What is social work and why do we need it free essay sample

To clearly define what social work is can be difficult due to the diversity of the profession. The reasons we need social work are a little easier to identify. Through examination of current literature, this paper examines what social work is and why we need social work Often when we meet someone new the first question they ask is â€Å"what do you do for a living? † This question of what we do appears to be something that, in many ways, defines us as a person. When the question of what we do is answered with â€Å"I am a social worker† it tends to lead to additional questions such as â€Å"what is a social worker? † or â€Å"what does a social worker do? † Through examination of some of the current literature on the topic of social work, this paper will seek to answer the question â€Å"what is social work and why do we need it? † The question â€Å"what is social work? † should be an easy one to answer. We will write a custom essay sample on What is social work and why do we need it or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The definition of social work is readily available from The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) who defines social work as: â€Å"The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviours and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work† (IFSW, 2012). But what does that really mean? In order to fully understand what social work is, first we need to examine social works origins (Skehill, 2007). According to Mendes (2010), understanding the history of social work is an important aspect in developing social works identity. Social works origins can be traced back to early 1800’s to a group known as the ‘Friendly Visitors’ (Chenoweth McAuliffe, 2012). The Friendly Visitors would go and visit poor and needy families and assess them and then attempt to help them. The Charity Organization Society (COS) was the next step in social works historical development, again focused on individuals needs (Chenoweth McAuliffe, 2012). The Settlement Movement followed the COS and this was where a split began to form in the role of social work, one which can easily be seen today (Hugman, 2009). According to Hugman (2009), The Settlement Movement took a more structured approach to people’s problems and looked working more on a community level. This approach is classed by Hugman (2009) as a macro-level approach, one which differs from the more individualistic approach which is categorized as a micro-level approach. According to Sandu (2010), many American and European social workers in the early 20th century started to believe that individual treatment was pointless if not done in conjunction with larger social issues which addressed social policy and change on a larger level. Social work has evolved since its beginnings. According to Hugman (2009), social work has constantly been plagued with disagreement regarding its true identity. From a very individualistic focus during its beginnings, social work appears to have split into two parts. Social work can focus on the individual, seeking to use a therapeutic approach to help the individual, or focus on larger social objectives, such as social justice and human rights. Payne (2005) believes that the nature of social work can be divided into three areas, the Reflective-therapeutic approach, the Individualist-reformist approach and the Socialist-collectivist approach. Both the Reflective-therapeutic approach and the Individualist-reformist approach focus more on individual change while the Socialist-collectivist approach focuses on larger social systems (Payne, 2005). While both approaches are essential aspects of social work Chu, Tsui and Yan (2009) believe the pursuit of social justice must be balanced with individual well being. Hudson (1997) believes that this duel focus on both the individual and society as a whole has allowed social work to draw information from other human services professions such as psychology and sociology and while this sees some overlap between different human services professions, it has also allowed social work to develop its own identity. This divide between micro and macro approaches to social work makes it difficult to clearly define exactly what social work is. The definition of what social work is appears to be very much dependent upon the individual social workers approach to social work as a whole and their practice framework, which helps them define exactly what social work is. However, there are a few key principals which all social workers would agree upon. According to Chu, Tsui and Yan (2009), the principals of human rights and social justice are regarded by social workers as fundamental elements of social work. The ultimate goal of social work is to help people solve their problems while at the same time retaining their dignity (Chu, Tsui Yan, 2009). That is what social work ultimately is, helping people with their problems, while at the same time helping them hold onto their dignity. But why is social work needed? The social work profession finds itself in a unique position. The very thing which makes it so difficult to define, the conflicting views between individual work and larger social issues are the very thing which explains why we need social work. Social workers can work with individuals, families, groups and communities. They can work on change and update to social policy, research as well as education and training (Chenoweth McAuliffe, 2012). Having such a massive domain to cover allows social workers to experience what changes are actually needed. Social workers ability to look at both the micro level and the macro level allow them the unique opportunity to see the things that need to be changed on an individual level and try to make those changes required on a macro level. Very few other professions have this ability. Some focus on individual change, some focus on social policy, law and human rights, but few if any have the ability to do both. Society needs social workers because there will always be people in need, people who are less fortunate than others. Those people need a voice, they need advocates and social work offers some level of hope to the less fortunate. To clearly define what social work is can be difficult due to the diversity of the profession. The reasons we need social work are a little easier to identify. Through examination of current literature, this paper has briefly examined what social work is and why we need social work.

A Horror Movie Sample Essay Will Make You Write Better

A Horror Movie Sample Essay Will Make You Write BetterThe idea behind writing a horror movie sample essay is to use the scene as a basis for what you need to express. Writing a horror movie is no different than writing a romance novel, a western, or a work of fiction, and all of these genres require a sample to show you how it's done.Sample Essay - Here's the main concept of a horror movie sample essay: you find a bit of terror in the scene, go about expressing it, and then describe what happens when you're done. In addition to having to establish the location, this sample essay also has to do with timing and establishing how a certain genre functions. It doesn't matter if you're writing a horror movie or just some fiction; whatever it is, you have to know your genre in order to write effectively.Sample Idea - For the horror movie sample essay, think about the actual image you're going to be using. Is it more of a close up of a face, or an image of a skull? If it's more of a close up of a face, you have to think about how to write on the air and then how to write the skin and how to paint it. For the horror movie sample essay, think about how you're going to set the scene and the lighting.Dialogue - You can't rely on dialogue to sell your horror movie sample essay. You've got to have a good one-liner for your horror movie sample essay, so be sure to come up with one. You also want to start talking faster and talk louder than you are in a normal movie.Make your Character - Once you have the premise of your horror movie sample essay, now you want to make sure that you create an interesting character that's different from everyone else. You also want to know what the character wants and needs. Do they want something big, something fun, or just something they want to be left alone? Keep this in mind, because it's going to influence how the story plays out.Title - Now that you've written a sample, you should consider writing a synopsis for it. While this won't cover every detail of the scenario, you'll want to have something to go off of as you're writing the rest of the plot.Be sure to give the sample enough space to let you go to work. Not only will it help you write better, but it will also give you a starting point for you as you write the rest of the story.

