Measuring citizen satisfaction

Satisfaction surveys are regularly used by companies to evaluate satisfaction of customers or potential customers with their products or services. Sometimes a government agency (especially in the tourism sector) does the same to collect data for their promotional development.

But I had never seen a country measuring the overall satisfaction of its citizens (and tourists) with the whole set of services that exist within the country. I came across the report about the 2011 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore CSISG study, organized by the Singapore Management University SMU. The result is based on 40,000 questionnaires including 7,000 tourists.

The survey measures customer expectations, perceived quality and perceived value for businesses and services in 9 core economies for Singapore: finance and insurance, info-communications, transportation and logistics, retail, food and beverages, healthcare, public education, private education and tourism. Questions are asked about the private companies in the different sectors, but also about public services: universities, national mail or  public transportation like bus or subway systems.

The overal "national" score for 2011 was 69.1. The color codes in the chart indicate the companies or aggregate categories with a statistically significant improvement (green) or deterioration (red) in satisfaction compared to 2010.

The initiative was started in 2007 so after 5 years it is possible to see trends.

see the full report at www.smu.edu.sg/centres/ises/downloads/csisg2011_resultsoverview.pdf

It is impossible to compare these results for Singapore with any other country because no other country bothers to take the time and effort to establish this kind of data and maintain it over a period of time. As Lord Kelvin said "To measure is to know." But it is for sure easier to opinionate or come up with flashy headlines than to develope clear measurements about citizen or customer satisfaction. An example of why Singapore is way ahead in Asean as far as general development is concerned.

Thinking ...

I watched The Iron Lady on a recent flight to Bangalore. Brilliant movie around the intriguing personality of Margaret Thatcher (played by Meryl Streep). Love her or hate her, she was a character and several of her quotes are still being used today. There was a specific exchange, where the ageing Baroness Thatcher (born in 1925, still alive today), suffering from hallucinations about her diseased husband, is being examined by her doctor (from www.twcguilds.com/assets/screenplay/the-iron-lady.pdf).

DOCTOR

Still it must be a bit disorientating. You are bound to be feeling.

MARGARET

 What? What am I ‘bound to be feeling’?

 

The DOCTOR looks up from his note taking, hearing the quiet challenge in MARGARET’s voice.

 

MARGARET (CONT’D)

People don’t ‘think’ any more. They ‘feel’. ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Oh I don’t feel comfortable with that’ ‘Oh, I’m so sorry but we, the group were feeling...’ D’you know, one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than thoughts and ideas. Now thoughts and ideas. That interests me. Ask me what I am thinking

 

The DOCTOR hesitates, letting MARGARET settle until

 

DOCTOR

What are you thinking, Margaret?

 

MARGARET looks at the DOCTOR, quietly struggling with a fury, threatening to unleash

 

MARGARET

 Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine. But I do so appreciate your kind concern.

 

 

 

The Thinker (1902), Rodin

From Wikipedia.org, thinking, or thought, generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Thinking allows beings to make sense of or model the world in different ways, and to represent or interpret it in ways that are significant to them, or which accord with their needs, attachments, objectivces, plans, commitments, ends and desires.

What we think, we become. So what have YOU been thinking about lately ? I mean thinking. Not emailing. Or tweeting. Not SMS-ing or Facebook-ing. No, not all that. But thinking. Do you actually know what you have been thinking about ? You'd better, because if She is correct, it is what you will become.