MBA Dissertation: Service Quality Assessment of UCLan Cyprus Gym

This MBA dissertation explores the service quality of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) Cyprus fitness suite and its impact on customer satisfaction. The research employs a quantitative approach, investigating the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction within the fitness suite context. The study aims to assess service quality, identify customer demographics, and determine the advantages and disadvantages of the facility. Using SERVQUAL as a framework, the research gathers data through surveys and interviews to understand customer perceptions and expectations. The findings provide insights into areas for improvement and offer recommendations for enhancing service quality and customer loyalty at the UCLan Cyprus fitness suite. The dissertation concludes with a summary of key findings and suggestions for future research.

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SERVICE QUALITY ASSESSMENT ON University of
Central lancashire in CYPRUS fitness suite
MD4995 – MBA Dissertation
Student Name: Artak Hakobyan
Reg.No.20764803
University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus
School of Business and Management MBA
Course 2017-18 28th
December 2018
Word Count: 14333

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Abstract
In the modern day, in order to be able to face our daily challenges, plenty of
importance is given to living an active lifestyle. This research shows the connection between
good attendance of fitness suites and their service quality.
Those, who believe that a fitness suite plays a big part in their lives, pick a gym not
only for the purpose of working out, but because they like the service that is provided.
The goal of this dissertation is to highlight the excellent quality of service in fitness
centres and positive outcomes as a result of it both for the clients and the business. The
person, who attends the gym regularly, does it because he/she chooses to do so and makes
time for it regardless of how busy he or she is. People, who work, generally tend to look for a
fitness centre nearby their work place as a rule. At first, location is their priority, not the
service.
This paper concentrates on fitness suites with excellent management and its clients’
satisfaction as a result of it. The following paper is about well managed fitness suites and the
satisfaction of their customers, if it is well structured. Service quality is an integral part of any
successful business, including fitness centres.

Acknowledgements
I would like to take the opportunity to thank my family who believe in me and support
me no matter the circumstances, especially my sister, who has been a great friend through
this entire challenging and exciting time. I would like to thank everybody, who have been
next to me through all this year, unknowingly teaching me life lessons big and small, positive
life lessons.
I would also like to thank everybody, who participated in the survey and the staff of
the UCLAN Library, the Office of Student Support and the Staff of the Fitness suite of
UCLAN Cyprus for helping me to find and connect with the students on campus.
I would also like to thank my professors, who taught me during the academic year for
the unforgettable knowledge that they gave me.
I would also like to extend my special gratitude to my amazing supervisor Dr.
Christos Anagnostopoulos for his help and guidance in helping me to find the skills and
knowledge that I needed and for the time he devoted to me to write this paper.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose..........................................................................................5
1.1. Background to the research.............................................................................................5
1.1.1. Service quality and customers` satisfaction.............................................................5
1.1.2. The role of fitness in humans` life............................................................................6
1.1.3. Fitness suite and service quality...............................................................................7
1.2. Research question............................................................................................................7
1.2.1. Research aim.............................................................................................................8
1.2.2. Research objectives...................................................................................................8
1.3. Structure of the thesis......................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: Literature review....................................................................................................10
2.1. Service quality model....................................................................................................10
2.1.1. Service quality in fitness suite................................................................................13
2.1.2. Service quality model in fitness suite.....................................................................14
2.1.2. The service quality metric.......................................................................................16
2.2. Fitness as a part of life...................................................................................................17
2.2.1. Why people are satisfied with fitness suite?...........................................................17
2.2.2. Fitness suite as a place for having good time.........................................................18
2.4. Relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction..................................20
2.5. Summary of literature review........................................................................................21
2.6 Literature review matrix.................................................................................................23
Chapter 3: Research methodology...........................................................................................31
3.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................31
3.2. Research strategy...........................................................................................................31
3.3. Quantitative research.....................................................................................................33
3.3.1. Advantages of quantitative research.......................................................................35
3.3.2. Disadvantages of quantitative research...................................................................36
3.4. Source of data collection...............................................................................................37
3.5. Research design.............................................................................................................38
3.6. Populace and sample size..............................................................................................40
3.7. Meeting guide design....................................................................................................41
3.8. Participant narrative.......................................................................................................42
3.9. Data collation details.....................................................................................................42
3.10. Limitations...................................................................................................................43

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3.11. Ethical considerations..................................................................................................44
3.12. Conclusion...................................................................................................................44
Chapter 4: Research findings...................................................................................................46
4.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................46
4.2. Presentation of data collection.......................................................................................46
4.2.1. Phase one for data collection..................................................................................46
4.2.2. The mean and standard deviation for phase 1 (Quantitative survey).....................55
4.3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................56
Chapter 5: Discussion..............................................................................................................58
5.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................58
5.2. Results synthesis............................................................................................................58
5.3. Comparison of both surveys......................................................................................59
5.4. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................62
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation...........................................................................64
6.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................64
6.2. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................64
6.2.1. Customers` satisfaction in UCLan Cyprus fitness suite.........................................65
6.3. Recommendation...........................................................................................................65
6.3.1. How this dissertation can help to the UCLan Cyprus fitness suite.........................67
References................................................................................................................................68
Appendix 1: Measuring Service Quality Using SERVQUAL.................................................78
Appendix 2: Research findings after questionnaire (Phase: 1)................................................80
Appendix 3: Example for interview questions.........................................................................91
Appendix 4: Interview answers................................................................................................92

Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
The aim of this chapter is to exhibit the backdrop of the upcoming dissertation. The
benefits of service quality for the clients of the fitness suite will be discussed. The research
question, according to which the study is going to be explored, will be posed. In the end, the
structure will be followed.
1.1. Background on the research
1.1.1. Service quality and customer satisfaction
This dissertation will follow the quantitative method of research, which will be based
on relationships between customers of the fitness suite and the level of their satisfaction from
the service level of the said fitness suite.
In the modern day, people pay a lot of attention to fitness suites and other fitness and
wellness establishments, where they can exercise and take care of their health and bodies.
The quality of service in every business has an important impact on the success and interests
of the business. So, on one hand, the fitness suite is a business establishment, on the other
hand it is a place, where people come to work out and have a positive and productive time.
The level of customer satisfaction of the service is essential for both sides and this
encourages customers to feel more comfortable which, in turn, makes them come back and
use the facilities.
In literature, the level of quality of service does not have a specific definition or
assessment. (Wisniewski, 2001). One of the few attempts to define this term is measuring
clients’ expectations and comparing them with the service that is provided. (Lewis and
Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994a; Asubonteng et al., 1996; Wisniewski and
Donnelly, 1996). As a result, one can state that quality of service is the discrepancy of what a
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Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
client wants a service to be and the service that is provided. When the clients’ preconceived
understanding of the service and the service given do not coincide, then one can safely
assume that the clients are not going to be happy about the service. (Parasuraman et al., 1985;
Lewis and Mitchell, 1990).
There is a constant quest as to what is the reason for trying to clearly define what is
service quality. Once one is able to define it, they will be able to identify what improvements
need to be done in order to improve the service. There needs to be a clearly established
framework of things to be done. Edvardsen et al. (1994) believe that in order to begin the
passage to clear identification of quality is to be able to analyze it. The SERVQUAL
approach, which is analysed and used in this paper, is the most common method for
measuring service quality.
1.1.2. The role of fitness in human life (the life of people)
As opposed to having an active lifestyle, fitness can be defined as a number of goals
that people tend to reach step by step. The definition of a healthy person, who exercises
regularly, is: a person, who can face his everyday problems with readiness, positivity and
good attitude. The explanation itself, as good as it sounds, does not clearly identify or
quantify the readiness, positivity, etc. However, there are certain quantifiable aspects of
fitness that can be calculated. (fig. 1).

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Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
Figure 1: Components of physical fitness
Source: Caspersen et al., 1985
In fitness, the most important aspects that everyone looks at are: the aspect of
healthfulness and the aspect of training in order to become physically very strong. (Caspersen
et al., 1985).
Fitness and active lifestyle are extremely dependent on physical, psychological and
other states of mind of a person. If one has an injury, he or she will have to stop exercising. If
one is very busy at work and with the family, they will find it difficult to find time to devote
to their fitness (Pate et al., 1995).
1.1.3. Fitness suites and service quality
Services in fitness clubs require physical interaction between the serviced provider
and the customers; the services provided in fitness suites are complex and distinctive (Chang
and Chelladurai, 2003). Therefore, it is important for fitness club managers and service-
providers to understand their participants` wants and needs (Lagrosen and Lagrosen, 2007). A
unique feature of the service given in the fitness club is the members` involvement in the
production and consumption of the services (Chang and Chelladurai, 2003). Membership

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Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
dues are one of the most important financial incomes of the clubs. Members` loyalty to the
clubs is related to their perception of the service quality. As a result, it is essential to be able
to define and be able to analyse the service quality in fitness suites in order to be able to
mirror its clients’ wishes. (Lam et al., 2005).
This case study is going to connect the members of the University of Central
Lancashire-Cyprus fitness suite and its service. Being a member of the fitness suite myself, I
would like to understand the level of satisfaction from its members, who represent a
multicultural pool of people. This dissertation tries to connect the peoples` satisfaction of
fitness suite and the influence of its service quality.
1.2. Research question
It is extremely and utterly difficult to create a research question. (Saunders & Lewis,
1997). Therefore, before beginning any kind of research, one needs to explore areas that
interest him/her in order to decide on the research topic. However, research topic alone is not
going to help to write the paper; it is important to pick such a research topic so that it is
possible to plan the ideas step by step and turn them into a coherent paper. (Eriksson and
Kovalainen, 2008).
The research question of this dissertation is:
• What gives service quality in a fitness suite?
1.2.1. Research aim
The aim of this dissertation is to assess the service quality in fitness centres. Happy
with the service customers are most likely to turn into loyal customers. The positive
demeanour of the staff, friendly atmosphere, competitive prices are some of the basic
standards to have in order to earn loyal customers; and that should become a motivation for
the facility to do better.

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Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
1.2.2. Research objectives
The following objectives of this research study are set to be as a guide for the meeting
the above-stated research objectives:
 Who the customers of UCLan Cyprus fitness suite are;
 The level of service quality of the fitness suite;
 How satisfied the customers are;
 Advantages and disadvantages of the facility.
1.3. Structure of the thesis
The dissertation is organised into six chapters.
Chapter one – this chapter details the introduction, which gives the rationale for the
study. It shows the aim and objectives of the study.
Chapter two – this chapter shows the literature review, which delivers theory, facts
and information regarding the topic. The literature review has been divided into several
sections.
Chapter three – this chapter identifies the methodology that will help to detail the
methods in which primary data can be collected. This chapter will also explain and justifiy
the approach that has been chosen by the researcher while considering the limitations.
Chapter four – this chapter places the finding, which will display the results from the
primary data.
Chapter five – this chapter calls for discussion, which is based on the primary data
and other surveys in order to get to findings.

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Artak Hakobyan Chapter 1: Introduction and purpose
Chapter six - this chapter shows the conclusion and recommendations, which will
summarise the main finding from the both research methods providing with
recommendations for future research.

Artak Hakobyan Chapter 2: Literature review
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1. Service quality model
Model of Service Quality Gaps. The notion of service standards has certain empty
spaces. Figure 1 displays seven of those spaces. This concept is an addition to the concept put
forward by Parasuraman et al. (1985).
• Gap 1: Clients' desires versus administration’s observations: because of the absence of a
showing research introduction, deficient upward correspondence and an excessive number of
layers of administration.
• Gap 2: Administration observations versus benefit determinations: because of deficient
commitment to benefit quality.
• Gap 3: Administration details versus benefit conveyance: because of part uncertainty and
struggle, poor representative employees, and poor innovation in the management of the
business, unsatisfactory supervisory control, absence of control and absence of collaboration.
Gap 4: Administration conveyance versus outside correspondence: because of lacking clear
communication and inclination to over-guarantee.
• Gap 5: The error between client desires and their impression of the administration
conveyed: because of the impacts applied from the client side and the setbacks (gaps) with
respect to the management. For this situation, client’s desires are impacted by the degree of
individual needs, informal communication and past administration experiences.
• Gap 6: The error between client desires and representatives' discernments: because of the
distinctions in the comprehension of client desires and the business.
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