3 Cases of Using the Wrong Punctuation

3 Cases of Using the Wrong Punctuation 3 Cases of Using the Wrong Punctuation 3 Cases of Using the Wrong Punctuation By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, the wrong punctuation has been employed to aid in organization of a sentence. Discussion after each example explains the problem, and a revision demonstrates the solution. 1. Ensure that you have an escape route while driving in traffic, drive at a speed that places your vehicle outside clusters of vehicles. This sentence suffers from a comma splice- the use of a comma to separate two independent clauses. A more potent punctuation mark should be used instead: â€Å"Ensure that you have an escape route while driving in traffic; drive at a speed that places your vehicle outside clusters of vehicles† (Alternatively, a dash could replace the comma, or the content could be divided into two sentences. Or, because the second clause is an extension of the first one, a colon would be appropriate.) 2. An executive in the organization perceives a need for change, a digitalization project,  for example, that will help pull the company ahead  of its competitors. When a parenthesis within a parenthesis occurs, use distinct punctuation marks to aid the reader in recognizing the hierarchy of the sentence elements; retain commas for one parenthetical element within another, and employ dashes or parentheses to frame the more significant interjection: â€Å"An executive in the organization perceives a need for change- a digitalization project,  for example- that will help pull the company ahead  of its competitors.† 3. For example, implement processes that generate sources of new learning; encourage systemic thinking in distilling and acting on the environment feedback received; and facilitate effective listening to customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders with the objective of driving continuous improvement. When one or more items in a list themselves include lists, semicolons serve as supercommas to distinguish the two levels of organization. However, they function only if the sentence ends with the final list item. If a phrase that applies to all list items follows the final list item, as â€Å"with the objective of driving continuous improvement† does here, the final semicolon â€Å"traps† that phrase so that it appears to apply only to that item. To avoid this error, revise the sentence to eliminate the use of semicolons: â€Å"For example, implement processes that generate sources of new learning as well as those that encourage systemic thinking in distilling and acting on the environment feedback received and facilitate effective listening to customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders with the objective of driving continuous improvement.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?Driver License vs. Driver’s LicenseThe Difference Between "Phonics" and "Phonetics"

History of Washing Machines

History of Washing Machines Early washing machines were invented back in the 1850s, but people have been doing laundry since they graduated from wearing fig leaves. Over the course of centuries, the technology for washing clothes has evolved from crude manual labor to high tech. Laundry Before Machines In many ancient cultures, peoples cleaned their clothes by pounding them on rocks or rubbing them with abrasive sands and washing the dirt away in streams or rivers. The Romans invented a crude soap, similar to lye, that contained ash and fat from sacrificed animals. In colonial times, the most common way of washing clothes was to boil them in a large pot or cauldron, then lay them on a flat board, and beat them with a paddle called a dolly. The metal washboard, which many people associate with pioneer life, wasnt invented until about 1833. Before that, washboards were made entirely of wood, including the carved, ridged washing surface. As late as the Civil War, laundry was often a communal ritual, especially in places near rivers, springs, and other bodies of water, where the washing was done. The First Washing Machines By the mid-1800s, the United States was in the midst of an industrial revolution. As the nation expanded westward and industry grew, urban populations mushroomed and the middle class emerged with money to spare and boundless enthusiasm for labor-saving devices. A number of people can lay claim to inventing some kind of manual washing machine that combined a wooden drum with a metal agitator. Two Americans, James King in 1851 and Hamilton Smith in 1858, filed and received patents for similar devices that historians sometimes cite as the first true modern washers. However, others would improve on the basic technology, including  members of the Shaker communities in Pennsylvania. Expanding on ideas begun in the 1850s, the Shakers built and marketed large wooden washing machines designed to work on a small commercial scale. One of their most popular models was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Fast Facts: Washing Machine Trivia A washing machine invented in France in the early 1800s was called the ventilator. The device consisted of a barrel-shaped metal drum with holes that was turned by hand over a fire.One of the first African-American inventors of note in the 19th century, George T. Sampson, received a patent for a clothes dryer in 1892. His invention  used the heat from a stove to dry clothes.The first electrical clothes dryers appeared in the United States in the years prior to World War I.In 1994, Staber Industries released the System 2000 washing machine, which is the only top-loading, horizontal-axis washer to be manufactured in the United States.The first computer-controlled consumer washer appeared in 1998. Fisher Paykels SmartDrive washing machines used a computer-controlled system to determine load size and to adjust the wash cycle to match.   Electric Machines Thomas Edisons pioneering work in electricity accelerated Americas industrial progress. Until the late 1800s, home washing machines were hand-powered, while commercial machines were driven by steam and belts. That all changed in 1908 with the introduction of the Thor, the first commercial electric washer. The Thor, the invention of Alva J. Fisher, was marketed by the Hurley Machine Company of Chicago. It was a drum-type washing machine with a galvanized tub. Throughout the 20th century, Thor continued to make innovations in washing machine technology. In 2008, the trademark was bought out by Los Angeles-based Appliances International and soon introduced a new line under the Thor name. Even as Thor was changing the commercial laundry business, other companies had their eye on the consumer market, perhaps most notably the Maytag Corporation that got its start in 1893 when F.L. Maytag began manufacturing farm implements in Newton, Iowa. Business was slow in winter, so to add to his line of products, Maytag introduced a wooden-tub washing machine in 1907. Not long after, Maytag decided to devote himself full-time to the washing machine business. The Whirlpool Corporation, another well-known brand, debuted in 1911 as the Upton Machine Co., in St. Joseph, Mich., producing electric motor-driven wringer washers. Sources Marton, Barry. Washing Machine. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018 Museum staff. The Shaker Improved Washing  Machine. Shaker Museum. 20 July 2016.Staff editors. Clothes Washing Machines. Edison Tech Center. 2014.Telegraph staff. A Timeline of Inventions. Telegraph.co.uk. 6 July 2000.

