Information technology enabled public sector customer service satisfaction

This dissertation describes the relationship between automated database access and the level of customer service satisfaction (CSS) in a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) service program. The hypothesis is that real-time and automated database access by front-line public sector case managers while serving customers results in increased CSS, compared with a situation where there is no real-time database access. The real-time access to customer and agency information provides DVA Chapter 31 program case managers with an ability to more accurately and rapidly respond to customer requests during a single contact. The degree of CSS enhancement is determined by surveying graduate students enrolled in the Chapter 31 program in two similar geographic regions. The students are a multi-racial mix of both genders ranging in age from their early twenties to over fifty. DVA case managers serve as program front-line points of contact for these students. Managers in the test region have real-time automated database access and those in the control region do not. Other regional variables are held constant.; The results show that the level of CSS in the test region exceeds the level of CSS in the control region. While most might assume some intrinsic CSS enhancement value associated with the availability of automated database access, this research shows a positive level of enhancement for every measure surveyed. In fact, CSS enhancement for more than two thirds of the survey statements is demonstrated at more than an 80 percent confidence level. These results show public sector agency managers that automated database access can help them move closer to providing the best customer service and an increased level of CSS while complying with Presidential Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards.