A

PROJECT REPORT
ON

SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK

In fulfillment of the requirements for Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) (2009-2011)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: Dr. Seema Girdhar (Marketing Faculty) SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY: Prof. Dr. Seema Girdhar Akanksha Premwani (Marketing Faculty) Roll no. - 6005

GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

Road no. 75, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi-110026

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Miss. Akanksha Premwani, student of Guru Nanak Institute of Management has completed her Project report on SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK in the year 2009-2011 in final fulfillment of Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM). She has successfully completed the project under my constant guidance and support. Signature of Project Guide (DR. SEEMA GIRDHAR)

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the Project report titled SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK is my original work and has not been published or submitted for any degree, diploma or other similar titles elsewhere. This has been undertaken for the purpose of partial fulfillment of Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management at Guru Nanak Institute of Management. Date: Akanksha Premwani Roll no.: 6005

PREFACE
This project report attempts to bring under one cover the entire hard work and dedication put in by me in the completion of the project work on Service Quality of HDFC bank. I have expressed my experiences in my own simple way. I hope who goes through it will find it interesting and worth reading. All constructive feedback is cordially invited.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
It is really a matter of pleasure for me to get an opportunity to thank all the persons who contributed directly or indirectly for the successful completion of the project report, Service Quality of HDFC bank. First of all I am extremely thankful to my college Guru Nanak Institute of Management for providing me with this opportunity and for all its cooperation and contribution. I also express my gratitude to my Project mentor and guide Prof. Dr. Seema Girdhar. I am highly thankful to our respected project guide for giving me the encouragement and freedom to conduct my project. I am also grateful to all my faculty members for their valuable guidance and suggestions for my entire study. I would also like to thank the HDFC team for extending their valuable time and cooperation. Akanksha Premwani Roll No.: 6005

INDEX
CONTENTS PAGE NO.
1. INTRODUCTION 2. COMPANY PROFILE 3. SERVICE QUALITY IN BANKS 4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6. DATA ANALYSIS 7. FINDINGS OF THE REPORT 8. CONCLUSION 9. RECOMMENDATIONS 10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 11. ANNEXURE: QUESTIONNAIRE

INTRODUCTION
Service with a smile: Todays finicky banking customers will settle for nothing less. The customer has come to realize somewhat belatedly that he is the king. The customers choice of one entity over another as his principal bank is determined by considerations of service quality rather than any other factor. He wants competitive loan rates but at the same time also wants his loan or credit card application processed in double quick time. He insists that he be promptly informed of changes in deposit rates and service charges and he bristles with customary rage if his bank is slow to redress any grievance he may have. He cherishes the convenience of impersonal net banking but during his occasional visits to the branch he also wants the comfort of personalized human interactions and facilities that make his banking experience pleasurable. In short he wants financial house that will more than just clear his cheque and updates his passbook: he wants a bank that cares and provides great services. So does HDFC bank meet these heightened expectations? What are the customers perceptions of service quality of the banks? Which dimension of service quality of HDFC bank is performing well? To find out answers to these questions I undertook a survey of 2 branches of HDFC bank. A lot of surveys have been done in the past to understand the aspect of customer satisfaction and to find out the customer friendly banks. My research is conducted to find out SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK.

COMPANY PROFILE

HDFC BANK
The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the first to receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector, as part of the RBI's liberalisation of the Indian Banking Industry in 1994. The bank was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office in Mumbai, India. HDFC Bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995. HDFC Bank comprises of a dynamic and enthusiastic team determined to accomplish the vision of becoming a World-class Indian bank. HDFC banks business philosophy is based on our four core values - Customer Focus, Operational Excellence, Product Leadership and People. They believe that the ultimate identity and success of their bank will reside in the exceptional quality of people and their extraordinary efforts. They are committed to hiring, developing, motivating and retaining the best people in the industry.

BUSINESS FOCUS
HDFC Bank's mission is to be a World-Class Indian Bank. The objective is to build sound customer franchises across distinct businesses so as to be the preferred provider of banking services for target retail and wholesale customer segments, and to achieve healthy growth in profitability, consistent with the bank's risk appetite. The bank is committed to maintain the highest level of ethical standards, professional integrity, corporate governance and regulatory compliance. HDFC Bank's business philosophy is based on four core values - Operational Excellence, Customer Focus, Product Leadership and People.

MISSION STATEMENT OF HDFC BANK

World Class Indian Bank. Benchmarking against international standards. To build sound customer franchises across distinct businesses Best practices in terms of product offerings, technology, service levels, risk management and audit & compliance

VISION STATEMENT OF HDFC BANK

The HDFC Bank is committed to maintain the highest level of ethical standards, professional integrity and regulatory compliance. HDFC Banks business philosophy is based on four core values such as:-

1. Operational excellence. 2. Customer Focus. 3. Product leadership. 4. People. The objective of the HDFC Bank is to provide its target market customers a full range of financial products and banking services, giving the customer a one-step window for all his/her requirements. The HDFC Bank plus and the investment advisory services programs have been designed keeping in mind needs of customers who seeks distinct financial solutions, information and advice on various investment avenues.

