Influence Of Management Of Contract Catering Services On Customer Satisfaction In Selected Universities In Nairobi City County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The rapid growth and increase in contract catering services in Universities in Kenya, seeks to lower costs and respond to high level of competition. The main purpose of this study was to examine the influence of management of contract catering services on customer satisfaction in selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study was to specifically seek to: assess the effect of policy guidelines, identify challenges, assess the effect of service quality, establish the management culture and assess the relationship between management of contract catering services and customer satisfaction in selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive cross sectional survey design. The target population was selected universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Purposive and stratified random sampling technique was adopted in selecting the target population of universities. The target population was segmented into two groups based on the category of the university either public and or private university. The sampling technique for management staff respondents was purposive sampling while the students ‗respondents was calculated by using of Cooper and Schindler formula. The study adopted interview guide and questionnaire data collection instrument. Data was collected from 276 respondents. Multi-level random sampling of 276(students, contract catering manager, university director of catering services and university procurement manager) returned 257 (75.72%) valid responses. Expert review was used to pretest the questionnaire before the actual study. The study adopted Cronbach‘s alpha formula to test reliability of the instrument and coefficient ranging from 0.65 to 1 were considered adequate for data analysis. The study collected primary data which was analyzed through descriptive statistics and inferential analysis about the management and students‘ views and perceptions. Data were then reported in tables, bar graph, and percentages and verbatim quotes. For inferential statistics, Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between the independent variables (demographic factors, policy guidelines, management culture, challenges and service quality) and dependent variable (customer satisfaction) of the study to test the hypotheses. Multiple regression results revealed that at 5% level of significance and 95% level of confidence, the tested variables had p-value confidence levels of 0.022 for policies, 0.012 for management, 0.009 for challenges and 0.000 for service, had positive statistically significant with customer satisfaction. The study concluded that management of contract catering services influence customer satisfaction where positive independent variables like policy guidelines, service quality and management culture enhance customer satisfaction as compared to negative one that is challenges has a high probability in customer dissatisfaction. The study recommends that university management requires management culture in contract catering services that mitigate the challenges in management of contract catering services in order to attending to customer needs to achieve effectiveness in service quality and customer satisfaction. Further, similar studies to be done in other universities and colleges in Kenya with the aim of evaluating influence of management in contract catering services on customer satisfaction. This should aim at establishing if similar challenges in management of contract catering services are a replica in other institutions of the world.