After Sales Service: A Case Study of Dell Academic Declaration

Submission Coversheet (All Programmes)
Student ID Number
(Do not include student
name as anonymous
marking is implemented)
HAR15403101
Programme Title Business Management
Module Title Business and Management Dissertation Part1
Module Code (listed on
Moodle and in LTAFP) QAB020X602A
Module Convenor Dr. Natalya Shiraz
Coursework Title
Investigating the impact of after sales service in
enhancing customer loyalty: A Case Study of Dell
Academic Declaration:
Students are reminded that the electronic copy of their essay may be checked, at any
point during their degree, with Turnitin or other plagiarism detection software for
plagiarised material.
Word Count 3060 Date
Submitted 20.12.2018

1
Investigating the impact of after sales service in enhancing customer loyalty:
A Case Study of Dell

2
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................ 4
1.1 Overview.................................................................................................................4
1.2 Problem statement................................................................................................. 5
1.3 Research aim......................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Research rationale................................................................................................. 5
1.5 Summary................................................................................................................ 6
2.0 Research objectives and questions............................................................................6
3.0 Literature review.........................................................................................................7
3.1 Overview.................................................................................................................7
3.2 Conceptual framework............................................................................................7
3.3 Concept of after sales service................................................................................8
3.4 Factors affecting after sales service.......................................................................8
3.5 Concept of customer loyalty...................................................................................9
3.6 Factors affecting customer loyalty..........................................................................9
3.7 Impact of after sales service on customer loyalty.................................................10
3.8 Challenges encountered in providing efficient after sales service........................10
3.9 Summary.............................................................................................................. 11
4.0 Research methodology.........................................................................................12
4.1 Overview...............................................................................................................12
4.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................12
4.3 Research approach.............................................................................................. 12
4.4 Research design...................................................................................................13
4.5 Research strategy................................................................................................ 13

3
4.6 Sampling technique and sample size...................................................................13
4.7 Data collection process........................................................................................ 14
4.8 Data analysis process.......................................................................................... 14
4.9 Summary.............................................................................................................. 14
5.0 Access to data and research ethics......................................................................15
6.0 Limitations............................................................................................................ 15
References.....................................................................................................................16

4
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Overview
The customers are the pillars that determine the success of the business
organization. The business organization considers the customers as the return of the
investment they have made for launching and selling a product. Thus, it is important for
the business organizations to retain the existing customers, so they can always count
on them. As mentioned by Murali, Pugazhendhi and Muralidharan (2016), the service
provided by the business organizations results in customer satisfaction that ultimately
results in customer loyalty. Therefore, it can be said that satisfied customers give rise to
loyal customers that never fails to prove their loyalty to the particular business
organization. However, after purchasing attending the customers appropriately and
promptly also results in customer loyalty. Effective after sales service is important in
achieving customer loyalty, as this make the customers feel valued and significant for
the business organizations. Such warm, empathetic and welcoming gesture towards the
customers after purchasing helps in improving customer satisfaction (Kurata and Nam
2013). Thus, it is important for the business organization to establish a strong and loyal
customer base for surviving in the competitive market.
For this study, the impact of after sales service on improving customer loyalty is
studied by referring to Dell Inc. Dell Inc was established in 1984 and over the span of
more than three decade, it has turned into a multinational company. It is one of the
largest technological companies in the world with estimated employees of 138,000
globally. Dell Inc manufactures, sells, repairs and supports personal computers. In
addition to, Dell Inc also sells printers, data storage devices, camera, servers and
network switches. Dell Inc. has a market share of 15.9% and is known for its innovative
e-commerce and supply chain management techniques. This makes the company third
largest personal computer manufacturer globally after HP and Lenovo. Thus, for
sustaining in the competitive market, it is important for Dell Inc to provide effective and
efficient after sales service for enhancing customer loyalty (US 2018).

5
1.2 Problem statement
Potential issues in respect to after sales service for Dell Inc have been
recognized that is having an impact on the customer loyalty of the company. Lack of
effective after sales service in Dell Inc has hampered the customer loyalty because after
purchase for the company the customers are not attended appropriately. Increased
level of casualness has been encountered in Dell Inc when it comes to attending
customer queries, providing service and prompt actions for resolving customer
complaints due to which the customer loyalty of the company is hampered largely
(Szwejczewski, Goffin and Anagnostopoulos 2015). In addition to, decreased number of
customers has lowered the sales and profit of the company thereby, threatening the
survival of the company in the tough and competitive business environment. Inadequate
after sales service by Dell Inc is a result dwindling position of the company in the
business environment and the company is lacking competitive advantage.
1.3 Research aim
The aim of the research is to investigate the impact of after sales service in
enhancing customer loyalty for Dell Inc.
1.4 Research rationale
Evaluating the impact of after sales service for the business organization for
achieving and ensuring customer loyalty is important for Dell Inc because this offers the
provision to identify the impact of the gap of after sales service and customer loyalty.
The research is important because this will allow the researcher to address the probable
reasons of ineffective after sales service for the customers of Dell Inc thereby,
hampering the customer loyalty of the company. Addressing the probable reasons of in
effective after sales service will also allow accessing the relationship between after
sales service and customer loyalty (De Keyser, Schepers and Konus 2015). As a result,
it will be easier to compare and contrast the customer loyalty with or without the
presence of effective after sales service.
This research is significant as this will also help in identifying the main factors of
after sales service that is required for Dell Inc for ensuring customer loyalty by critically
analyzing the probable reasons why Dell Inc is lacking in providing effective after sale

6
service (Bakshi, Kim and Savva 2015). Thus, after addressing the probable gaps in the
study, this study will also help in suggesting ways for achieving customer loyalty by
enhancing after sales service. Therefore, this study is significant because the impact of
after sales service for enhancing customer loyalty for Dell Inc can be studied.
1.5 Summary
Thus, in this chapter, it can be summarized that one of the best methods of
ensuring customer loyalty is by providing effective and efficient after sales service to the
customers. Ensuring effective after sales service provides an opportunity for the
business organizations to develop customer satisfaction. Effective after sales service
makes the customer feel valued and significant for the business organization due to
which they come back to the same organization. Additionally, after sales service allows
the customers to solve their issue after purchasing and develop a healthy and positive
relationship. This study identifies fault in the after sales service of Dell Inc and aim
towards mitigating it in this research for ensuring customer loyalty.

7
2.0 Research objectives and questions
The objectives of the research include:
 To understand the concept of after sales service and customer loyalty
 To analyze critically the different factors that effect after sales service and
customer loyalty
 To assess the relationship between after sales service and customer loyalty for
Dell Inc.
 To provide suitable recommendations for improving after sale service techniques
for achieving customer loyalty for Dell Inc.
The questions of the research are:
 What are the different factors that effect after sales service and customer loyalty?
 What is the relationship between after sales service and customer loyalty for Dell
Inc.?
The hypotheses of the research are:
H0: After sales service has no impact in enhancing customer loyalty for Dell Inc
H1: After sales service has an impact in enhancing customer loyalty for Dell Inc
3.0 Literature review
3.1 Overview
This chapter identifies the independent and the dependent variable as after sales
service and customer loyalty respectively. Followed the identification of the variables,
this chapter sheds light on the concept of the two variables, factors affecting them
individually and impact on each other.