Saudi Telecommunication Company

By Author: Anthony W Bills
Total Articles: 158
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SAUDI TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY
Abstract
This research proposal wants to study the relationship of employees’ and customers’ satisfactions in the attempt of increasing company’s profitability and productivity. This study is guided by a hypothesis stated as; there is a relationship between employees’ satisfaction and customers’ satisfactions. The purpose of this research is well indicated and how it can benefit customers, employees and employers. The methodologies that will be used in data collection are observation, interview and observation. The data collected will be analyzed in order to come up with a viable conclusion.

1. Introduction
Saudi Telecommunication Company is based in Saudi Arabia where it provides landline, mobile and internet services both to the domestic market and the world wide markets. This company was established in the year 1998 when the council of ministers in Saudi Arabia passed laws to approve the development of a Saudi stack company which was called Saudi Telecom Company. After this, the Saudi Telecom Company set up difficult programs that were aimed in changing ...
... its business from the government system to the documented profitable business principles. On this basis, this company established clear processes that were mainly focused internal reorganization and development of its staffs with an aim of attracting more customers than before (Allen 2004).
Most importantly, there were strategies of enhancing the internal processes which helped in the research of the needs of the customers in order to attract them by fulfilling their needs. It the attempt of fulfilling the needs of the customers, the Saudi Telecom Company works in relation to the emerging technologies in their marketing and supplying services. As a result of this, the Saudi Telecom Company has managed to attract many customers not only within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but also to the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, satisfying customers’ needs and requirements of their customers by providing them with the best quality products at affordable prices is the motto and aim of this company. In this relation, this company attempts to alter its policies to fit the varying technologies in terms of telecommunications in order to gratify their customers (Barnes 2001).
Over the years, customers of this company have been satisfied by the products produced in here through a number of factors. Importantly, Saudi Telecom Company is the largest phone company in the Middle East and some parts of Asia especially Arabs populated countries where it provide it customers with new brand phone and phone accessories both in domestic and global markets. Significantly, the Saudi Telecom Company has wide range of markets in Malaysia, India, South Africa, Indonesia, and Kuwait among others. In order to be able to compete very stiffly with other companies in Arab’s world; this company has come up with strategies of satisfying their customers. World wide it has been known that for every business to prosper, customer must be considered as the most important asset. On this basis therefore, Saudi Telecom Company has improved and developed at a very high rate as a result of its strategies in marketing (Allen 2004).
A point worth noting, customers of this company benefit from its competition with other Arab’s largest companies in Arab economies as the quality of the product is usually improved. Additionally, the STC has as a result of competition decreased its charges for internet services by seventy percent making customers enjoy more than ever. The key reason of decreasing these charges it to seek for increased number of internet users in order to make more profits. In addition, this company has cut down the mobile phone charges by over 63% in certain economies following the introduction of rules by the Kingdom telecoms regulators (Bettley et al 2005).
It should be noted that, the aim of this company is to effectively compete with Bahrain Telecommunications Company which is the largest telecommunication company in Saudi Arabia and Zain Bahrain. In order to do this, this company is aiming at operating in islands nations in order to increase the number of customers it has. It is of importance to note that, the Saudi Telecom Company has employed very effective workers who work in all the centers of this company (Cochran 2003).
11. Thesis statement
This research will be guided by a thesis statement stated as; there is a significant relationship between employee’s satisfaction and customer satisfaction. On this basis, these relationships will be established in the context of Saudi Telecom Company. In proving this thesis, this research proposal will look at the factors that determine the service quality in relation to customer satisfaction. It has been revealed that, when employees are satisfied in a company, they will provide the customers with quality products which will bring about their satisfaction.
111. The purpose of the research
The main purposes of this research are to identify and outline the factors that enhance customer satisfaction in a company. Additionally, this research proposal will be helpful in determining the internal factors that make customers contented with the services provided by a company. By conducting this research, the research will be able to state the connection between the motivations of employees and the happiness of customers. It is of importance to note that, when customers are pleased with products of a certain company they will build a confidence in that company which will result to increase in sales. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the wellbeing has any influence in customer satisfaction.
IV. Research objectives
Depicted above is the aim of the research and the following are the research objectives
a). Identify the factors leading to customer’s satisfaction
b). Identify and analyze the factors leading to employees’ satisfaction
c). Outlining and explaining the relationship between employees’ satisfaction and customers’ satisfaction.
d). Establish how customers’ satisfaction in a business impacts the profitability of that business.
V. Hypothesis
This study is aimed at proving a hypothesis stated as; when employees at any place of work directly affect customers and as a result, the profitability and productivity of that company or organization is affected. On this basis, there is a direct relationship between employees’ satisfaction in place Saudi Telecom Company and the customers’ satisfaction in this company. It should be noted that, employees’ behaviors directly affect those of the customers. When employees are satisfied, they will be willing to work hard to provide customers with the best quality products hence customers; satisfaction. On the other hand, when customers are satisfied with the services they receive from the employees they will be willing to spend their money in buying products from that company.
VI. Literature Review
The concepts of connection marketing and interactive marketing are increasingly gaining attention as businessmen and entrepreneurs concentrate on the ways of maintaining and enhancing customer connections with the present customers rather than attracting new customers. In this connection, the existing researches on employees and customers satisfactions have been having deficit as most of them focus on how to attract new customers (Denove & Power 2007).
