Factors Affecting Customers’ Satisfaction at Dares Salaam Port. Can it Compete in East African Ports?
The focus of this paper is to examine the Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction at the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA). The paper draws the data from the previous study which was conducted in TPA on Analysis of the factors Affecting Customers’ satisfaction at Tanzania Ports Authority specifically Dar es Salaam Port. The paper will examine critically the types of staffs training that affected TPA customers’ satisfaction. The paper will also address critically how poor working environment and emergence of technology contributed to customers’ satisfaction in our organizations. The Paper uses SERVQUAL Model, Expectancy theory, and Goal-Setting Theory to show whether or not Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) is fulfilling its customers’ satisfaction to its customers. Simple random sampling and purposive techniques were used to select 40 respondents for this study. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview, observation, and focus group and were analyzed by using descriptive statistics with the help of the computer software called Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS). The study used descriptive research design and explanatory research design to describe factors affecting customers’ satisfaction. The paper shows that absence of in-service training among the TPA employees, poor working conditions, and bureaucratic procedures in decision-making contributed much to customers’ dissatisfaction. The paper ends with giving conclusions and recommendations that should be taken seriously by managerial position in order to improve the wellbeing of workers as well as raising national revenue.
Key words: customers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, customer services, service quality, employee performance, and in-service training.
