TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 CONCEPT OF QUALITY SERVICE DELIVERY
2.2 A BRIEF REVIEW OFS’ME’S ‘ OPERATIONS AND CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA
2.3 SMES ENGAGEMENT OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
2.4 CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.3 STUDY POPULATION
3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
3.5 DATA FOR THE STUDY: INSTRUMENTATION
3.5.1 INSTRUMENTATION
3.5.2 VALIDITY OF INSTRUMENT
3.6 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 DATA ANALYSIS (QUESTIONNAIRE)
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
5.2 CONCLUSION
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
REFERENCES
QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
There is growing recognition of the important role small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play in economic development. The SMEs constitute about 90% of total business units in Ghana and account of 60% of Ghana’s employed labour force (KDI, 2008). They are often described as efficient and prolific job creators, the seeds of big businesses and the fuel of national economic engines. Even in the developed industrial economies, it is the SME sector rather than the multinationals that is the largest employer of workers (Mullineux, 1997). This is also supported by a research done on small businesses in the United States by Dr. Charles Ou in June 2006, which indicated that U.S. small businesses numbered 23 million in 2003, and it employed about half of the private sector work force, and also produces about half of the nation’s private sector output.
Customer satisfaction is the “holy grail” of success for business in the customer service industry. The goal of every successful business is to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction by providing their client with value added transaction through positive customer interaction. In turn, the customer’s expectation is to feel important and assisted during the interactions that ultimately lead to fulfillment of their desire and positive end result (Leon and Lestlie, 2000). Customer service representatives are often trained to known the basic elements of providing excellent customer service. They are taught to listen, to be patient, tolerant and above all helpful. Organization, especially hotels often monitor their employees to make sure they consistently abide by and apply all of the rules and customer service practices.
Hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging and feeding on a short term basis. The provision of a basic accommodation in time past consisted of only rooms, with modern facilities including a bedroom suit and air conditioning or climate control. Additional common features found in hotel room are a telephone, an alarm clock, a television and internet connectivity. Snacks, food and drinks are supplied in a mini bar and facilities for making hot drink available.
Divine Fountain Hotels Limited was incorporated on the 31st of December, 1998 to provide unique and professional hospitality that can be of immense benefit to mankind in several ways. The objective of the hotel is to implement operational strategies that will create a seamless guest experience at any period. The Divine Fountain Hotels Limited, Lagos is one of the foremost hotels that were established with commitment to ensure that customers’ needs are satisfactorily met and for customers to get real value for money spent. Divine Fountain Hotels Limited started in 1998 with only one branch but now, the hotel has four branches with all its branches strategically located in the busy parts of Lagos.
Micro and small scale businesses are catalyst in the socio – economic development of any country. They are a veritable vehicle for the achievement of national macroeconomic objective in term of employment generation at low investment cost and enhancement of apprenticeship training. In Kenya, for instance, Kombo, Justus, Murumba and Makworo (2011), submitted that “micro and small scale entrepreneurs who include agriculture and rural businesses have contributed greatly to the growth of Kenyan economy”. The sector contributes to the national objective of creating employment opportunities, training entrepreneurs, generating income and providing a source of livelihoods for the majority of low income households in the country accounting for 12-14% of GDP (Republic of Kenya, 1982, 1989, 1992, 1994). The catalytic roles of micro and cottage businesses have been displayed in many countries of the world such as Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Zambia, and India among other countries. They contribute substantially to the Gross Domestic production (GDP), export earnings and employment opportunities of these countries. Micro and small scale enterprises (MSEs) have been widely acknowledged as the springboard for sustainable economic development. Apart from the fact that it contributes to the increase in per capital income and output, it also creates employment opportunities, encourage the development of indigenous entrepreneurship, enhance regional economic balance through industrial dispersal and generally promote effective resource utilization that are considered to be critical in the area of engineering economic development (Tolentino, 1996; Oboh, 2004; Odeh, 2005). Micro and small scale enterprises (MSEs) in Nigeria have not performed creditably well and they have not played expected significant role in economic growth. They equally has not influenced apprentice training so as to accelerate employment and poverty alleviation in order to foster Nigerian economic development. This situation has been of great concern to the government, citizen, operators, practitioners and organized private sectors. With the realization of the potentials of the MSEs, governments at different level in Nigeria have put up a lot of support programmes to promote and sustain their development. It is believed that massive assistance; financial, technical, marketing and managerial from the government are necessary for the SMEs to grow. Governments have stepped up efforts to promote the development of SMEs through increased incentive schemes including enhanced budgetary allocation for technical assistance programmes.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The financial constraints faced by small and medium sized hotels in their operations are daunting and this has had a negative impact on their development and also limited their potential to drive the national economy as expected. This is worrying for a developing economy without the requisite infrastructure and technology to attract big businesses in large numbers.
Most SMEs in the country lack the capacity in terms of qualified personnel to manage their activities. As a result, they are unable to publish the same quality of financial information as those big firms and as such are not able to provide audited financial statement, which is one of the essential requirements in accessing credit from the financial institution. This is buttressed by the statement that privately held firms do not publish the same quantity or quality of financial information that publicly held firms are required to produce. As a result, information on their financial condition, earnings, and earnings prospect may be incomplete or inaccurate. Faced with this type of uncertainty, a lender may deny credit, sometimes to the firms that are credit worthy but unable to report their results (Coleman, 2000).
Another issue has to do with the inadequate capital base of most SMEs in the country to meet the collateral requirement by the banks before credit is given out. In the situation where some SMEs are able to provide collateral, they often end up being inadequate for the amount they needed to embark on their projects as SMEs assets- backed collateral are usually rated at ‘carcass value’ to ensure that the loan is realistically covered in the case of default due to the uncertainty surrounding the survival and growth of SMEs (Binks et al., 1992).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is to examine the standard of services offered in small and medium sized hotels in Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study include the following:
1. To find out the quality of services provided by Divine Fountain Hotel Limited.
2. To ascertain the factors influencing the standard of services offered in Divine Fountain Hotel Limited.
3. To examine the challenges facing the standard of services offered in Divine Fountain Hotel Limited.
4. To determine the effect of standard of services offered in Divine Fountain Hotel Limited on the company’s profitability.
5. To investigate the relationship between the standard of services offered in Divine Fountain Hotel Limited and customers’ retention.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The relevant research questions related to this study include the following:
1. What is the quality of services provided by Divine Fountain Hotel Limited?