According to Scott (2000), customer satisfaction is a business term that is used in measuring how goods and services supplied to a company to a customer meet or surpass the expectations of a customer. On this basis, it is a tool used in determining how a business is handling its customers in terms of goods and services supplied to them. A point worth noting is that, customer satisfaction is an element of a business strategy mostly applied in places where businesses compete for customers. As indicated by Scott (2000), the significance of customer satisfaction usually decreases when companies increase their bargaining power. It should be noted that in monopolized businesses customer satisfaction is usually low as there is no competition. In this type of a business the products supplied to the customers can not be found in any other company and therefore customers are forced to buy them even though they are not satisfied with the services provided (Eichorn 2005).
It has been found that, it is very essential to retain existing customers as companies continue searching for new customers. On this basis, when customers’ satisfaction is measure it offer an indication of the successfulness of a company when it comes to provision of services in the market place. Cochran (2003) suggested that, customer satisfaction will be different from one person to the other and from one product service to the other. On this basis, companies should strive to satisfy their customers by providing them with the best services they require. Certainly, the level of satisfaction among different customers will be varied both psychologically and physically depending on how the employees serving the customer behaved (Evans, & Lindsay 2007).
Employee satisfaction
On the other hand employees satisfactions as indicated by Kuballa (2007), it a business term used in the description of whether workers are happy and satisfied in carrying out their duties at the workplaces. In this case, this is a terminology that measure the work of employees in a company as far as fulfilling their desires and needs is concerned. Studies have indicated that employees satisfaction is low can lead to collapse of the business as they will not be willing to provide the customers with the best service qualities required. In this relation, it is the duty of employers and company managers to make sure that employees are well contented with the job they hold to avoid loss of customers (Grigoroudis & Siskos 2009).
According to the research conducted by Evans and Lindsay (2007), the data collected connected to a relationship between employees’ contentment with customer happiness and hence high productivity. According to this research, the factors found to bring this correlation included; customer satisfaction was found to bring about profits and growth of a company, satisfied works in their places of work provide high levels of customer services in provision of goods and services. Employee’s satisfaction in a company usually emanates fro internal high quality support services and practices that help employees to offer the best of services to customers. It should be noted that, by providing a link of information from employees to customers will enhance in employees providing best services to customers (Kessler 1996).
In companies where employees are motivated by being encouraged or rewarded for the good work, customers are reported to be satisfied as these employees work hard to bring the highest profits of the comp[any by serving their customers in the best way possible. Additionally, engaging employees in decision making will make them feel as part and parcel of the company and therefore will be determined to provide customers with the best services ever. By doing this, employees will feel as having a chance every day to do their best in service provision. Further, employees will feel that their views and judgments are reckoned as an advantage of the company and hence they will feel as they own the company in one way or the other. As indicated in this research, there was a direct connection between the employees’ work and the task and dream of the company (Kuballa 2007).
From the works of Grigoroudis and Siskos (2009), employees’ satisfaction results to better customer management and hence retaining customers in a company. It is of importance to note that, it is very difficult to find customers through marketing systems but very easy to lose them as a result of dissatisfaction. In this relation, employees are found to play the major role in satisfying customers through providing services that are of high quality. As indicated by Grigoroudis and Siskos (2009), in order for employees to provide high quality services there are factors that determine their satisfactions (Mallette & Duke 2004).
For a long period of time, businessmen and researchers have mostly focused on the ways of attracting new customers in a business than on how to retain the existing customers. On this basis, it is very important to retain the present customers to products and services than looking for new ones. This is because if customers stop purchasing products and services provided by a company, even if new ones are attracted they will still run away. On this basis, it is crucial to identify the ways of retaining the existing customers. In this case, the study conducted by Grigoroudis and Siskos (2009) agreed with our hypothesis of the relationship between employees’ satisfaction and customers’ satisfaction (Manuel 2008).
According to Thurau and Hansen (2000), the today’s marketing systems involves social relationship or interaction between employees and customers in a business. Importantly, customer services are one of the most important factors in relationship marketing which will bring about customer retention. According to this study, customer retention will be brought about by the fact that they are adequately satisfied by the services provided by the employees in a company or an organization. It has been indicated that, the cost incurred in attracting a new customer is higher than that of retaining an already existing customer in a business (Oliver 2009).
According to a study conducted by Allen (2004), service quality is vied as the end product of the service provision system in a business. In this case, the services received by customers from employees in a business determine whether they will be retained or not. It should be noted that, good service quality is direct related to customer satisfaction in any company or business. It has been found that, service quality in a business results to customer satisfaction and as a result increase of profitability and productivity. A good way of determining customer satisfaction in a company providing internet services is to ask them as they leave the cyber whether they were satisfied with the services offered to them. In this case, if they say no it is direct that the services are poor and can lead to loss of customers. Studies have indicated that, in order to improve the quality of services offered to customers it is very crucial to look at the satisfactions of employees in a company. This is because employees are the ones providing these services and therefore if dissatisfied will provide poor quality service (Oxford Business Group 2007).
Certainly, employees in a company should be considered as very important and therefore should be satisfied through motivations. On this basis, employees are satisfied by being paid handsomely, provided with training programs that will help them improve their skills and experience, and by being allowed to make decisions and contributions concerning marketing strategies in a company. According to Allen (2004), a happy staff will produce contented customers with the quality of services they will provide to them. It is of importance to note that, staff cohesiveness is one of the most important factors in a business as far as customer retention is concerned. This is because employees will behave negatively to customers if not motivated at their places of work which will result to customers stopping purchasing goods and services in that company and hence poor productivity of the company (Schneider & White 2004).
