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Abstract
Delhi Metro is a world-class metro. To ensure reliability and safety in train operations, it
is equipped with the most modern communication and train control system. It has state-
of-art air-conditioned coaches. The present paper focuses measuring the service quality
of Delhi Metro DMRC in NCR India. A sample of 1200 respondents from different
stations of Delhi metro in Delhi NCR was selected through non-probabilistic convenience
sampling. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted and it was found that Reliability,
Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness Delhi Metro consumers also expect
Security as a parameter for service quality. Security includes Separate compartment for
women and the metro station should be near to my office. So based on these conclusions
Delhi Metro should concentrated on their security in delivering satisfaction to the Delhi
Metro users.
Key Word: SERVQUAL, Delhi Metro.
Introduction
Delhi Metro is a world-class metro. To ensure reliability and safety in train operations, it
is equipped with the most modern communication and train control system. It has state-
of-art air-conditioned coaches. Ticketing and passenger control are through Automatic
Fare Collection System, which is introduced in the country for the first time. Travelling
in Delhi Metro is a pleasure with trains ultimately available at three minutes frequency.
Entries and exits to metro stations are controlled by flap-doors operated by 'smart-cards'
and contact less tokens. For convenience of commuters, adequate numbers of escalator
are installed at metro stations. Unique feature of Delhi Metro is its integration with other
modes of public transport, enabling the commuters to conveniently interchange from one
mode to another. To increase ridership of Delhi Metro, feeder buses for metro stations are
Operating. In short, Delhi Metro is a trendsetter for such systems in other cities of the
country and in the South Asian region.
The primary objective of this study is to measure the service quality of Delhi Metro
DMRC in NCR India
Literature review- Service Quality
Ji Cheng Zhu at el (2011) compared the results of measuring Service Quality (SQ) using
the SERVQUAL instrument and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) at a Hewlett-
Packard Authorized Service Centre in Beijing, China in 2006 and found that the
significant differences between the results of the two methods suggested that the
approaches differed in terms of their capabilities in reflecting respondent opinions
accurately. Robert E. Miller (2011) examined a potential issue in measuring service
quality using the SERVQUAL instrument and presented the results of a field study in
which randomized and non-randomized versions of SERVQUAL were administered in
multiple organizations and resulting samples were then used to generate factor structures
which proved to be non-congruent. Elizabeth Vaughan, Helen Woodruffe-Burton, (2011)
found that ARCHSECRET was superior to the modified SERVQUAL in terms of its
overall predictive power and ARCHSECRET was found to be reliable and valid for the
measurement of the disabled student experience in higher education, while acting as a
diagnostic tool for the identification of service quality shortfalls. Godwin J. Udo (2011)
highlighted Assurance, Empathy, Responsiveness and Website Content can impact e-
learning quality and ‘‘Website Content” has the strongest influence on perceived e-
learning quality. Ahmadreza Shekarchizadeh (2011) found that five factors in the form of
professionalism, reliability, hospitality, tangibles, and commitment were uncovered and
the single mean t-tests for the three methods of gap analysis indicated that all the items of
perception were perceived as significantly negative as compared to expectations in
university senior management. Also, the findings from the study would assist in
designing a quality system that involves not just the employees, but also the students.
Rosemary Batt (1999) analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality
Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to
service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional
Bell operating company and represented a "strong test" of the efficacy of teams because
theory predicts weak outcomes for self-managed teams among service and sales
employees in establishments where technology and organizational structure limit
opportunities for self-regulation, the nature of work and technology do not require
interdependence, and downsizing creates pervasive job insecurity-conditions found at the
company studied here. Terence A. Oliva, Richard L. Oliver, Ian C. MacMillan(1992)
examined the issue in terms of customer service for practitioners and academicians as
they have noted that simply investing in greater service delivery may not return the cost
of the additional investment and proposed a method for analyzing this complex behavior
in a way that can lead to the development of more accurate service strategies through an
understanding of the relationships among customer-transaction costs, satisfaction, and
purchase loyalty. They used a catastrophe model to describe a service loyalty customer-
response surface. Then, by presenting a "real-world" application with a small service-
quality customer dataset provided by General Electric Supply, they show how one
actually estimates such a model and interprets the results. Bo Edvardsson, BengtOve
Gustavsson (2003) examined in the research on new service development (NSD), the
interest has mainly been on structural aspects of the service offering found that many
requirements are the same in service organizations as in manufacturing companies but
also that there are distinct differences based on the analysis presents a sixth requirement.
Examples of requirements were the ability to control the work situation and to be
involved in the decision-making processes, a safe physical work environment and the
ability to develop social relationships through the work. Mary Jo Bitner, Bernard H.
Booms, Lois A. Mohr (1994) explored those sources in service encounters from the
contact employee's point of view of the hotel, restaurant, and airline industries and their
results generally support the theoretical predictions and also identify an additional source
of customer dissatisfaction-the customer's own misbehavior and the findings have
implications for business practice in managing service encounters, employee
empowerment and training, and managing customers. Research on service quality has
been done from various aspects from a very long time, sufficient research has been
contributed by (Gronroos, 1982; Berry, Zeithaml, & Parasuraman, 1985; Parasuraman,
Zeithaml, & Berry,1985; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1985; Brady & Cronin, 2001)
in developing the service quality concept. There is a need for conceptual changes to be
built as the present concept of service quality does not fit the multidimensional situations
across nations. (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Brady and Cronin, 2001) in their study argued
that there is a need to address multidimensional aspect of service quality. The issue of
measuring service quality across several service sectors has been explored by researchers
like (Parasuraman et al, 1985; Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeithaml, 1991; Koelemeijer,
1991; Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Vandamme & Leunis, 1993; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, &
Malhotra, 2005). Though SERVQUAL as a measurement tool used in numerous studies,
it was tailored to fit a particular sector and context, like E-S-QUAL for electronic sector
and SERVPERF for service preference. Hence there is a scope for SERVQUAL to be
further modified for universal standardization (Parasuraman et al, 1991). The issue of
improving service quality where by organization can derive competitive advantage has
been investigated by (Reicheld and Sasser, 1990; Berry, Zeithaml, & Parasuraman, 1990;
Hensel, 1990; Berry, Parasuraman, & Zeithaml, 1994; Berry & Parasuraman, 1997;
Glynn & Brannick, 1998; Johnston & Heineke, 1998; Harvey, 1998). Service quality has
been used as an ingredient in understanding consumer behaviour. A positive consumer
behaviour on service quality will lead to higher returns (Zahorik & Rust 1992; Boulding,
Kalra, Staelin, & Zeithaml, 1993; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996; Liu,
Sudharshan, & Hamer, 2000).
Sudin Bag at. el (2012) found that in today’s competitive scenario consumer satisfaction is
the first priority. For this, business is to meet the expectation of its customers. The
organization should aim not only at satisfying the customer but also focus on the delighting
them. Thus it has become essentials for organization to identify the factors that affect
customer satisfaction level and consciously measure them so as to try and bring about the
necessary changes on the basis of customer perception and requirements. Their research used
data collected through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 250 respondents tries to
find the factors related to Kolkata Metro Railway services that have an impact on customer
satisfaction.
Transport plays an important role in the economic development of the country by
creating employment opportunities and sustaining economic activities. Transport is the
channel of social and economic interaction involving the physical movement of people
and goods. The quest for service quality has been an essential strategic component for
service firms like Delhi Metro Rail Corporation attempting to succeed and survive in
today’s competitive environment. The SERVQUAL model focuses on the difficulty in
ensuring a high quality of service for all customers in all situations. SERVQUAL
methodology is an analytical approach for evaluating the difference between customers'
expectations and perceptions of quality.
Objective of the study
The primary objective of this study is to measure the service quality of Delhi Metro
DMRC in NCR India:-
• To measure the service quality of DMRC with the help of SERVQUAL
developed by (Parasuraman et al., 1988)
The Chi-square test revealed the significant association between Delhi Metro usage and
the age, gender, income, qualification and occupation. From the Chi–test out put table II
the significance level of 0.000 (Pearson’s) has been achieved. This means that the value
of Pearson’s Chi-test clearly states that there exists a significant interrelationship between
the dependent variable (Delhi Metro) and other independent variables (demography). So
we accept our hypothesis that there is significant association between Delhi Metro usage
and demography of the respondent i.e. age gender income and occupation.
