Assessing citizens's satisfaction with the public administrative services at Chuong My district, Hanoi City

ASSESSING CITIZENS’ SATISFACTION WITH THE PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AT CHUONG MY DISTRICT,

HANOI CITY

A DISSERTATION

Presented to

the Faculty of the Graduate Program of the College of Arts and Sciences

Central Philippine University, Philippines

In Collaboration with

Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF MANAGEMENT

By

NGUYEN VAN DUY

March 2018

i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

During the learning process, carrying out the research and completing the

dissertation, the researcher has been given the precious guidance and support from his

professors, relatives and friends. With his deepest gratitude, he would like to send his

regards to:

The administrative board of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and

Business Administration has created many favorable conditions to support him in the

process of study and fulfilling the dissertation;

Dr. Reynaldo Nene Dusaran, his academic supervisor as well as his beloved

teacher, has enthusiastically supported, guided, encouraged and created the

convenient conditions for me during the process of learning and completing the

dissertation;

Dr. Hoang Van Hao, his friend, is a respected person in his job as well as in

his life. He has encouraged, supported and consulted him much so that he can

complete this dissertation;

MA. Dang Thi Nam, Vice Chief of Office and all the staff at the One-Stop￾Shop Part of the People’s Committee of Chuong My district have guided and created

every favorable condition for him in the process of investigating and collecting data

so that I can complete this dissertation;

He would like to express my special thanks to the teachers in the dissertation

evaluation committee who have given many valuable contributions to fulfill this

dissertation;

He would also like to send his regards to the citizens using the public

administrative services at Chuong My District People’s Committee who have

answered the questionnaires in order to provide him with the research data;

His special thanks are also sent to his classmates in the PDM1 doctor class

who have encouraged and helped him in his difficult times.

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Last but not least, he would like to express his gratitude to his parents, siblings

and his beloved wife who are always by his side to help him with his study and this

dissertation completion.

The Researcher

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i

LIST OF FIGURES iii

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1

Background and rationale of the study 1

Objectives of the Study 5

Hypotheses 6

Theoretical Framework 7

Conceptual Framework 17

Operational Definitions of variables 21

Significance of the Study 23

Scope and Limitations 24

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES 26

Related Literature 26

Related Studies 39

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 46

Research Design 46

Population, Sample Size and Sampling Technique 48

Research Instruments 49

Data Gathering Procedure 53

Data Processing and Analysis 54

CHAPTER IV DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION 56

Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 56

Information Related to Usage of Public Administrative Services 58

Respondents’ Perception of Quality of the Public Administrative

Services and Emotional Value 61

Respondents’ Percieved Satisfaction with Public Administrative

Services 68

Relationship between Quality of Public Administrative Services,

Emotional Value and Citizens’ Satisfaction 69

Differences in Citizens’ Satisfaction by their Demographic

Characteristics 77

Differences in Citizens’ Satisfaction by their knowledge, experience and

sectors of public administrative services 80

CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY

RECOMMENDATIONS 84

Summary 84

Findings 84

Conclusions 85

Policy Recommendations 87

REFERENCES 97

APPENDIXES 107

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`

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

Figure 1. 1. Conceptual Model of Service Quality by Parasuraman ........................10

Figure 1. 2. Performance Only Model (SERVPERF) (Martinez and Martinez, 2010)

...................................................................................................................................14

Figure 1. 3. Four Dimensions of PERVAL by Jillian C. Sweeneya and Geoffrey N.

Soutar ........................................................................................................................17

Figure 1. 4. Conceptual Framework of the Study.....................................................20

Figure 2. 1. The Kano Model....................................................................................33

Figure 2. 2. The American Customer Satisfaction Index Model ..............................35

Figure 4. 1. Sources of Information about the Public Administrative Services which

Citizens Used ............................................................................................................61

Figure 4. 2. Result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis................................................71

Figure 4. 3. Result of SEM at the Second Analysis..................................................74

Figure 4. 4. Model of Factors Affecting Citizens’ Satisfaction with Public

Administrative Services............................................................................................76

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLES PAGE

Table 3. 1. List of Variables and Initial Items in the Survey Instrument..................50

Table 3. 2. Results of Reliability Test of Scales.......................................................53

Table 4. 1. Distribution of Respondents as to Demographics Characteristics..........57

Table 4. 2. Distribution of Respondents as to Information Related to the Use of

Public Administrative Services.................................................................................59

Table 4. 3. Descriptive Statistics of the Different Items in the Components of Public

Administrative Services Quality and Emotional Value ............................................64

Table 4. 4. Descriptive Statistics for Different Items of Citizens’ Satisfaction........69

Table 4. 5. The Result of Standardized Regression Weights of CFA.......................72

Table 4. 6. The Results of Testing the Effect of Six Factors to Satisfaction ............73

Table 4. 7. The Results of Testing the Effect of Four Factors to Satisfaction..........75

Table 4. 8. The Result of Standardized Regression Weights of Final SEM.............75

