they render directly has the potential to increase or diminish this market share
and consequently the profitability of the company they work for, its survival and in the
long run their job security. Put more simply, it is the customer's custom that ensures
your job security!
(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=47531, 2014).

2.2 Customer Satisfaction what it is

Central to the satisfaction literature is the theory of disconfirmation which has
been used extensively in marketing research to explain the subject matter of
satisfaction. The theory posits that, satisfaction is established when the customer
evaluates the gap between suppose performance and his/her cognitive standards such as
wishes and expectation of the product or service delivered (McKinney et al., 2002; Liu
& Khalifa, 2003).
Normann, R.,(1991) referred to several studies that had found that it costs about
five times as much in time, money and resources, to attract a new customer as it do to
retain an existing customer. This creates the challenge of maintaining high levels of
service, awareness of customer expectations and improvement in services and products.
Satisfaction reinforces positive attitudes toward the product/service, leading to a greater
likelihood that the same product/service will be purchased again and that dissatisfaction
leads to negative product/service attitudes and lessens the likelihood of using the same
product/service again (Assael, 1987).

2.3 Defining Customers

Rust et.al, (2000) opined that the term customer is commonly used to refer to
end-users of a product. Smith (1997) indicated that historically, the word customer is
derived from "custom," meaning "habit"; a customer was someone who frequented a
particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods there, and with whom the
shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his or her "custom," meaning
expected purchases in the future. Hayes (1997) revealed that customer is a generic term
referring to anybody who receives a service or product from some other person or group
of people. Customer expectations are influenced by cultural values, advertising,
marketing, and other communications, both with the supplier and with other sources.
Customers at times do not have a clear understanding of their needs. Assisting in
determining needs can be a valuable service to the customer.

2.4 Customer Purchasing Process

Customers go through five stages decision-making process in most purchase
situations, namely: need recognition and problem awareness, information search,
evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post purchase evaluation (Kotler and Keller,
2006; Lovelock and Wirtz, 2007). Lovelock and Wirtz, (2007) proposed a three-stage
model of service consumption. In this model they grouped the decision making process
of service consumption into three: pre-purchase service, encounter stage and post-enter
stage. They further explained them as follows: (i) Pre-purchase service this stage has
three main components. It includes the awareness of need, information search in which
needs are clarified, solutions explored, suppliers and alternative service products are

10

identified by customers and finally an evaluation of alternative solutions and suppliers

for a decision for service purchased. This stage is affected by the customers search for
certain service attributes and the perceived risk and expectation of customer regarding
desired service, predicted service, adequate service levels as well as the tolerance zone.
Furthermore, (ii) service encounter stage this stage involves a request from
chosen suppliers or initial self-service of which payment may be upfront or billed later.
It also includes service delivery by personnel or self-service. It is the moment of truth as
the service is encountered through a service delivery system of an organisation.
Nonetheless, (iii) Post-encounter this stage involves the evaluation of performance of
the service encountered and its effect on future intentions. It is this stage that
satisfaction and dissatisfaction occur and decisions to remain loyal are taken by
customers.

2.5 Attitude and Satisfaction

Zeithaml and Bitner, (1996) define service quality as the way in which the
whole service experience is performed. Their model of customer perceptions of quality
and customer satisfaction hypothesized that satisfaction is more of an attitude and this
attitude would influence perceptions of service quality, which in turn would influence
purchase intentions (service quality leads to satisfaction and eventually purchase
intentions. Failure to provide reliable service may result in customer dissatisfaction and
possible defection. This is based on the premise that a satisfied customer will continue
to maintain a relationship (Hallowell, 1996) and that relationship will lead to loyalty
and longevity. Zeithaml, et al.,(1990) arrived at the same idea by looking at the

11

probable behaviour of the dissatisfied customer. They maintain that a dissatisfied

customer is likely to switch to a competitor and may inform others of the bad
experience.

2.6 Approaches to determining customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction (CS) determination can be approaches from three broad
type of methods: Observation methods, database methods, and subjective methods
(Sinclair, 1995). Observational method can be classified into observational studies and
experimental studies. Observational methods used in natural sciences can also be used
to determine CS. It has the strength of objectivity to a large extent as described by
Sinclair (1995, p. 71) the idea is that you are reaching out to touch reality as direct a
possible. This approach has the difficulty of analyzing diverse qualitative data using
quantitative and qualitative tools. Secondly database methods constitute another
valuable source of information for determining customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Available and effective customer relationships management technology can be used to
track customer purchase behaviour and re-purchase history, analyse customer data to
determine evidence of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. These methods offer the
opportunity to compute key performance indicators such as the proportion of regular
customers, time of delivery and interaction, reasons for purchase and non-purchase, and
likelihood to recommend.

