Presenting A Model of the Social Factors Effective in the Service Quality of the Municipalities of Mazandaran

Abstract

As urban management, municipalities have a key role in the process of city management and organization. Certainly, to reach this performance, municipalities must have a proper management structure based on attracting the institutional participation of the people. Thus, the purpose of the study was to provide a model of social factors affecting the quality of services in the municipalities of Mazandaran. The study was applied in terms of purpose and survey concerning the method. The population was the experts familiar with the field of service quality (n = 15), employees working in the municipalities of Mazandaran (n = 356) and all clients of municipalities in Mazandaran (n = 712). The study used model design and approval questionnaire, the questionnaire of social factors affecting service quality with 75 questions and the service quality questionnaire with 22 questions to collect data. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) of the social factors affecting service quality and service quality questionnaire was calculated as 94.9% and 93.8%, respectively. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of variables was estimated to be higher than 0.7 and the reliability was confirmed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used with the help of LISREL software to analyze the data. According to the results, the power of the relationship between social factors and service quality was 0.51, showing that the correlation is strong and desirable. The t-test was larger than 5% error level that is 1.96 and showed a significant correlation. Moreover, the fit indices of the model showed that the proposed model was appropriate. According to the results, the managers of municipalities in Mazandaran are recommended to pay attention to employee behavior, employee competence and skills, innovation in service delivery, organizational coordination and accountability, organizational trust, organizational performance, social responsibility, employee work values ​​ to enhance service quality.