Human Resources, Competitive Advantg Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resources, Competitive Advantg - Essay Example HR will have to ensure that they are given equal opportunity and they are protected against issues such as sex discrimination. 2. Sexual harassment has been defined as sexual moves that are unasked for by the victim, requests of favors that are sexual in nature in exchange of promotion or threat of firing the employee and physical and verbal actions and movements that are sexual in nature. Sexual harassment that is recognized as Quid Pro Quo occurs when an individual is offered promotion or is threatened to be fired from his/her position if the employee rejects or accepts favors that are sexual in nature. Sexual harassment that is recognized as Hostile environment occurs when people on the same level of the hierarchy conduct activities that are sexual in nature and are unwanted and make the environment difficult for the victim to continue to operate in an efficient manner. 3. When during the procedure of selection and hiring the HR employs a multiple hurdle model, the applicant has to stay successful during different steps of a test and they have to prove to be successful in every step. If they fail to achieve the passing score in a particular test, they are deemed as unfit for the job. If the HR has employed a compensatory model, they will be making their hiring decision based on the overall scores of all the tests. This model is based on the premise that if an applicant performs well on one test and fails to perform well on the other test, the earlier score will compensate for the score of the second test. 4. According to the job characteristic model, there are five characteristics of a particular job. The first characteristic is skill variety, which is defined as the number of skills that are required to perform a particular job; the second is task identity, which is defined as the completion of the job from the starting point to the ending point. The third is task significance which is defined as how

Time Since Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Time Since Death - Essay Example Therefore, the estimation of the time since death is very essential, since it enables the investigators to narrow down their investigation to a given time frame, which makes it easier to investigate the circumstances that surround such deaths and the possible causes (Newberry, Lewis & Walters, 2004:936). Further, the accurate estimation of the time since death is also crucial for enabling the investigators to narrow down to a narrow range of suspects associated with the death, owing to the fact that, when the time since death is known, then it is easy to know the immediate individuals that were associated with the victim, as opposed to when the time since death is unknown (Payne-James, 2003:93). Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the various methods that may be used for the estimation of time since death, with a view to critically assessing the merits and demerits of each of these methods. First, the discussion will explain the different methods applicable in estimating the time since death. Secondly, the discussion will tackle the merits associated with each method. Thirdly, the discussion will present the demerits associated with each method. Finally, the discussion will be summed up by a conclusion, which will recap the important points of the discussion, state limitations associated with the discussion and raise the necessary questions, if any. There are various methods that can be applied to estimate the time of death of an individual, depending on the environment where the body is found, the evidence available and the nature of the cause of death (Szelecz, Fournier, Seppey, Amendt & Mitchell, 2014:671). The different methods that can be applied to estimate the time since death include: This is a method applied to estimate time since death, through the measurement of the core temperature of the body, relative to the temperature of the surrounding environment where the body is found, also referred to as the ambient temperature (Warther,

Service Quality in ICBC

Service Quality in ICBC Abstract The development of computer technology and information network technology has brought massive challenges to financial services organizations. Online banking, which provides financial services to customers via Internet, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. Therefore, as the biggest commercial bank in China, it is very important for the managers of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to build a long-term customer relationship. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty. Based on the objectives, after decides the type of investigation and research approach, five pairs of hypotheses are formulated to test the relationship between variables. The results of this study indicate that there are high positive relationship between customer perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. There is also a medium positive relationship between handle customer complaint and customer loyalty. According to these, the ICBC online banking must establish a long term strategy to improve the perceived service quality, satisfying their customer, handling customer complaint promptly in order to achieve more loyal customers. Declaration of Originality I declare that this thesis entitled â€Å"Examining the Service Quality, Customer satisfaction and Loyalty in Online Banking Services of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China† has been composed by myself and has not been presented or accepted in any previous application for a degree. The work, of which this is a record, has been carried out by myself unless otherwise stated and where the work is mine, it reflects personal views and values. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information have been acknowledged by means of references including those of the Internet. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview In the past twenty years, the pace of change in financial services sector has been dramatic. The development of computer technology and information network technology has introduced a new virtual economy based on the Internet. As the Internet provides new communication channels to banking industry, the number of online banking websites increased rapidly (Aladwani, 2001). Online banking, an important part of the Internet economy, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. Mols (2000) indicated that the introduction and customers’ adoption of online banking will bring a massive change in the relationship between retailing banks and customers. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. As a result, building long-term customer relationships becomes ever more important as a part of financial institutions’ strategy. How to satisfy customers and gain customer loyalty has become one of the best means of obtaining competitive advantage. Since China’s accession to the WTO, many foreign banks have begun to do business in China. They not only brought advanced management methods and business philosophy, but also made the financial market in China more competitive. As a consequence of this competition, China’s commercial banks lost a large number of high-end customers in a short period of time. Faced with the loss of customers and the future trend of the growth of profit changing from deposits and loans to intermediary business, China’s commercial banks began to recognize the importance of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty and stepped up their efforts to compete with their foreign counterparts (www.financialnews.com.cn). Due to the increasingly competitive marketing environment, enterprises must be customer oriented (Kotler, 1997). With regarding to banking industry, the service quality is considered as the most important competitive weapon (Staford, 1996). Therefore, how to improve service quality and satisfy customer become a very important marketing strategy in banking industry. Service quality has been many researchers’ interest in recent years by the impellent of Parasuraman et al. (1985). There have been many researches identified the key factors impact on the service quality of traditional banks (Jun and Cai, 2001). However, there are few studies on the customer perceived service quality of online banking services (Broderick and Vachirapornpuk, 2002). Customer loyalty even received less attention than service quality and customer satisfaction (Caruana, 2000). The concepts of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty are linked together (Caruana, 2000). As illustrated by Caruana (2000:611), â€Å"service quality as an antecedent construct and service loyalty as an outcome variable of customer satisfaction†. Therefore, it is important for banks to know the current performance of their services and understand the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In Fecikova’s (2004:57) words: â€Å"Customer satisfaction has become an important issue for commercial and public service organisations.† The standards to judge a company’s win or lose are based on how many customers they can keep. Thus, how to satisfy customers and maintain loyal customers have become important marketing strategies of Chinese online banking industry. However, no matter how well the services are designed and delivered, mistakes will happen. The majority of customers will participate in private word-of-mouth activities regarding their consumptive activities (Day and Landon, 1977). The valence of these word-of-mouth activities may be negative, neutral, or positive. When there is a difference between customer expectation and the actual performance of products or services, the negative feelings will result in complaint behaviour. Therefore, how to handle customer complaints, restore the confidence of customers and reduce the loss of customers has also been an important task to companies in the services process. 1.2 Research Objectives There are some marketing and financial literatures on the services and customer relationship of traditional banks, but few researches are done on the services quality and customer loyalty of online banking. This study presents an analysis of the service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), focuses on the relationship between services quality and customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how handle customer complaint influence customer loyalty. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, this study aims to find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty of ICBC online banking. 1.3 Structure of Project This project is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is the overview and introduction of the research. In Chapter 2, the writer introduces the development and history of online banking services and its development in ICBC. After that, the writer reviews the relevant theories of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and customer complaint, explains how they were measured and the relationship between them, which are mainly based on previous findings. Using these theories, Chapter 3 illustrates the research questions and methodology of this research, the structure of questionnaire was also introduced in this section. Chapter 4 explains the findings of this research, discussing the current situation of ICBC online banking services, examining the relationships between these variables and give some recommendations. In the final Chapter, the writer summarizes the research, discusses the findings and introduces a number of limitations of this study. This section also contains opinions and suggestions on developing the online banking in the future. Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 2.1 Introduction This chapter first introduces the overview of Chinese online banking services and the development of ICBC online banking. Secondly, the writer clarified what the service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer complaint have been covered in the previous study, indicates which factors would affect them and what kind of methods were used to measure them. In this part, the characteristics of online services and customer’s adoption of online banking services are also addressed. Finally, the relationships between these four concepts are reviewed. Bloemer et al. (1999) suggested that although the previous studies indicate that there are obvious relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, however, how strength the relationships are still not clear (Bloemer er al., 1999). Therefore, based on the literature review, the writer presents a research model for this study as well. 2.2 Background of Chinese Online Banking Services 2.2.1 Overview Online banking services are broadly defined as the ability to carry out bank transactions electronically, usually via the internet. It is an important part of the Internet economy. All business transactions are done via the banks’ websites (en.wikipedia.org). Online banking refers to several kinds of services through which bank customers can gain information and services such as money transfer, bill payment, short loan, investment, buy insurance and so on, via a page on Internet without leaving their homes or organizations (Sathye, 1999). There are several studies indicated that online banking services are the most profitable products to banks (Robinson, 2000). By eliminating the infrastructure costs associated with branch-based retail banking services. Online banking is able to offer instant service and lower service charges than their competitors. Online banking is the cheapest channel for banks to deliver services (Robinson, 2000; Giglio, 2002). Research shown that the cost of an average online banking transaction is only 10 percents of the cost of a similar average branch transaction (Kolodinsky et al., 2004). Through provide services online, banks can reduce their expenditure on hard ware and staff in branch (Karjaluoto et al., 2003). At the same time, online banking service delivery channel can also help banks to retain current customers who use online banking services from any location. As Internet has become such an efficient and world-wide used communication medium, it has also become a widely used retail channel (Cho, M. and Park, S., 2001). Furthermore, online banking provides banks opportunities to attract more customers from exiting Internet users (Rotchanakitumnuai and Speece, 2003). From the customers view, online banking services are convenient and can saving time compared with traditional retail banking services. Verma et al. (2004) suggested that customers are willing to pay more for online banking services to gain both offline value and online benefit. They can use online banking services when connect to Internet without the limitation of time and location. As illustrated by Bainbridge (2008), Traditional banking was impacted greatly by the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990s. As the Internet became more generally accessible, traditional banks began to realize its potential to deliver services to their customers while reducing long-term operational costs. Upon realizing this, they began to offer limited services online. In 1995, the first pure online bank, the Security First Network bank was founded in the United States. It provided services such as direct access to account, bill payment and check viewing, which are quite common today (Christopher, 2008). In the following twenty years, online banking services have developed rapidly and have now become a significant part of the business for commercial banks. As in other countries, Chinese commercial banks are undergoing rapid change due to advances in information technology. Eight months after the first online bank founded in the United States, in June 1996, the Bank of China set up websites and started to provide Internet banking services to the community. One year later, China Merchant Bank launched the first fully online banking â€Å"All in one Net†. It became the first fully Internet bank in China (data.chinabyte.com). Subsequently, more and more Chinese domestic banks have set up online banking services to penetrate the market and gain competitive advantage (Li, 2002). In 2000, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China launched online banking business in 31 cities in China. As the nations largest commercial bank, the opening of its online banking business aroused widespread interest. In 2002, HSBC launched its online banking services in China (data.chinabyte.com). The number of costumers and the trading volume of online banking have increased rapidly. At the end of 2007, the trading volume of corporate online banking reached 245.8 trillion RMB, which increased 163.1% compared to 2006. In the total transaction volume, corporate online banking accounts for 93.6% which is 230 trillion RMB. However, the growth of Personal Online banking was even faster in recent years. The trading volume reached 15.8 trillion RMB at the end of 2007 which is almost four times of 2006’s 4.1 trillion RMB. The number of business customers reached 0.84 million and individual customers reached 65 million at the end of 2006 (iresearch.com.cn). At the same time, the range of services provided by online banking has also increased. Before 2000, some of the banks only provided information services. Now they provide services such as enquiry, investment advice, money transfers, buying and selling of securities, online payments and, in some banks, small loans, housing mortgage loans and other credit facilities. As the 21st century is a customer-oriented century, how to create and maintain customer has became an important part of marketing strategy of banking industry. As information technology advanced and communication channels diversified, customers can use a variety channels to acquire more complete information and choices, to achieve their own best interests. As illustrated by, customer’s role in consumer economy has changed from the recipient to products or services to the decision maker. Most banks also aware that customers are becoming a dominant position, however, how to use information technology and limited sources to achieve the best and most efficient service quality to satisfy customers, gain loyalty customers, ensure the source of profit, these have became the focus of the operation of Chinese banks. 2.2.2 Introduction of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China As the largest one of four big stated-owned commercial banks which dominate the financial markets in China. The ICBC is the leader in online banking services and is constantly introducing advanced online banking products and services to the public. The following figure illustrates its repaid growth in online banking. Figure 2.1 ICBC Online Banking Trading Volume We can see form the figure above, in 2000, ICBCs online banking trading volume amounted only RMB 2.03 trillion, in 2002 this number grew to RMB 8.77 trillion which is almost 4 times of 2000. In the following five years, the ICBC online banking trading volume kept a rapid growth rate. In 2005, it went beyond RMB 46 trillion, growing 23 times compared to that in 2000. By the end of 2007, ICBC online trading volume jumped to RMB 102.88 trillion, which is more than 50 times of 2000. At the same time, the customers of ICBC online banking grew rapidly. At the end of 2007, ICBC Online banking has had 980,000 business customers and 39.08 million individual customers (icbc.com.cn). As illustrated in figure 2, the individual customers of ICBC online banking kept an continued rapid growth from 0.2 million in 2000 to 48.5 million in June of 2008. Currently, ICBC online banking provides a variety of services; customers can transfer money, pay bills, buy stocks or bonds, change foreign currency and so on. It has been very successful and has won various awards in China. It is also widely recognized and respected in the international banking sector. In every year from 2003 to 2006, ICBC was granted the â€Å"Best Personal Internet Bank of China† award by Global Finance. All these have established ICBC as a leader in e-banking in China and have put it among the top financial players in the international arena (icbc.com.cn). 2.3 Introduction to Service 2.3.1 Definition of Service According to Kotler and Keller (2006:374), â€Å"services are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable products†. Therefore, services require more quality control than products. Financial services are services directed specifically at people’s money or wealth, they are concern with organizations, individuals and their finances (Ennew and Waite, 2007). Nowadays there are a whole range of finance services, such as banking services, credit cards, insurance, foreign exchange, stock and bonds trading and so on. 2.3.2 Characteristics of Service In the earlier marketing literature, Gummesson (1987) suggested that â€Å"services are something that can be bought and sole but which you cannot drop on your foot.