Thirdly, subjective methods have been widely used to

determine CS. Included in this group are questionnaires and interviews. The capabilities
of the internet in addition to the traditional printed questionnaires widen the scope and
the use of this method. In this group, face to face and telephone interviews, focus group

12

interviews, and discussions, electronic questionnaire and online forums, chats,

community provides an invaluable sources of CS data for analysis.

2.7 Factors that hinder staff in Customer Service Delivery

One important reason why customer service can suffer in organizations is due to
bureaucracy. The more layers and red tape an employee has to go through to service a
client, the more difficult it can be. Furthermore, overworked staff can be the result of
understaffing, layoffs, rapid growth or assigning too many tasks to too few people. In
this case no client will appear as a priority to them. The exact opposite can have a
similar effect on customer service. If your staff is underworked, they will feel less
challenged, under-appreciated and unimportant. So if your staff is underworked, case
handling turnaround time can drag on longer than reasonably expected, and customers
will get frustrated.
Moreover, the workplace culture can have a substantial effect on how customer
service cases are handled. If the workplace climate is one where customers are not cared
for, where staff doesnt care about their work, or if the environment is not empowering,
your staff will under-deliver whenever presented with a customer service case. If your
staff is not held accountable for customer service, there is no reason for your staff to try
harder to make sure customers are happy. If the systems your staff uses when working
with clients perform poorly, are slow, contain insufficient data or doesnt track your
client data appropriately, you are going to run into a problem. If your staff has never
been taught the value of customers to your organization, they will most likely not know
how to treat them. Your staff must be given the appropriate incentive to give clients

13

outstanding service. If they are not incented, you have given them no reason to go that
extra mile for your customers (http://www.entre-propel.com/customer-service/8barriers-to-outstanding-customer-service/, 2014).

2.8 Consequences of Poor Quality Service

Weimershirch et al. (1994) comment that, it is important for management to
recognize the different ways that the quality of a firms product or service can affect the
organisation; and to take these into account in developing and maintaining a quality
assurance programme. He outlined some of the major ways that poor quality affects an
organisation to include the following: (i) Loss of business: failure to devote adequate
attention to quality can damage a profit oriented organizations image and lead to a
decreased share of the market, or it can lead to increased criticism and controls from a
government agency or non-profit organisation. (ii) Liability poor quality may create
potential liability for a firm due to damages or injuries resulting from either faulty
design or poor services. (iii) Productivity productivity and quality are often closely
related. Poor quality can adversely affect productivity during the production process
through rework. Conversely, improving and maintaining good quality can have a
positive effect on productivity. (iv) Costs poor quality service increases certain costs
incurred by the organisation. They include payments of discount to customers to offset
the inferior quality, rework costs, warranty cost, replacement cost.

14

2.9 Brief History of the Ghana Immigration Service

A British Colonial called K.A. Price started the Ghana Immigration Service. In
the early 1940s, Ghana Immigration Service was found necessary to change the parent
unit and brought under the Police C.I.D. It was at this point that the functions of
passport control were added to its responsibilities and head of the unit was called
Headquarters Immigration Officer. It was headed by Neville Hill, a commissioner of
Police. At this point, the unit was responsible for the commuting between the various
colonies. The number of expatriates was not many and as such regulated the influx of
non-Africans. Given the political status of the country and the economic circumstances
the number of persons handled was minimal.
The rapid expansion in the economy at the attainment of independence in 1957,
coupled with Ghanas role as a peace settler in African Liberation struggle led to the
country being swamped with foreign businesspersons, African aliens in search of a
greater pastures, and tourists. Thus to control the influx, a cabinet decision in 1960
transferred the Immigration function to the Ministry of Interior as a separate
Department, whiles the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the issuing of passports.
In the course of time, it became abundantly clear that the Immigration function had
assume a specialized nature that could not achieve its objectives if the Institution
continues to be bonded in the Civil Services machinery, which is not designed to take
care of the dynamics of the issue of security. The indicators were that, the attraction for
Ghana was bound to grow as the economy expanded on account of the favourable
investment climate introduced under the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP).

15

As a result, the PNDC in December 1989 approved the conversion of the

Department into a para-military Service with a Board and a Director to head the day to
day administration of service.

16

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter describes how the study will be conducted. The chapter also
presents the scope, research design, and sample population, sampling and sampling
techniques, data collection, instrumentation, data analysis, timetable, limitations, and
delimitations

3.1 Scope
The study will be conducted within the framework of assessing challenges facing
customer service delivery in the Ghana Immigration Service. The study will be carried
out at the passport office division in Sunyani. It is a case study approach of one
particular passport office (i.e. Sunyani) and does not cover other passport offices to
reflect the entire industry evaluation to customer care. Hence the result will not be
generalized but its findings will be placed in the relevant context of the individual
passport office studied.

