7 MAKALE Beykoz Akademi Dergisi, 2(1), s.7-28. 10.14514/BYK.m.21478082.2014.2/1.7-28 QUALITY VARIABLES IN HOUSE AND OFFICE MOVING INDUSTRY: A STUDY IN TERMS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CUSTOMER PERCEPTION (1) İSMAİL BİLGE ÇETİN (2) , A. GÜLDEM CERİT (3) ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to evaluate the services of house and office moving industry and to determine the quality variables from the perspecve of service providers and customers. In the study, aſter the literature review, the process of house and office moving service distribuon system was analyzed. With the actors in the process, a qualitave research technique namely focus group was conducted and service quality variables were determined. House and office moving industry service providers, public and private instuons, personnel from transportaon companies and representaves of customers joined the study. The results showed that main determinants of service quality in house and office moving industry can be categorized as vehicles, equipments, packaging materials, personnel and reliability on the moving company. Keywords: House and office moving, service quality, logiscs JEL Codes: M31, R41 EV VE OFİS TAŞIMA ENDÜSTRİSİNDE KALİTE DEĞİŞKENLERİ: SERVİS SAĞLAYICI VE MÜŞTERİ ALGISI ÇERÇEVESİNDE BİR İNCELEME ÖZ Bu çalışmanın amacı evden eve eşya taşımacılığı endüstrisinde sunulan hizmetlerin değerlendirilmesi ve hizmet kalite değişkenlerinin ortaya konmasıdır. Çalışmada, literatür taraması yapılmış ve evden eve eşya taşımacılığı hizmet süreci analiz edilmiş ve evden eve eşya taşımacılığında hizmet kalitesi değişkenlerinin tespi amacıyla, hizmet süreci 1 This paper is a revised version of an earlier paper presented at VIII. Internaonal Logiscs & Supply Chain Congress held in Maltepe University, Istanbul-Turkey, 4th-5th November 2010. The previous version of this paper was published in the congress proceeding under the tle of “Quality Variables In House And Office Moving Industry: A Study In Terms Of Service Providers And Customer Percepon”. 2 Doç. Dr., Dokuz Eylül University, [email protected]3 Prof. Dr., Dokuz Eylül University, [email protected]
Transcript
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MAKALEBeykoz Akademi Dergisi,2(1),s.7-28.10.14514/BYK.m.21478082.2014.2/1.7-28
QUALITY VARIABLES IN HOUSE AND OFFICE MOVING INDUSTRY: A STUDY IN TERMS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CUSTOMER
PERCEPTION(1)
İSMAİL BİLGE ÇETİN(2), A. GÜLDEM CERİT(3)
ABSTRACT
The aimof this study is to evaluate the services of house andofficemoving industryand to determine the quality variables from the perspective of service providers andcustomers. In the study, after the literature review, the process of house and officemoving service distribution system was analyzed. With the actors in the process, aqualitative research techniquenamely focusgroupwas conductedand servicequalityvariablesweredetermined.Houseandofficemovingindustryserviceproviders,publicandprivate institutions,personnel fromtransportationcompaniesandrepresentativesof customers joined the study. The results showed thatmaindeterminants of servicequalityinhouseandofficemovingindustrycanbecategorizedasvehicles,equipments,packagingmaterials,personnelandreliabilityonthemovingcompany.
EV VE OFİS TAŞIMA ENDÜSTRİSİNDE KALİTE DEĞİŞKENLERİ: SERVİS SAĞLAYICI VE MÜŞTERİ ALGISI ÇERÇEVESİNDE BİR İNCELEME
ÖZ
Bu çalışmanın amacı evden eve eşya taşımacılığı endüstrisinde sunulan hizmetlerindeğerlendirilmesivehizmetkalitedeğişkenlerininortayakonmasıdır.Çalışmada,literatürtaramasıyapılmışveevdeneveeşya taşımacılığıhizmetsürecianalizedilmişveevdeneve eşya taşımacılığında hizmet kalitesi değişkenlerinin tespiti amacıyla, hizmet süreci
içerisindebulunanaktörlerleodakgrupçalışmasıdüzenlenmiştir.Çalışmayaevdeneveeşya taşımacılığı yapan işletmeler, özel ve kamu kuruluşlarından katılımcılar, taşımaişletmeleritemsilcileriveevdenevetaşımahizmetialmışmüşterilerkatılmıştır.Çalışmasonucunda,kullanılanekipmanlar,paketlememalzemeleri,personelvetaşımacılıkyapanişletmeyeduyulangüvenanahizmetkalitesibelirleyicileriolarakortayaçıkmıştır.
Homemoving has been performed by the people since years. Inmost cases,movingrepresentsanexcitingtimeinaperson’slife.Forteenagersgoingtocollegeoruniversity,movingmeansnewfound independence.Fornewlymarriedcouplesmoving into theirfirstflat,thismeansthestartofabrand-newlifetogether.Familiesmovingintoadreamhomerepresentgrowth.Forcareer-drivenpeoplewhoarerelocatedtoadifferentplaceaspartofapromotion,movingsignifiessuccess.Incircumstancessuchasthese,movingisalwaysseenasahappyevent.Inothercircumstanceshomemovingcancreateproblems(Irolis,2010).
Homemoving isnot justaboutpacking for themoving. Inorder togethousemovingdone,youhavetosortoutallyourbelongingsandcategorizewhichonesyouwilltakewithyoutoyournewhome,whichonesyouwillthrowawayandwhichonesyouwillputintostorage.Notonlythat,youwouldalsoneedtomakeaninventoryofyourbelongingsandthenpackthemincratesandboxeswiththehopethatnothingwouldbelost,brokenormisplaced(Irolis,2010).
Today instead of having the homemovedby the people themselves,more andmorehouseandofficemovingcompaniesgivehouseandofficemovingservices inordertofacilitatethe lifeofpeople.Althoughtheygivethesimilar typesofservices,qualityofservicesdiffers. Since thequality is anessential competitiveelement, the concern forqualityinhouseandofficemovingindustryisevident.
Since the eighties, service quality has been one of themost important issues in theliterature and is considered as a vital element inmanagement strategies in order tosucceed and/or to outlive in competitive environments. The pressure of competitioninmost industrieshas forcedmanagers to look forways toenhancetheircompetitiveposition.Manyhavedecided to improve servicequality in order todifferentiate theirservicesfromthoseoftheircompetitors(Parasuramanetal.,1985).
Thefocusofthispaperistodeterminetheservicequalityvariablesinordertomeasuretheservicequalityinthehouseandofficemovingindustry.Manybusinessorganizationshavefeltthecriticalneedtouseatoolforevaluatingservicequalityinordertoappropriatelyassess and improve their service performance. The result of the study showed thatthereareseveralservicequalityvariablesinhouseandofficemovingindustry.Themaindeterminantsofservicequalityinhouseandofficemovingindustrycanbecategorizedas vehicles, equipments, packagingmaterials, personnel and reliability on themovingcompany.
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2. Literature Reviewa. Service quality
Service quality is considered an essential strategy for success and survival in today’scompetitiveenvironment.However,unlikegoodsquality,whichcanbemeasuredwithsomeobjectivity,servicequalityisabstractandelusive.Theuniquefeaturesofservicessuch as inseparability of production and consumption, intangibility and heterogeneitymakemeasurementofqualityaverycomplexissue.Intheabsenceofobjectivemeasures,firmsmustrelyonconsumers’perceptionofservicequalitytoidentifytheirstrengthsand/orweaknesses,anddesignappropriatestrategies(Karatepeetal.,2005).
The complex feature and the importance of service quality attracted the attention ofresearchers and practitioners all over the world (Chowdhary and Prakash, 2007) andtheyhaveincreasinglyfocusedtheirattentiononcustomerserviceandhowtoimprovethequalityofexternalserviceencountersbetweenthecontactemployeeandexternalcustomer. While some researchers were interested in the physical surroundings thatimproveserviceencounters,Parasuramanetal.(1988;1991)focusedonminimizationoforganizational‘‘gaps’’thataffectcustomersatisfaction.However,internalservicequalityis equally important because an organization’s ability to meet the needs of externalcustomers relies on employees’ internal capabilities to satisfy the needs of internalcustomers.
