Factors affecting citizent's satisfaction with the public administrative services of public administrative agencies in Thai Nguyen province

FACTORS AFFECTING CITIZENT’S SATISFACTION WITH

THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE

A DISSERTATION PAPER

Presented to

School of Graduate Studies

Central Philippine University, Philippines

In Collaboration with

Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF MANAGEMENT

TRAN PHAM VAN CUONG

MAY 2020

i

DECLARATION

I pledge that this is my own research. The data stated in the thesis is true, all

citations are indicated origin. The research results of the dissertation were published in the

scientific journal, not identical with any other works.

PhD student

Trần Phạm Văn Cương

ii

LỜI CAM ĐOAN

Tôi xin cam đoan đây là công trình nghiên cứu của riêng tôi. Các số liệu

nêu trong luận án là trung thực, mọi trích dẫn đều được chỉ rõ nguồn gốc.

Những kết quả nghiên cứu của luận án đã được tác giả công bố trên tạp chí

khoa học, không trùng với bất kỳ công trình nào khác.

Tác giả luận án

Tran Pham Van Cuong

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author wishes to convey the gratitude to the following persons who

wholeheartedly devoted and helped make this piece of work a reality:

To Associate Prof. Do Anh Tai and PhD. Pham Van Hanh for his advices,

guidance, supervision, suggestions and precious time in enthusiastically reading and

checking the manuscript, providing the author useful materials;

To the leadership of International Cooperation Center for Training and Study

Abroad and their staff for their enthusiasm to support executive for the participants

completed the study program.

To the faculties and researchers of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and

Business Administration and the respondents of the study, for their active involvement and

cooperation which made the conduct of the study possible;

To my family and friends for their love and support in one way or another, and to

all who have contributed to make this study a success.

Thank you so much!

Thai Nguyen, May 2020

PhD student

Tran Pham Van Cuong

iv

LỜI CẢM ƠN

Tác giả mong muốn truyền tải lòng biết ơn đến những người sau đây đã hết lòng

cống hiến và giúp đỡ tác giả trở thành hiện thực:

Tôi xin bày tỏ lòng biết ơn sâu sắc nhất tới PGS.TS Đỗ Anh Tài và TS. Phạm

Văn Hạnh - người hướng dẫn khoa học đã tận tình giúp đỡ và định hướng để tôi hoàn

thiện Luận án.

Trong quá trình học tập và nghiên cứu, tôi cũng đã nhận được sự hỗ trợ và giúp đỡ

tận tình từ Ban Giám hiệu, Lãnh đạo và cán bộ của Trung tâm Hợp tác Quốc tế về Đào

tạo và Du học, Lãnh đạo Khoa Kinh tế cùng toàn thể các thầy cô giáo tại Trường Đại học

Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh - Đại học Thái Nguyên và Đại học Central Philippine, tôi

xin ghi nhận và chân thành cảm ơn.

Cuối cùng, tôi xin bày tỏ lòng biết ơn tới đồng nghiệp, bạn bè và gia đình đã luôn

kịp thời động viên, chia sẻ và tạo điều kiện tốt nhất giúp tôi hoàn thành luận án của mình.

Tác giả Luận án

Trần Phạm Văn Cương

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAMPAIGNS.....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

LỜI CAM ĐOAN.................................................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................................................................iii

LỜI CẢM ƠN......................................................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1

1.1. Background and Rationale of the Study .........................................................................1

1.3. Theoretical Framework...................................................................................................7

1.4. Conceptual Framework...................................................................................................9

1.6. Significance of the Study..............................................................................................18

1.7. Scope of this study........................................................................................................18

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEWS ......................................................................20

2.1. Public Service ...............................................................................................................20

2.2. Citizen‟s Satisfaction ....................................................................................................23

2.3. Service Quality .............................................................................................................28

2.4. Quantitative Approaches to Measuring Service Quality...............................................34

2.5. Service Quality in Public Sector Organizations ...........................................................36

2.6. Factors Affecting Public Service Quality and Citizen‟s Satisfaction ...........................39

2.7. Related Studies .............................................................................................................43

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................48

3.1. Research Design ...........................................................................................................48

3.2. Population .....................................................................................................................48

3.3. Population, Sample Size, Sampling Techniques ..........................................................48

3.4. Data Collection Procedures ..........................................................................................51

3.5. Measurement.................................................................................................................51

3.6. Data Analysis..................................................................................................................54

3.7. Sample Profile...............................................................................................................55

3.8. Scale Descriptive Analysis ...........................................................................................56