BUSINESS STRATEGY
Increasing market share in Indias expanding banking Delivering high quality customer service Maintaining current high standards for asset quality through disciplined credit risk management Develop innovative products and services that attract targeted customers and address inefficiencies in the Indian financial sector.

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
HDFC Bank is headquartered in Mumbai. The Bank at present has an enviable network of over 1229 branches spread over 444 cities across India. All branches are linked on an online real-time basis. Customers in over 120 locations are also serviced through Telephone Banking. The Bank's expansion plans take into account the need to have a presence in all major industrial and commercial centers where its corporate customers are located as well as the need to build a strong retail customer base for both deposits and loan products. Being a clearing/settlement bank to various leading stock exchanges, the Bank has branches in the centers where the NSE/BSE has a strong and active member base. The Bank also has a network of about over 2526 networked ATMs across these cities. Moreover, HDFC Bank's ATM network can be accessed by all domestic and international Visa/MasterCard, Visa Electron/Maestro, Plus/Cirrus and American Express Credit/Charge cardholders.

PROMOTER
HDFC is India's premier housing finance company and enjoys an impeccable track record in India as well as in international markets. Since its inception in 1977, the Corporation has maintained a consistent and healthy growth in its operations to remain a market leader in mortgages. Its outstanding loan portfolio covers well over a million dwelling units. HDFC has developed significant expertise in retail mortgage loans to different market segments and also has a large corporate client base for its housing related credit facilities. With its experience in the financial markets, a strong market reputation, large shareholder base and unique consumer franchise, HDFC was ideally positioned to promote a bank in the Indian environment.

MANAGEMENT
Mr. C.M. Vasudev has been appointed as the Chairman of the Bank with effect from 6th July 2010 subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the shareholders. Mr. Vasudev has been a Director of the Bank since October 2006. A retired IAS officer, Mr. Vasudev has had an illustrious career in the civil services and has held several key positions in India and overseas, including Finance Secretary, Government of India, Executive Director, World Bank and Government nominee on the Boards of many companies in the financial sector. The Managing Director, Mr. Aditya Puri, has been a professional banker for over 25 years, and before joining HDFC Bank in 1994 was heading Citibank's operations in Malaysia. The Bank's Board of Directors is composed of eminent individuals with a wealth of experience in public policy, administration, industry and commercial banking. Senior executives representing HDFC are also on the Board. Senior banking professionals with substantial experience in India and abroad head various businesses and functions and report to the Managing Director. Given the professional expertise of the management team and the overall focus on recruiting and retaining the best talent in the industry, the bank believes that its people are a significant competitive strength.

TECHNOLOGY
HDFC Bank operates in a highly automated environment in terms of information technology and communication systems. All the bank's branches have online connectivity, which enables the bank to offer speedy funds transfer facilities to its customers. Multi-branch access is also provided to retail customers through the branch network and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The Bank has made substantial efforts and investments in acquiring the best technology available internationally, to build the infrastructure for a world class bank. The Bank's business is supported by scalable and robust systems which ensure that our clients always get the finest services we offer. The Bank has prioritised its engagement in technology and the internet as one of its key goals and has already made significant progress in web-enabling its core businesses. In each of its businesses, the Bank has succeeded in leveraging its market position, expertise and technology to create a competitive advantage and build market share.

QUALITY POLICY
SECURITY: The bank provides long term financial security to their policy. The bank does this by offering life insurance and pension products. TRUST: The bank appreciates the trust placed by their policy holders in the bank. Hence, it will aim to manage their investments very carefully and live up to this trust. INNOVATION: Recognizing the different needs of our customers, the bank offers a range of innovative products to meet these needs. INTEGRITY CUSTOMER CENTRIC PEOPLE CARE ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE

TEAM WORK JOY AND SIMPLICITY

BUSINESS
HDFC Bank offers a wide range of commercial and transactional banking services and treasury products to wholesale and retail customers. The bank has three key business segments: Wholesale Banking Services The Bank's target market ranges from large, blue-chip manufacturing companies in the Indian corporate to small & mid-sized corporates and agri-based businesses. For these customers, the Bank provides a wide range of commercial and transactional banking services, including working capital finance, trade services, transactional services, cash management, etc. The bank is also a leading provider of structured solutions, which combine cash management services with vendor and distributor finance for facilitating superior supply chain management for its corporate customers. Based on its superior product delivery / service levels and strong customer orientation, the Bank has made significant inroads into the banking consortia of a number of leading Indian corporates including multinationals, companies from the domestic business houses and prime public sector companies. It is recognised as a leading provider of cash management and transactional banking solutions to corporate customers, mutual funds, stock exchange members and banks.