Whiletheliteratureonservicequalityisreviewed,itisseenthattwoschoolsofthoughtdominatetheextantthinking.OneistheNordicschoolofthoughtbasedonGrönroos’stwo-dimensionalmodel.AndtheotheristheNorthAmericanschoolofthoughtbasedonParasuramanetal.’sfivedimensionalSERQUVALmodel.ChowdharyandPrakash(2007)indicatesthatothersignificantconceptualandempiricalworks(models) intheservicequalityareacanbeencompassedasfollows:(1)customer’sexperienceswiththetangibles,reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy aspects of services delivered by afirm;(2)technicalandfunctionalquality;(3)serviceproduct,serviceenvironment,andservicedelivery;and(4)interactionquality,physicalenvironmentquality,andoutcomequality.Allthesefourmodelsshareacommonfeature:Theyproposeamultidimensionalservice quality conceptualization that it is inherently linked to the measurement ofconsumerqualityperceptions.Therefore,servicequalitymodelsofferaframeworkforunderstandingwhatservicequalityis,aswellashowtomeasureservicequalityineachproposedconceptualization(MartinezandMartinez,2010).
formativemodelssuchasGM(Grönroos’Model),ROM(RustandOliverModel),SERVQUAL(Parasuraman,Zeithaml,andBerry’smodel)andSERVPERF(CroninandTaylor’sModel).(3) Multidimensional formative–reflective model such as BCM (Brady and Cronin’smultidimensionalandhierarchicalModel)(MartinezandMartinez,2010).
Intheliterature,itisseenthatmanystudieshasbeenperformedindifferentindustriesregarding service quality. However, there are very limited studies in logistics and nostudy has been encountered on service quality in house and officemoving industry.Someofthestudiesintheliteraturerelatedtoservicequalityareasfollows:Measuringservicequalityinthehotelindustry(Akbaba,2006;Briggsetal.,2007;Ekincietal.2003;Haywood,1983;TsaurandLin,2004;Wilkinsetal.,2007;),inbanking(Choudhury,2008),inretailindustry(MagiandJulander,1996;Vazquezetal.,2001),inautomobilerepairandmaintenanceindustry(AndaleebandBasu,1998),inairlineservice(ChangandYeh,2006;ChenandChang,2005;Chen,2008;Nathanail,2008), inshipping(Chen,2009), inretailtransportation(CaroandGarcia,2007),ine-business(HoandLee,2007),inrestaurants(HaandJang,2010;inrailwaytransportation(HaandJang,2010),inhealthcareservices(Lee and Yom,2007; Li, 1997; Teng et al., 2007), in telephone service quality (Ai andSappington,2005).
b. Theories and studies on house moving industry
Although no direct study has been confronted regarding service quality in house andofficemovingindustry,therearesomestudiesonhousemoving.Thetopicofhouseandofficemoving isdiscussed inthe literatureas“housemoving”andthistopichasbeenformulated as ‘residentialmobility’ and has been examined frommore psychological,economicandpolicyorientedperspectives.Thestudiesinthisareahavetendedtousemorequantitativemethodsinordertoexaminethecausesandeffectsofsuchmobility.Moreover,theyhavetendedtoconceiveresidentialmobilityasaproblem,asopposedtothenormofastablehome,wheremobilitywasintimatelytiedtopoverty,inadequatehousingandill-health,aswellasfamilyandcommunitybreakdown(Metcalfe,2006).ThispathologisationofmobilitywasonlytemperedbyRossi’spioneeringstudywhicharguedthatresidentialmobilitywasinfactnormalandcouldbeseenasaneffectoftransitionsinthefamily life-cycle.Theearlytheoryonhousingmobility istheso-called‘‘lifecyclemodel’’.Accordingtothismodel,frequencyofmobilitywillincreaseinconnectionwithchanges in lifestages,e.g.finishingeducation,marriage,divorce,newjob,retirement,children leavinghome,deathof spouse,or infirmity. Further studies confirm that thepropensitytoconsidermovingandactuallytomove ishigheratsuchtimes(Metcalfe,2006).Anothertheoryonhousingmobilityistheso-called‘‘stressthresholdmodel’’firstdeveloped byWolpert (1965; 1966) and later developed further by Brown andMore(1970), Speare (1974)andFokkemaetal. (1996).Metcalfe (2006) states thatWolpert
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assumes thatadecisiononmoving is a functionofwhathe calls the location’sutilityto the person in question. The location is not just the dwelling, but also the physicalsurroundingsandthesocialenvironment.Iftheutilityofalocationishigh,thereisnoreason tomove,even though theutilityof another locationmightbehigher. If utilitydecreases for some reason, thepersonwill feel a certain stress.However, only if thisfeeling of stress is sufficiently high and exceeds a certain threshold, will the personconsidermoving.BrownandMore suggest that thereare twosteps:first, to considermovingand,secondly,thedecisionastowheretomove(Metcalfe,2006).