† Basically, services are process or experiences (Bateson, 1977; Bowen and Schneider, 1988; Parasuraman et al., 1985). We cannot own a bank account as we own a car, but we have the right to use the bank account doing various financial transactions on our behalf by banks. According to Kotler and Keller (2006), services have for distinctive characteristics which are intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Most services are intangible (Beteson, 1977). They cannot be counted, measured and verified before sale to assure quality. Thus the company may find it difficult to understand the consumers’ evaluation of service quality (Zenthaml, 1981). Ennew and Waite (2007) suggested that services are heterogeneity because service performance different from customer to customer. The performance of services may be totally different from the customer’s perception. Those characters of services indicate that quality of services is more difficult to evaluate than products. Although these are widely used in services marketing, many researchers have different thoughts. Loverloch and Gummesson (2004) argue that this framework has weaknesses, such as intangibility which is ambiguous, they suggested that many services also involve some tangible elements and outcomes. Vargo and Lush (2004) also highlight the inability of this framework to distinguish between goods and services. 2.4 Introduction to Service Quality 2.4.1 Definition of Service Quality Marketing literature has provided many definitions of service quality. Before 1980’s, most research of quality focused on how to define and measure the quality of tangible products. As the service industry developed vigorously, more and more scholars did lots of exploration and study about service quality. However, due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to define, measure and control (Crosby, 1979). According to the American Society for Quality (Miller, C., 1993), â€Å"quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs†. Levitt (1972) suggested that services quality refers to the results of services can meet the standards set by the customers. Sasser and Olsen (1978) defined services quality from materials, equipment and personnel. This classification suggests that service quality not only including the final results, but also including the provision of services. Gronoroos (1982) firstly proposed the concept of perceived service quality, he suggested that service quality generated from the comparison between expected service quality and the experienced service quality. According to Lewis and Boom (1983), service quality is the consistency of the transfer of service and expectations of service. Customer’s perceptions of quality usually come from their comparison between expected and perceived quality. The result of this comparison is, when the perceived quality is higher than expected quality, customer will get good quality of service or satisfaction with it (Parasuraman, et. al, 1985). Six years later, they pointed out that service quality is a psychological assessment that is measured by customers according to the gap between the expectation and actual service quality (Parasuraman, et. al, 1991). However, Stewart, Hope and Muhlemann (1998) suggested that service quality should be distanced by who provide the service and how they provide it. The former is evaluated after the service, while the latter is evaluated in the process of deliver service. Sarsser et al. (1998) argued that service quality should be defined through three factors which are materials, equipment and person. They suggested service quality not only include the results, but also include the provision of services. Service level and service quality are similar, service level can be divided into expected service level and perceived service level (Sarsser et al., 1998). In recent years, the definition of service quality improved towards customer factor. Harrison (2000) described that service quality is basically concerned with meeting customer’s need and requirements and how well the service level delivered meets customer expectations. Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that there are two levels of customer expectations, desired service and adequate service. The former is defined as the â€Å"wish for† level of service performance, while the latter is defined as the basic service expectations. According to Kim et al. (1998), financial institutions always provide generally undifferentiated services to customer. Therefore, service quality becomes the most important factor. 2.4.2 Dimensions of Service Quality Marketing literature provide many views of the measurement dimensions of services quality. Sasser et al. (1978) suggested that there are three different dimensions of service performance: levels of material, facilities, and personnel. Gronroos (1982) divided service quality into two types: technical quality and functional quality. The former refers to what customers are actually receiving from the service , the latter refers to the process in which the service is delivered. Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) argued that service quality has three dimensions physical quality, such as equipment; corporate quality, such as company’s image; interactive quality, which means the interaction 74bb1v8140customers. Parasuraman et al (1985) suggested there are ten dimensions of service quality, which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the customer and tangibles. After further study, they improved these to five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurances, tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Figure 2.3 illustrates the structure of their finding. Source: Parasuraman et al., (1985,1988) Brady and Cronin (2001) presented a service quality model of three dimensions: interaction quality, physical environment quality and outcome quality. Interaction quality refers to the interaction between customer and employee in the process of service delivery. It is impacted by attitude, behavior and expertise. Physical environment refers to customer’s evaluation of physical facilities or building design. Outcome quality indicates the result of services (Brady and Cronin, 2001). 2.4.3 Importance of Service Quality With the development of world economy and the pace of globalisation, most markets have been very competitive, in order to survive, companies need to provide good quality services to satisfy and retain loyalty customers (Fecikova, 2004). According to Broderick and Vachirapornpuk (2002), not only the technology changes overtime, customer expectation and perception of online services also changes continuously. Therefore, service quality will become a very important issue to online banks. Nowadays, as the process of globalization has made the market competition in financial industry more and more intense. Customers have been considered as the most importance to service industry (MacDonald et al, 2000). At the same time, customers’ expectations of service quality are constantly increase, while their tolerance of poor services is constantly decline (Smith and Lewis, 1989). Therefore, it is increasingly difficult for the company to success in the competitive market. Only the company which provide better services than others can gain competitive advantage in the market and gain more customers (Gronroos, 1990). Easingwood and Storey (1993) suggested that service quality is the most important factor for the success of financial industry. Therefore, providing high quality services to customers is important for a bank to success and survival in today’s competitive market (Wang et al., 2003). 2.4.4 Measuring Service Quality As service quality directly relates with customer satisfaction, more and more company concern measuring service quality an important task. According to Baggs and Kleiner (1999:36), â€Å"The measurement of customer service is the most important variable that a company has to manage. Customer service includes the overall picture that an organisation presents to the public.† Due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to measure and control (Crosby, 1979). Gronoroos (1984) suggested that service quality should be measured by compare the customer perception and expectation of services. However, most of service quality studies have been focused on the development of instruments to measure service quality directly. Cronin Taylor (1992) argue and change this method to a comparison of performance with ideal standards, or from performance perceptions only. Their performance is mostly based on employees. Customers’ evaluation of service quality is influenced by their interactions with the employees. Recently, most researchers agree that services comprise of an outcome, which is an achievement of some end by the customer, and a process, which is the interaction customer-service provider (Blanchard Galloway 1994). Recent research suggested that to measure service quality, not only the performance of service should be measured, the process of the service delivery should be considered as well. To check the influences for service process to their perceptions; Rust and Oliver (1994) presented the three component model to indicate the influence of service process to service quality. From the figure 2.4, it clearly be seen that there are three factors deciding the perceived service quality, they are service product, service delivery and service environment. This theory support the importance of service delivery, for actual outcome quality only one of the three factors. SERVQUAL Model SERVQUAL model is the most widely used method to measure service quality both in academic research and business analysis. Parasuraman et. al (1985) formulated a service quality model which highlighted the requirements for deliver high service quality. The model identifies five gaps that may cause unsuccessful services delivery. There are five gaps in this model. Gap 1 is the gap between consumer expectation and management perception. Gap 2 is the gap between management perception and service quality specification. Gap 3 is the gap between service quality specification and service delivery. Gap 4 is the gap between service delivery and external communication. Gap 5 is the gap between perceived service and expected service. Source: Parasuraman et al. (1985:44). Based on this research, Parasuraman et. al (1985) identify ten factors which determine the services quality. These determinants were: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competency Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Access