In conclusion, employees’ satisfaction will bring about service quality which will affect positively the concept of customer satisfaction. On this basis, when customers in a company are satisfied as a result of service quality, they will increase their purchases which will impact positively to the profitability and productivity of this company. In this case therefore, it is the duty of managers, businessmen and entrepreneurs to consider motivating their workers in order to successfully compete with other companies providing the same services and products (Scott 2000)
More often, companies with best employees’ satisfaction normally facilitate innovations and creativity in the development and deployment of her products and services. This has been observed due to free atmosphere employees are exposed to which makes them feel part and parcel of the company (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). In this context, most of these innovations and creative ideas have improved customer satisfaction levels as could be observed in the way customers handles issues with more ease (Grigoroudis & Siskos 2009). For instance, in communication companies which deal with huge voice and data, satisfied employees in a free environment would create the idea of upgrading their existing systems to higher flexibility, scalability and customization capabilities. This would benefit customers on the other side in the provision of smooth traffic flow of their communication services thus achieving real time quality services. The resulting good features from the employees’ innovations would attract more customers and retain the existing ones thus the profitability and productivity would improve. Similarly new innovations would as well lead to the development of completely new and unique products and services thus increasing the production levels. On the other hand, the business hype that the products would have can also lead to increased sales hence profitability. In addition, such innovations have contributed towards simplified problem solution and repair procedures in scenarios of complex environments hence customers save much time.
Similarly, such innovations especially from the management point of view have made companies to lead a competitive business edge over their competitors. With outstanding competitiveness, customers would gain satisfaction confidence in their products and services hence they would be content with the company. It therefore means that social satisfaction from the employees has yielded customer satisfaction; hence there is an assured hope of increased profits and production by the company.
Having good customer satisfaction, revealed in the number of customers a company has, signifies how best that company has addressed the plights of its employees. A common assumption developed by external competitors is that such a company has qualified employees. Due to this effect, its competitors seem to seek merging of their business processes to operate under one logo. In addition when two ideas are brought together, the end result is normally vibrant performance alongside quality services. Consequently, it would gain more customers who would be attracted with sole assurance that quality services are guaranteed with two partnering companies. Therefore this quality factor attracting more optimistic customers would lead to increased sales thus necessitating more productions hence improving realized profit levels. Therefore this circular correlation could be traced right from the employees’ satisfaction.
On the other hand, a company with satisfied employees would signify its stability and competitiveness. This would attract other companies involved in the development of other complimentary products to offer their services or products at subsidized rates since they see some signs of future growth. For instance, in communication companies, software or hardware developing companies would easily accept offering their powerful solutions which have never been used before by such telecommunication companies based on the observed stability they might show or possess. Consequently, this would boost system control and performance issues thus achieving the best of customers experience and loyalty. Therefore it would increase the quality and performance of their services and products. But since the end user is customer, there would be increased customer experience hence boost the satisfaction levels. In addition continuous better services and products would facilitate retention of existing customers which would in turn increase the profitability o the company.
On the other hand employees heavily depend on company’s resources in achieving what customers need. In this context, employees would be satisfied if money, time, management and management methods are dependable. So gradual and continuous changes of resources would enable a company achieve the most dependable levels thus motivating employees to focus on quality needed by customers out there. By focusing on quality, customer satisfaction would be achieved.
Reliability is one attribute of customer satisfaction. Looking it from the employees’ angle, reliable services would not be achieved if a company would not maintain its employees’ number and experience (JAEHN 2000). In order for a company to maintain the right number of qualified and experienced employees, it must have shown good levels of employees’ satisfaction. In addition, other professional in the market would be willing to join the company as others retire due to good employee satisfaction levels which they have heard over the media or through professional interaction forums (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Consequently such a company would assure its customers of continuous quality services regardless of retirement issues of the employees. So these would mean that satisfied and reliable employees are ever available to achieve the reliability needed on the other end of Customers.
Corporate Leadership Council (2007) company ethics is one area which predicts good employee and customer satisfaction since it is from this attribute where the success of every effort towards satisfaction is based. Good ethics facilitate the spirit of satisfaction in employees. So due to employee satisfaction reinforced with good ethics, the spirit of team work comes in. So with team work employees would effectively deploy company’s services with minimal claims and challenges thus the customers on the other end would equally be satisfied (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
In any business set-up, both the employees and the customers operate from some cultural grounds which should equally be recognized by company in order to get the best out of employees’ performance or customer satisfaction (NBRI 2007). Customers would feel satisfied with company products and services if these products or services do not, by any means, violate or facilitate violation of their cultures and beliefs. So in trying to gain more customer satisfaction, thus strong customer base, companies tend to tore with such beliefs (NBRI 2007). Other research evidence shows that companies with flexible views and treatment on employees from various cultural backgrounds have reported greater levels in satisfying their cultural feelings thus creating a free performance atmosphere hence achieving quality services. Consequently this has enabled them retain such performing staffs thus ensuring continuous quality services which is one of the concepts in satisfying and retaining customers (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
On the other hand when company products and services recognize and respect the cultures and beliefs of her customers, it would stand better chances in attracting more customers and would enjoy high chances of retaining the existing client base (NBRI 2007). This is due to the cultural satisfaction they experience with its products and services. So the net effect of all these is future growth through continuous profit making. Similarly the management upon which employee satisfaction depends must consider culture effects in ensuring that the company attains the best customer satisfaction (NBRI 2007).