Beside the theories explaining why people move their house, following studies havelookedatthetopicsfromsimilarperspective.Someofthestudiesencounteredrelatedto house moving are as follows: The reasons of older people’s decision on movingtheirhouse(HansenandGottschalk,2006),thepsychiatricsymptomsofmovinghouseon children (Hall, 1966), children’s understanding ofmoving house andhomelessnessexperience (Van Blerk and Ansell, 2006), home moving and children’s homelessnessexperience(Kirkmanetal.2010),hehealthcomplaintsandannoyanceaftermovingintoanewofficebuilding(Hutteretal.2006),theinterrelationofcongestionandresidentialmoving behavior (Larsen, 2008) and the familymoving home and social stratification(Gayle,2008).
3. Logistics Services in House and Office Moving Industry
Houseandofficemovingservicesarenotdifferentfromthelogisticsservicesandquitesimilaractivitiesarecarriedout (SeeFigure1).The servicesgiven inhouseandofficemoving industry can be categorized as transportation (both intracity and intercitytransportation),transportationinsurance,expertise(supervising),packing,wrappingandstretching, elevator services, loading, unloading, stuffing into the truck, assembly anddisassembly,warehousing and storage, supplying garment rails for clothing, supplyingcartonsandpackagingmaterialsandtrackingsystems.
Thehouseandofficemovingprocess startswith theorderof the customers and it iscompletedbyreachingthecargotoitsdestination.Betweenthesetwopointsaseriesoflogisticalactivitycarriedoutbytheserviceprovidersandmajorityoftheseactivitiesarethesameaslogisticsactivities.
Figure 1:The Process of House and Office Moving Activities
a. Authorized parties deal with home and house moving activities
Therapiddevelopmentsof transportanddevelopments ineconomic,commercialandsocial life in Turkey cause house and officemoving industry to have a stronger legalinfrastructure.Consequently,RoadTransportActNumbered4925wasacceptedandhascomeintoforcebySublimeParliamentinordertocorrecttheirregularitiesintheindustryandtoordertheindustryinlinewiththeneedsofeconomic,technical,commercialandsociallife(MinistryofTransportation,2010).
Accordingtothearticleno.6ofRoadTransportActNumbered4925,theonlyauthorizedpartywhocancarryoutthehomeofficemovingactivitiesinTurkeyisthepartieswhohaveK3 certificate. Inorder toobtaining theK3certificates,partieshave to fulfill thegeneralconditionsstatedinthearticle12andspecialconditionsstatedinArticle13ofRoadTransportActNumbered4925.AccordingtoArticle13,thepartyapplyfortheK3certificatehastohavethevehicleswhichhavethetotalcarryingcapacityofatleast30tonsandtheequitycapitalof5,000TurkishLiras.AccordingtoArticle80oftheregulation,thepartywhoappliesfortheK3certificateforintracityhouseandofficemovingactivitieshastopayTL6,471forthecertificates.
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4. Methodology
The main aim of this study is to evaluate the services of house and office movingindustryandtodeterminethequalityvariablesfromtheperspectiveofserviceprovidersandcustomers.Aqualitativestudy isaimedandthemethodologyused is focusgroupdiscussion.Afocusgroupisadistinctivetypeofgroupintermsofpurpose,size,compositionandprocedures.Participantswhodonotexceed10-12innumberareselectedbecausetheypossesscertaincharacteristicsincommonthatrelatetothetopicorthemeoftheresearch.Focusgroupinterviews,originatinginmarketingresearch,weredevelopedinthe1930s.Differingfromthetraditionalinformationgatheringtechniques,focusgroupdiscussion is a qualitative methodology where around 10 open-ended questions aredirectedtowardsthegroupofparticipantsinanaverageofonehourperiodwiththehelpofamoderatortostate,explainandsharetheirexperiences,attitudesandopinionswithnoinfluenceorboundaries(Cerit,2001;Garrisonetal.,1999).
Figure2summarizesthefocusgroupdiscussionprocedures.Thestepsintheprocedurearequestiondevelopment,groupcompositionandrecruitment,interviewprotocolandlogistics, implementing the focus group discussion and data analysis (Garrison et al.,1999;Mears,1995)
a. Data collection forms and question contents
Twoseparateformsareusedfortheresearch.Thefirstoneaimstocollectinformationonthedemographicprofileof theparticipantsandthesecondone is themoderator’sdiscussionguidewithblanksundereachquestiontorecordkeyideas.Theformsearchingthe demographic profile of the participants covers questions on the gender, age,occupation, education, etc.Whendeveloping thequestions, bothParasuramanet al’sfivedimensionalSERQUVALmodelandfourmarketingmixelementswhich isproduct,price,place,promotionweretakenintoaccount.Thequestionsincludedvariablesrelatedtothehouseandofficemovingindustry.
