The effect of empowerment and emotional intelligence of employees on service quality in Sina Bank

Master's Thesis of Public Administration, Information Systems Orientation

Abstract

Working environments are changing significantly and the demand for high quality goods and services is increasing. For organizations to maintain their competitive position in the face of such pressures and remain competitive, quality is considered a vital factor. Perhaps the first step for companies to be competitive is to improve the quality of services. Therefore, this thesis tries to investigate the cause and effect relationships between emotional intelligence, empowerment and service quality of Sina Bank as an active bank in the field of services. The statistical population of this research was the experts, managers and customers of Sina Bank branches in Tehran province. The sample size is 130 people. The statistical technique used in this research is linear regression and regression correlation coefficient, which is fitted at the end of the conceptual model using the structural equation technique. Data analysis has been done through SPSS and AMOS software. The obtained results show that the variables of emotional intelligence are effective on service quality with a correlation coefficient of 0.826 and empowerment is effective on service quality with a correlation coefficient of 0.435 and the change in these variables will cause a noticeable change in the output of services provided to customers, then the obtained results confirm the effect of empowerment on emotional intelligence and show that employee empowerment can also increase emotional intelligence (improvement of behavioral interactions) with a correlation coefficient of 0.522. At the end, the research model was analyzed using Amos software, and the results indicated the appropriate fit of the conceptual model.

Key words: emotional intelligence, empowerment, service quality and Sina Bank

Chapter 1

Research overview

11. Introduction

In this chapter of the research, briefly and according to the research subject, the main problem of the research, the necessity of conducting the research, the basic objectives of the research, the research questions, the research hypotheses, the research method and the information gathering methods are discussed. 21. Problem statement

Nowadays, many organizations are undergoing change and any change requires employees to adapt to these changes. In the meantime, social interaction in a decent and fruitful way has become increasingly important for most organizations as a key element of organizational change management. On the other hand, the environmental challenges of today's era in terms of the rapid development of technology, increasing customer expectations, have forced organizations to search for a way to continue their survival. Employees of an organization require certain characteristics to adapt to changes and to survive and grow in new environments, which employees generally face many problems to answer. One of the most important characteristics that can help the organization's employees in responding to these changes is emotional intelligence. In this context, emotional intelligence (EI) can play an important role in the relationship between employees of the organization and customers, and according to Golman (1998), it is considered a necessary and inevitable condition in the organization. Today, emotional intelligence is defined as a type of intelligence that includes both the accurate understanding of one's own emotions and the accurate interpretation of the emotional states of others. Emotional intelligence evaluates a person from an emotional point of view, which means how much a person is aware of his emotions and feelings and how he controls and manages them. The remarkable thing about emotional intelligence is that the abilities of emotional intelligence are not inherent, they can be learned. On the other hand, the bank, as a service-oriented company that has extensive communication and social interaction with customers on a daily basis, has doubled the importance of such interactions.

Meanwhile, empowerment [1] has emerged as a well-known tool to increase this ability in the employees of organizations and has become a way to increase this ability of employees that can guarantee the success of the organization. Empowering employees is a new technique, this method balances between full control of management and full empowerment of employees. As stated, today, to respond to the changes that occur in the environment, organizations need more capable employees than in the past.

According to the mentioned materials, it can be concluded that in service markets, the interactions between employees and customers are more sensitive and important due to the special characteristics of the service, and it is also of special importance for service provider organizations. Banks are one of the companies and organizations that operate in the field of providing services and their role and importance in the economy and development of the country is not hidden from anyone. Therefore, it seems that the discovery of the relationship between these concepts can be used to improve the level of services provided by banks on the one hand and to obtain more customer satisfaction from the quality of services provided, and how to achieve this can be one of the prominent issues of service organizations, especially banks. On the other hand, all organizations have found that customer satisfaction depends on increasing the quality of the goods and services provided, and one of the most important benefits of achieving customer satisfaction is the development and provision of quality services. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of employee empowerment and emotional intelligence on the quality of services provided by bank employees as a service-oriented company. 31. The importance and necessity of the issue

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the needs of customers in relation to service quality levels. High levels of customer service are used as a tool to achieve employee satisfaction with services and competitive advantages. In parallel with increasing customer awareness of services that can be provided by banks and other financial institutions, they are increasingly sensitive to the quality of services received. In order to maintain a long-term relationship with customer satisfaction, banks must know how to provide high quality services (Venus). and Safaian, 2014; p. 200).

On the other hand, public sector organizations have found that providing high-quality services to customers is one of the strategic categories for the survival of organizations in the future (Alwani and Riahi, 2014; p. 11). Banking services are a very important factor in satisfying and retaining customers, and in the future, it will become more necessary to examine and evaluate it in banks.

The discussion about the quality of banking services is full of many complications. It is very difficult to define and measure the level of satisfaction with the services provided by a service institution such as a bank. In any case, regardless of the opinions within the organization that service providers or other members of a service organization may have, the real quality of service is always measured by means of its consumers, i.e. customers. The conducted evaluations show that the customer's perception of the service is formed within the framework of his expectations, that is, satisfaction is the difference between expectations and impressions, therefore it has always been emphasized that we should look beyond the expectations of customers and such an attitude means that we have exceeded the boundary of competition in providing quality services.

Given that ensuring customer satisfaction and keeping them is of great importance for banks and the customer is the ultimate goal of banking services. Therefore, his compliance and non-satisfaction in the design of this system is very important. Bank services are provided to two main groups of old and new customers. The cost of acquiring new customers is usually higher than the cost of retaining old customers. Therefore, maintaining old customers is more important for the bank than attracting new customers. Retention of old customers also depends on their satisfaction, how much they are satisfied with the quality of services provided by the bank. A satisfied bank customer not only uses the provided services again, but by defining this service and the quality of its presentation to others, it attracts new customers and in the meantime pays less attention to competitors' advertisements. Satisfied customers are the source of the bank's profit. Banks that can keep customers satisfied for a long time will not be out of competition. Supplying high-quality services at an excellent level continuously creates many competitive advantages for the bank. Of course, if this research is not done and the employees of Sina Bank do not become a capable workforce regardless of their ability. Firstly, many young forces and high human potentials who gradually enter this bank cannot realize their potential due to the spirit of concentration of power of the managers. Secondly, by continuing this process, Bank Sina is not able to respond to the needs of its customers in the current dynamic and changed environment.