3.8.1. Item Descriptive Analysis for Servant‟s Attitude and Responsibility.......................56

3.8.2. Item Descriptive Analysis for Servant‟s Competency Scale .....................................56

vi

3.8.3. Item Descriptive Analysis for Cost Scale ..................................................................58

3.8.4. Item Descriptive Analysis for Time Scale .................................................................58

3.8.5. Item Descriptive Analysis for Facilities Scale...........................................................59

3.8.7. Item Descriptive Analysis for Satisfaction Scale ......................................................60

3.8.8. The Summary of Variable Descriptive Analysis.......................................................61

3.9. Scale Purifications ........................................................................................................62

4.1. Measurement Model .....................................................................................................70

4.2. Convergent and Discriminant Validity of Scale ...........................................................79

4.3. The Analysis of Factors Affecting Citizen‟s Satisfaction ............................................81

4.4. Hypothesis Testing .......................................................................................................84

CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........87

5.1. Summary and Conclusion.............................................................................................87

5.2. Policy Recommendations .............................................................................................90

5.2.1. Improve Servants‟ Attitude and Responsibility When Contacting with Citizens .....90

5.2.2. Improve Servants‟ competence..................................................................................91

5.2.3. Improve the service procedures to save the time and cost of citizens.......................92

5.2.4. Improve the facilities to support public service providing ........................................93

5.2.5. Supervising the delivery of public administrative services .......................................94

5.2.6. Improve the Public Service Quality Management.....................................................95

5.3. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ........................................................96

REFERENCES...................................................................................................................97

APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................102

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. List of Items........................................................................................................52

Table 3.2. Characteristics of Sample ...................................................................................55

Table 3.3. Descriptive Analysis for Servant‟s Attitude and Responsibility Scale ..............56

Table 3.4. Descriptive Results for Servant‟s Competency Scale ........................................57

Table 3.5. Descriptive Results for Service Cost Scale ........................................................58

Table 3.6. Descriptive Results for Time Scale ....................................................................58

Table 3.7. Descriptive Results for Facility Scale.................................................................59

Table 3.11. Item Purification for Citizens‟ Satisfaction Scale ............................................62

Table 3.12. Item Purification for Servant‟s Attitude and Responsibility Scale...................63

Table. 3.13. Item Purification for Servant‟s Competence Scale..........................................64

Table 3.15. Item Purification for Time Scale ......................................................................66

Table 3.16. Item Purification for Facility Scale...................................................................67

Table 3.17. Item Purification for Procedure Scale...............................................................67

Table 3.18. Scale Reliability................................................................................................69

Table 4.1. Measurement Model Results for Citizens‟ Satisfaction Scale............................71

Table 4.2. Measurement Model Results for Servant‟s Attitude and Responsibility Scale ..72

Table 4.3. Measurement Model Results for Servant‟s Competence Scale ..........................73

Table 4.4. Final Measurement Model Results for Servant‟s Competence Scale.................74

Table 4.5. Measurement Model Results for Reasonable Cost Scale ...................................75

Table 4.6. Measurement Model Results for Service Time Scale.........................................76

Table 4.7. Measurement Model Results for Facility Scale..................................................77

Table 4.8. Measurement Model Results for Procedure Scale..............................................78

Table 4.9. Final Measurement Model Results.....................................................................79

Table 4.10. Construct Correlation Matrix............................................................................81

Table 4.11 The regression results........................................................................................82

Table 4.12 Model Summary ................................................................................................83

Table 4.12. Summary of Hypothesis-Testing Results .........................................................86

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Conceptual Framework ................................................................................... 11

LIST OF ABRIVIATIONS

OSS One - stop shop

SERVQUAL Service Quality

SERVPERF Service performance

SAT Citizen‟s Satisfaction

ATT Governmental Servant‟s Attitudes

COM Governmental Servant‟s Competency

COST Cost for public service

TIME Time for receiving public services

FACT Service facilities

PRO Procedures

NPM New Public Management

KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin-Kriterium

ANOVA Analysis of Variance

GFI Goodness-of-fit Index

AGFI Adjust Goodness-of- fit Index

CFI Comparative Fit Index

RMSEA Root Mean Square Error of Approximation

EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis

CFA Confirmatory factor analysis

RMR Standardized Root Mean Square Residual

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background and Rationale of the Study

Public sector reform movements around the world in the 1990s, codified as New Public

Management (NPM), have been aimed at „fostering a performance- oriented culture in a less

centralized public sector‟ (OECD, 1995). Such reforms are characterized by key elements

including increase in the use of markets and competition providing public services and in

emphasis on performance, outputs and customer orientation. One consequence of these reforms

has been the reorientation of public services towards their consumers. This has brought with it

pressure for better public service quality, from service users as their needs change and their

expectations rise in respect of how well services can be performed (Flynn, 1995).