H2 : There is significant association between Delhi Metro usage and demography of the
respondent i.e. age and gender. (Accepted)
Based on the guidelines offered by Susan Devil and H K Dong to measure the service
quality following, one finds a smaller number of dimensions than initially hypothesized
from the qualitative research. Parasuraman and his colleagues initially suggested 10
dimensions and later found, across service industries, five generic dimensions of service
quality: Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness. Although some
similar dimensions or grouping of attributes have been found, other research shows that
dimensions clearly are service and company dependent. Tangibles, for example, has not
been found to be a dimension of telephone services such as repairs, installations, business
office inquires, or operator services. Previous studies of rigor have also found the
SERVQUAL tangible dimension to be weak (Cronin and taylor1992, 1994; Kettinger and
Lee 1994, 1997; Parasuraman et al. 1991).
Factor analysis is a statistical technique for condensing many variables into a few
underlying factors, dimensions or constructs and in this case commenced with a study of
the correlation matrix of all 48 of the original scale variables. Hedderson (1991, p160)
suggests that any variable whose correlations with the other variables are less than 0.4 in
absolute terms should be excluded from the factor analysis.
Reliability Analysis
The objective of the research was to measure service quality in Delhi Metro. In order to
do so, five key online shopping motivations were identified from relevant academic
literature: Tangibles (appearance of physical elements), Reliability (dependable, accurate
performance) Responsiveness (promptness and helpfulness), Assurance (competence;
courtesy, credibility, and security) Empathy easy access, good communications, and
customer understanding. The scale items were analyzed in terms of reliability and the
response data checked for invalidity before analysis of the data was conducted.
Cronbach’s Alpha
Reliability is the extent to which a list of scale items would produce consistent results if
data collection were repeated (Malhotra, 2007) and is assessed by determining the
proportion of systematic variation in a scale. Calculating the Cronbach Alpha coefficient
of a scale is the most commonly practiced indicator of internal consistency (Pallant,
2007), with the ideal Cronbach Alpha co-efficient being over 0.7 (Hair et al. 2010). A
value of below 0.7 is considered to indicate unsatisfactory internal consistency reliability
(Malhotra, 2007). Cronbach’s Alpha is used in this research to assess internal consistency
reliability of the 48 scale items of the questionnaire.
Reliability Statistics
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha Based
on
Cronbach's Standardized
Alpha Items N of Items
.769 .810 48
The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the service quality measurement scale of the research,
as displayed in is 0.769. Since this figure is above the necessary 0.7 Cronbach Alpha
ideal, the scale items used have a satisfactory internal consistency and can be deemed
reliable statistically.
Factor Analysis
Factor Analysis is a data reduction statistical technique that allows simplifying the
correlational relationships between numbers of continuous variables. Exploratory factor
analysis is used in order to identify constructs and investigate relationships among key
interval scaled questions.
Exploratory Factor Analysis: Principle Component Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis is a general name denoting a class of procedures primarily
used for data reduction and summarization (Malhotra, 2007). Exploratory Factor Analysis
allows researchers to condense a large set of variables or scale items down into a smaller,
more manageable number of factors or components (Pallant, 2007). It does this by
summarising the underlying patterns of correlation and looking for groups of closely
related or not related items (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). It identifies how many factors
best represent the scale items in the context of the data collected and which factor each
scale item loads most highly onto (Hair et al. 2010). In this research, Principle
Component Analysis (PCA) is a key method in the Exploratory Factor Analysis process
used to explore the underlying structure of the Indian women shopping motivations and
their correlations in the data obtained. In which the original scale items are transformed
into a smaller set of linear combinations, with all variance in the data being used. The
following data and factor analyses were conducted within the Exploratory Factor
Analysis process:
Examining the dimensionality of the 48- item scale was the next task. The output of the
factor analysis is obtained by requesting the principal Component Analysis and
specifying the rotation. After the standards indicate that data is suitable for factor
analysis, Principal Components Analysis was employed for extracting the data, which
allows determining the factor underlying the relationship between numbers of variables.
The total variable Explained box is suggesting that it extracts one factor accounts for
87.9% of the variance of the relationship between variables.
Loading on factors can be positive or negative. A negative loading indicates that this
variable has an inverse relationship with the rest of the factors. The higher the loading the
more important is the factor. However Comrey (1973: 1346) suggested that anything
above 0.44 could be considered salient, with increased loading becoming more vital in
determining the factor. All the loadings in the research are positive. (Factor Table 1)
Rotation is necessary when extraction technique suggest there are two or more factors.
