Title: Service operations in public sector agencies: evidence from NCDMV

Authors: James B. Martin; Joyendu Bhadury; Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah; Steve Bert; Eugene Murray

Addresses: Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA ' School of Business and Management, State University of New York – The College at Brockport, Brockport, New York, USA ' Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA ' Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA ' Institute for Transportation Research and Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Abstract: This paper studies customer service in public agencies within the context of vehicle titling and registration services in North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV). Over 17,000 observations were recorded from the operations of 27 offices in North Carolina and analysis performed on the same to delineate operational factors that impact service quality. Primary findings include: salient determinants of customer service and waiting times; benefits of process standardisation/automation; evidence that privately-operated offices with permanent contracts or those that are state owned and operated provide worse service than those operated by private contractors with time-limited contracts and; evidence that incomplete transactions represent a significant customer service problem. The study also provides evidence of the consistency of NCDMV's compensation rates, a surprising result given that these rates were not set by the legislature after adequate data-based analyses. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed along with the legislative impact of this study.

Keywords: service operations; Division of Motor Vehicle; DMV; service time; waiting time; public sector management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2020.107207

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2020 Vol.36 No.2, pp.161 - 188

Received: 06 Oct 2017
Accepted: 03 Mar 2018

Published online: 11 May 2020 *

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