Title: How to increase citizen satisfaction within municipal services: an Israeli case study

Authors: Rafi Zagorie; Shai Rozenes

Addresses: Engineering and Management of Service Systems Department, Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering, 38 Mivtza Kadesh st., Tel Aviv 6998812, Israel ' Engineering and Management of Service Systems Department, Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering, 38 Mivtza Kadesh st., Tel Aviv 6998812, Israel

Abstract: The objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the quality of municipal services within an Israeli town; 2) to identify the most important service quality dimensions that determine citizen satisfaction; 3) ways to improve citizen satisfaction by using a system dynamics model. The questionnaires were distributed to 634 respondents in a local government with a population of about 16,000 citizens. Results indicate that: 1) the five dimensions of ServQual represent a valid instrument to measure municipal overall service quality (OSQ) in this Israeli municipality; 2) three service quality dimensions, namely reliability, empathy and responsiveness significantly predicted citizen satisfaction. The findings of this case study can be used as a guide to improve quality attributes and enhance citizens' satisfaction.

Keywords: ServQual; customer satisfaction; local government; service; quality; service management; system dynamics; local governance; service systems; service science; service-dominant-logic.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2017.088295

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2017 Vol.9 No.4, pp.301 - 319

Received: 05 Sep 2016
Accepted: 04 May 2017
Published online: 01 Dec 2017 *

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