Customer satisfaction and the public sector

Abstract

Companies are not the only ones to face increased competition. Many organizations, especially those in the public sector, are becoming more customer oriented and finding new ways to improve the quality of their services. Finnish schools are going through a period of crisis representing, even at conservative estimates, the greatest upheaval since the introduction of the comprehensive school system in the 1970s. The quest of both the Helsinki Department of Education and individual schools has been to improve school performance. However, a performance approach has faced resistance by staff who reacted with horror to the very word "customer." School profiling and the freedom of choice among parents will give schools the opportunity to compete for pupils, making the curriculum part of a school's marketing strategy.