Customer Satisfaction of Internal Business Travel Services at Finnair Plc
Huhtiniemi, Jenni (2008)
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2008
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-200812184521
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-200812184521
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this thesis is to assess and measure the level of satisfaction of the internal business travel customers at Finnair Plc. The internal business travel services are provided by the Travel Management unit within the organisation. Its internal business travel customers are the departments and subsidiaries of the Finnair Group. The study was aimed at the representatives of the internal business travel customers rather than the entire departments as a whole.
The internal business travel services at Finnair are mainly self-service by nature. The managers of the Travel Management unit negotiate agreements with business travel service suppliers and the agreements are placed on the company’s intranet. Booking services are not part of the internal business travel services. The only exceptions to this are flight reservations and ticketing that are provided by the Staff Travel Office operating within the Travel Management unit.
Theoretical framework of the thesis is focused on customer satisfaction and service quality. These two themes are by no means new and plenty of previous research is available on them. This thesis employs the service quality dimensions of SERVQUAL and the Gaps Model of Service Quality as the main theories for the research. The contextual framework deals with Travel Management processes and concepts.
The empirical research was conducted by using a quantitative method. The study was carried out by a questionnaire which was given to the representatives of internal business travel customers in person during a meeting. Those not present in the meeting received the questionnaire by internal mail afterwards. The questionnaire had eight sections designed according to the internal business travel services offered by the Travel Management unit of Finnair. Each section also had an open-ended comment possibility. The eighth section was left entirely for additional feedback and comments. The total amount of the sample was 42 and the response rate was 59.52%.
The results of the questionnaire indicate that currently the overall level of satisfaction among the departments using the internal business travel services of the Travel Management unit is quite high, yet not excellent. The importance of providing excellent service to internal customers needs to be enforced better within the Travel Management unit, especially to the service personnel that are in contact with the representatives of the internal business travel customers.
The internal business travel services at Finnair are mainly self-service by nature. The managers of the Travel Management unit negotiate agreements with business travel service suppliers and the agreements are placed on the company’s intranet. Booking services are not part of the internal business travel services. The only exceptions to this are flight reservations and ticketing that are provided by the Staff Travel Office operating within the Travel Management unit.
Theoretical framework of the thesis is focused on customer satisfaction and service quality. These two themes are by no means new and plenty of previous research is available on them. This thesis employs the service quality dimensions of SERVQUAL and the Gaps Model of Service Quality as the main theories for the research. The contextual framework deals with Travel Management processes and concepts.
The empirical research was conducted by using a quantitative method. The study was carried out by a questionnaire which was given to the representatives of internal business travel customers in person during a meeting. Those not present in the meeting received the questionnaire by internal mail afterwards. The questionnaire had eight sections designed according to the internal business travel services offered by the Travel Management unit of Finnair. Each section also had an open-ended comment possibility. The eighth section was left entirely for additional feedback and comments. The total amount of the sample was 42 and the response rate was 59.52%.
The results of the questionnaire indicate that currently the overall level of satisfaction among the departments using the internal business travel services of the Travel Management unit is quite high, yet not excellent. The importance of providing excellent service to internal customers needs to be enforced better within the Travel Management unit, especially to the service personnel that are in contact with the representatives of the internal business travel customers.