Table 4. 9. The Result of affects of independent variables.......................................76

Table 4. 10. Mean Citizens’ Satisfaction Score by Demographic Characteristics ...78

Table 4. 11. Mean Citizens’ Satisfaction Scores by Sectors, Experience and

Knowledge of Public Administrative Services.........................................................81

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Symbol Explanation

AMOS the Analysis of Moment Structures

ANOVA Analysis of Variance

CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis

CFI Comparative fit index

GFI Goodness of fit index

ISO International Organization for Standardization

IT Information Technology

KMO Kaiser - Meyer - Olkin measure

NPM New Public Management

OLS Ordinary Least Square

OSS One - Stop - Shop

PERVAL Perceived Value

QFD Quality Function Deployment

SEM Structural Equation Modeling

Sig. Significance

RMSEA The root mean square error of approximation

SIPAS Satisfaction index of public administrative service

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

TLI Tucker and Lewis index

VFF The Vietnam Fatherland Front

VAVN The Veterans Association of Vietnam

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ABSTRACT

ASSESSING CITIZENS’ SATISFACTION WITH THE PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AT CHUONG MY DISTRICT,

HANOI CITY

NGUYEN VAN DUY

This study was conducted to evaluate the citizens' satisfaction with the

public administrative services at People’s Committee of Chuong My district. Data

were gathered from 460 respondents who used the public administrative services

at One-Shop-Stop (OSS) part of Chuong My district. The survey instrument was

tested for its reliability using the Cronbach’s Alpha. Confirmatory Factor Analysis

(CFA) was used to test how well the measured variables represent the number of

constructs. The instrument was translated to Vietnamese to allow easy

understanding of the respondents and conducted in two month – February and

March 2017. All the data collected were processed using SPSS AMOS version

22. Analysis made use of descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modeling

(SEM), t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test the hypotheses of the

study. The study revealed that most if not the majority of the respondents were

females, not more than 45 years old, university educated and working as

employee, civil servant or freelancer. The majority of the respondents at Chuong

My district used public administrative services of Certification of house ownership

and land use rights, once used public administrative services at OSS part of district

and have little knowledge of the services. The perceived satisfaction of the

respondents of the public administrative services of Chuong My district is

considered as “high”. There are no significant differences in the satisfaction of

respondents with the public administrative services by their demographic

characteristics, experience and knowledge level of public administrative services

as well as by sectors of public administrative services. Only four components of

public administrative services quality including Tangibility, Assurance, Empathy

and Emotional Value were significant determinants of satisfaction. Among the

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four factors, Assurance appeared to be the major determinant followed by

Empathy while Tangibility and Emotional Value showed to be the least.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Few would disagree with the premise that citizens want to be satisfied when

interacting with government. According to Oliver (1997), satisfaction itself was

defined as “a desirable end state of consumption and patronization” and “a

reinforcing, pleasurable experience.” Although this was mentioned by Oliver from a

customer’s perspective, this argument undoubtedly could be applied to citizens. Life

satisfaction of citizens should be a worthy goal for government.

One of the most significant challenges facing services organizations today is

to provide consistently high quality services. The delivery of consistent service

quality is arguably the most vital factors that contribute to the establishment of

credibility and reputation of the organizations in the eyes of the public. It is well

recognized that providing high quality services has a beneficial effect on the bottom￾line performance for the organization. Indeed, there is a growing body of empirical

evidence indicating that providing top quality services enhances profitability,

improves productivity, spreading positive word-of-mouth, increases market share and

return on investment, and reduces costs (Sachdev & Verma, 2004). Like many other

services organizations, public services organizations specifically those ones operating

at local government level, are not immune to the pressures to improve the quality of

their services on a continuous basis. Municipal authorities for example, face more

daunting tasks than those in the private sector in their efforts to provide excellent

service and maintain citizen satisfaction. A wide variety of influences are effectively

bringing about awareness of quality issues, and of concepts such as quality

management. Some of these influences arise directly from local authorities’ genuine

desire to enhance their public image by improving the quality of those services

provided to the community, while others come “imposed” or “forced” either by

means of public initiatives or through an increase in consumers’ awareness of their

rights. Quality is a pivotal factor for the transformation of municipal services and a

critical driving force for better citizen satisfaction (Rodríguez, Burguete, Vaughan &

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Edwards, 2009). Efficient and effective delivery system becomes the main focus of

the government of many countries due to insistence and hopes from society for local

authorities giving their services up to the quality standard as expected by the tax

payers (Wan Yusof, Ismail & Newell, 2008). However, providing high quality and

cost-effective public services is not an easy task. It involves creating organizations

with the right approaches, establishing clear ways of how to deliver services and

putting the right people in place to respond to the needs of citizens. It also requires a

combination of good policy development, successful implementation, a good

understanding of citizens’ needs and expectations, appropriate resources and

technology, a responsive organizational culture and well trained staff. At the same

time, municipalities must balance the revenue they received with the high cost of

providing more efficient services demanded by citizen. Understanding exactly what

the citizens expect is the most important step in defining and delivering quality

service. Gaining citizen feedback provides valuable insight into how well the

municipal authority meets their customers’ needs. The information can be used in

quality improvement programs to help municipal councilors recognize opportunities

to improve services and creation of a positive perception among citizen. Quantitative

assessments of service quality can also identify gaps between citizens’ perceptions of

municipal services and that of councilors. Finally, service quality assessments can be

used as a strategic tool for marketing municipal services.