3.2 Research Design

Saunders et al. (2007), defines research design as the general plan of how the
research questions would be answered. The research design employed will be
descriptive because the study is non-experimental, and the researcher wants to portray
an accurate profile of customer delivery challenges at the Ghana Immigration Service
(Passport office) in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region. And the researcher will attempt
17

to describe the challenges facing customer service delivery in public organisations: a

case of the Ghana Immigration Service (passport office) Sunyani. Again, the study
will be operated within a specific time frame with the intention of recounting the
situation as it is in the municipality at the time of the study.

3.3 Sample Population

De Vos et al. (2008), describe a target population as the total amount of persons,
events, units, case records or other sampling units with which the research problem is
concerned. The target population of this study included all citizens of the Sunyani municipality
(N=147,301) (Ghana Statistical Service, Sunyani, 2010). A representative sample will be

drawn from the population using the formula below by Rexroat et al. (1992):

n= 1+(2 ) ;

Where;

n = sample size
1 = Constant

N = Sampling Frame
a = Margin of error

With a confidence level of 93%, and a sample of 7% of the total population the result
for the sample size is as follows:
n=
n= 204

147301
N
n=
n= 204
2
1 + 147301(0.0 7 2 )
1 + N(a )
N= 147,301

a= 7% 1= constant

3.4 Sampling & Sampling techniques

Two separate samples were selected based on staff and valued customers of the
organization. The sampling techniques used in this study were purposive and simple
random sampling. The purposive sampling was adopted because the intension was to

18

gain an insight into the customer service phenomenon, hence the need to choose
personnel who were well versed in the industry.
Simple random sampling was important to the study, since the study was
intended to ensure some randomness and representativeness in the sample. The
selection of the respondents for the study was guided by sampling procedure: the
process involving sampling frame identification and the determination of relevant
sample size. At the targeted branch, stratified random sampling was used to select staffs
for the study. This was guided by the structure of leadership that is in use by the
organization at the Sunyani branch. This method of sampling therefore ensured that
staffs in the clerical/technical, supervisory and managerial categories were contacted.

3.5 Data Collection

The study was based on both primary and secondary data. The secondary data
was based on information from journals, books and articles that were of much relevance
to the study. Primary data, on the other hand which formed the core of the work was
collected by way of questionnaire and interview. A structured questionnaire was used
to collect data from the official of the Ghana Immigration Service (Passport Office)
Sunyani concerning the challenges that they face in delivering customer service and the
effect of such challenges on the organisation. Another set of questionnaire was used to
collect data from the general population. The questionnaire contained both closed and
open ended questions and was formulated to capture their perception of the quality of
service rendered by the Ghana Immigration Service (passport office) in Sunyani. A

19

sample of the questionnaire as well as interview guide can be found at the appendix to
the work.

3.6 Instrumentation
The main instruments that will be used to collect data for the study will be
questionnaire and interview (both structured and unstructured). The study will depend
on primary data collected from the staff, customers and some secondary data. The
questionnaires comprise both close-ended and open ended questions. In this study, the
questionnaires will be administered by the researcher by group discussion and face-toface interview. De Vos et al. 2008) the biggest advantage of self-administered
questionnaires is that respondents can complete them on their own, while the researcher
is available if problems arise. Respondents with difficulties will be aided by the
researcher to ensure high response rate and reduction in errors.

3.7 Data Analysis

Data was analysed with the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
Statistics version 20 for windows. This contained both nominal and ordinal scales. The
results were presented in the form of charts and tables with their corresponding
descriptive statistics.

3.8 Timetable
i.

Prepare and complete proposal by 14th November, 2014.

ii.

Complete literature review by 30th January, 2015.

20

iii.

Complete fieldwork by 7th February, 2015.

iv.

Complete analysis by 30th March, 2015.

v.

Complete final report by 30th April, 2015.

3.9 Limitations
Challenges can never escape a person or a researcher in any field of human
endeavour and this study is no exception. The researcher will be faced with the
challenge of mobilizing enough money to print and get resources on time. The
researcher will also encounter few non-response rate and different attitudes and
behaviours - friendly and unfriendly. Again, it is very difficult in Ghana to elicit official
information from individuals and households and even from government departments
and agencies. As a result people feel uncomfortable to divulge the correct and absolute
information to researchers for fear of being taxed. No matter how open a researcher is,
some respondents prefer to either hide their identity or not to give out the real
information. This might be linked to the literacy level of the population as many people
of low education are not well informed and exposed to the full relevance of research.
The officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (Passport Office) in Sunyani
always have heavy schedules. Due to their extra responsibilities as well as travelling
and attending conferences it was difficult to get them to fill their questionnaires. This
necessitated the use of emails and telephone calls in some cases to complete the data
collection.