The participantswere selected in a differentiatedway to represent the qualificationsappropriatefortheobjectivesofthestudy.Inadditiontothesequalificationstheprobableactivitylevelforthefocusgroupdiscussionwasalsotakenintoaccount.InTable2thecompanyororganizationoftheparticipantsareclarified.
Table 2: Company or Organization of the Participants
Participant No. Company or Organization1 AkdoğanNakliyat(AkdoğanTransport)2 İzmirKamyoncularOdası(İzmirChamberofTruckDrivers)3 İzmirKamyoncularOdası(İzmirChamberofTruckDrivers)4 SalmanoğluNakliyat(SelmanoğluTransport)5 DokuzEylulUniversity(Homemovingservicetaker)6 DokuzEylulUniversity(Homemovingservicetaker)7 SihirliHouseandofficemovingCompany8 SihirliHouseandofficemovingCompany9 DünyaNakliyat(DunyaTransport)
c. Interview protocol and logistics
The logistics of the focus group discussion include the location and scheduling. Thebuilding of the Chamber of Truck Drivers was chosen as a place that is easy for theparticipantstofindandtoaccess.Theparticipantswerecontacted15daysbeforethesession,thenatureofthestudywasexplainedandtheywereinvitedtothemeetingatthespecifieddayandhour.Alloftheparticipantsreachedthemeetingplacebytheirownmeans.2assistantmoderatorsjoinedthemeetingtoassistthemoderatorinhandlingtheoperationalorenvironmentalconditionsandlogistics.
Themeetingroomwasorganized inamannerthatthemoderator’stablestood inthemiddleandtheassistantmoderatorssatbehindthemoderator,andaroundthemoderatorthe participants’ seatswere designed in a circle. Beverages and cookieswere servedbefore thediscussion started.Questionnaires anddiscussion guideswereprepared innecessarynumbersbeforehand.Thefocusgroupdiscussionwasrecordedbyvideotapingandalsobywrittennotes.Alltherelatedequipmentwascheckedbeforethemeetingtomaintainefficientoperatingconditionsduringthemeeting.
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d. Implementing the focus group discussion
Beforestartingthediscussion,theobjectiveofthemeetingwasbrieflyexplainedtotheparticipantsandthequestionnairesrelatedtotheparticipants’demographicprofileweredistributedandaskedtobecompleted.Afterwardsthefocusgroupdiscussionguidewastakenintoaccountandeveryquestionintheguidewasaskedtoeachparticipantorally.Thereplieswererecordedinwrittennotesandbyvideotaping.Theassistantmoderatorstookpartinassistingthemoderatorwiththeseoperationsandalsowarnedthemoderatorbywrittennoteswherenecessary.After thecompletionof the structuredquestionsaperiodof15minuteswasmaintainedforunstructureddiscussionamongtheparticipantsandthisdiscussionwerealsorecorded.Completionoftheparticipants’questionnaires,thediscussionguideandtheunstructureddiscussionperiodlastedinatotalof1hourand45minutes.
e. Data analysis
After the discussion themoderator and the assistantmoderatorsmet to analyze thediscussion briefly and to find out the common and conflicting points reached by theparticipants.Afterwardsthedatacollectedbythevideotapesandaswrittennotesaretranscribed,codedandanalyzed.Thusthemoderatorhasidentifiedthemajoroutcomesofthediscussion.
Houseandofficemovingconsistsofaseriesofprocesses.Theinitialpointoftheprocessisthatthecustomercallsthecarrier.Uponreceiptofthiscall,thecarriersendsandsurveyorfreeofchargetoaddressofthecustomer,consideringthefeatureofthedemand.Thesurveyorcarriesoutadetailed investigationonsuchaspects regarding thecarriageasthequantityof the items tobe carried, the amountof thepackagingmaterials tobeused(e.g.crafts,barrels,hangingwardrobes,etc.),theplantobedesignedonhowtocarrytheitems,andthefreighttobechargedforthecarriage.Followingthecompletion
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ofthecontract,thetransportstaffdetachtheitemstobemoved,packagethemwithinthenewpackagingmaterials inashygienicmanneraspossible, stretch,placethem inthewardrobeswithhangers,andusingtherelevantelevatormovethemout.Theitemsof carriage then are loaded on the carrier to be taken to the destinationwhere theyareunloadedandreinstalled.Inthemeantime,thehomeandofficeitemsarestoredinwarehousesdesignedparticularlyforsuchitems.