Expectations regarding the role of public administrations in modern societies

have radically changed during the last decade. Globalization and the rapid

development of information and communication technologies have contributed to a

new dynamics of social development, as well as to a new perception of the methods

of public administration. Instead of the traditionally hierarchical, authoritative and

regulatory model of public administration, a new model is gaining importance; one

based on negotiations, dialogue and partnership with various social actors working

jointly for public good. Vietnam, as well as many other countries, has been trying to

reform public administration. It is both urgent and long work. Public administration

reform in Viet Nam, which was embarked on from the 1990s, has aimed to improve

the country’s public administration system to make it respond better to the needs for

more effective governance when Vietnam is building the socialist oriented market

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economy. The ultimate objective of the reform process is to build a public

administration system that is democratic, clean, strong, professional, modernized,

effective and efficient; a socialist rule by law state of the people, by the people, and

for the people; a force of civil servants capable and qualified to fulfill assigned tasks,

contribute to develop a healthy and well-oriented society, proactively serving the

people in their daily life, and promote the lifestyle of obeying the law in work and

life. In order to achieve the reform goals and objectives, public administration reform

has been put in place as an objective requirement with a view to creating

preconditions for and promotes economic reform (Le Dan, 2011).

Chuong My is a suburban district situated in the southwest of Hanoi and 20

kms far away from the centre of Hanoi capital; with a population size of 337,600

citizens. The overall natural size of this district is 232.9 km2 and is the third largest

size district of the city. This district has 32 administrative units at communal level

including 30 communes and 2 townships. The Kinh ethic group accounts for the

majority, the Muong ethnic group has a hamlet (Dong Ke hamlet belonging to Tran

Phu commune); besides, there are some minor ethnic groups living unevenly in

communes and townships. The administrative centre of this district is situated in Chuc

Son township.

Currently, Chuong My District People’s Committee has announced and

carried out the quality management system at the District People’s Committee

compatible with the national standard TCVN ISO 9001:2008 in delivering the public

administrative services. As the current requirement, Chuong My District People’s

Committee delivers public administrative services at district level on main fields such

as justice, culture-sport and family, planning-investment, traffic-transportation,

environmental resources, industry and trade, labour-society and some other fields.

Among of them, the field resources-environemnt (mainly Certification of house

ownership and land use rights), finance-planning and urban management are the

fields with most deals. Some public administrative services are implemented at

specialized parts of district and most of the public administrative services are

delivered by Chuong My district via OSS mechanism and Inter-agency OSS

mechanism, under Regulation to implement OSS and Inter-agency OSS mechanism

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at public administration agencie (Decision No. 07/2016/QD‐UBND dated March

08th 2016 of People’s Committee of Hanoi City). According to this, at the District

People’s Committee has “Receiving and Giving Back the Results Part” (OSS part) in

delivering public administrative services. This part is under the control and

management of People’s Committee Office and Chuong My District People’s

Committee. A deputy chief of this office is responsible for activity of this part.

Carrying out the regulations of Hanoi city, The People’s Committee of Chuong My

District has delivered the decision No 7066/QD-UBND on the 27th of September in

2016 which promulgates the rules and regulations in delivering public aministrative

services to citizens. In 2016, OSS part of Chuong My District has received 36 433

files of citizens (has solved 36 232 files and 201 files have been received to be

solved). Among 36 232 files which have been solved, the number of files with results

given back to the citiens on time is 36 200 files (accounting for 99,9%) and there are

only 32 files (accounting for 0,1% of the files solved).

Realizing the difficulties and obstacles in delivering the public

administrative services, the District Committee Permanent Board has decided a

matter considered to be a decisive change to the new “face” of the current ‘one￾stop shop’ part. The resolution number 05 - NQ/HU (2011) clearly pointed out the

disadvantages and weaknesses as the requirements of innovating the administrative

procedures in district areas. The objective of innovating the administrative

comprehensively with a focus is to create a remarkable improvement and enhance

the effectiveness of the state agency. The District People’s Committee has built and

carried out the project of innovating and completing the cooperation mechanism

clearly, boosted the building, arrangement the apparatus and staff; innovated the

public administrative; modernized the administrative mission on the basis of

applying the IT.

At Chuong My district, public administration reform over the past years have

resulted in significant improvements and step-by-step change in the organization and

operation of the public administration apparatus, which have promoted reform and

renovation in every walk of life and significantly contributed to social - economic

development of the City. However, considering seriously, people and local leaders