The rotation of factors is designed to give an idea of how the factors initially extracted
differ from each other and to provide a clear picture of which item load on which factor.
There are six factors, each having Eigen value exceeding 1 for SERQVUAL. The Eigen
values for six factors were 14.17, 7.67, 6.244, 5.542, 2.00, 1.815 respectively. (Factor
Table 2) The percentage of total variance is used as an index to determine how well the
total factor solution accounts for what the variables together represent. The index for
present solution accounts for 87.09% of the total variations for choosing a Delhi Metro. It
is pretty good extraction as it can be economize on the number of factors (from 48 it has
reduced to 6 factors) while we have lost 12.91% information content for factors
SERQUAL dimension. The percentage of variance explained by factor one to six factors
for SERQUAL are 32.96, 17.85, 14.52, 12.84, 14.65, 4.65, 4.22 (Factor Table 2). Factor
Table 1 tells us that after six factors are extracted and retained, the communality is 0.934
for variable 1, 0.928 for variable 2 and so on. It means 87.09% of the variance of variable
1 is being captured by the eight extracted factors together. The proportion of variance in
any one of the original variables, which is being captured by the extracted factor, is
known as communality (Nargundkar, 2002).
Large commonalities indicate that a large number of variance has been accounted for by
the factor solution. Varimax rotated factor analytic results for factor for SERQUAL
Factor Table 4.
Interpretation of Factors
Each factor needs to be assigned a name or label to characterise it and aid its
interpretation (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2007). Each of the factors that have been extracted
via Principle Component Analysis in the Exploratory Factor Analysis process of this
research data are displayed. The names allocated to each factor are a result of the
interpretation of its factor scale items and are discussed in the following sub-sections.
The six factors shown in Factor Table 4 have been discussed below:-
Factor 1: Reliability
It is the most vital factor, which explains 32.96% of the variation. Reliability factors such
as It should saves my time (0.818), Token should be easily available(0.810), The seats
should be reserved for handicapped (0.791), It should have the feeder bus service (0.823),
It should have connectivity to the airports (0.825), It should have well maintained stations
(0.885), The metro station should be near to my home (0.819) emerge with good positive
correlations. This yields a great influence on choosing Delhi Metro.
H3 : The generic dimensions of service quality is Reliability. (Accepted)
Factor 2: Responsiveness
There are four loads to this factor. The factor “Responsiveness” is the second important
factor of SERVQUAL, which accounts for nearly 17.85% of the variations. The factors It
should have parking facility (0.836), It should saves my time (0.870), It should have the
route map is displayed in the trains and on the stations (0.847), It should be economical
(0.716) signifies that consumers show how responsive the Delhi Metro is.
H7 : The generic dimensions of service quality is Responsiveness (Accepted)
Factor 3: Tangibility
This factor is the seven significant factors, which has 14.52% of the variation, and this
comprises of seven loadings depicting the Tangibility aspect of services as per
SERVQUAL. The factor loading of 0.811,0.858, 0.877,0.844, and 0.880 representing It
should have the feeder bus service, It should have connectivity to the railway station, It
should have connectivity to the airports, Token should be easily available and Smart card
facility should be available respectively show tangibility of a service.
H5 : The generic dimensions of service quality is Tangibles (Accepted)
Factor 4: Empathy
The next important factor, which carry a loading of 12.89% of the variation comprises of
four loadings It should be economical, It should avoid traffic congestion on roads, It
should have an effective AC, It should have comfortable seats rotated value of 0.855,
0.895, 0.876, and 0.760 respectively signifies whether the Delhi Metro understand the
needs of their customers.
H6 : The generic dimensions of service quality is Empathy (Accepted)
Factor 5: Assurance
Assurance is the next factor, which next dimension and has 4.65% of the variation. This
factor has three loading namely The metro station should be near to my home (0.601), It
should have elevators (0.820) and The metro station should be near to my office (0.522)
shows assurance.
Factor 6: Security
There are two loads to this factor. The factor “understand customers” is the next
important factor, which accounts for nearly 4.22% of the variations. The metro station
should be near to my office (0.554), It should have separate ladies compartment (0.576)
signifies that Delhi Metro should understand their customers that they choose Metro for
more safety and security.