The primary points considered by the customers are receiving the service on time incompliancewiththeagreementandtheperiodagreedon,gettingjustifiablycompensatedforthedamagemadeontheitemscarriedandonthehome,beingassuredthatnofurtheramountswillbecharged,duringtheshipmentandnoextraamountwillbechargedfortheelevatortobeused.
Still another point of consideration on the part of the customers is receiving propersurveyingservice.TheystatethatsuchcarriageistobecarriedoutbythosecompanieswithK3certificatesexpertisedexclusivelyinthisfield.
The second question was related to the most important developments/innovationsrecentlyintroducedinhouseandofficemovingindustry.Participantsstatedthatelevators,packagingmaterials,expertiseservices,promotionthroughinternet,employingfurnitureproducersorcarpenterswithinthecompanies,increaseinthequalityofthepackagingmaterials,carriers’assuranceincarriagerisksandenhancementoforganizationskillsinfactorymovingarethemostimportantdevelopmentsintheindustry.
The third questionwasrelatedtoifhouseandofficemovingindustrytodaymanagesthecarriageandwarehousingbusinessmoreeffectively,whencomparedwiththeconventionalone.Theserviceprovidersthinkthatthroughprovidingsurveyingservicefreeofcharge,aconsiderablephaseaccomplishedinfavorofprovidingabetterandfasterhomeandofficemovingservice.Thevehicles,apparatus,andmaterialsusednowarea lotmoremodernized.Theystatedthatthepackagingprocessesarenowmuchmorebetter,saferandproper.Anotherplus favoringamoresatisfyingservice is introducingtheelevatorwithinthesystem.Stillanotherfactoraffectingandimprovingthecustomersatisfactionis thequalitywarehousingsystem,throughwhichthe itemsarestoredoutdoor in thewarehousesortheyareplacedincertainexclusivelydeployedboxesortrunks.
The fourth questionwas related to the roleofhouseandofficemoving industry andthestressesexperiencedbytheservicereceivers.Professionalhouseandofficemovingcompanies havediminished the carriage anxiety to a great extent. Inmost cases, theservicereceiversarenotinvolvedintheprocess,theyarenotrequiredtogetpreparedforthecarriage,thehomeandtheofficeismovedbythecompanyasawholeandthe
The fifth questionwasrelatedtoeconomic,social,culturalandenvironmentaleffectsoftheindustry.Theparticipantsthinkthatthehouseandofficemovingindustryprovidesa great deal of equipments andmaterials; e.g. trucks, auxiliary parts, fuel-oils, boxes,packingmaterialsetc.,frommanyotherindustries.Thisisakindofeconomiccontributiontotherelevantcountry.Stillanothercontributiontotheeconomy is thetaxespaidbythisindustry.Besides,theindustryemploysaround15personspereachcompany,thuscontributestotheemployment. Intermsofculturalcontribution,however,houseandofficemovingindustryhasnotyetbeenpopularizedandfavoredtoasatisfactoryextentinTurkey.Asaresultofsuchunfortunateandinadequatefameoftheindustry,certainoveragedtruckswithnopropercertificatesusedinhouseandofficemovingwhichconsumelowerqualityfuel-oilcauseenvironmentalpollution.
The sixth questionwasrelatedtoregulationsandcompensationofthedamagesrelatedto house and office moving industry. The participants believe that the regulationspertaining to house and officemoving are adequate. According to these regulations,thesecompanieswithK3certificateareauthorizedtocarryouthouseandofficemoving.Alongwith such companieswith K3 certificates, however, there aremanyother oneshavingnosuchcertificatebutcarryingoutthisjob.Suchcompaniesarenotunfortunatelyinspectedtoasatisfactoryextent,benefitfromanunjustifiedcompetitionthroughlowqualityservicetheyprovideandlowerpricestheyoffer.
Regarding the carriage contracts, carriage agreements are issued for the carriagesfulfilledby the the companieswithK3 certificates. In accordancewith theagreementrequirements,thecarriersareresponsibleforanydamagescaused.Incaseofhavingnosuchagreement,however,thecustomerhasnolegalrightstoclaimforanycompensation.Carriersmeetthosedamagesstatedwithintheagreementclausesonly.