Retail Banking Services The objective of the Retail Bank is to provide its target market customers a full range of financial products and banking services, giving the customer a onestop window for all his/her banking requirements. The products are backed by world-class service and delivered to customers through the growing branch network, as well as through alternative delivery channels like ATMs, Phone Banking, Net Banking and Mobile Banking. The HDFC Bank Preferred program for high net worth individuals, the HDFC Bank Plus and the Investment Advisory Services programs have been designed keeping in mind needs of customers who seek distinct financial solutions, information and advice on various investment avenues. The Bank also has a wide array of retail loan products including Auto Loans, Loans against marketable securities, Personal Loans and Loans for Two-wheelers. It is also a leading provider of Depository Participant (DP) services for retail customers, providing customers the facility to hold their investments in electronic form. HDFC Bank was the first bank in India to launch an International Debit Card in association with VISA (VISA Electron) and issues the Mastercard Maestro debit card as well. The Bank launched its credit card business in late 2001. By March 2010, the bank had a total card base (debit and credit cards) of over 14 million. The Bank is also one of the leading players in the merchant acquiring business with over 90,000 Point-of-sale (POS) terminals for debit / credit cards acceptance at merchant establishments. The Bank is well positioned as a leader in various net based B2C opportunities including a wide range of internet banking services for Fixed Deposits, Loans, Bill Payments, etc.

Treasury Within this business, the bank has three main product areas - Foreign Exchange and Derivatives, Local Currency Money Market & Debt Securities, and Equities. With the liberalisation of the financial markets in India, corporates need more sophisticated risk management information, advice and product structures. These and fine pricing on various treasury products are provided through the bank's Treasury team. To comply with statutory reserve requirements, the bank is required to hold 25% of its deposits in government securities. The Treasury business is responsible for managing the returns and market risk on this investment portfolio.

SERVICE QUALITY IN BANKS

In the days of intense competition, the banks are no different from any other consumer marketing company. It has become essential for the service firms in general and banks in particular to identify what the customer's requirements are and how those customer requirements can be met effectively. In the days where product and price differences are blurred, superior service by the service provider is the only differentiator left before the banks to attract, retain and partner with the customers. Superior service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition, gain a sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency .The benefits of service quality include increased customer satisfaction, improved customer retention, positive word of mouth, reduced staff turnover, decreased operating costs, enlarged market share, increased profitability, and improved financial performance. The construct of service quality has therefore been a subject of great interest to service marketing researchers. Service quality has been defined by various experts in various ways as: 'Service Quality is the difference between customers' expectations for service performance prior to the service encounter and their perceptions of the service received.' According to Gefan Service quality is the subjective comparison that customers make between the qualities of service that they want to receive and what they actually get.' Parasuraman says, 'Service quality is determined by the differences between customer's expectations of services provider's performance and their evaluation of the services they received. Service quality is 'the delivery of excellent or superior service relative to customer expectations. Service quality is recognized as a multidimensional construct. While the number of dimensions often varies from researcher to researcher, there is some consensus that service quality consists of three primary aspects: outcome quality, interaction quality, and physical service environment quality. Outcome quality refers to the customer's assessment of the core service which is the prime motivating factor for obtaining the services (e.g. money received from ATM). Interaction quality refers to the customer's assessment of the service delivery process, which is typically rendered via a physical interface between the service provider, in person, or via technical equipment, and the customer. It includes, for instance, the consumer's evaluation of the attitude of the service providing staff. The physical service environment quality dimension refers to the consumer's evaluation of any tangible aspect associated with the facilities or equipment that the service is provided in/ with. It includes, for example, the physical conditions of an ATM machine. The most popular dimensions of service quality--features five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance. The tangibles dimension corresponds to the aforementioned physical environment aspect, the reliability dimension corresponds to the service outcome aspect, and the remaining three represent aspects of interaction quality. Both the costs and the revenue of firms are affected by repeat purchases, positive word-of-mouth recommendation, and customer feedback. Moreover, there is strong evidence that service quality has either a direct influence on the behavioral intentions of customers and/or an indirect influence on such intentions, mediated through customer satisfaction.

RATER is an instrument that might be used to define and measure banking service quality and to create useful quality-assessment tools. The RATER may finally provide the following benefits to the HDFC bank: 1. It is the first approach to add and mix the customers religious beliefs and cultural values with other quality dimensions.

2. It provides for multi-faced analysis of customer satisfaction. 3. It links quality with customers satisfaction and service encounter. 4. It provides information at several levels, already organized into meaningful groupings. 5. It is a proven approach, which results in usable answers to meet customers needs. 6. It is empirically grounded, systematic and well documented. Banks managers can use the RATER model and its dimensions first to identify the following issues: To identify those areas where improvement should be made and resources can be allocated. For instance, they need to know the level of quality in their banks and they can manipulate to make bank-wide improvement in quality performance. Also they can use benchmarking to compare their performance and other banks, which have already implemented quality program that will help to prioritise the quality management efforts.

IMAGE
RESPONSIVENESS ASSURANCE RELIABILITY EMPATHY TANGIBILITY

DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY

TANGIBILITY: This dimension deal with modern looking equipments and visual appealing part of banks. RELIABILITY: This dimension has a direct positive effect on perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in banking institutions. Banks must provide error free service and secure online transactions to make customers feel comfortable. RESPONSIVENESS: Customers expect that the banks must respond their inquiry promptly. Responsiveness describes how often a bank voluntarily provides services that are important to its customers. Researchers examining the responsiveness of banking services have highlighted the importance of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. ASSURANCE: Customer expects that the bank must be secured and the behavior of the employees must be encouraging.