Customer satisfaction is commonly assessed from the down time duration and how fast the recovery or repair can take so as to avoid as much as possible the associated dissatisfaction (NBRI 2007). In most communication companies, this is achieved through customer call centers which are either physically near the customers or online. The two options provided to customers make them feel safe with the company’s products and services. Customers would thus be involved in acquiring such products or services with high satisfaction level from available support services.
In order to develop more trust and business hype with the company there should be experienced, mature employees with exemplary customer relations ethics (NBRI 2007). On the other hand the engineering aspect of customer support needs vigilant, continuous monitoring and inspection of the communication systems so that any down time can be minimized as much as possible to achieve the best customer satisfaction. It therefore means that companies should be assured of their customer satisfaction out there, in their support centers, if they have done every effort in satisfying their employees’ needs prior to delegating them such duties (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
With the current dynamic business environment in Information Technology and Telecommunication, associated companies need to be on the look out of emerging technologies since the aspect of competition has shifted from cost issues to user friendly services (NBRI 2007). This means that companies must continuously adopt and integrate the most current platforms or modules which would help their customers achieve their needs with ease of operation and access. However the dependence on technical employees in keeping the company competitive, in this respect, would dictate that the best incentives are in place to encourage research activities which may move the company ahead. So it would be very hard to loose the existing customers since products and services would be viewed from the most current technological perspectives (NBRI 2007).
Personal interest, as a natural factor in individuals, is given much emphasis in most companies since it is directly related to employee satisfaction while indirectly related to customer’s satisfaction. Research evidence suggests that an employee would perform his best when he has interest towards the responsibility (NBRI 2007). When employees have interest in the job, high performance, trust and loyalty would be displayed in the duties which in turn encourage customers in being associated with the company services and products. So in winning the customer confidence, the company would gain more clients as the message would be spread to other people on the level of commitment seen in employees. The end result of this virtue is increased profitability.
Corporate Leadership Council (2007) most successful telecommunication companies profess that their best employee satisfaction has been achieved from the way they view the company’s vision mission and plans. It has been shown that these three issues have direct effect on both employee and customer satisfaction. Successful companies normally embrace open communication of her mission, vision and goals to every employee in the company which makes them happy and content to deliver their services to the company. This has made employees, of all levels and status; perform towards the organizational set standards as their behaviors and performances are coherent to the company’s goals, missions and visions. So this would mean that their customers’ needs are addressed amicably without much pressure hence achieving the required customer satisfaction. In this respect productivity and profitability of the company would be improved (NBRI 2007).
In most approaches used in solving problems related to job issues, employees normally feel happy and satisfied with the company if they are considered as part of the solution (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Once the top management has identified probable, real or anticipated job issues, they should involve the entire employee body to participate in getting the way forward on how to meet languishing customer needs. Employees would feel respected and recognized; simple psychological approaches in achieving customer satisfaction from the employee’s perspective (JAEHN 2000). It would therefore mean that employees would be happy and satisfied in implementing the recommendations from such forums focusing on customers’ satisfaction. So this would save the company from encountering the associated liabilities and reduced productions due to unaddressed or poorly addressed customer issues.
Industrial studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between employee satisfaction and financial outputs (JAEHN 2000). In this regard, companies with long term goals of profit making normally find out, in amore keen manner, what actually makes her employees most happy. Through interviews conducted within organizations about their individual likes and dislikes, satisfaction of employees would increase as they feel that their personal issues are addressed. This would finally make them like their respective jobs and perform with increased vigor thus improving productivity. Similarly when employees perform with such high spirit, customer needs are met at accepted levels.
JAEHN (2000) autonomy is one measure and approach in achieving employees’ satisfaction. The successful communication companies have minimized the level of following their employees while at work. In such independent environment, employees feel competent and have all the required environmental peace of mind to perform as this reduce the level of demoralization from other colleagues or managers. Consequently, there would be increased job concentration thus improving on productivity and profitability. On this note findings reveal that unhappy employees would be less productivity. This would mean that disappointments from fellow employees should be minimized.
Benefits have also been issues in achieving employee satisfaction especially with telecommunication companies. Employees in general are happy when compensation and benefits policies are formulated on the “suitability” not the “best” (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Good benefits attract and maintain experienced employees. This has been very vital as stiff competition in this field may not require a company loosing her productive employees. Attractive benefits policies have also made most communication companies retain and satisfy their employees. Therefore this would make the company improve their productivity and profitability. On the other hand, customers would experience satisfaction without logistic hitches arising from employee resignation and others associated issues. Similarly, the company’s compensation plan would also have the same effect as in benefits (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
NBRI (2007) an evitable factor in any company, change of employees, if well handled brings sense of job satisfaction hence employee satisfaction. On this note employees would be satisfied if equal programs are in place to ensure promotions of all titles with built in carrier progress programs in every field of operation. More often, successful companies tend to develop the existing employees in a continuous manner in anticipations of such changes. This would achieve higher degree of employee satisfaction since they would feel that the company also recognizes them for higher positions. Consequently, this would therefore instill much commitment level in them serving the company as they would be working from their best experience on company products and services. In addition the company would not experience associated losses due to change protests from the employees. Therefore the net effect of this satisfaction is increased production and profitability. Similarly production hitches which could be experienced by customers would also not be there hence achieving the best customer satisfaction (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
A research by NBRI shows that when employees have high satisfaction, they would believe that it is their company which would be the most satisfying in the future business environment. This belief alone would make them mind on the work quality that they provide. In addition their retention rate would be higher with increased productivity. With this high productivity, customers would equally enjoy it thus increasing their satisfaction levels.
JAEHN (2000) companies practicing fairness would achieve the best employee satisfaction. This fairness, experienced by the employees, would give good public image to the company and more customers would feel buying the products or services thus improving the company’s productivity. Similarly, satisfied employees would also exercise the same fairness and hospitality to the company’s customers. This extension of fairness to the customers would enable the company achieve customer satisfaction hence retention which leads to improved productivity and profitability.
It has also been realized that the job status and its associated future opportunities directly contribute to employee satisfaction (JAEHN 2000). Companies like telecommunication and IT, showing secure job conditions and future existence would leave employees fully settled to serve. It therefore means that their every effort, skills and experience would be delivered hence it would improve the productivity and profitability levels.
JAEHN (2000) the quality aspect of products and services needed in attracting and maintaining more customers starts with Total Quality Leadership. The executive and the managers should know that virtually all business problems arise from internal environment. So if they are satisfied with their jobs, they would not see themselves as bosses but rather take the responsibility of devising means of solving them instead of looking for blame points. Unlike companies without Total Quality Leadership, this responsible step would save time thus improving productivity and profitability. In addition the company would maintain an optimistic image to the customers thus attracting more and maintaining the existing ones.
Moreover, employee satisfaction would also be achieved by the level of safety and risks associated with the system used in performing the assigned work. In technical fields these tend to be machines and electronic gadgets. Employees would be comfortable working with safe and less risky systems (NBRI 2007). This enables them to concentrate on giving quality work. Since the quality output resulting from such contentions are the direct product or services to customers, it therefore means that even customers would feel comfortable with the company products and services. On the other hand safe and less risky systems would signify continuous operations without down time wastage or injuries thus improves the firm’s productivity hence profitability. In addition employees would feel satisfied if the organization has developed proper programs on occupational health and safety to take care of any related issue (NBRI 2007).
JAEHN (2000) work volume for an individual employee would also dictate how satisfied employees are with their job. On this note, employees would be very happy and satisfied if the amount of work given is manageable. Similarly employees’ expectations should be explicitly described and communicated. This would then facilitate quality outputs since they would perform with less strain and guess works. So if customers on the other end expect quality products and service delivery, this approach in achieving employee satisfaction would result in employee satisfaction on the receiving end. Similarly employees would be satisfied if rotation programs are incorporated in to the job. This would refresh their brains and body.
In an attempt of achieving the organizational development, employees would be satisfied if they are not forced beyond their understanding on company aims, goals and mission. So in achieving this, organizations tend to build the company culture that would need the participation of the employees as the fundamental part. Moreover, employees would be satisfied if there is proper structure and channel of communication which would facilitate the sharing culture within the company. So this approach would enable the company or organization gets the best out of employees’ talents. Tapping of such talents would in turn improve productivity and profitability of the company. In such cases, employees would feel very satisfied if their opinions and views are gathered; this necessitates establishment of feedback mechanisms in organizations (Allerdale).
In the operations of the company, dedicated employees feel happy and satisfied if even the company recognizes their efforts through appraisal programs where occasional gifts and words of encouragement are given out. This would make such employees develop more efforts in ensuring that quality is achieved with reduced wastage of time and other resources (Allerdale). This would then mean that the relationship between the management and other employees be polished. On this note employees are satisfied when the treatment from the supervisors is human. In addition, they would feel happy if supervisors are ready and willing to help them when need arises.
In technical business field, technical customers tend to check on the company’s quality tools such as benchmarks in trying to achieve their satisfaction. Customers would be more contented with company products or services with standard benchmarks which always yield quality outputs (NBRI 2007). However, given the fact that customers may way options to leave or remain with the company products based on their own understanding, it would be reasonable for organizations to go beyond the customer expectations to appoint which would make them extremely happy (NBRI 2007). In this regard, firms normally involve in persistent quest for quality through benchmarking. Since this quality tool indicates process excellence and its associated enablers, it would speed up the process of business change that further yields success and continuous improvement. Therefore total customer satisfaction would be achieved. In addition bench marking would provide essential mechanisms in capturing the customer level of satisfaction (NBRI 2007).
Customer satisfaction surveys in telecommunication companies reveal that it is five times more profitable to sell to existing customers than getting new ones. This therefore signifies that for companies to improve on their profits, existing customers should be treated with utmost satisfaction levels. In addition with the closeness created when customers are satisfied, they would be free to interact with the company, share their challenges and recommendations for more features needed in the products and services.
Therefore the company would stand the chance of introducing new products and services into the market from the customers’ point of view thus improving on production levels (Allerdale).
To achieve this effectively, there need to be Client Advisory Group charged with responsibility of providing attentions to customer specific questions, enhancing good relations with committed customers and ensuring that relationships and prospects are moved forward. To compose this advisory group, which would ensure that customer satisfaction needs are met, the group members must first be satisfied with their jobs is when they can accept the extra advisory responsibility. In summary, it would mean that satisfied employees offering their advisory services to achieve customer satisfaction which is the sole reason for being in business (NBRI 2007). In addition, customers’ complaints and claims gathered would act as the best fulcrum point for improved production.
Customers would be satisfied when they can easily find information about the company products and services (Allerdale). In the current global business, companies, organization and private sectors including but not limited to communication companies have invested heavily in ensuring that their customers access them without any barrier within the shortest time possible by provision of company websites. In these sites customers would be satisfied to get information on the products and services, email functionality for enquiries and telephone contact number (NBRI 2007). This would result in retaining the existing customers thus an assurance of improved profitability. On the other hand, the company would be able to sell her products and services both internally and externally which would facilitate increment in production levels hence increased profit margins.
