Public Service Delivery and Customer Satisfaction Essay

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to examine public service delivery and customer satisfaction in the UAE/Dubai. It highlights public-private partnership (PPP), the UAE and Dubai governments’ reform programs toward service innovation, quality and excellence, customer happiness and satisfaction and strategic approaches used by the Dubai Police to achieve customer satisfaction. Dubai Government’s effort to transform e-services to smart services has yielded positive outcomes based on customer experience survey results. It is therefore recommended that the Dubai Government must continue to focus on quality service improvements through new technologies to realize its public happiness objective.

Introduction

Public service delivery and customer satisfaction in Dubai have taken a new turn under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The UAE and the Dubai governments embarked on robust public sector reforms that covered a shift from e-government to the smart government to improve the quality of services to the public, performance management by regular surveys and feedback. The government has launched the happiness meter to measure the levels of public happiness and satisfaction with services offered by the government (Badran, Marri, & Younes, 2013).

The government also introduced Star Rating System to determine “the level of all service delivery channels used by the Dubai customers through assessment and classification of not only Service Centres but surpassing that to other service delivery channels” (Wam, 2014). The objective of the Star Rating System is to encourage constructive competition between government agencies to ensure that they can enhance “public services in Dubai to exceptional standards and attain extraordinary customer experience” (Wam, 2014). The Dubai government can only achieve this through service innovations by using smart apps and a strong focus on the concept of ‘happiness’ to achieve the vision of the leadership.

The purpose of this essay is to examine public service delivery and customer satisfaction in the UAE/Dubai. It highlights public-private partnership (PPP), the UAE and Dubai governments’ reform programs toward service innovation, quality and excellence, customer happiness and satisfaction and strategic approaches used by the Dubai Police to achieve customer satisfaction.

The public-private partnerships (PPP) approach adopted in the UAE/Dubai

A public-private partnership (PPP) is a term used to describe “a government-sponsored initiative or scheme which involves the use of private finance to facilitate the provision of services to the public and/or the delivery of social infrastructure assets” (Tan, 2012, p. 2). Various governments have relied on PPPs to develop infrastructure assets that require massive investments. They include transportation, education, healthcare and even in defense. PPPs marks a critical shift in the relationship between the public and private sector about capital investments (Ahadzi & Bowles, 2004). The UAE has often relied on PPPs to fund and manage some of its mega infrastructure projects. The Dubai Metro, for instance, was a product of the PPP project that cost over “Dh 28 billion to develop in partnership with at least five multinational corporations” (Khan, 2013, p. 1). Further, management of the project, as a part of an agreement with the RTA, is currently under the British Government company known as Serco (Khan, 2013). One must agree that there are no two projects that are the same, and therefore PPPs come in different forms for different projects (National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, 2015).

The UAE government uses management contracts to contract its operations and management to private firms under PPP approaches. The Dubai Metro, for instance, is run and managed by Serco, the UK government company (Serco Consulting, 2014). It is imperative to recognize that the obligation to offer services remains with the government while everyday management, controls, and authority are the responsibilities of the private company (Asian Development Bank, n.d). Within six months, Dubai Metro realized the following benefits because of PPP.

Table 1: the transformation at Dubai Metro through PPP (Serco Consulting, 2014)

A management contract also has inherent advantages to parties involved in the project. The government of Dubai has been able to achieve several operational gains, which are offered by Serco, a private company, without transferring the Dubai Metro to the company. The kind of contract involved is simple to draw and therefore less controversial. Also, a management contract is a relatively low cost because the private company makes use of a few employees to achieve the intended outcomes.

The UAE/Dubai also uses a service contract PPP approach. For instance, Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was quoted saying that over the next few years, the RTA will start the construction and operation of the rail projects (Bhatia, 2015). Under this project, Route 2020 will be considered to expand the Dubai Metro and initiate phase two of the Dubai Tram project (Bhatia, 2015). It involves a bidding process by private firms, and TRA has opted for the PPP model, “comprising elements attractive for the private sector to take the initiative and bear the costs of such projects against benefiting from the project’s returns over the contract period” (Bhatia, 2015, p. 1). Under the service contract, the UAE government works with private companies to “conduct the specified project for a given period as stipulated in the contract” (Asian Development Bank, n.d, p. 24). Hence, the UAE government remains the major provider of the infrastructure service. Meanwhile, the private players must undertake the project under agreed costs and terms. They must also meet the performance standards established by the government agency.