21

3.10 Delimitations
The study will be confined to the challenges facing the Ghana Immigration
Service (Passport Office). Only Sunyani municipality will be studied.

22

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Sinclair, Murray, (1995) Subjective assessment, In Wilson, John; Corlett, Nigel (Eds.):
Evaluation of human work. Taylor & Francis, Bristol, pp. 69-100
Smith, Ian. (1997). Meeting Customer Needs (2nd ed.). Woodburn (MA): ButterworthHienemann.
Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. (2003), Service Marketing Integrating Customer Focus
across the Firm, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, .

24

Appendix
Questionnaire
Dear Respondent,
I am a final year student of the Catholic University College of Ghana, Fiapre
undertaking a study on the topic; Challenges facing Customer Service Delivery in
Public Organisations: A case of the Ghana Immigration Service (Passport Office)
Sunyani.You have been selected to assist in this study. Your identity (such as name,
contact, signature, etc) is not needed. I hope you will be frank in answering the
questions and by so doing you will be helping in achieving the objective of this study.
This information is being collected solely for academic research purposes. The
information you provide will be treated as strictly confidential.
Thank you for your participation.

Name of Interviewer .Date of Survey

..
Name of Respondent Status
.
Location ... Age Sex Male [ ] Female [ ]
Educational background [Indicate the various levels]
Tick () for the appropriate answer in the brackets and fill the blanks where
appropriate.

SECTION A: Factors that hinder staff in customer service delivery

1.

Personal Data
Rank of Respondent..........................................................
Department........................................................................
Years of service..........................

2. Do you go through more layers and red tapes to service a client?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

25

3. Do you feel overworked and as such no client appear as a priority to you?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

4. Do customers get frustrated due to case handling turnaround time which drag on
longer than reasonably expected?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
5. How does your work place culture affect customer service delivery?
.................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................
6. Are you held accountable for poor customer service delivery?
Yes [ ]

No [ ]

7. How would you rate the system used to deliver services to customers?
Perform poorly [ ]

Very slow [ ] Contain insufficient data [ ]

8. Do you regularly receive training on good customer care?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

9. Do you receive appropriate incentive to give clients outstanding service?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

SECTION B: Customers perception of passport office service delivery

10. How would you rate services rendered by the passport office in Sunyani?
Poor [ ]

Very poor [ ]

Good [ ]

Very good

Excellent [ ]

11. What influences your rating in question 10 above?

26

12. Do you feel satisfied with the service received?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

13. Do you have any intention of going there again and why?
Yes [ ]

No [ ]

SECTION C: Effect(s) of poor customer service on the organization

14. Do you agree that poor quality service increases certain costs incurred by the
organization?
Strongly agree [ ]

Agree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ]

Disagree [ ]

15. How do you think poor service delivery adversely affect productivity and profit
margin of the organization?

16. Do poor quality create potential liability for a firm due to damages or injuries
resulting from either faulty design or poor services?
Yes [ ]

No [ ]

17. Do you receive increased criticism and controls from a government agency or
non-profit organisation?
Yes [ ]

No [ ]

18. In your own way, how do you think customer service delivery can be improved
at the passport office in Sunyani?

27

THANK YOU

28

INTERVIEW GUIDE
TOPIC: CHALLENGES FACING CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY IN
PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS: A CASE OF THE GHANA
IMMIGRATION SERVICE (PASSPORT OFFICE) SUNYANI.

This interview is an attempt to examine the challenges facing the passport office
division of the Ghana Immigration Service - Sunyani in customer service delivery. The
information needed is purely for an academic purpose. Your assistance is therefore
needed and your response will be treated as confidential.

1. Do you go through more layers and red tapes to service a client?

2. Do you feel overworked and as such no client appear as a priority to you?
3. Do customers get frustrated due to case handling turnaround time which drag on
longer than reasonably expected?
4. How does your work place culture affect customer service delivery?
5. Are you held accountable for poor customer service delivery?
6. How would you rate the system used to deliver services to customers?
7. Do you regularly receive training on good customer care?
8. Do you receive appropriate incentive to give clients outstanding service?
9. How would you rate services rendered by the passport office in Sunyani?
10. What influences your rating in question 9 above?
11. Do you feel satisfied with the service received?
12. Do you have any intention of going there again and why?

29

13. Do you agree that poor quality service increases certain costs incurred by the
organization?
14. How do you think poor service delivery adversely affect productivity and profit
margin of the organization?
15. Do poor quality create potential liability for a firm due to damages or injuries
resulting from either faulty design or poor services?
16. Do you receive increased criticism and controls from a government agency or nonprofit organisation?
17. In your own way, how do you think customer service delivery can be improved at
the passport office in Sunyani?

THANK YOU

30