In the process of buying company products and services, customers would be satisfied if the shopping environment is clean, organized and less prone to injuries (Allerdale). This customer attitude has made companies make their stores brighter and cleaner to win the customers’ psychology. In this regard, in trying to meet the customers’ psychological satisfaction, the company would increase sales which then influence increased productivity and profit levels. Similarly, customers would be satisfied if they know that the company or organization would actually stand on truth by their services or products. In this case customers would feel comfortable if they are responsibly handled when the purchased product or service experience problems (NBRI 2007). The responsibility expected from the company or organization openness without sealing of information or some figures from the customers’ knowledge. Consequently there would be stable customer base with more attractions based on the way issues are handled hence this would improve the production and profit levels.
The company slogan of being in the safe hands has much influence in the retention and gaining of more customers hence increase in profits and production. Customers would be very satisfied and free to spend if the company shows some sense of concern in her pricing (NBRI 2007). Customers in this regard would feel satisfied if the prices set by the company show no signs of exploitation thus companies remaining in the business would not aim at maximizing their profits at the illogical expense of their customers. Thus the net effect of such slogans and price aspects would improve the productivity and profitability since the company would not loose or scare away other customers.
Similarly customers would be satisfied if there is that mutual relationship existing between them and the company (Allerdale). In this context, customer would feel happy with companies which help them reduce expenditures and offer them advice on business opportunities where their products and services may be used in rewarding the customers. So with such business ideas and expenditure advise, customers would be able to generate and effectively mange cash which would then be used to purchase more of products and services thus improving on company sales, profits and productivity.
This would therefore mean that a satisfied and contented customer would mean brand image construction to the company thus trust comes in which in totality yields more product or service projects and income generation hence improved profitability and productivity of the company. Moreover customers’ satisfaction is a long process that involves continuous planning on quality levels, ethical communications and practical implementation of solutions and services.
NBRI (2007) technology plays a very central role in achieving customer satisfaction. Customers of nowadays feel very satisfied when transacting business remotely for it saves them much of time which would be used in other authentic tasks. To achieve this customers’ satisfaction, the successful companies normally invest in current business systems like E-commerce. This on the other hand saves the company the cost of more sales employees. In addition this would reduce the transaction time thus increasing the number of sales per unit time as compared to manual means. Therefore by reducing on cost and increasing on sales, profitability and productivity of the company would increase. The advantage of such systems is that they incur one time cost, unlike in hiring people who have varying and continuous rates throughout the business life (NBRI 2007).
However technology alone would not exist and operate without some human support. Therefore the staffs involved also affect the customer satisfaction (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Customers would be satisfied with company’s products and services if her staffs are friendly (Allerdale). On this note, staffs would only be friendly if they are satisfied with their job. Customers would feel happy when staffs exhibit good business language, wear friendly faces, understand some of the common weaknesses of their customers and sympathetically handle the plights of customers. In this respect, customers would be happy if the staffs seem to be part of their emotional problems by amicably handling them even at stressful times. So in trying to achieve the satisfaction through friendly staffs, the company would maintain her customers.
On the other hand, customers would feel much satisfied if they are informed of what is going on with company’s current and future plans (Allerdale). This would reduce the uncertainty and inconvenience which could be experienced by the customers due to such occurrence (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Therefore customers would build more trust with the company and wish to remain theirs forever. By maintaining the existing customers, the company is assured of continuous profits and production (Corporate Leadership Council 2007).
However, information sharing between the customers and the company on service delivery needs credibility factor in order to achieve the required customer satisfaction (Allerdale). Customers would be satisfied when they know that the staffs handling their issues are qualified and experienced. Though this issue seems to be sealed from e customers, the successful companies have made it open to their customers to explicitly know the staffs involved in their products or service delivery. Consequently this has helped customers get quick fixes to their problems (Allerdale). Moreover, staffs of the successful companies strive to display much confidence when handling a customer. This has made customers trust and remain with these companies thus an assurance of business continuity.
In various business performance models, it has been discovered that employees’ capability, loyalty and satisfaction would lead to customer perception of value (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). This perception would then lead to customer satisfaction and loyalty which in turn results in improved profitability and productivity. Further findings reveal that employee satisfaction can predict future profitability of the company. In this regard, employee’s carefulness, self-sacrifice, civic virtue, sportsmanship and good manners would forecast good profits in the following business year (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). In addition these attribute have stronger relationship with customer satisfaction.
However, companies need to develop their independent models since customer satisfaction is only one aspect of understanding how employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and financial; performance relates (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). Moreover every company ought to determine how it describes employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction which can normally differ from one business unit or department to the next (Corporate Leadership Council 2007). This would mean that apart from appraisal of employee satisfaction, the human resource department need to develop monitoring methods to help in improving employee satisfaction.
VII. Research methodology
In order to test the hypothesis of the study, its necessary to conduct a primary research to give a guideline on whether to approve or disapprove the secondary research that has been conducted in the area. The research can be said to be a controlled, empirical and critical investigation of the hypothetical propositions about the presumed relationships among the phenomena. The research who carries out a research to test its hypothesis or theory is influences by the experience he posses.