To enhance customer satisfaction through PPP, Serco Consulting has ensured that service delivery and performance are the core of its program. Also, the PPP has introduced efficiency and effectiveness, transparency and accountability, and innovation and creativity in delivering most public services in Dubai. Further benefits of PPP have been noted in technological skills and expertise transfer. Dubai is focused on using the best firms to meet its public demands, particularly where its current human capital is unable to meet service levels and demands. Thus, by working with foreign firms such as Serco, the government also aims for knowledge transfer and sustainability of the project on a long-term basis. For instance, nearly all commuters in Dubai know the number the 800-9090, which is advertised in Dubai throughout for travelers to make any inquiries about traveling. This improvement was achieved by contracting Avaya through PPP and it immediately led to increased customer satisfaction.

Some emirates lack robust changes in governments noted in Dubai because of leadership or political support (Dulaimi, Alhashemi, Ling, & Kumaraswamy, 2010). Also, in the recent past, Dubai has attracted several multinational firms because of its development strategies and as a result, it has a strong private consortium relative to other emirates. Dulaimi et al. (2010) have observed that a strong consortium of private firms and supporting leadership are the key to successful PPP, which perhaps are lacking in other emirates.

Service Innovation, Quality, and Excellence in the UAE and Dubai Government

In the recent past, the UAE and Dubai governments have embarked on reform programs towards service innovation, quality, and excellence. These reforms are reflected through various initiatives such as smart government, happiness meter, Dubai excellence program, and stars rating for the governmental entities among others (Halligan, 2014). They all aim to enhance public service delivery and customer satisfaction.

The Dubai Smart Government initiative aims to provide solutions to determine customer satisfaction with key government services across various departments (Sutton, 2015). The Dubai Excellence Program was created in 1997 to enhance the concept of excellence, quality, innovation, best management and professional practices in government agencies (Nuseirat, n.d). The Excellence Program has created excellence models, evaluate users and reward performers. The overall aim of the Program is to achieve international levels of performance for government agencies in Dubai. While the Excellence Program has been successful because of leaders’ state of commitment and involvement, motivation and team spirit, it has also suffered some drawbacks related to the absence of benchmarks, resistance to change, lack awareness, and poor skills (Nuseirat, n.d).

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been instrumental in the transformation of Dubai. In the recent past, the Sheikh, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE launched the ‘Happiness Meter’ to measure government services and the public’s levels of happiness and satisfaction with the offered services every day based on ongoing changes and expectations of users (Dubai Trade, mimeo). Government officers at the central database network will collect and send outcomes to decision-makers to determine specific agencies with the highest happiness and satisfaction rating. The government will use feedback for service improvement and enhancing user experiences.

By launching the Smart City, the Dubai government and its agencies have shown the commitment to achieve all the requirements and aspirations of the citizens. Dubai government has focused on six critical pillars to implement under the Smart City program. They include 100 programs that focus on transport, communications, infrastructure, electricity, economic services, urban planning, and 1,000 government services that are expected to go smart within the next three years (Wam, 2014). The leadership has recognized the need for improvement and development to enhance the quality of life of citizens through various government programs delivered via public-private partnerships (Wam, 2014).

It is imperative to recognize that the government of Dubai continuously conducts reviews to determine smart government performance. The latest review was done in May 2015 for government agencies that have made smart moves. The report covered the UAE and Dubai governments’ transition from e-government to smart government across 41 most important departments, which had shown achievement within 730 days given for the shift. Overall, the UAE government has achieved 96.3% for its 337 services regarded as the most important in daily service provision to the public.

Table 2: Smart Government Transition Review May 2015

Some government entities such as the Dubai Police, Dubai Customs and Dubai Courts have received “Star Rating for their initiatives to promote customer satisfaction and public service delivery” (Wam, 2014). Dubai Customs has been recognized as the first 100 percent SMART government agency. On this note, the Customs surveyed to determine the impacts of its SMART services and achieved the following outcomes.

Table 3: Dubai Customs’ the satisfaction survey – (Dubai Trade, mimeo)

These results show the success of the Dubai Customs in initiating and implementing effective smart government services. Aspects of SMART governments must be captured in evaluations. They show that Dubai Customs is focused on providing customers with unique user experiences when they seek government services. These services must be smart in all spheres.

The Dubai Courts have also demonstrated excellent performance under the Dubai Government Excellence Program 2015. It has increased by 11 positions relative to the last evaluation. The Dubai Courts were able to achieve this improvement because of the critical changes it has made across various departments. The major focus has been on customer satisfaction, which increased to 92.3 percent. The Courts have been praised for excellent facilities and legal and advisory services, which have been developed to improve customer and social well-being.