EMPATHY: individual attention, customized service and convenient banking hours are very much important in todays service. In order to achieve better understanding of service quality in banking sector, the proposed five service quality dimensions are conceptualized to illustrate the overall service quality of the banking in relation to customers and providers perspective. Banking was in the sector featuring medium goods and higher customer producer interactions, since in banking, consumers and service providers interact personally and the use of goods is at a medium level. Hence, in banking, where there are high customer-producer interactions, the quality of service is determined to a large extent by the skills and attitudes of people producing the service. In the case of services, because customers are often either direct observers of the production process or active participants, how the process is performed also has a strong influence on the overall impression of the quality of service. A well-performed service encounter may even overcome the negative impression caused by poor technical quality as well as generate positive word-of-mouth, particularly if customers can see that employees have worked very hard to satisfy them in the face of problems outside their control. Employees are part of the process, which connects with the customer at the point of sale, and hence employees remain the key to success at these service encounters or moments of truth. It is these encounters with customers

during a service that are the most important determinants of overall customer satisfaction, and a customers experience with the service will be defined by the brief experience with the firms personnel and the firms systems. The rudeness of the banks customer service representative, the abruptness of the employee at the teller counter, or the lack of interest of the person at the check deposit counter can alter ones overall attitude towards the service, perhaps even reversing the impression caused by high technical quality. Another important service quality factor, competence, is defined by whether the bank performs the service right the first time, whether the employees of the bank tell customers exactly when services will be performed, whether the bank lives up to its promises, whether customers feel safe in their transactions with the bank and whether the employees show a sincere interest in solving the customers problems. In short, this dimension is related to the banks ability to perform the promised service accurately and dependably. Performing the service dependably and accurately is the heart of service marketing excellence. When a company performs a service carelessly, when it makes avoidable mistakes, and when it fails to deliver on promises made to attract customers, it shakes customers confidence in its capabilities and undermine s its chances of earning a reputation for service excellence. It is very important to do the service right the first time. In case a service problem does crop up, by resolving the problem to the customers satisfaction, the company can significantly impro ve customer retention. However, companies fare best when they prevent service problems

altogether and fare worst when service problems occur and the company either ignores them or does not resolve them to the customers satisfaction. Performing the service accurately is perhaps the most important factor in service quality excellence. The cost of performing the service inaccurately includes not only the cost of redoing the service but also the cost associated with negative word-of-mouth generated by displeased customers. In case of services, the factory is the field. Again, services are intangible and hence the criteria for flawless services are more subjective than the criteria for defect-free tangible goods. Hence for most services, customers perceptions of whether the service has been performed correctly, and not providerestablished criteria, are the major determinants of reliability. The service quality factor tangible is defined by whether the physical facilities and materials associated with the service are visually appealing at the bank. These are all factors that customers notice before or upon entering the bank. Such visual factors help consumers form their initial impressions. A crucial challenge in service marketing is that customers cannot see a service but can see the various tangibles associated with it - all these tangibles, the service facilities, equipment and communication materials are clues about the intangible service. If unmanaged, these clues can send to the customers wrong messages about the service and render ineffective the marketing strategy of the company. On the other hand, improving quality through tangibles means attention to the smallest details that competitors might consider trivial. Yet, these visible details can add up for customers and signal a message of caring and competence. Customers may reveal new aspects of service quality in banking that are important to them, and these would have to be incorporated in the scale so as to further explore the concept of service quality in the banking arena.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study is as follows: To examine the essential dimensions of service quality i.e. RATER- Reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness of HDFC bank and its effect on customers satisfaction. To find out the level of perception of the customers from the service quality offered by the banks. To know which service quality dimension of the bank is performing well.

To identify which dimension of service quality needs improvement so that the quality of service
of HDFC banks is enhanced

IMPORTANCE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study would try to throw some insights into the existing services provided by the banks, perceptions and the actual service quality of the bank. The results of the study would be able to recognize the lacunae in the system and thus provide key areas where improvement is required for better performance and success ratio. In the days of intense competition, superior service is the only differentiator left before the banks to attract, retain and partner with the customers. Superior service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition, gain a sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency.

SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of this research is to identify the service quality of HDFC bank. This research is based on primary data and secondary data. This study only focuses on the dimensions of service quality i.e. RATER. It aims to understand the skill of the company in the area of service quality that are performing well and shows those areas which require improvement. The study was done taking two branches of HDFC bank into consideration. The survey was restricted to the bank customers in Delhi only.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DATA SOURCE

Primary Data: The primary data was collected by means of a survey. Questionnaires were prepared and customers of the banks at two branches were approached to fill up the questionnaires. The questionnaire contains 20 questions which reflect on the type and quality of services provided by the banks to the customers. The response of the customer and the is recorded on a grade scale of strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree and strongly agree for each question. The filled up information was later analyzed to obtain the required interpretation and the findings. Secondary Data: In order to have a proper understanding of the service quality of bank a depth study was done from the various sources such as books, a lot of data is also collected from the official websites of the banks and the articles from various search engines like Google, yahoo search and answers.com. RESEARCH DESIGN The research design is exploratory till identification of service quality parameters. Later it becomes descriptive when it comes to evaluating customer perception of service quality of the banks.

Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe what caused a situation. Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity. The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations. Often the best approach, prior to writing descriptive research, is to conduct a survey investigation. Qualitative research often has the aim of description and researchers may follow-up with examinations of why the observations exist and what the implications of the findings are.

RESEARCH SAMPLE
SAMPLING PLAN: Since it is not possible to study whole universe, it becomes necessary to take sample from the universe to know about its characteristics. Sampling Units: Customers of HDFC bank Sample Technique: Random Sampling. Research Instrument: Structured Questionnaire. Contact Method: Personal Interview.

SAMPLE SIZE: The work is a case of HDFC Bank, one of the largest bank of Indian banking industry together representing over 25 per cent of the market share of Indian banking space. The survey was conducted in the city of Delhi with two branches of HDFC Bank, with 50 customers as respondent. DATA COLLECTION TOOL Data was collected through a structured questionnaire. Likert scale technique is used. The format of a typical five-level Likert item is: 1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Neither agree nor disagree 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree Likert scaling is a bipolar scaling method, measuring either positive or negative response to a statement. The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part consists of three questions concerning the demographic information of the respondent such as the name, age, educational qualifications and income. The second part consisting of 18 questions exploring the respondents perception about the service quality of HDFC. For evaluation of service quality of HDFC bank

service quality dimension of reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and responsiveness is used in order to evaluate the actual service quality of HDFC bank.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
The study is only for the HDFC Bank confined to a particular location and a very small sample of respondents. Hence the findings cannot be treated as representative of the entire banking industry. The study can also not be generalized for public and private sector banks of the country. Respondents may give biased answers for the required data. Some of the respondents did not like to respond. Respondents tried to escape some statements by simply answering neither agree nor disagree to most of the statements. This was one of the most important limitation faced, as it was difficult to analyse and come at a right conclusion. In our study we have included 50 customers of bank because of time limit.

DATA ANALYSIS

Ques. Age AGE CATEGORY 18-23 Years 24-29 Years 30-35 Years 35 Years and above FREQUENCY 10 17 15 8 PERCENTAGE 20 34 30 16 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 20 54 84 100

INTERPRETATION From the table and graph above it can be seen that 20% respondents age are 18 to 23 years. 34% respondents age are 24 to 29 years. 30% respondents age are 30 to 35 years. 16% respondents age are 35 to above years. Ques. Educational qualifications

CATEGORY UNDER GRADUATE GRADUATE POST GRADUATE TOTAL

FREQUENCY 13 20 17 50

PERCENTAGE 26 40 34 100

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 26 66 100

INTERPRETATION From the table and graph above it can be seen that 26% respondents are Under graduate. 40% respondents are Graduate. 34% respondents are Post graduate.

TANGIBILITY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Questions1 to 4):

Physical facilities, equipments and appearance of personnel Ques.1 HDFC bank has modern looking equipment.

SCALE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE TOTAL

FREQUENCY 5 25 16 4 50

PERCENTAGE 10 50 32 8 100

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 10 60 92 100

INTERPRETATION HDFC bank has modern-looking and hi-tech equipments. Here analysis show that most of the respondents disagreed with this statement. Among the total respondents 50% disagreed, 32% were neutral and 8% agreed. After analysis I found that majority of the respondents think that HDFC Bank do not have modern looking equipments or no hi-tech equipments. Ques.2 The bank's physical features are visually appealing.

SCALE DISAGREE

FREQUENCY 4

PERCENTAGE 8

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 8

UNCERTAIN AGREE TOTAL

29 17 50

58 34 100

66 100

INTERPRETATION HDFC banks physical facilities are visually appealing. From this statement I found that 17 persons agreed. 29 persons were uncertain and 4 persons disagreed. This means 58% people were uncertain about this statement. Out of the total respondents only 4% disagreed and no one strongly agreed or disagreed with the statement. 17% people agreed that HDFC banks physical facilities are visually appealing. Ques.3 The bank's reception desk employees are neat appearing.

SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL

FREQUENCY 5 21 18 6 50

PERCENTAGE 10 42 36 12 100

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 10 52 88 100

INTERPRETATION HDFC banks employees appear neat. Here analysis shows that majority were neutral. Among the total respondent 21 respondents were neutral, 18 people agreed and 6 respondents strongly agreed. The rest disagreed. From analysis I found that some respondents agreed with this statement but most of the respondents think the employees of the HDFC bank appear neat. Ques.4 Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) are visually appealing at the bank. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 7 22 18 3 50 PERCENTAGE 14 44 36 6 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 14 58 94 100

INTERPRETATION

Materials associated with the service are visually appealing at HDFC bank. Here 36% respondents agreed with this statement and 6% strongly agreed with this statement. 44% were neutral that is most and 14% disagreed. There was no respondent who strongly disagreed. Hence, in general it can be concluded that materials associated with the services such as pamphlets or statements are visually appealing.

