A Study on Perceived Service Quality of IDEA Cellular Ltd. - A Case Study on Factor Analysis

Veiw figure View Figure

Figure 2. Educational Qualification of Customers

Download as

Veiw figure View Figure

Figure 1 shows the various age groups of customers has taken part in the survey and Figure 2 shows their educational background which is a major factor in this survey as it helps them to know about various offers and schemes provided by Idea Cellular.

Figure 3. Best Service Provider

Download as

Veiw figure View Figure

Figure 4. Most Selling Brand in Odisha

Download as

Veiw figure View Figure

Figure 5. Network Quality of Different Brands

Download as

Veiw figure View Figure

4.1. Interpretation

Figure 3 shows the telecom companies which are providing quality service in Bhubaneswar circle. It can be concluded that Airtel has taken the market share here by providing quality service to the customers. Then BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) has taken the next position after Airtel. Idea has the 3^rd position in providing the services. Figure 4 interprets which brands of SIMs have highest sales. Here, Idea has acquired the same rank that of Reliance and Airtel has the highest selling point. Figure 5 shows the quality of network available in different brands of telecom industry. Airtel, BSNL and Vodafone have taken 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd position respectively. And Idea is in 4^th place. From these figures it can be conclude that Idea has been providing moderate service.

5. Factor Analysis

Factor analysis was done by using Principal Component Analysis Method to reduce the number of factors responsible for variance in the responses of the employees.

Table 1. Total Variance Explained

Download as

View current table in a new window

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

View next table

Table 2. Component Matrix^a

Download as

View current table in a new window

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

View previous table

View next table

Table 3. Rotated Component Matrix^a

Download as

View current table in a new window

Tables index

Veiw figure View Table

View previous table

5.1. Interpretation

(Before extraction it is assumed that each of the original variables has as Eigen value=1). As evident from Table 1 it is found that 4 factors extracted together account for 74.751% of the total variance (information contained in the original 7 variables). Hence, the number of variables have been reduced from 7 to 4 underlying factors. Table 2 represents the component factor matrix of 4 components. Looking at Table 3 the variable 1 has factor loadings of 0.855 indicating that factor 1 is one variable. Therefore this factor can be interpreted as “Service Facility”. Now for factor 2 it is shown that variables 4 and 6 have a high loading of 0.834 & 0.762 respectively, indicating that factor 2 is a combination of these variables. These variables can be clubbed into a single factor called “High Call rates and SIM activation duration.” As for factor 3, it is evident that variables 3 has a high loading of 0.867. This factor 1 variable can be termed as “Non availability of special offers”. As for factor 4, it is evident that variable 4 has a high loading of 0.911. This factor can be termed as “Fluctuation of network”.

6. Observation and Findings

In the survey of Bhubaneswar city found this result by approaching different retailers who deals in the communication products and the customers and find out result in Bhubaneswar city with the help of questionnaire.

• Airtel is the Market Leader in Bhubaneswar. This result is based upon the Sales Revenue of various telecom players in Bhubaneswar City.

• Idea and Reliance are having similar Sales revenue then Idea and Reliance are Competitors of each other.

• Most of the Retailers are dissatisfied with service quality of Idea cellular because they have some problem like did not get Sign Box, Boards, Tariff Charts etc for their advertisement.

• Idea cellular having good network quality in cities and town but poor network quality in rural areas.

• Idea cellular’s having less various tariff plans which attracts a less number of customers compared to other telecom players.

• Frequently changing distributors of Idea cellular is a major problem for providing services

• As distributors are changing very frequently, the service providers are facing problems with getting the stock and balance in their demo.

• Customers are not satisfied with the poor quality of network.

• Idea is not performing well in comparison to other service providers in Odisha circle.

• The competitor brands like Airtel, Tata Docomo, Aircel etc are providing cheaper call rates and various cheaper services than idea, which is attracting the customers more.

• Direct sales executives (DSE) are not visiting the retail outlets regularly.

• DSE are not co-operative with the outlet owners.

7. Suggestions

• It should motivate the Retailer to increase sales revenue by giving gifts and rewards etc.

• It should increase network quality in rural areas.

• It should provide expertise regularly visit to Retailer to giving the knowledge of sales promotion, coming technology, offers and plans.

• It should concentrate on advertisement like Road side hoardings and banners.

• It should provide a service to retailer if by mistake any retailer recharges an amount to other number then on request of retailer it may come back by deduction of few percent.

8. Conclusion

From the survey it is clearly related that the company has hardly a good market in Odisha, basically at Bhubaneswar area. While comparing to all other companies, the price of the quantum is relatively high based on its offers which will make the retailer as well as the customers to go for another product. Though Idea is a national player but its position in Odisha market is not so good.

The current study on Idea Cellular reveals the factors that help in crafting customer satisfaction. Low-cost pricing strategy has emerged as one of the most powerful factor that satisfies the customers. Better quality of services, reliability, better customer care and good brand image has helped Idea grow in a short span of business in India. The organization is able to develop service standards, complaint monitoring cell and information cell that provides proper and timely information about Idea products and services. According to the study, customers and employees find call rates, new schemes and offers and SMS rates highly relevant to their needs at Idea Cellular. The company is focusing hardly on its product mix, price, mix, promotion mix, distribution mix and STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) strategy but the major weakness that was revealed during the study was its network. Customers and employees both agreed that it is merely network that churns the customers.

The company must adopt the price-range which will be affordable by the customers as well as the retailer counters. It must consider the dealers as their part but not separate entity as they play a dominant role for the product, its promotion and marketing network. Exhibit 1 shows the area in Indian market covered by different network brands. It must take feedback and ideas from the groups and according to these suggestions and ideas make a relevant and better strategy.

9. Limitations of the Study

• The study is limited to Bhubaneswar city only.

• The responses may be biased for the subscriber customers are using.

• The responses of the employees may be biased for the company they are working for.

• The number of respondents is a small representation of the whole population.

10. Managerial Implication

Idea is a strong brand in national market but now it is declining due to poor network, higher call rates and tariffs, poor service facility. So the company should focus on these areas and should emphasize the customer relation more and more through more campaigning and advertisement, more consumer complaints active cells to solve their issues as soon as possible. Then only the company can attain a good position in the market and can increase its sales and revenue.

References

[1]	https://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/index.html?id=45044_IDEA+Cellular+recognized+as+the+Most+Customer+Responsive+Company+in+the+Telecom+sector
	In article

[2]	https://www.dot.gov.in/about-us/telecom-glance.
	In article

[3]	https://www.onebangalore.com/businessdirectory/mobile-service-centers/idea-mobile-store-frazer-town.html.
	In article

[4]	Indian Management, The Journal of AIMA, Vol. 50, Issue no. 1, January 2011.
	In article

[5]	Innovations, The Journal of Management, Volume 1, No. 1, July-December 2012.
	In article

[6]	Kajale, Amol Ramesh, Importance of Relationship Marketing in Competitive Marketing Strategy: Indian Streams Research Journal, Volume 2, Issue 1, March 2012.
	In article

[7]	Kotler Philip, Marketing Management, Asian Edition, Pearson Education, 2009.
	In article

[8]	KPR International Journal of Management, Volume 1, No. 1, July 2012.
	In article

[9]	Lovelock Christopher, Services Marketing, Asian Edition, Pearson Education, 2008.
	In article

[10]	Lowenstein Michael W, Customer Retention, OXFORD University Press, 1997.
	In article

[11]	MAIMT- Journal of IT and Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, May–October 2010.
	In article

[12]	Ramaswamy V S, Marketing Management, 4th edition, Macmillan Publishers, 2009.
	In article

[13]	Rao K Rama Mohana, Services Marketing, Second Edition, Pearson Education, 2011.
	In article

[14]	Schiffman Leon G, Consumer behavior, Ninth Edition, Pearson Education, 2009.
	In article

[15]	SCOUR, Journal of Institute of Productivity and Management, Vol. 4, No. 2, July-December 2010.
	In article

[16]	Sinha P K, Services Marketing, Himalaya Publishing House, 2004.
	In article

[17]	South Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 13, Issue no. 3, July-September 2006.
	In article

[18]	The ICFAI university Journal of Marketing Management, February 2009.
	In article

[19]	Understanding and managing customer perception, Effective Executive, the ICFAI University Press, September 2006.
	In article

[20]	Venugopal Vasanti, Services Marketing, Himalaya Publishing House, 2006.
	In article	PubMed

[21]	VISION, The Journal Of Business Perspective, Volume 13, No. 2, April-June 2009.
	In article

Exhibit 1. Covering Area in Indian Market of Different Network Brands

Download as

Veiw figure View Figure