It’s on this basis the researcher is required to have all the requirements to carry out this research. The experience of the researcher could be first hand or could be secondary through the experience the researcher has acquired either through the interaction with other people with the knowledge regarding the topic or through accessing information from other people who ever conducted this kind of research previously. It’s clear that, the knowledge and the experience the researcher gets from other sources could bias the research and the researcher must be as subjective as possible to ensure the previous experience does not influence the research in anyway. The means by which the researcher may set out to achieve the goals may depend on the three categories, Reasoning, Experience and Research. The role of the research undertaken is to address Saudi Communication Company and how it does its businesses and the strategies the company uses to win the market. In order to understand the theory of this research, it’s necessary to understand how these strategies are being used and effected in the Saudi communication company. In this regard, the research will look to both positive and negative attributes of the research topic.
In this study, the methodologies to be used will be financial figures, written texts indicating the customers’ and employees’ satisfactions. Some tables will be used to support the hypothesis with information from the Saudi Telecom Company. Additionally, the specific methodology in this research will be the literature review which indicates the views and thoughts of other authors who have ever tackled this problem. Importantly, all the information collected will be relating to the Saudi Telecom Company. Certainly, this information will help to support the hypothesis (Mallette & Duke, 2004).
Moreover, this research will conduct data testing and investigation of various records of the company’s financial. Further, in order to adequately support the formulated hypothesis, the company’s information about employees’ motivation will be examined clearly and results indicated. This will involve the work of employees in various centers where this company operates. Most importantly, employees’ conducts will be examined in order to determine whether their conducts affect those of the customers (Mallette & Duke 2004).
In order to understand how the research process was undertaken, am going to use the Research process Onion. Having the defined the research question (theory) and the research design (hypothesis) for the study, the next step is to discuss the research in a detailed manner. The research philosophy, the research strategies and the approaches used.

Research process Onion
Source: Saunders et al, Research Methods for Business Students, Prentice-Hall (2003)

Concepts under study
In order to have a clear and complete research on the problem under the study, there is a dire need to have a full understanding of the actual problem under the topic of study. The study is also to analyze the effectiveness of the company’s strategies in winning over the market that is already congested and also how the company has been able to retain its market share in the market. The company has been known to be among the strongest companies in the region and a company that has been using strong and un-replicable strategies to win its market share.
The topic of the research is bold and wide and needs time, dedication and also clear understanding of the topic because it requires analyzing of the entire communication industry that other players in mobile and internet provision in the country. To ensure that the topic and the problem have been addressed fully, there need to have a better method of data collection that will ensure that the results achieved are valid and applicable.
Paradigm used in this study
As was explored above, the traditional research paradigm is not suitable when dealing with human subjects. The traditional research paradigm is not appropriate when dealing with human subjects because the variables require manipulation and this can harm the human subjects. There are ethical and pragmatic reasons why there are variables in research that cannot be held constant or manipulated in an experiment. This study will mainly deal with human subjects since they are the main stake holder in the subject. This means that a different approach will have to be used and the research will have to use interpretivist research paradigm. This will be like holding an in-depth interrogation of the subject to establish the trust like in interrogating people who are the stake holders in the Saudi Communication Company (SCC). This research will be set in interpretivist paradigm in order to understand and how and why something mainly happens (Henning et al, 2004).
Significance of the research
This research is very essential to both businessmen and entrepreneurs as it will help in determining what factors should be put into consideration in increasing sales and profitability of any business. Entrepreneurs will use this study to add to their knowledge on employees’ satisfactions in order to increase the number of customers visiting their businesses. These numbers of visits will increase as the customers will be satisfied with the services they receive from the employees. Additionally it is very essential to customers as they will know what they are supposed to expect from the employees of a given companies in order to frequently buy products and services from that company. A point worth noting is that, customers influence other people when it comes to purchasing products. In this case, if a customer is satisfied with the services she/he receives in a certain company; he/she will influence other people to come or run away from that company. In this case therefore, it is good to provide customers with the best services when they visit any organization or company. It can be revealed that, there are a lot of competitions in Arabs countries concerning telecommunications and internet services and therefore Saudi Telecom Company has to adequately satisfy its customers in order to win the competition.
Further, this study will be very useful to employees and employers of any company which is business related as it will outline and describe the factors that are related to customers’ satisfaction in a company. On the basis, of employees, this study will be very significant as they will know what is required from them in order to adequately satisfy customers. On the other hand, employees will learn the factors which determine customer satisfaction in a business especially when considering the services provided by employees. It should be noted that, employees are supposed to know factors that will lead to their satisfaction within their places of work. When employees are adequately satisfied, they will be motivated to provide the best of their services to customers which will lead to customers’ satisfactions. Importantly, this study will benefit employers by outlining and explaining to them what are the factors that bring about employees’ satisfactions. Further, employers will be educated on how to improve their employees’ qualities and skills so that they can effectively satisfy the customers. As indicated earlier, customers are the most valuable assets in any business.
Significantly, this study will be very beneficial in the establishment of the relationships between employees; satisfactions and customers’ satisfaction in any business. On this basis, the entrepreneurs and businessmen will be able to know how they will increase the number of their customers by directly increasing their employees’ satisfactions. When satisfied, employees will be in a position to take care of the customers in terms of service provision which will lead to increased numbers of customers and hence increased profitability and productivity of a business.