RELIABILITY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Questions 5 to 8):

Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately Ques.5 When the bank promises to do something by a certain time, it does so. SCALE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 2 26 5 14 3 50 PERCENTAGE 4 52 10 28 6 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 4 56 66 94 100

INTERPRETATION My sample size was 50. Here analysis shows that among the total respondents 26 respondents disagreed and 14 respondents agreed with this question. Also I found that 5 people were neutral and 2 people strongly disagreed. Hence I concluded that majority of them disagreed that the bank when promises to do something by certain time, it does so. Ques. 6 When you have a problem, the bank shows a sincere interest in solving it SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE FREQUENCY 3 14 26 7 PERCENTAGE 6 28 52 14 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 6 34 86 100

TOTAL

50

100

INTERPRETATION When you have a problem, HDFC bank shows sincere interest in solving it. After analysing this statement I found that most of the respondents agreed i.e. 52% respondents agreed. Also I found that 28% were neutral with this statement and 6% were committed with disagree. There was no one who strongly disagreed. Hence HDFC bank can be said to be reliable. Ques.7 The bank performs the service right the first time. SCALE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 2 8 17 17 6 50 PERCENTAGE 4 16 34 34 12 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 4 20 54 88 100

INTERPRETATION Total sample size was 50. Here analysis shows that among the total respondents 17 people agreed with this statement. They think that HDFC bank performs the services right the first time. 6 people strongly agreed with this statement. Also 17 people were neutral and the rest of the respondents disagreed and strongly disagreed. Ques.8 The bank insists on error free records. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE FREQUENCY 5 10 23 PERCENTAGE 10 20 46 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 10 30 76

STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL

12 50

24 100

100

INTERPRETATION Bank insists on error free records. HDFC bank has proved from my analysis that it surely insist on error free records as 46% respondents agreed with this statement and 24% strongly agreed. Only 10% respondents disagreed and no one strongly disagreed.

RESPONSIVENESS DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Question 9 to 12):

Willingness to help customers and provide prompt services Ques. 9 Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will be performed. SCALE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 6 8 13 18 5 50 PERCENTAGE 12 16 26 36 10 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 12 28 54 90 100

INTERPRETATION Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will be performed. Majority of the respondents agreed with this statement. 26% respondents were uncertain. At the same time 16% disagreed and 12% Strongly disagreed with this statement. Ques. 10 Employees in the bank give you prompt service.

INTERPRETATION Most of the respondents agreed with this statement. According to my analysis, employees in HDFC Bank give prompt service. Among the total respondents agreed respondents were 27 and strongly agreed were 2. 16 people were neutral and 5 disagreed. There was no respondent who strongly disagreed with this statement. Ques.11 Employees in the bank are always willing to help you.

INTERPRETATION Employees in HDFC bank are willing to help you. With this statement no one disagreed or strongly disagreed. Strongly agreed were 9 people i.e. 18% respondents strongly agreed, 29 people agreed i.e. 58% respondents agreed and 24% respondents were neutral.

Ques.12 Employees in the bank are never too busy to respond to your request.

SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL

FREQUENCY 1 11 27 11 50

PERCENTAGE 2 22 54 22 100

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 2 24 78 100

INTERPRETATION Employees in HDFC Bank ltd are never too busy to respond to your request. After analyzing this statement I found that most of the respondents agreed with this statement. Among the total respondents 22% strongly agreed and 54% agreed. 11 respondents were neutral and 1 respondent disagreed. No one strongly disagreed.

ASSURANCE DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Question13 to 16):

Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence Ques.13 The employees of the bank are trustworthy. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 4 13 28 5 50 PERCENTAGE 8 26 56 10 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 8 34 90 100

INTERPRETATION The employees of the bank are trustworthy. According to my findings, 54% respondents agreed that employees at HDFC bank are trustworthy. 13% respondents were neutral and 4% respondents disagreed with this statement. Ques.14 The behavior of employees in the bank instills confidence in you. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 28 4 13 5 50 PERCENTAGE 56 8 26 10 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 56 64 90 100

INTERPRETATION The behavior of employees in HDFC bank instills confidence in you. Here analysis shows that most of the people disagreed. Among the total respondents 28 respondents disagreed, 13 agreed and 5 strongly agreed. There was no respondent who strongly disagreed. This means 56% respondent disagreed with this statement. Ques.15 You feel safe in your transactions with the bank. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 5 16 23 6 50 PERCENTAGE 10 32 46 12 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 10 42 88 100

INTERPRETATION With this statement most of the respondents agreed. Among the total respondents 23 agreed with this statement and 6 strongly agreed. 32% respondents were neutral and 10% respondents disagreed. But there no one who strongly disagreed. Ques.16 Employees in the bank have the knowledge to answer your questions. SCALE PERCENTAGE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 2 9 26 13 50 PERCENTAGE 4 18 52 26 100 CUMULATIVE 4 22 74 100

INTERPRETATION From my analysis I found that 54% respondents agreed that employees of HDFC bank have complete knowledge to answer their questions. 26% respondents strongly agreed to this statement and only 4% disagreed. 18% neither agreed nor disagreed.

EMPATHY DIMENSION OF SERVICE QUALITY (Question17 to 20):

Caring and individualized attention that firm provides to its customers Ques.17 The bank gives you individual attention.

INTERPRETATION HDFC bank is not able to give individual attention to its customers as out of the total respondents 54% disagreed with this statement. 12% of the respondents were neutral and only 12% agreed and 2% strongly agreed. From this finding it can be concluded that it is unable to give individual attention to its customers. Ques.18 The bank has operating hours convenient to all its customers. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 2 14 27 7 50 PERCENTAGE 4 28 54 14 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 4 32 86 100

INTERPRETATION HDFC bank has operating hours convenient to all its customers. Out of 50 respondents, 27 respondents agreed with this statement and only 2 respondents disagreed. Also 7 respondents strongly agreed that the bank has operating hours convenient to its customers. Ques.19 The bank has your interests best at heart.

SCALE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL

FREQUENCY 3 5 10 25 7 50

PERCENTAGE 6 10 20 50 14 100

CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 6 16 36 86 100

INTERPRETATION HDFC bank has your best interests at heart. Here analysis shows that 25 respondents agreed and 7 respondents strongly agreed with this statement. 20% were neutral and the rest disagreed and strongly disagreed. Ques.20 The employees of the bank understand your specific needs. SCALE DISAGREE UNCERTAIN AGREE STRONGLY AGREE TOTAL FREQUENCY 5 21 20 4 50 PERCENTAGE 10 42 40 8 100 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 10 52 92 100

INTERPREATION Employees of HDFC bank understand specific needs. With this statement most of the respondents were neutral. Among the total respondents 20 respondents agreed and 4 respondents strongly agreed. 5 respondents disagreed with this statement.

MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS

Measuring the quality of a service can be a very difficult exercise. Unlike product where there are specific specifications such as length, depth, width, weight, colour etc. a service can have numerous intangible or qualitative specifications. Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) provide a list of determinants of service quality: access, communication, competence, courtesy, credibility, reliability, responsiveness, security, understanding, and tangibles. A total of five consolidated dimensions of service quality are: Tangibles (ques.1 to 4) - Physical facilities, equipments and appearance of personnel Reliability (ques.5 to 8) - Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately Responsiveness (ques.9 to 12) Willingness to help customers and provide prompt services Assurance (ques.13 to 16) (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security) Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence Empathy (ques.17 to 20) (including access, communication and understanding the customer) Caring and individualized attention that firm provides to its customer. In order to calculate which dimension of service quality is performing well, a sample of the questions are used in the questionnaire. Using the questionnaire, obtain the score for each of the 20 statements. After analysis of the data, Overall score to each statement is given on a scale of 1 to 5 i.e. 1 is given to strongly disagreed i.e. the lowest score, then 2= disagreed, 3= uncertain, 4= agreed and 5= strongly agreed. Sum the score for each dimension of service quality to obtain a final score which tells which dimension is performing well and which dimension needs improvement. The scores are shown in the following table: Statement Score 2 1. HDFC bank has modern looking equipment. 3 2. The banks physical features are visually appealing. 3 3. The banks reception desk employees are neat appearing. 3 4. Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) are visually appealing at the bank. 2 5. When the bank promises to do something by a certain time, it does so. 4 6. When you have a problem, the bank shows a sincere interest in solving it.

3.5 7. The bank performs the service right the first time. 4 8. The bank insists on error free records. 4 9. Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will be performed. 4 10. Employees in the bank give you prompt service. 4 11. Employees in the bank are always willing to help you. 4 12. Employees in the bank are never too busy to respond to your request. 4 13. The employees of the bank are trustworthy. 2 14. The behavior of employees in the bank instills confidence in you. 4 15. You feel safe in your transactions with the bank. 4 16. Employees in the bank have the knowledge to answer your questions. 2 17. The bank gives you individual attention. 4 18. The bank has operating hours convenient to all its customers.

Statement 19. The bank has your best interests at heart.

Score 4

3 20. The employees of the bank understand your specific needs.

The scores for each dimension are summed up and a final score is obtained: SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION 1. TANGIBILITY (1 TO 4) 13.5 2. RELIABILITY (5 TO 8) 16 3. RESPONSIVENESS (9 TO 12) 14 4. ASSURANCE (13 TO 16) 13 5. EMPATHY (17 TO 20) Points 11

GRAPG here pg 64
FINDINGS OF THE REPORT
The Reliability dimension of service quality is better as compared to empathy and tangibility. Still the score is low. For most services, customers perceptions of whether the service has been performed correctly, and not provider-established criteria, are the major determinants of reliability. Customers of the bank hesitate to rely on the bank. Whenever they have a problem, the bank shows sincere interest in solving it but the services are not performed by a certain time as promised. The employees should take this problem seriously and take steps to remove this. As score for Assurance is at second place after responsiveness, so the customers of HDFC bank are very confident and feel safe while transacting with the bank. Moreover the employees of the bank have proved to be trustworthy. Employees are also educated enough to answer all the questions. The score of Tangibility dimension of service quality of HDFC bank is the lowest. The service quality factor tangible is defined by whether the physical facilities and materials associated with the service are visually appealing at the bank. These are all factors that customers notice before or upon entering the bank. Customer expectations regarding visual appealing of HDFC is very high. From my study I found that Physical facilities and modern looking equipment are not sufficient in HDFC bank.