Understanding the customer Parasuraman et al. (1988) furthered the service delivery process and established a SERVOQUAL service quality analytical framework which includes five factors: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy(Zeithaml et al, 1990). Tangibles. All physical elements of the provision of service by banks. It includes the building, decoration, equipment, personnel, publications, visible materials, etc. Reliability. He extent to which repeated use of the product or service satisfies customers requirements of it. It creates a level of trust by the customer in the services and products provided by banks and it directly affects customer perceptions of brand, economic strength, the levels of professionalism of staff and the quality of products. Responsiveness. The speed the company responds to the requirements of customer. Typically, this is a function of the willingness of bank staff to provide the necessary services when requested by customers. It not only embodies the attitude of a bank’s service and work efficiency, but also demonstrates the difference in quality compared with the inter-bank service. Assurance. This is the customers feeling that bank staff are fully capable of dealing with problems in the course of their work. Empathy. This is a measure of the extent to which the supplier identifies the customers problems as also being their own problems and the willingness with which they take those problems on board for resolution. Typically it would include providing customers with personalized product portfolios in line with their personal needs and aspirations. Based on these five factors, they developed a 22 items scale to measure service quality. The following table illustrates the details. ries. Carman (1990) suggested adding certain dimensions which are differentially important in different industry. Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that SERVQUAL model was not appropriate in their study of banking and fast food industries. Another criticism i Service Quality in ICBC Service Quality in ICBC Abstract The development of computer technology and information network technology has brought massive challenges to financial services organizations. Online banking, which provides financial services to customers via Internet, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. Therefore, as the biggest commercial bank in China, it is very important for the managers of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to build a long-term customer relationship. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty. Based on the objectives, after decides the type of investigation and research approach, five pairs of hypotheses are formulated to test the relationship between variables. The results of this study indicate that there are high positive relationship between customer perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. There is also a medium positive relationship between handle customer complaint and customer loyalty. According to these, the ICBC online banking must establish a long term strategy to improve the perceived service quality, satisfying their customer, handling customer complaint promptly in order to achieve more loyal customers. Declaration of Originality I declare that this thesis entitled â€Å"Examining the Service Quality, Customer satisfaction and Loyalty in Online Banking Services of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China† has been composed by myself and has not been presented or accepted in any previous application for a degree. The work, of which this is a record, has been carried out by myself unless otherwise stated and where the work is mine, it reflects personal views and values. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information have been acknowledged by means of references including those of the Internet. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview In the past twenty years, the pace of change in financial services sector has been dramatic. The development of computer technology and information network technology has introduced a new virtual economy based on the Internet. As the Internet provides new communication channels to banking industry, the number of online banking websites increased rapidly (Aladwani, 2001). Online banking, an important part of the Internet economy, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. Mols (2000) indicated that the introduction and customers’ adoption of online banking will bring a massive change in the relationship between retailing banks and customers. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. As a result, building long-term customer relationships becomes ever more important as a part of financial institutions’ strategy. How to satisfy customers and gain customer loyalty has become one of the best means of obtaining competitive advantage. Since China’s accession to the WTO, many foreign banks have begun to do business in China. They not only brought advanced management methods and business philosophy, but also made the financial market in China more competitive. As a consequence of this competition, China’s commercial banks lost a large number of high-end customers in a short period of time. Faced with the loss of customers and the future trend of the growth of profit changing from deposits and loans to intermediary business, China’s commercial banks began to recognize the importance of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty and stepped up their efforts to compete with their foreign counterparts (www.financialnews.com.cn). Due to the increasingly competitive marketing environment, enterprises must be customer oriented (Kotler, 1997). With regarding to banking industry, the service quality is considered as the most important competitive weapon (Staford, 1996). Therefore, how to improve service quality and satisfy customer become a very important marketing strategy in banking industry. Service quality has been many researchers’ interest in recent years by the impellent of Parasuraman et al. (1985). There have been many researches identified the key factors impact on the service quality of traditional banks (Jun and Cai, 2001). However, there are few studies on the customer perceived service quality of online banking services (Broderick and Vachirapornpuk, 2002). Customer loyalty even received less attention than service quality and customer satisfaction (Caruana, 2000). The concepts of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty are linked together (Caruana, 2000). As illustrated by Caruana (2000:611), â€Å"service quality as an antecedent construct and service loyalty as an outcome variable of customer satisfaction†. Therefore, it is important for banks to know the current performance of their services and understand the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In Fecikova’s (2004:57) words: â€Å"Customer satisfaction has become an important issue for commercial and public service organisations.† The standards to judge a company’s win or lose are based on how many customers they can keep. Thus, how to satisfy customers and maintain loyal customers have become important marketing strategies of Chinese online banking industry. However, no matter how well the services are designed and delivered, mistakes will happen. The majority of customers will participate in private word-of-mouth activities regarding their consumptive activities (Day and Landon, 1977). The valence of these word-of-mouth activities may be negative, neutral, or positive. When there is a difference between customer expectation and the actual performance of products or services, the negative feelings will result in complaint behaviour. Therefore, how to handle customer complaints, restore the confidence of customers and reduce the loss of customers has also been an important task to companies in the services process. 1.2 Research Objectives There are some marketing and financial literatures on the services and customer relationship of traditional banks, but few researches are done on the services quality and customer loyalty of online banking. This study presents an analysis of the service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), focuses on the relationship between services quality and customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how handle customer complaint influence customer loyalty. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, this study aims to find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty of ICBC online banking. 1.3 Structure of Project This project is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is the overview and introduction of the research. In Chapter 2, the writer introduces the development and history of online banking services and its development in ICBC. After that, the writer reviews the relevant theories of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and customer complaint, explains how they were measured and the relationship between them, which are mainly based on previous findings. Using these theories, Chapter 3 illustrates the research questions and methodology of this research, the structure of questionnaire was also introduced in this section. Chapter 4 explains the findings of this research, discussing the current situation of ICBC online banking services, examining the relationships between these variables and give some recommendations. In the final Chapter, the writer summarizes the research, discusses the findings and introduces a number of limitations of this study. This section also contains opinions and suggestions on developing the online banking in the future. Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 2.1 Introduction This chapter first introduces the overview of Chinese online banking services and the development of ICBC online banking. Secondly, the writer clarified what the service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer complaint have been covered in the previous study, indicates which factors would affect them and what kind of methods were used to measure them. In this part, the characteristics of online services and customer’s adoption of online banking services are also addressed. Finally, the relationships between these four concepts are reviewed. Bloemer et al. (1999) suggested that although the previous studies indicate that there are obvious relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, however, how strength the relationships are still not clear (Bloemer er al., 1999). Therefore, based on the literature review, the writer presents a research model for this study as well. 2.2 Background of Chinese Online Banking Services 2.2.1 Overview Online banking services are broadly defined as the ability to carry out bank transactions electronically, usually via the internet. It is an important part of the Internet economy. All business transactions are done via the banks’ websites (en.wikipedia.org). Online banking refers to several kinds of services through which bank customers can gain information and services such as money transfer, bill payment, short loan, investment, buy insurance and so on, via a page on Internet without leaving their homes or organizations (Sathye, 1999). There are several studies indicated that online banking services are the most profitable products to banks (Robinson, 2000). By eliminating the infrastructure costs associated with branch-based retail banking services. Online banking is able to offer instant service and lower service charges than their competitors. Online banking is the cheapest channel for banks to deliver services (Robinson, 2000; Giglio, 2002). Research shown that the cost of an average online banking transaction is only 10 percents of the cost of a similar average branch transaction (Kolodinsky et al., 2004). Through provide services online, banks can reduce their expenditure on hard ware and staff in branch (Karjaluoto et al., 2003). At the same time, online banking service delivery channel can also help banks to retain current customers who use online banking services from any location. As Internet has become such an efficient and world-wide used communication medium, it has also become a widely used retail channel (Cho, M. and Park, S., 2001). Furthermore, online banking provides banks opportunities to attract more customers from exiting Internet users (Rotchanakitumnuai and Speece, 2003). From the customers view, online banking services are convenient and can saving time compared with traditional retail banking services. Verma et al. (2004) suggested that customers are willing to pay more for online banking services to gain both offline value and online benefit. They can use online banking services when connect to Internet without the limitation of time and location. As illustrated by Bainbridge (2008), Traditional banking was impacted greatly by the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990s. As the Internet became more generally accessible, traditional banks began to realize its potential to deliver services to their customers while reducing long-term operational costs. Upon realizing this, they began to offer limited services online. In 1995, the first pure online bank, the Security First Network bank was founded in the United States. It provided services such as direct access to account, bill payment and check viewing, which are quite common today (Christopher, 2008). In the following twenty years, online banking services have developed rapidly and have now become a significant part of the business for commercial banks. As in other countries, Chinese commercial banks are undergoing rapid change due to advances in information technology. Eight months after the first online bank founded in the United States, in June 1996, the Bank of China set up websites and started to provide Internet banking services to the community. One year later, China Merchant Bank launched the first fully online banking â€Å"All in one Net†. It became the first fully Internet bank in China (data.chinabyte.com). Subsequently, more and more Chinese domestic banks have set up online banking services to penetrate the market and gain competitive advantage (Li, 2002). In 2000, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China launched online banking business in 31 cities in China. As the nations largest commercial bank, the opening of its online banking business aroused widespread interest. In 2002, HSBC launched its online banking services in China (data.chinabyte.com). The number of costumers and the trading volume of online banking have increased rapidly. At the end of 2007, the trading volume of corporate online banking reached 245.8 trillion RMB, which increased 163.1% compared to 2006. In the total transaction volume, corporate online banking accounts for 93.6% which is 230 trillion RMB. However, the growth of Personal Online banking was even faster in recent years. The trading volume reached 15.8 trillion RMB at the end of 2007 which is almost four times of 2006’s 4.1 trillion RMB. The number of business customers reached 0.84 million and individual customers reached 65 million at the end of 2006 (iresearch.com.cn). At the same time, the range of services provided by online banking has also increased. Before 2000, some of the banks only provided information services. Now they provide services such as enquiry, investment advice, money transfers, buying and selling of securities, online payments and, in some banks, small loans, housing mortgage loans and other credit facilities. As the 21st century is a customer-oriented century, how to create and maintain customer has became an important part of marketing strategy of banking industry. As information technology advanced and communication channels diversified, customers can use a variety channels to acquire more complete information and choices, to achieve their own best interests. As illustrated by, customer’s role in consumer economy has changed from the recipient to products or services to the decision maker. Most banks also aware that customers are becoming a dominant position, however, how to use information technology and limited sources to achieve the best and most efficient service quality to satisfy customers, gain loyalty customers, ensure the source of profit, these have became the focus of the operation of Chinese banks. 2.2.2 Introduction of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China As the largest one of four big stated-owned commercial banks which dominate the financial markets in China. The ICBC is the leader in online banking services and is constantly introducing advanced online banking products and services to the public. The following figure illustrates its repaid growth in online banking. Figure 2.1 ICBC Online Banking Trading Volume We can see form the figure above, in 2000, ICBCs online banking trading volume amounted only RMB 2.03 trillion, in 2002 this number grew to RMB 8.77 trillion which is almost 4 times of 2000. In the following five years, the ICBC online banking trading volume kept a rapid growth rate. In 2005, it went beyond RMB 46 trillion, growing 23 times compared to that in 2000. By the end of 2007, ICBC online trading volume jumped to RMB 102.88 trillion, which is more than 50 times of 2000. At the same time, the customers of ICBC online banking grew rapidly. At the end of 2007, ICBC Online banking has had 980,000 business customers and 39.08 million individual customers (icbc.com.cn). As illustrated in figure 2, the individual customers of ICBC online banking kept an continued rapid growth from 0.2 million in 2000 to 48.5 million in June of 2008. Currently, ICBC online banking provides a variety of services; customers can transfer money, pay bills, buy stocks or bonds, change foreign currency and so on. It has been very successful and has won various awards in China. It is also widely recognized and respected in the international banking sector. In every year from 2003 to 2006, ICBC was granted the â€Å"Best Personal Internet Bank of China† award by Global Finance. All these have established ICBC as a leader in e-banking in China and have put it among the top financial players in the international arena (icbc.com.cn). 2.3 Introduction to Service 2.3.1 Definition of Service According to Kotler and Keller (2006:374), â€Å"services are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable products†. Therefore, services require more quality control than products. Financial services are services directed specifically at people’s money or wealth, they are concern with organizations, individuals and their finances (Ennew and Waite, 2007). Nowadays there are a whole range of finance services, such as banking services, credit cards, insurance, foreign exchange, stock and bonds trading and so on. 2.3.2 Characteristics of Service In the earlier marketing literature, Gummesson (1987) suggested that â€Å"services are something that can be bought and sole but which you cannot drop on your foot.† Basically, services are process or experiences (Bateson, 1977; Bowen and Schneider, 1988; Parasuraman et al., 1985). We cannot own a bank account as we own a car, but we have the right to use the bank account doing various financial transactions on our behalf by banks. According to Kotler and Keller (2006), services have for distinctive characteristics which are intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Most services are intangible (Beteson, 1977). They cannot be counted, measured and verified before sale to assure quality. Thus the company may find it difficult to understand the consumers’ evaluation of service quality (Zenthaml, 1981). Ennew and Waite (2007) suggested that services are heterogeneity because service performance different from customer to customer. The performance of services may be totally different from the customer’s perception. Those characters of services indicate that quality of services is more difficult to evaluate than products. Although these are widely used in services marketing, many researchers have different thoughts. Loverloch and Gummesson (2004) argue that this framework has weaknesses, such as intangibility which is ambiguous, they suggested that many services also involve some tangible elements and outcomes. Vargo and Lush (2004) also highlight the inability of this framework to distinguish between goods and services. 