Customersarenotwellinformedaboutthecontents/clausesofthecarriageagreements.Unless the carriers provide the customerswith such agreement forms, no agreementis issued and in case of suffering any damages, customers are vulnerable and unabletoclaimforanycompensation. Intermsofprotectingtherightsofthecustomers,theChamberofTruckDrivershavenolegalpoweronmakingthecarrierscompensatethedamagescausedduringhouseandofficemoving.
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The seventh questionwasrelatedtothefactorsdeterminingthequalityofserviceprovidedinhouseandofficemovingindustry.Theexpertiseserviceprovided,theequipmentused,thepersonnelandtheelevatoraretheseenthemaindeterminantofquality.
The eighth questionwasrelatedtothestandardsofwarehouses,trucks,equipmentsandthecompetencyoftheemployees.Theparticipantsthinkthattherehasbeennoproblemabout thephysical competencyof theprofessional companieswithK3certificate.Thetrucksandthewarehousesofsuchcompaniesareingoodconditionprovidedwithproperequipment.Theirpackagingmaterialsarequalityandadequate.
Professionalcompaniesworkinginthisindustryhavepermanentlyemployedcompetentand professionally specialized personnel. Throughout the whole industry present anoverallpicturerevealingthatthosewithK3certificatehavequalifiedpersonnel.
On the other hand, however, within this industry there have been a great numbersubstandardcompanieswithnoK3certificate.Theemployeesofsuchcompanies,withinadequate and incompetent vehicles and equipment, are temporarily employed andunqualifiedones.
The ninth questionwas related to transportation insuranceand transportationprices.Participantsstatethatallcustomerswanttobeprovidedwithinsurancecertificates.Suchcertificates,however,areissuedforintercitytransportsbutnotforthoseintracityones;thedamagescausedduringthelatter,nevertheless,aremetbycarriers.Theclausesoftheinsurancepoliciesarenotusuallycarefullyexaminedbythecustomers.Theinsurancecompaniescompensatenotalltypesofdamagesbutonlythosecausedduringcarriagewhiletherelevanttruckisonroute.
The tenth questionwasrelatedtothecompanieswhichofficiallycarryoutthehouseandofficemovingactivities inTurkey. It isstatedthatsuchactivitiesarecarriedoutbythecompanieswithK3certificatesinTurkey.
The eleventh questionwasrelatedtoadvertisingandpromotionactivitiesforhouseandofficemoving industry. Theparticipants indicate that the companiesusually carryouttheiradvertisingactivitiesthroughinternetorthroughcertainprintedbrochures.Anothermeansofadvertisingisdonethroughdailypaperadsandstickers.Stillanothermeansmadeuseofinaccessingthepotentialcustomersistherecommendationsoftheexistingcustomers.Theattitudesandperformancesdisplacedbythecompanypersonnelonjobcouldalsobeanothersourceofadvertisementparticularlyforthepotentialcustomerswhoobservesuchattitudesandperformanceatwork.
Receivingatrademarkwithintheindustryissaidtoberatherdifficult,particularlyfortoogreatnumberofthecompaniesincludedintheindustry.Nevertheless,mostcompaniestendtohavetheirtrademarkmarksregistered,havetheirownlogos,receiveISO9001quality certificatesand refer their customers to certain carriages theyhavepreviouslyfulfilled.Suchatendencyisasteptowardsaccomplishingtrademark.
The twelfth questionwasrelatedtoeliminationoftheproblemscausedintheintracitytraffic by house and officemoving industry. The participants state that narrow roadsprevent large trucks from entering certain roads. Before the transport truck enters aroad,thecarsparkedalongthatroadaretakenaway.Transporttrucksarepermittedtoentercertainplacesatcertaintimeperiodsandtheyaretoreceivespecialpermissiontoentercertainplaces.Therefore,thedriversofsuchtrucksaretobecarefulaboutsuchpermittedtimeandtheyhavegottoreceivetherequiredpermissionintime.Besides,inordernottoblocktheroadsforalongtime,theloading/dischargingoperationsmustbecarriedoutrapidly.Inordertodothis,theelevatormustbeusedeffectivelyandtheitemstobeloadedmustbepreparedforloadingbeforehand.Furthermore,houseandofficemovingshouldnotbecarriedoutatnightandattherushhourfortheresidentsinvolved.