In recent years, the reform of state administration in Vietnam has achieved significantly

positive results. Decree 38-CP of the Vietnamese Government dated 04.05.1994 has marked

an important step in the development process: implying the administrative procedures and

improving the relationship between administrative agencies and citizens. The regulations for

implementing the "one- stop shop" in the state administrative agencies, issued with the

application of quality management system in operation of the administrative agencies

initially, are efficient. On 22/6/2007, the Vietnamese Prime Minister had Decision No.

93/2007/QD-TTg on promulgating the regulations to implement OSS at the local

administrative agencies in order to further improve the implementation of "one stop shop" to

suit each type of administrative procedures. The government has been implementing projects

on not only training and retraining to enhance the capacity of staff, especially those who

directly communicate and solve the requirements of citizens but also modernizing the state

administration as well as accelerating the construction of spacious administrative offices.

Public administration reforms include organizational reform, reform of cadres and civil

servants training and financial reform. These are the internal problems of public

2

administration. But the reform of administrative institutions, including administrative

procedures, is a non-state issue, but also related to the lives of the social classes. This is the

reason why the Vietnamese State has to pay more attention to the reform of administrative

procedures in order to meet the service requirements, serve the society and improve the

efficiency and effectiveness of the house management in the context of economic

transformation.

Thai Nguyen is a mountainous province located in the northern of Vietnam. In recent

years, the business investment environment of Thai Nguyen province has been constantly

improved. The PCI of the province for 3 consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016) ranked among

the 10 provinces with the highest PCI in the country, many big investors chose Thai Nguyen

as the destination to build their headquarters. , such as Sam Sung Group, Vingroup; In 2018,

Thai Nguyen ranked 18/63 provinces, ranked second in the ranking of PCI index of Northern

mountainous provinces, after Lao Cai. In 2019, the rank of Thai Nguyen still at 18/63

provinces. In order to improve the investment environment, Thai Nguyen needs to improve

the provincial competitiveness index. In which administrative procedure reform and citizen's

satisfaction are important to contribute to improving the investment environment.

Up to this point, Thai Nguyen province is ranked at 7th place on the PCI rankings in

the country, continuing to be in the top 10 rankings of provinces and cities with the best

operating quality and standing at 2nd place in the Northern mountainous provinces with a total

of 61.21 points. To achieve this result, the entire political system has taken steps to direct and

implement drastically and synchronously many solutions, especially tax administrative

reform, customs, insurance, construction licensing and land investment procedures, to

strongly attract domestic and international investment. Administrative reform has created

favorable conditions for the production and business activities of organizations and

3

individuals, contributing to job provision for laborers, boosting the province's economic

growth rate (up 25% Per annum) and raising the GDP per capita.

The provincial People's Committee has implemented the one-stop, one-stop shop

mechanism to receive and return results of handling administrative procedures in nearly

100% of state administrative agencies in the locality. The province also organized the

Steering Committee for Administrative Procedure Reform (PAR Steering Committee) to

strengthen measures to improve and improve the administrative procedure reform index

(PAR INDEX), the provincial administrative and public administration performance

index (PAPI); Announcing the results of the survey on the level of satisfaction of people

with regard to the service of state administrative agencies in all communes and wards in

the province.

The clearest evidence for the PCI results in recent years is that Thai Nguyen province

has had a remarkable growth in socio-economic development, the economic growth rate

always ranks among the group of provinces with only The number increased (in 2018, the

total budget revenue reached over VND 15,000 billion). Thai Nguyen is an attractive

environment to attract many investors and large corporations with financial potential such as

Samsung Group, Vingroup, T&T, FLC; Masan and FDI businesses; Since the 2018

Investment Promotion Conference, so far, it has attracted 64 projects of 44 investors, with a

total registered investment capital of about VND 115,670 billion. The average economic

growth rate (GRDP) of Thai Nguyen in recent years has reached over 12%, one of the top

nationwide; The state budget revenue in the first 6 months of 2019 reached VND 7,325

billion, equaling 48.8% of the yearly estimate, up 5.1% over the same period, striving to

balance revenue and expenditure by 2020 (Thai Nguyen Statistic Yearbook, 2019).

In addition to the achieved results, the province's business and investment environment

still reveals some limitations that need to be overcome soon, such as: The stability of the PCI