Cultural typology, service quality and firm competitiveness
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Abstract
This study provides an insight into the actions required of Deposit Money Banks in attaining competitiveness during a time of severe economic and financial crisis. Competitiveness and its dimensions have engendered a lot of discussions in recent times. Premised on the modified dimensions of service quality, the study examined the interaction between service quality and firm competitiveness employing cultural as a moderating variable. The survey research design was utilized. The questionnaire was administered among 900 deposit money banks customers in Nigeria, and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) was employed in the analysis of data. The results established that cultural significantly influences service quality and firm competitiveness. It was also revealed that service quality is a significant driver of firm competitiveness. Automated service is the most significant dimension of service quality driving firms’ competitiveness. The result also shows that cultural differences in terms of individualism, collectivism and power distance are determinants of perception in firms’ competitiveness. The gap analysis between service expectations and perceptions indicated that customers' expectations are significantly lower than their perception, signalling that there are a lot of service improvements efforts needed to enhance the quality of services offered by the banks in achieving competitiveness. The study provides evidence that banks need to channel their resources and quality efforts to the most significant dimensions which will bring about achieving competitiveness.
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