Development of a customer satisfaction assessment model for the immigration and emigration service in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Immigration and Emigration Service (IES) is among the most vital set of state services of a country. In Sri Lanka it has played a great role with the augmented rates of immigrants and emigrants during past few years. The efficiency of this service relies on its customers’ satisfaction. Thus the focus of the research was to identify the level of satisfaction of customers regarding the quality of services, and to suggest appropriate further improvement strategies to maximize its efficiency. Quantitative approach was used for the effective fulfilment of desired objectives. During the first phase of data collection, two preliminary surveys were carried out to filter and specifically identify the factors to be included in the satisfaction assessment. Subsequently, the customer satisfaction assessment was completed focusing on 125 customers. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 4 experts, aiming to identify possible improvement strategies for further enhancements in the service quality. Twenty eight factors were established to appraise the immigration and emigration service quality. The service quality assessment using IPA matrix revealed that the customers were satisfied with 15 factors and dissatisfied with 13 factors. Thus, several improvement strategies were proposed to improve the current service quality.