The Dubai Police has also demonstrated excellent performance, which is reflected in its 95 percent customer satisfaction rating. Averagely, other government agencies in Dubai had recorded 79 percent for the year 2015 rating. The police department has been able to achieve this improvement because of smart initiatives it has implemented through modern technologies and smartphones.

Also, Dubai Municipality has embarked on an ambitious plan to change 450 e-services into smart ones while the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) focuses on providing smart transportation through a traffic system, a single-center for controlling traffic and means of transportation and delivering some 200 services via smartphones. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to introduce “smart meters and grid to enhance well-being and comfort of users through sustainability initiatives” (Wam, 2014, p. 1). Dubai Design District wants to be the smartest place globally for smart solutions to enhance transactions of visas, licenses and other services offered by the government. Also, the Department of Economic Development (DED) has focused on smart business solutions.

Happiness vs. Satisfaction in customer services in the Dubai Government

Dubai Happiness program is still at a nascent stage. However, it goes far beyond customer satisfaction. According to one of the officials from the Dubai Excellence Program, customer happiness includes customer satisfaction with additional requirements to exceed expectations i.e., it is raising the bar for satisfaction to ensure public happiness with services offered by the government. Happiness is measured by evaluating perceptions of customers by considering certain factors such as employees’ attitudes, premises and the nature of the service itself.

Happiness Meter is a unique initiative that strives to measure the happiness and satisfaction of Dubai citizens with services offered by the government every day through an electronic platform linked via a central network. Happiness Meter remits daily reports to decision-makers. These reports are used to monitor and identify specific government services that users are happy about and then locate specific geographical locations in which these services are offered as constituents of a sustained effort to create customer service and enhance the happiness of Dubai people.

The Sheikh believes that annual and quarterly reports to evaluate “happiness and satisfaction of users are no longer fashionable and do not meet the emirate’s ambitions” (Wam, 2014, p. 1). Such improvements should be driven by daily transformations witnessed and expectations of the public. On this note, Happiness Meter strives to measure government services every day.

As opposed to customer satisfaction, customer happiness focuses on service as a daily task and the initiative must have a real impact on people’s happiness.

Customer happiness is a part of the smart government and smart city launched in Dubai to enhance the use of modern technologies for improving the efficiency of government performance and helping to deliver public happiness and satisfaction. The Sheikh asserts that the overall objective of the Happiness Initiative is to ensure the happiness of the public and provide uncomplicated life through lessening the period spent to accomplish requested public services.

According to Hammad (2013), the Dubai government is no longer concentrating on customer satisfaction but is striving for customer happiness. The government is becoming more hospitable, delivering services promptly, improving innovations that reach the people and is accessible through residents’ smartphones 24/7. Thus, the government is focused on delighting the public by providing effective interaction and engagement, which are achieved inefficiently and gracefully to attain customer happiness (Hammad, 2013).

Various government agencies must reshape and reconsider their strategies to align them with the Happiness Meter rather than a satisfactory measure. As previously noted, different government departments have adopted Happiness Meter to shift from customer satisfaction to customer happiness. For instance, RTA, Dubai Courts, Dubai Police, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Customs, Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority have shown attempts to reshape and reconsider their practices to smart services to ensure that they achieve customer happiness and satisfaction. A focus on customer happiness will ensure that the government evaluates every aspect of its services and track them daily. The transition will occur from e-services to smart services. These processes are supported by strong information technology capabilities coupled with smartphone accessibility used by most residents of Dubai. Thus, in the future, even visitors will instantly experience such happiness through service provisions. Customer happiness aims to improve the quality of life of Dubai residents.

Decision-makers can gain access to Happiness Meter results in qualitative form using smart systems. Users have various options to provide their feedback on the quality of services provided by the government. These platforms can be found at various points of service or Internet-enabled smart virtual systems.

The Happiness Meter will be slowly rolled out to all other government agencies. Also, Dubai targets specific private institutions with its Happiness Meter. This aims to enhance tourists’ and visitors’ experiences while in Dubai.

The Dubai Police strategy on customer satisfaction: An In-depth Analysis

The Dubai Police focus on quality service, and it is a forward-thinking and progressive government agency. It has adopted a systematic approach to achieving customer happiness. The service is connected to the strategic objective of ensuring a 90 percent score in user satisfaction (Alrazouqi, 2014). Dubai Police consists of a competent team assisted by Smart Services under Technical Accreditation to ensure that all services offered are measured daily to meet the standards of public happiness and satisfaction. The agency strives to translate its vision to reality and realize its strategic objective of attaining 90 percent customer satisfaction.

