Statistical techniques for continuous improvement: a citizen's satisfaction survey

• Published in: TQM journal 2010-04, Vol.22 (3), p.267-284
• Main Authors: Cappelli, Lucio, Guglielmetti, Roberta, Mattia, Giovanni, Merli, Roberto, Francesca Renzi, Maria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude surveys; Citizens; Customer satisfaction; Customer services; Customer services quality; Data analysis; Decision making; Economic models; Economic statistics; Economic theory; Enrollments; Information industry; Information services; Likert scale; Marketing; Multivariate analysis; Organizational learning; Public sector; Quality management; Quality of service; Questionnaires; Statistical methods; Studies; Total quality; Variables
• ISSN: 1754-2731; 1754-274X
• DOI: 10.1108/17542731011035514

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a path analysis of data coming from a citizen's satisfaction survey to support decision makers in quality service improvement. In detail, the survey aims to measure citizen's satisfaction of an Italian local Public Administration regarding the "infant school (0-6 years) enrollment service".Design methodology approach - The survey represents an experimentation of an original model measuring customers' satisfaction toward on-line services. Some statistical methods to analyse a given dataset from different points of view are selected.Findings - Outcomes of descriptive statistics as well as of multivariate data analysis to summarize information variables are presented. A new multivariate statistical technique, Probabilistic Expert Systems (PES) (Cowell et al.), is proposed to simulate corrective actions (scenarios) and to suggest the best one for the service quality improvement.Originality value - The paper shows that statistical methods are able to support the decisional process because they allow the development of information (gathered from survey) into know-how. However, managers need to join together both statistical information and experience by means of a systematic method, in order to take effective decisions.