Qualitative method
In qualitative study, there are three main methods that can be used in data collection. These include interactive interview, written descriptions, and observation (Cousin, 2005). Interactive interview takes place when people are verbally asked to describe their experiences for a given phenomenon. On the other hand, written descriptions by participants takes place when people are asked to write descriptions of their experiences for a given phenomena while observations mainly include a descriptive observations of verbal or non-verbal behavior (Lather, 2006; Torrance, 2005). This study is aimed at getting an informed understanding of the issue under stand through interaction with individuals. This means that the best way to get this information will be through personal interview. Unlike other method of data collection, personal interviews are important in qualitative study because they ensures that the researcher has direct contact and interaction with the subjects and hence captures different aspects of the phenomena under study that may be omitted in the other methods of data collection (Cohen et al., 2000). There are different methods of interview method and this study will use semi-structured interview. A semi structured interview has formalized, limited set of questions that assists the research to focus on different aspect of the phenomena (Torrance, 2005). The main reason why semi structured interview has been chosen for this study is because they are flexible and allows new questions to be brought up during the interview in response to what the interviewee says. Although the interview in semi structured interview has given sets of theme to explore, new themes can arise from the information given by the interviewee, which means a deeper understanding of the subject can be established (Torrance, 2005). Therefore, semi structured interview in this study will help to gain a range of insights on specific issues. This method is less intrusive because it is based on two-way communication rather than a formalized interview. It will provide researcher to get more information about the issues and make it easy to discuss sensitive issues (Denzin, 1994).
Data collection
The method of data collection for this research study will be well planned so as to ensure efficiency and accuracy in the process. In this case, a team of expertise in different fields like engineers will be incorporated in the research process. It should further be noted that the process is expensive and will need financial support from different stakeholders so as to smooth the progress of gaining of the necessary equipments. The process of data collection will also be diverse and will incorporate data collection from different fields. This is on the basis that, employees and management of Saudi Telecom Company are experienced in different fields (Thurau & Hansen 2000).
In this relation, the marketing field will be given utmost attention since various operations in this company concerning services quality and customers’ satisfaction are involved. It has been noted that, employees have been ignoring the notion of customer satisfaction through service quality in various ways. Firstly, the data collection will involve service provision in various centers of this company in the Kingdom of Saudi. The data collected from customers leaving the internet cyber will help in determining the quality of services they had received in those internet services centers. This aspect of data collection will aid in coming up with precise data and figures which will help in determining the customer satisfaction in Saudi Telecom Company (Oxford Business Group, 2007).
A great deal of concern will also be focused in the determination of relationship between employees’ satisfaction and customers’ satisfaction. In this phenomenon, various samples of employees will be taken and interviewed on the motivation they receive from the company. A point worth noting is that, this study will not use sophisticated equipments though it will use the modern approach in data collection like use digital device to store data after collection and in determining the relationship between employees’ satisfactions and customers’ satisfactions. After the employees will be studied through interviews, questionnaires and observations; this information will be utilized in determining the employees and customers’ satisfaction (Kuballa 2007).
Despite the long culture of assumption of the factors of retaining customers, employees’ satisfactions will be examined in order to show how they affect the quality services provided to the customers. This aspect will involve sampling of various employees and customers in various areas and studied differently in order to come up with precise information (Evans, & Lindsay, 2007).
A consideration will be made in the collection of data among the customers in order to determine those customers who have been satisfied and those who have been dissatisfied with the services provided in the Saudi Telecom Company. In doing this, a sample of 50 customers will be selected which will help in providing precise information needed to make a viable conclusion. On the other hand, a sample of 50 customers who visit this company will be studied (Oliver, 2009).
Some methods such as table regression, testing data will be applied to support the hypothesis can you do this with qualitative data?. In accordance with previous works by different scholars and researchers, table regression and data testing have yielded results in collection of data. With this in mind, this research is not exempted from using such viable methods. More importantly, the work of different research and scholars will also be utilized so as to give a green light in the right criteria for attaining good results. Specific methodology for this research will be literature review of various authors who have previously tacked this topic (Oliver, 2009).
Research Philosophy
I The researcher begun this research through pre-understanding of general factors which are applicable to the topic am researching on. Through accessing helpful and relevant sources am researching on will help me acquire important and significant information that will help in conducting this research. The approach to research, the way data is collected and analyzed, is a direct consequence of one’s belief about the world, and to a lesser extent depends on the issue being researched (Macdonald, et al, 2002).
Research philosophy is the way one thinks about the development of knowledge affects the research approaches, the research methodology and the data collection methods. A well understood research philosophy is vital in the clarification of the right research design that would be used as well as how the research design can be adjusted to fit the current setting on how the research will be carried (Creswell, 2003).
In this regard, I had to closely look and look for a method that will not affect anyone or any company’s affairs. The research philosophy will determine the researcher’s carefulness and consideration to factors that may bring in bias there after. Though the research philosophies are different and are differently analyzed, the entire research should adopt a mixed approach. One should be always being cautious not to have contradictory results especially when the researcher has used both the qualitative methods. Positivists’ detach the respondents from their social context for this research it is important to view the respondent’s in their context, to understand their perceptions. A highly structured research design are preferred by the positivists restricts the findings to a small extent. Possible positivist paradigm weakness is that it is not very useful in understanding the processes or significance of people attached to actions. In this particular research, how advertising is effective to a company: is an important factor to understand what factors and meanings that are these concerned company attach to different reasons. Also, the social constructivists approach, and the complementary qualitative method are suitable in this research because of their ability to understand people’s meanings and adjust to new issues and understandings as they emerge (Creswell, 2003). Shouldn’t this be earlier when you decided to use the interpretivist method?
Research Ethics
The ethical considerations are very important issues to consider in the research. Respecting other people, honesty and academic integrity, explicitly addressed constitutes an ethically responsible research work. To validate the research, there were several ethical issues that were taken care of as was found in the research (Schein, 2004).
Considering that the research ethical responsibility would only involve using plagiarism and bias free writing would only be