Improving logistics service quality in freight-forwarding in Hochiminh City, Vietnam
Truong, Ly (2016)
Truong, Ly
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2016
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016053110900
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2016053110900
Tiivistelmä
Despite bringing enormous profit to the company as well as the development of the country, logistics is still considered a new and developing field in Vietnam. There are currently a large number of local logistics companies and most of them are working as second and third-party agents. However, they account for a very small market share and are losing to the foreign corporations. One of the main reasons is low-rated service quality.
Service quality plays a vital role in gaining new customers as well as retaining the loyal ones. Due to its special characteristics, it is hard to give a complete evaluation about service quality of a company. SERVQUAL model is considered as one of the most common tools to assess that, which is based on five factors: reliability, assurance, tangibles, responsiveness and empathy.
This thesis introduces main concepts of logistics activities and service quality assessment, focusing on third-party services and SERVQUAL model. It also states the general current situation of Hohiminh City and local freight forwarders operating there. Quantitative method was applied via surveys distributed on Facebook, online business forums and the author’s network of friends who are working at local logistics firms. The questionnaire was targeted to both individual and corporate customers who are using logistics services of HCMC freight-forwarding companies. 127 responses were successfully collected after five weeks to reveal customers’ true opinions on service quality in those domestic firms. The result has showed many weaknesses of those companies especially in the reliability and assurance factor. From there, some recommendations are given to improve service quality in HCMC’s freight forwarders.
Service quality plays a vital role in gaining new customers as well as retaining the loyal ones. Due to its special characteristics, it is hard to give a complete evaluation about service quality of a company. SERVQUAL model is considered as one of the most common tools to assess that, which is based on five factors: reliability, assurance, tangibles, responsiveness and empathy.
This thesis introduces main concepts of logistics activities and service quality assessment, focusing on third-party services and SERVQUAL model. It also states the general current situation of Hohiminh City and local freight forwarders operating there. Quantitative method was applied via surveys distributed on Facebook, online business forums and the author’s network of friends who are working at local logistics firms. The questionnaire was targeted to both individual and corporate customers who are using logistics services of HCMC freight-forwarding companies. 127 responses were successfully collected after five weeks to reveal customers’ true opinions on service quality in those domestic firms. The result has showed many weaknesses of those companies especially in the reliability and assurance factor. From there, some recommendations are given to improve service quality in HCMC’s freight forwarders.