The General Department of e-Services of the Dubai Police has been keen on adopting new technologies for public service delivery. Today, the Dubai Police deliver over 300 services through different electronic platforms, including the “Internet, smartphones, Intranet and kiosks” (Alrazouqi, 2014, p. 4). among others for efficiency and speed.

The strategy it has adopted aims to provide simple, easy procedures for users. In several cases, the Dubai Police is outstanding because of DNA testing, use of electronic fingerprints, paperless processes, use of automatic vehicle locator and application of electronic services for different services such as renewal of vehicle license.

The Dubai Police has adopted Community Policing and Human Rights programs to facilitate service delivery and ensure public happiness.

The Dubai Police transformed its e-services to smart service to support the government initiative of Smart Government and Happiness Meter. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid insisted on efficiency, and Dubai Police concentrated on the development of “smart services that automatically operate without human intervention” (Alrazouqi, 2014, p. 6). Consequently, it is the first police agency in the UAE to provide smart services and improved processes for getting services e.g. certificate of good conduct.

Gradually, the department has adopted several smartphone services to reduce the frequencies of visiting the station and the burden of complex procedures (Wam, 2014).

To enhance customer happiness, the Dubai Police has started to use Google Glass for face detections of wanted criminals, traffic violations and to identify wanted cars through their plate numbers (Patrizio, 2014). Moreover, members of the public with the Glass are also encouraged to use it to report violation instantly.

These strategies have produced remarkable results because Dubai Police has recorded 95 percent customer satisfaction 2015 based on a poll conducted by the Dubai Model Centre for various government agencies that offer public services.

The Dubai Police implemented its strategies based on procedures of customer services in a holistic way by focusing on critical service categories. The process is systematic and daily follow-up reports are expected from the central data center.

The Dubai Police believes that by transforming e-services to smart ones, it is most likely to exceed the expectation of the public, simplify processes and enhance the speed of service delivery. Therefore, members of the public can use their iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows phones to gain access to hundreds of services from the Dubai Police (Alrazouqi, 2014).

Recommendations

First, Dubai government agencies must continue to upgrade their smart services delivery by evaluating the needs of the public, constantly introducing new services and creating effective technical support systems. Second, government ministries must continue to train their employees on how to use new technologies effectively to optimize outcomes, responses to customers’ needs and service delivery. Third, Dubai government employees should attain the required competencies to ensure that the SMART Government initiative is successful. Training and develop fundamental concepts of the initiative is necessary to achieve the strategic goals of the government. Process monitoring and evaluation are required across all departments. Fourth, the Dubai government must establish a benchmark for performance improvement. This should be supported with appropriate training to accommodate ongoing changes while service directors and decision-makers across various agencies must conduct an evaluation and use feedback to improve future processes. Fifth, the Dubai Police customer service strategy is an excellent program that must continuously innovate to meet the needs of the public.

Thus, the department must work with technology companies to acquire the best smart solutions for a diverse range of its services. Also, it would be important for the Dubai Police to consolidate most apps to enhance ease of use and installation. Finally, the Dubai government must ensure the effective integration of all its platforms for unified performance-driven toward strategic smart government objectives. Smart services should help the government and users to save costs, time and efforts while providing the best results for all stakeholders. Also, mass public education is required to ensure that residents of Dubai are aware of these new developments. Overall, as the Sheikh puts it, the UAE and Dubai governments should not strive to sustain innovations in modern technologies and scientific discoveries, but rather to lead such new improvements, which is a difficult task. Hence, these government entities must continuously reinvent new ways of delivering services.

Conclusion

Public service delivery and customer satisfaction are important for the government of Dubai. Consequently, various elements that enhance these processes and outcomes have been reshaped and reviewed to deliver customer happiness and satisfaction. Thus, the Dubai government embarked on a smart government initiative to introduce new services and upgrade e-services to smart services with the focus on increasing the level of public happiness and satisfaction with government services.

Although smart government initiative is in its nascent stage, early adopters have so far registered remarkable performances about customer happiness and satisfaction. Most public services are automated to reduce human intervention. As a result, there are improved efficiency and effectiveness, simplified, easy procedures and public participation.

These outcomes have led to customer happiness and satisfaction as projected by the Dubai government. Overall, the government must continue to improve its processes and adopt the best practices and technologies for optimal outcomes.

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