The Application of Waiting Lines System in Improving Customer Satisfaction: A Case of Kifiya Financial Tech Plc – Lehulu
Creators: name: Demelie, Asefa
Publisher: name: National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia
Year: 2017

description: This study had the aim of assessing the application of waiting lines system in improving customer satisfaction by taking sample Lehulu branches of Kifiya Financials Tech Plc. The study had determined the average arrival rates, the average queue time and average time of service per customer for Lehulu centers (4 sample branches taken namely Arat Kilo, Kazanchis, Addisu Gebeya &amp; Lebu) and besides this, it assessed the impact of psychological aspects of waiting on overall customer satisfaction. The methodologies used for data collection were site observation, in which structured observation check lists were used, a pre-tested/ adopted questionnaire and scheduled interview questions. For the site observation an entire customers randomly visiting the centers within the sampled time- intervals have been accounted for data collection and accordingly 1451 customers queue were considered. A sample of 659 customers was taken for the data collected through the questionnaire to assess customers' levels of satisfaction towards the queue variables. The queue variables used under the study were perceived waiting time, information provided, the waiting environment and the queue discipline. The response rate of the questionnaire was 572 (86.8%). 30 questionnaires were distributed during pilot test period to conduct different validity tests. Scheduled Interview questions were presented to two area managers of Lehulu to assess the level of understanding the management has on the actual situation of customer waiting lines at the centers and the planed actions to improve it further. For the analysis of the site observation data, single queue-multiple server model of queue analysis was used, while frequency tables, graphs and correlation analysis were used for analyzing the data collected through questionnaire. Based on the findings of the study, the average arrival rate at Lehulu centers was 70 customers per hour. The average queue time and average service time were 13.56 minutes and 3.1 minutes respectively. However, if only three of the branches are considered (excluding Addisu Gebeya) the total average queue length will increase to 21 minutes from 17.01 minutes, which is above the standard time of 18 minutes set by the company. There is 0.43 probability that a customer must wait for service with the current average number of functional servers (5). With respect to customer satisfactions towards the queue variables, only 43% of the customers are happy with the perceived waiting time, only 28.9% of them are happy with the information provided, only 18.5% of them are happy with the waiting environment and 72.6% of them are happy with the implementation of first come first served queue discipline at the Lehulu centers. The study has put forth recommendations mainly related to the need of improvements from the customers queue variables perspective. This study has significant benefits to many people &amp; organizations, especially to Lehulu and other similar service organizations like banks. It also adds to the literature on the psychology of waiting and customer satisfaction towards waiting lines. Keywords: Lehulu, Waiting lines, Queue, Customer Satisfaction