GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF TAKROP SUBDISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION, CHAIYA DISTRICT, SURAT THANI PROVINCE

Abstract

This mixed-method research aimed 1) to study the service quality of the Community Development Department of Takrop Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Chaiya District, Surat Thani Province, 2) to compare the respondent opinions towards the service quality, categorized by personal characteristics, 3) to study the Government 4.0 that affects the service quality, and 4) to propose guidelines for improving the service quality in accordance with the Government 4.0 of the Community Development Department. The samples of the quantitative research comprised 362 residents in the Takrob Subdistrict Administrative Organization. Data was collected through questionnaires and analyzed by frequency, mean, standard deviation, One-way ANOVA, and Multiple Regression Analysis. The samples of the qualitative research comprised 8 key informants. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed by using the content analysis. Research findings: 1) as a whole, the service quality of the Community Development Department was at the highest level, 2) respondents with different monthly income and number of accessing the services had different opinions towards the service quality at the statistically significant level of 0.05, 3) the Government 4.0 in terms of Open and Connected Government, Citizen-Centric and Service-Oriented Government, and Smart and High Performance Government had affected the service quality at the statistically significant level of 0.001 and 4) guidelines for improving the service quality in accordance with the Government 4.0 were suggested: to provide services equally to everyone without any discrimination, to reduce the service providing steps, to produce signs indicating service points and steps clearly, to provide sufficient facilities for providing services, and to provide channels for giving feedback.