Operational Excellence and Customer Satisfaction in the Service Industry in Kenya

Abstract

Operational excellence can lead to customer satisfaction, which can help improve the profitability of a company. The main purpose of the study is to determine how the company can improve customer satisfaction through incorporating three basic principles of operational excellence in its operational strategy. The three operational excellence principles considered here are focus on service quality, lean methodology and Six Sigma. This research paper is in form of case study of a five star restaurant in Nairobi, Zen Garden Ltd. The research design is descriptive and cross sectional survey. The target population includes 250 customers, 115 employees and 6 directors of Zen Garden. Stratified sampling has been used to sample the target population. Data collection methods include questionnaires and observation. Quantitative methods like bar chats and pie charts have been used to analyze the data collected. A survey on SERVQUAL model was conducted to determine how focus on service quality can lead to customer satisfaction. Customers were asked to participate in the survey and service quality gaps have been identified. Recommendations on how these gaps can be filled have been given. Secondly questionnaires on 5s were given to employees of Zen Garden to determine how lean methodology can lead to customer satisfaction. Finally questionnaires were given to directors to determine the extent to which six sigma is being used at Zen and how it can lead to customer satisfaction. In order to implement the operational strategy, the critical success factors to achieve operational excellence have been identified by use of questionnaires to directors.