Customer Satisfaction for Facilities Management in Abu Dhabi, UAE

This research project investigates customer satisfaction as a crucial tool for enhancing facilities management within the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The study aims to analyze key aspects contributing to customer satisfaction, including performance, features, reliability, comfort, durability, serviceability, and quality. The research employs a descriptive research design, utilizing a deductive approach and positivism philosophy, collecting both primary data through questionnaires and interviews, and secondary data from various sources. The findings will offer recommendations for improving facilities management and enhancing consumer satisfaction, with the goal of providing valuable insights for the tourism and hospitality sector in Abu Dhabi. The study also explores the significance of effective performance, understanding business concepts, and addressing existing loopholes to improve facility quality and consumer satisfaction. The research will be conducted using a sample of managers and consumers, with data analyzed to provide actionable recommendations.

Running head: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT
Customer Satisfaction as an Effective Tool to Improve Facilities Management in Abu Dhabi: A
Study Based On Department Of Culture and Tourism, UAE
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Authors Note:

1CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
1. Project Title..............................................................................................................................3
2. Overview and Significance of Proposed Study........................................................................3
3. Aim and Objectives..................................................................................................................4
4. Literature Review.....................................................................................................................4
4.1. Concept of Consumer Satisfaction.......................................................................................4
4.2. Facilities Management in Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE.................................5
4.3. Key Aspects that Contribute to Customer Satisfaction in Facility Management.................5
4.4. Impact of Facilities Management on Improved Consumer Satisfaction..............................7
5. Research Design..........................................................................................................................7
6. Research Methodology................................................................................................................8
6.1. Research Approach...............................................................................................................8
6.2. Research Philosophy.............................................................................................................9
6.3. Data Collection Process........................................................................................................9
6.4. Sampling Process and Sample Size....................................................................................10
6.5. Data Analysis......................................................................................................................10
7. Ethical Issues.............................................................................................................................10
8. Assumed Outcomes...................................................................................................................11
9. Implications...............................................................................................................................12

2CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
10. Research Timescale.................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................15

3CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
1. Project Title
Customer Satisfaction as an Effective Tool in Enhancing Facilities Management in Abu
Dhabi: A Study Based On Department Of Culture and Tourism, UAE.
2. Overview and Significance of Proposed Study
In the tourism and hospitality sector, the business success through attaining high consumer
satisfaction is relied on exceptional facilities offered by the organizations operating within the
industry. Moreover, supply of exceptional quality facilities is of great importance for ensuring
organizational success within the tourism industry (af Wåhlberg, 2017). The significance of the
current study is to reveal the factors that facilitates in improving facilitates management within
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” to ensure better consumer satisfaction. Through
analyzing such factors, the findings of the study will have great significance in revealing that
perceived quality of consumer satisfaction along with feedback to consumers serves as the key
importance for maintaining consumer satisfaction (Atkin & Brooks, 2015). The research
outcomes will explain that effective performance and planning is considered necessary in
ensuring better facility management. In addition the outcomes of the current research will also
elaborate the manners in which understanding all the important features related with the business
along with recognizing all the loopholes can facilitate “Department of Culture and Tourism,
UAE” in improving quality if their facilities that can further enhance consumer satisfaction
(Atkin & Brooks, 2015) .The research will also reveal importance of understanding all the
concepts related with business, existing loopholes along with the need t overcome hurdles in
ensuring better consumer satisfaction within the selected organization.

4CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
3. Aim and Objectives
The research has the aim to analyze the consumer satisfaction as an effective tool in order to
enhance the facilities management within Abu Dhabi though evaluating the case study of
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE”. The objectives that will be attained after the
research completion are indicated below:
 To analyze the ways in which certain major aspects contribute to increased consumer
satisfaction in improving facility management
 To analyze ways in which key aspects including performance, features, reliability,
comfort ability, durability, serviceability and quality has major importance in ensuring
consumer satisfaction in Department of culture and tourism, UAE
 To offer suitable recommendations regarding improvement of facilities management
aspects in ensuring seamless consumer satisfaction in Department of culture and tourism,
UAE
4. Literature Review
4.1. Concept of Consumer Satisfaction
Gnanapala, (2015) defined consumer satisfaction as a term that is employed in marketing
approaches for measuring the effectiveness of the products along with services provided by
organization surpasses the expectations of the consumers. These researchers also explained
consumer satisfaction as the percentage of overall consumers that reported experience within a
company’s facilities offered exceeding specified satisfaction goals. Guzmán, Roders and
Colenbrander, (2017) added that consumer satisfaction has a vital function in ensuring business
success as it serves as a major indicator of measuring consumer loyalty, recognize the unsatisfied

5CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
consumers and also acts a key differential point to increase revenue and attract new consumes
within highly competitive business surrounding.
4.2. Facilities Management in Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE
As per the study carried out by Horner and Swarbrooke, (2016) it was revealed that
facilities management within tourism sector can be defined as maintained of several disciplines
in ensuring functionality, safety, comfort along with efficiency of the business environment
through integrating place, people, process and technology. It has also been revealed that in
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” facilities management includes coordination of all
the products as well as services provided by an organization in order to ensure smooth
functioning of operations and consumer satisfaction. Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard and
Buckley, (2018) added that facilities management functions in the Culture and Tourism
organization takes into consideration efficient management of day-to-day service quality
maintenance, upgrades and management of such systems. Facilities in the selected organization
is observed to encompass four major elements related to the destination that can facilitate tourists
in staying along with using attractions such as accommodation facilities including hotels, lodges,
camping along with gastronomy facilities including café, restaurant and transport to tourism
spots (Atkin & Brooks, 2015).
4.3. Key Aspects that Contribute to Customer Satisfaction in Facility Management
As revealed by Smolčić Jurdana and Soldić Frleta, (2017) in their study it has been
gathered that there are certain key aspects which contributes to the consumer satisfaction in
maintenance of facility management are indicated below:

6CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
 Performance: Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard and Buckley, (2018) indicated that the
tourism organizations needs maintenance of effective performance and organizational
planning in ensuring exceptional consumer satisfaction regarding facilities offered.
 Features: Horner and Swarbrooke, (2016) confirmed in their study that the tourism
companies must consider understanding all the important concepts related with business,
raise the loopholes in the facilities offered and develop better strategies in overcoming
hurdles faced in offering services that can exceed expectations of consumers.
 Reliability: Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard and Buckley, (2018) indicated through their
research that the tourism organizations must focus on maintaining consistency in their
business performance through regularly developing performance standards and matrices.
This can facilitate in maintainable of exceptional quality of facilities offered and attaining
better consumer satisfaction.
 Comfortability: Horner and Swarbrooke, (2016) explained in their research that taking
ownership and maintaining comfort and safe environment for the consumers can ensure
their enhanced satisfaction level towards the services attained by them.
 Durability: Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard and Buckley, (2018) revealed that the
consumers look for suitable existence of companies and considering same, the tourism
businesses must ensure ownership of responsibility in ensuring better facilities
management and consumer satisfaction.
 Serviceability: Horner and Swarbrooke, (2016) elucidated that competency along with
courtesy are vital tools that can be employed by tourism organizations in maintaining
improved level of consumer satisfaction.

7CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
 Quality: Leung, Spenceley, Hvenegaard and Buckley, (2018) confirmed in their study
that better focus on the perceived quality if consumer satisfaction and feedback gathered
from consumers can serve as better aspect in maintaining improved consumer
satisfaction.
4.4. Impact of Facilities Management on Improved Consumer Satisfaction
Research carried out by Masa’deh et al., (2017) confirmed that maintenance of better
facilities management by the companies operating within tourism sector can ensure attaining
better consumer satisfaction. These researchers also confirmed that the consumer requirement
assessments capture the capability of offering quality services, effectiveness of their delivery
along with overall consumer service and satisfaction. Rahimi and Gunlu, (2016) added that
effective services or facilities are needed to be offered by the tourism companies in order to
establish better partnership with the external consumers. The current business trends demand that
the facilities managers transform their general mission statement on consumer service into a
particular organizational process. This further indicates the major factors that matters to
consumers in ensuring their satisfaction. Moreover, Rahimi and Kozak, (2017) revealed that
consumers generally can be categorized in terms of time, quality, performance and services and
includes measures related with highly desired consumer requirements. Facilities managers have
clear idea on products and facilities development processes in ensuring better consumer
satisfaction score.
5. Research Design
Research design offers the researcher with increased opportunity to guide research in
attaining a particular research objective. The research design that will be employed in analyzing

8CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
the impact of maintaining better facilities management in ensuring better consumer satisfaction is
descriptive (Flick, 2015). This is for the reason that this study will explore issues related with
facilities management that can impact improvement of consumer satisfaction in Department of
culture and tourism, UAE. In addition, the researcher also focussed on developing
recommendations in decreasing issues related with facilities management in improving the
consumer satisfaction in the company at the end of the research. Considering same, descriptive
research design is considered to be used in this study cam facilitate in exploring and explaining
the problems identified within research study (Kumar, 2019). It can majorly offer the researcher
with increased opportunity of widening understanding along with knowledge base.
6. Research Methodology
6.1. Research Approach
The research on analyzing impact of consumer satisfaction factors in “Department of
Culture and Tourism, UAE” in ensuring better facilities management will employ deductive
research approach. This approach is justified for using in the current study as might facilitate the
researcher in scrutinizing the existing models and theories on consumer satisfaction and facilities
management in tourism sector associated with study by obtaining support from gathered data
(Mackey & Gass, 2015). Moreover, selected positivism philosophy is related with quantitative
data analysis in which data collected will be analyzed in consideration to past trends and already
proven facts. Therefore, deductive research approach is deemed relevant in deducing actual study
findings.

9CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
6.2. Research Philosophy
In conducting study on evaluating the consumer satisfaction factors impact in
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” in ensuring better facilities management, positivism
research philosophy will be used. This philosophy is justified to be employed in this study as it is
relied on the reality presence by employing approaches that are scientifically proven. Positivism
philosophy can support the researcher in evaluating the gathered primary data through employing
quantitative as well as qualitative techniques (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). As this research is
centered on evaluating impact of consumer satisfaction aspects on facilities management,
positivism philosophy is highly relevant in dissecting consumers and mangers responses.
6.3. Data Collection Process
Primary and secondary data will be gathered in this study as exploration on evaluating the
impact of consumer satisfaction factors in “Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” in
ensuring better facilities management will conduct both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Primary data will be collected from consumers through employing questionnaire survey process
(Quinlan, Babin, Carr & Griffin, 2019). Questionnaire will include relevant questions on
consumer demographics, key aspects impacting consumer satisfaction and their opinions as well
as recommendations facilities management in the selected organization. Such questionnaire will
be distributed through personal e-mail medium and responses will be collected within seven
days. Qualitative data will also be collected through carrying out interview with the managers of
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE”. Secondary data will be gathered from relevant
books, articles, government publications and annual report of “Department of Culture and
Tourism, UAE” that contains updated information. Such secondary data can facilitate in
analyzing the recent trend of identified research problem (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).

10CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
6.4. Sampling Process and Sample Size
Suitable sampling process will be employed in this study and the sample size will be
chosen from a larger population. Simple random sampling technique will be used in gathering
sample respondents from a large population as it can serve as relevant primary data source for
lending vital information related with research aim along with objectives (Taylor, Bogdan &
DeVault, 2015). The sample size chosen for the study includes 2 managers of “Department of
Culture and Tourism, UAE” and 40 consumers that visited “Department of Culture and Tourism,
UAE” recently. This sample size section is justified as quantitative analysis requires a larger
sample size to evaluate respondents’ responses.
6.5. Data Analysis
The primary data collected from the survey process will be analyzed through using
several realizable statistical analytical tools in order to attain reliable and authentic study
findings. In order to maintain transparency of the interpreted composed data the researcher will
consider employing SPSS statistical tool which is significant in gathering quantitative outcomes.
Such quantitative data analysis findings will be indicated through graphs and tables which can
simplify the process of collected primary data interpretation (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
Accomplishing correlation analysis on survey data can offer relevant findings on relationship
between aspects impacting consumer satisfaction and better facility management in “Department
of Culture and Tourism, UAE”.
7. Ethical Issues
In conducting the research for gathering reliable and valid findings, the researcher
considered following suitable ethical code of conduct in carting out all the study activities mainly

11CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
the data gathering process. In following ethical considerations the researcher ensured that
secondary data will be collected from various authentic as well as valid sources in encertaining
the research findings reliability (Walliman, 2017). While carrying out the survey, the researcher
avoided asking any delicate questions and in addition, mutual permission was also attained by
them for taking part within the survey process. In addition, respondents’ identity has also not
been disclosed for several confidentiality reasons and it is also made sure by the researcher that
the research statement was not considered for business use that was ensured from behalf of
researcher (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). Through following ethical considerations, the
researcher attempted to accumulate data from highly reliable sources and human responses.
8. Assumed Outcomes
From carrying out the research on consumer satisfaction impact in improving facility
management in the “Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE”, it is estimated to generate an
outcome regarding the ways in which certain important factors related with increasing consumer
satisfaction such as company performance, features, reliability, durability, conformability,
serviceability and quality ensures better facility management within the Culture and Tourism
company (Smolčić Jurdana & Soldić Frleta, 2017). The research outcomes will explain that
effective performance and planning is considered necessary in ensuring better facility
management. In addition the outcomes of the current research will also elaborate the manners in
which understanding all the important features related with the business along with recognizing
all the loopholes can facilitate “Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” in improving quality
if their facilities that can further enhance consumer satisfaction (Talamo & Bonanomi, 2015).
The study outcomes will elaborate that attaining consistency in the organizational performance
through setting up necessary matrices and standards can enhance consumer satisfaction.

12CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Analyzing the relationship among the important aspects contributing to consumer satisfaction
and better facilities management, the research will also reveal that attaining ownership and
maintaining comfort and safe environment for consumers can increase the consumer satisfaction
level (Ţîţu, Răulea & Ţîţu, 2016). The research will reveal that consumers desire suitable
existence of “Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” that takes ownership of responsibility
that must be maintained to further ensure better facility management of the organization.
9. Implications
The estimated research implications from completion of the study on the impact of the
consumer satisfaction as an effective tool in order to enhance the facilities management within
“Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” will have great significance in revealing that
perceived quality of consumer satisfaction along with feedback to consumers serves as the key
importance for maintaining consumer satisfaction (Rahimi & Kozak, 2017). The research will
also reveal importance of understanding all the concepts related with business, existing loopholes
along with the need t overcome hurdles in ensuring better consumer satisfaction within the
selected organization. In addition, the findings of the research will also have great managerial
implications for the selected organization as it will greatly focus on developing suitable
recommendations for “Department of Culture and Tourism, UAE” emphasizing on the perceived
quality of satisfaction along with feedback to the consumers for ensuring better consumer
satisfaction (Rahimi & Kozak, 2017).
10. Research Timescale
Research timescale of three years study period will be developed in explaining the
activities to be achieved during the overall dissertation completion span.

13CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

14CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Table 1: Research Timeline
(Source: Authors Note)

15CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN IMPROVING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
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