Competitive priorities and engagement: can they be a source of satisfaction? Customer-centered model

• Published in: The International journal of quality & reliability management 2024-04, Vol.41 (5), p.1337-1355
• Main Authors: Awwad, Abdulkareem Salameh, Anouze, Abdel Latef, Cudney, Elizabeth A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Competition; Competitive advantage; Customer feedback; Customer satisfaction; Customer services; Decision making; Empirical analysis; Factor analysis; Geographical locations; Health care; Health care industry; Health services; Hypotheses; Management decisions; Managers; Manufacturers; Patient satisfaction; Priorities; Quality of service; Research methodology; Strategic management; Success factors
• ISSN: 0265-671X; 1758-6682
• DOI: 10.1108/IJQRM-01-2023-0001

Purpose This study aims to investigate and test the impact of competitive priorities, in terms of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility, cost and patient engagement, on patient satisfaction with healthcare services. It considers patients’ rather than managers’ points of view to collect responses about competitive priorities.Design/methodology/approach This research employed a cross-sectional survey design to analyze a sample of customers through an empirical study of 488 patients in Qatar’s healthcare service context.Findings The confirmatory factor analysis results show that competitive priorities and engagement positively and significantly impact patient satisfaction.Research limitations/implications Researchers can use this methodology to explore the role of competitive priorities in different service contexts and sectors. The researchers conducted the study in Qatar; therefore, the results are not generalizable to all healthcare sectors. However, regardless of geographic location, the research approach can be used in healthcare.Practical implications Managers can employ the developed scales to diagnose competitive priorities and improve customer service experiences.Originality/value The paper is original as it suggests using competitive priorities as a measurement tool for predicting patient satisfaction compared to prior research that mostly measured competitive priorities based on internal perspectives (managers’ perspectives). Further, this paper is original because it depends on the external perspective (customers’ perspective) for the competitive priorities for measuring patient satisfaction.