H8 : There are five generic dimensions of service quality: Reliability, Assurance,
Conclusion
The results showed that there are five generic dimensions of service quality: Reliability,
Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness. But a new dimension should also
be understood by Delhi Metro that Security to provider services which means firms
should possess the skill and knowledge to perform a service so that maximum satisfaction
can be provided.
The study added to the understanding and applicability of SERVQUAL model in Delhi
Metro. Unlike, PZB’s dimensions of service quality viz., Reliability, Assurance,
Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness Delhi Metro consumers also expect Security as
a parameter for service quality. Security includes Separate compartment for women and
the metro station should be near to my office. So based on these conclusions Delhi Metro
should concentrated on their security in delivering satisfaction to the Delhi Metro users.
References
• Adam Vrechopoulos, Ioanna Constantiou, Ioannis Sideris, Georgios Doukidis,
Nikos Mylonopoulos (2003), The critical role of consumer behaviour research in
mobile commerce, International Journal of Mobile Communications Volume 1,
Number 3 / 2003 pg no. 239 – 340 retrieved on 14th January 2011 from
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1361284
Factor Analysis
Factor table 1
Communalities
Initial Extraction
It should saves my time 1.000 .895
The frequency of the trains
1.000 .809
should be high
It should be economical 1.000 .855
It should avoid traffic
congestion on roads 1.000 .880
It should have an effective
AC 1.000 .866
It should have comfortable
seats 1.000 .838
It should have separate
ladies compartment 1.000 .934
It should have the route
map is displayed in the 1.000 .911
trains and on the stations
Token should be easily
available 1.000 .929
Smart card facility should
be available 1.000 .886
It should be economical
1.000 .900
It should avoid traffic
congestion on roads 1.000 .899
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
Component Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %
1 21.764 50.614 50.614 21.764 50.614 50.614 14.173 32.960 32.960
2 5.861 13.631 64.245 5.861 13.631 64.245 7.677 17.853 50.813
3 3.800 8.837 73.083 3.800 8.837 73.083 6.244 14.520 65.334
4 3.187 7.412 80.495 3.187 7.412 80.495 5.542 12.890 78.223
5 1.590 3.698 84.193 1.590 3.698 84.193 2.000 4.652 82.875
6 1.249 2.904 87.097 1.249 2.904 87.097 1.815 4.222 87.097
7 .836 1.944 89.041
8 .773 1.798 90.839
9 .590 1.372 92.211
10 .530 1.233 93.445
11 .363 .845 94.289
12 .316 .735 95.025
13 .286 .665 95.690
14 .254 .590 96.280
15 .245 .569 96.849
16 .192 .446 97.294
17 .166 .385 97.680
18 .148 .345 98.024
19 .132 .308 98.332
20 .105 .245 98.577
21 .099 .231 98.808
22 .082 .191 98.999
23 .080 .187 99.185
24 .062 .145 99.330
25 .048 .111 99.441
26 .045 .104 99.545
27 .041 .096 99.641
28 .028 .065 99.707
29 .026 .060 99.766
30 .023 .053 99.820
31 .018 .043 99.862
32 .016 .038 99.900
33 .015 .034 99.935
34 .009 .022 99.956
35 .007 .017 99.974
36 .006 .014 99.988
37 .002 .004 99.992
38 .002 .004 99.995
39 .001 .002 99.998
40 .001 .002 99.999
41 .000 .000 100.000
42 8.16E-005 .000 100.000
43 7.52E-016 1.75E-015 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Factor table 4
Rotated Component Matrix(a)
Component
1 2 3 4 5 6
It should saves my time .818 .044 .188 .426 .073 .038
The frequency of the trains
.576 .045 .166 .666 .060 .020
should be high
It should be economical .268 .149 .172 .855 .017 .019
It should avoid traffic
congestion on roads -.135 .172 .151 .895 .091 -.013
It should have an effective
AC -.115 .231 .126 .876 .110 .069
It should have comfortable
seats .276 .148 .203 .760 .339 -.082
It should have separate
ladies compartment .467 .674 .293 .366 .196 -.055
It should have the route
map is displayed in the .664 .633 .184 .185 -.019 .032
trains and on the stations
Token should be easily
available .858 .380 .150 .128 -.085 .053
Smart card facility should
be available .810 .436 .167 .093 -.049 .015
It should be economical
.479 .716 .202 .172 .120 .273
It should avoid traffic
congestion on roads .605 .623 .195 .219 .002 .242