2.4 Introduction to Service Quality 2.4.1 Definition of Service Quality Marketing literature has provided many definitions of service quality. Before 1980’s, most research of quality focused on how to define and measure the quality of tangible products. As the service industry developed vigorously, more and more scholars did lots of exploration and study about service quality. However, due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to define, measure and control (Crosby, 1979). According to the American Society for Quality (Miller, C., 1993), â€Å"quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs†. Levitt (1972) suggested that services quality refers to the results of services can meet the standards set by the customers. Sasser and Olsen (1978) defined services quality from materials, equipment and personnel. This classification suggests that service quality not only including the final results, but also including the provision of services. Gronoroos (1982) firstly proposed the concept of perceived service quality, he suggested that service quality generated from the comparison between expected service quality and the experienced service quality. According to Lewis and Boom (1983), service quality is the consistency of the transfer of service and expectations of service. Customer’s perceptions of quality usually come from their comparison between expected and perceived quality. The result of this comparison is, when the perceived quality is higher than expected quality, customer will get good quality of service or satisfaction with it (Parasuraman, et. al, 1985). Six years later, they pointed out that service quality is a psychological assessment that is measured by customers according to the gap between the expectation and actual service quality (Parasuraman, et. al, 1991). However, Stewart, Hope and Muhlemann (1998) suggested that service quality should be distanced by who provide the service and how they provide it. The former is evaluated after the service, while the latter is evaluated in the process of deliver service. Sarsser et al. (1998) argued that service quality should be defined through three factors which are materials, equipment and person. They suggested service quality not only include the results, but also include the provision of services. Service level and service quality are similar, service level can be divided into expected service level and perceived service level (Sarsser et al., 1998). In recent years, the definition of service quality improved towards customer factor. Harrison (2000) described that service quality is basically concerned with meeting customer’s need and requirements and how well the service level delivered meets customer expectations. Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that there are two levels of customer expectations, desired service and adequate service. The former is defined as the â€Å"wish for† level of service performance, while the latter is defined as the basic service expectations. According to Kim et al. (1998), financial institutions always provide generally undifferentiated services to customer. Therefore, service quality becomes the most important factor. 2.4.2 Dimensions of Service Quality Marketing literature provide many views of the measurement dimensions of services quality. Sasser et al. (1978) suggested that there are three different dimensions of service performance: levels of material, facilities, and personnel. Gronroos (1982) divided service quality into two types: technical quality and functional quality. The former refers to what customers are actually receiving from the service , the latter refers to the process in which the service is delivered. Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) argued that service quality has three dimensions physical quality, such as equipment; corporate quality, such as company’s image; interactive quality, which means the interaction 74bb1v8140customers. Parasuraman et al (1985) suggested there are ten dimensions of service quality, which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the customer and tangibles. After further study, they improved these to five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurances, tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Figure 2.3 illustrates the structure of their finding. Source: Parasuraman et al., (1985,1988) Brady and Cronin (2001) presented a service quality model of three dimensions: interaction quality, physical environment quality and outcome quality. Interaction quality refers to the interaction between customer and employee in the process of service delivery. It is impacted by attitude, behavior and expertise. Physical environment refers to customer’s evaluation of physical facilities or building design. Outcome quality indicates the result of services (Brady and Cronin, 2001). 2.4.3 Importance of Service Quality With the development of world economy and the pace of globalisation, most markets have been very competitive, in order to survive, companies need to provide good quality services to satisfy and retain loyalty customers (Fecikova, 2004). According to Broderick and Vachirapornpuk (2002), not only the technology changes overtime, customer expectation and perception of online services also changes continuously. Therefore, service quality will become a very important issue to online banks. Nowadays, as the process of globalization has made the market competition in financial industry more and more intense. Customers have been considered as the most importance to service industry (MacDonald et al, 2000). At the same time, customers’ expectations of service quality are constantly increase, while their tolerance of poor services is constantly decline (Smith and Lewis, 1989). Therefore, it is increasingly difficult for the company to success in the competitive market. Only the company which provide better services than others can gain competitive advantage in the market and gain more customers (Gronroos, 1990). Easingwood and Storey (1993) suggested that service quality is the most important factor for the success of financial industry. Therefore, providing high quality services to customers is important for a bank to success and survival in today’s competitive market (Wang et al., 2003). 2.4.4 Measuring Service Quality As service quality directly relates with customer satisfaction, more and more company concern measuring service quality an important task. According to Baggs and Kleiner (1999:36), â€Å"The measurement of customer service is the most important variable that a company has to manage. Customer service includes the overall picture that an organisation presents to the public.† Due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to measure and control (Crosby, 1979). Gronoroos (1984) suggested that service quality should be measured by compare the customer perception and expectation of services. However, most of service quality studies have been focused on the development of instruments to measure service quality directly. Cronin Taylor (1992) argue and change this method to a comparison of performance with ideal standards, or from performance perceptions only. Their performance is mostly based on employees. Customers’ evaluation of service quality is influenced by their interactions with the employees. Recently, most researchers agree that services comprise of an outcome, which is an achievement of some end by the customer, and a process, which is the interaction customer-service provider (Blanchard Galloway 1994). Recent research suggested that to measure service quality, not only the performance of service should be measured, the process of the service delivery should be considered as well. To check the influences for service process to their perceptions; Rust and Oliver (1994) presented the three component model to indicate the influence of service process to service quality. From the figure 2.4, it clearly be seen that there are three factors deciding the perceived service quality, they are service product, service delivery and service environment. This theory support the importance of service delivery, for actual outcome quality only one of the three factors. SERVQUAL Model SERVQUAL model is the most widely used method to measure service quality both in academic research and business analysis. Parasuraman et. al (1985) formulated a service quality model which highlighted the requirements for deliver high service quality. The model identifies five gaps that may cause unsuccessful services delivery. There are five gaps in this model. Gap 1 is the gap between consumer expectation and management perception. Gap 2 is the gap between management perception and service quality specification. Gap 3 is the gap between service quality specification and service delivery. Gap 4 is the gap between service delivery and external communication. Gap 5 is the gap between perceived service and expected service. Source: Parasuraman et al. (1985:44). Based on this research, Parasuraman et. al (1985) identify ten factors which determine the services quality. These determinants were: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competency Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Access Understanding the customer Parasuraman et al. (1988) furthered the service delivery process and established a SERVOQUAL service quality analytical framework which includes five factors: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy(Zeithaml et al, 1990). Tangibles. All physical elements of the provision of service by banks. It includes the building, decoration, equipment, personnel, publications, visible materials, etc. Reliability. He extent to which repeated use of the product or service satisfies customers requirements of it. It creates a level of trust by the customer in the services and products provided by banks and it directly affects customer perceptions of brand, economic strength, the levels of professionalism of staff and the quality of products. Responsiveness. The speed the company responds to the requirements of customer. Typically, this is a function of the willingness of bank staff to provide the necessary services when requested by customers. It not only embodies the attitude of a bank’s service and work efficiency, but also demonstrates the difference in quality compared with the inter-bank service. Assurance. This is the customers feeling that bank staff are fully capable of dealing with problems in the course of their work. Empathy. This is a measure of the extent to which the supplier identifies the customers problems as also being their own problems and the willingness with which they take those problems on board for resolution. Typically it would include providing customers with personalized product portfolios in line with their personal needs and aspirations. Based on these five factors, they developed a 22 items scale to measure service quality. The following table illustrates the details. ries. Carman (1990) suggested adding certain dimensions which are differentially important in different industry. Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that SERVQUAL model was not appropriate in their study of banking and fast food industries. Another criticism i