The thirteenth question was related to the efforts to improve the quality and thecustomersatisfactioninhouseandofficemovingindustry.Theparticipantsbelievethatintermsofenhancingthequalityservice,theprimaryfactorsareusingnewandadequatetruckandequipmentalongwithqualitypackagingmaterial.Moreimportant,however,isthecompetencyandreliabilityofthepersonnelcarryingoutthejob.Itmightbeimagedamaging to appoint for suchmoving incompetent personnelwho are likely tomake
In terms of increasing customer satisfaction, reliability seems to be one of themostimportantcriteria.Thoseemployeeswholackworkdisciplineandwhosewearingstyledoesnotcomplywith theworkcarriedoutcausesadissatisfactionon thecustomers.Besides,havingreceived ISO9001and ISO18001certificatesseemtobe important intermsof improving the servicequality. Still in this regard, another important point inimprovingtheservicetheservicequalityisthequestionnairesconductedtoassesstheservicequality.
g. Service quality determinants in house and office moving Industry
Whiletheliteratureonservicequalityisreviewed,itisseenthattwoschoolsofthoughtdominate theextant thinking.One is theNorthAmericanschoolof thoughtbasedonParasuramanetal.’sfivedimensionalSERQUVALmodel.AndtheotheristheNordicschoolof thoughtbasedonGrönroos’s two-dimensionalmodel.SERQUVALmodelconsistsoffive dimensions as follows (Rahaman et al., 2011): Tangibles which includes physicalfacilities,equipmentandappearanceofpersonnel.Reliabilityincludesabilitytoperformthepromisedservicedependablyandaccurately.Responsivenessmeanswillingnesstohelpcustomersandprovidepromptservice.Assuranceincludesincludingcompetence,courtesy,credibilityandsecurity;knowledgeandcourtesyofemployeesandtheirabilitytoinspiretrustandconfidence.Empathymeanscaringandindividualizedattentionthatthefirmprovides to its customers.Whencomparing the resultsof thestudywith thedimensionsoftheSERQUVALmodel,itisseenthatallthequalitydeterminantscanbecategorized within the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathydimensionsoftheSERQUVALmodel.
On the other hand,Grönroos’model suggesting that service quality consists of threedimensions,technical,functionalandimage.Technicalqualityreferstotheresultortheoutcomeof the service,while functional quality refers to the process or theway theservicehasbeendelivered(LienandKao,2008:528)andimagefunctionsreferstoafilterinservicequalityperception.TheresultsofthestudyshowsthatthequalitydeterminantscameupinthestudymatchwithmainlyfunctionalandimagefunctionsoftheGrönroos’model.
6. Conclusion
House and officemoving activities have been carried out for years and almost everypersonexperienceditatleastonceinhis/herlife.Althoughitisseenanhappyeventfor
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somepeopleifthepeoplemovetobetterplace,itcansometimescreatesheadacheifitcannotbedoneproperly.Foravoidingtheproblems,itisnecessarytohavethehomeandofficemovedbythecompanieswhichsupplyhighlevelofservices.Inotherwords,theservicequalityofthecompanymustbesatisfactory.Inordertounderstandifacompanies’servicelevelhighornot,theservicequalitydeterminantsmustbeknownandaccordingto these determinants service quality is evaluated. Although in many sector, servicequalityhasbeenstudiedandmanythoughtshavebeendevelopedlikeParasuramanetal’sandGrönroos,nostudyhasbeenencounteredonservicequalityinhouseandofficemoving industry. Inordertofill thisgapanddeterminetheservicequalityvariables,aqualitativestudynamelyfocusgrouphasbeencarriedoutbyhouseandofficemovingserviceprovidersandservicetakers.Thestudyshowedthattheonlyauthorizedpartiesdealswithhouseandofficemovingbusiness is thepartieswhichhaveK3Certificates.However, besides these companies some other companies are carrying out the jobillegallyinTurkey.TheresultsreflectthatthisindustryisinitsbeginningstageinTurkeyandwilldevelopbytheyears.Themostimportantpartofthestudyisthedeterminantsofservicequalityinhouseandofficemovingindustry.29variableshavebeenextractedfromthe focusgroupstudy.Someof themare:Highqualitypackagingmaterials,newandadequateequipment,usingspecialelevators,HavingK3certificate,givingexpertiseservice, reliability of the company, supplying the service on time, competency andreliabilityofthepersonnel,compensatingthedamagesetc.Thevariablesstatedherewillbevaluablefortheresearcherswhowillmakesimilarstudies.
When we looked the industry from the point of logistics, it is seen that house andofficemoving industry serves all logistical services to customers. Fromorder bookingto concluding service contract, from transportation to warehousing, from packagingto loading/unloading and stuffing, from insuring todamage compensation. Therefore,houseandofficemovingindustrycanbeseenasalogisticsserviceproviderindustry.
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