Respondents were uncertain about the neat appearance of the reception desk employees. So they should work on that and try to fulfill the gap. According to my findings, the score of Empathy is not satisfactory but not unsatisfactory also. HDFC bank is unable to give individual attention to its customers and is unable to understand specific needs of its customers. But still bank has taken steps to satisfy its customers by keeping operating hours convenient to its customers and keeping their interest best at heart. In HDFC bank, the score of Responsiveness is highest so they are focusing on prompt service, employees are willing to help the customers and say the exact time when the services will be performed. Employees at bank give their customers first preference and are always ready to help them. Overall HDFC banks responsiveness dimension of service quality is the highest. According to the customer perception, HDFC bank is highly responsive. Customers are assured while transacting with the bank. The reliability dimension is lower than the first to dimension. They feel that the bank is unable to give them individual attention and its equipments are not modern and sufficient for the bank. There is not much gap between all the dimensions, this shows that HDFC BANK is a better service provider in all the dimensions i.e. reliability, assurance, tangibility, responsiveness and empathy. As a result of which, the customers are satisfied with the service offered by HDFC bank.

CONCLUSION
Based on the study conducted it can be concluded that responsiveness, assurance and reliability are the critical dimensions of service quality of HDFC bank and they are directly related to overall service quality. The factors that may delight customers tend to be concerned more with the intangible nature of the service, commitment, attentiveness, friendliness, care, and courtesy. The employees give prompt services, always are ready to answer the questions and are trustworthy. The main sources of dissatisfaction appear to be cleanliness, up to date technology modern equipments, and neatly dressed up employees. The Tangibility dimension of service quality of HDFC bank is highly disappointing and serious steps are needed to be taken to enhance this dimension. Customers of the bank are dissatisfied with the empathy dimension. To satisfy these customers, the management can take some attempts, noted earlier as recommendations. The study brings about the areas which require urgent attention of the employees, the management, and the policy makers of the industry. These are areas in which customers are hugely dissatisfied with the services of the banks against their expectation. This high degree of dissatisfaction resulting from the services received clearly questions the design of services or subsequent response of the bank employees. These limitations are too serious to be avoided as these question the front-line people dealing with the customers and the approach of the management in taking customers seriously. The management should understand the benefits of service quality. It include increased customer satisfaction, improved customer retention, positive word of mouth, reduced staff turnover, decreased operating costs, enlarged market share, increased profitability, and improved financial performance. In the days of intense competition, superior service is the only differentiator left before the banks to attract, retain and partner with the customers. Superior service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition, gain a sustainable competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency. Thus, improving service quality leads to the customer satisfaction and, ultimately, to customer loyalty.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Reliability is an obvious place to start. Customers of the bank want to know their resources are safe and within trustworthy institutions. A way to ensure this peace of mind would be to take steps to ensure bank employees are well trained, so each bank associate is able to offer complete and comprehensive information at all times. Consistent policies combined with a knowledgeable staff will foster a high degree of institutional cohesion and reliability. Responsiveness, again when associated with a well-trained staff and timely answers to servicerelated questions, would make significant inroads into causing HDFC bank be regarded as responsive. Staff should be encouraged to present relevant options to banking customers in a manner that does not resemble salesmanship so much as a desire to serve. Intangibles please customers just as much as tangibles in the banking industry. People tend to visit the same branch of a bank over and over again. Usually, this is a location close to their home or their workplace. It is natural that customers become comfortable and habituated to these branch banks, for the same reason they develop familiarity with a neighborhood supermarket or convenience store. It makes sense that bank employees would be encouraged to learn to recognize these regular customers, learn their names, and begin to identify their basic service requirements. Learning to understand customers needs will allow bank associates to offer enhanced services, perhaps lowering customers banking costs and increasing their investment potential. This could also open up the possibility of increased profits for banks, for when perceived as more service and customer oriented, they will, in effect, become a useful and pleasant way to shop. Keeping the bank with up-to-date technologically are important factors. Modern equipments, new improved technology should be replaced with the old ones. If the staff inside is pleasant and well-informed, in an aesthetically pleasing environment, then customer satisfaction will be high. The five-dimensional structure could possibly serve as a meaningful framework for tracking a banks service quality performance over time and comparing it against the performance of competitors. Items on some dimensions should be expanded if that is necessary for reliability. Thus, the banking industries must continuously measure and improve these dimensions in order to gain customers loyalty.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
References Kotler Philip, marketing management, (Pearson education, 12th edition) Malhotra K. Naresh, marketing research (An applied orientation), Research design, (Prentice hall of India pvt. 5th edition) Zeithmal V. A., Grembler D.D., Bitner M.j., and Pandit A.: Service Marketing Integrated customer Focus across the Firm (4th Edition) M.K. Rampal : Service Marketing Websites www.google.com www.hdfcbank.com www.hdfcindia.com www.wikipedia.org www.marketresearch.com

ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE
Respected Sir/Madam I am student of GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, conducting a survey on SERVICE QUALITY OF HDFC BANK. The following statements relate to your feelings about the HDFC bank. Please show the extent to which you believe HDFC bank has the feature described in the statement. I request you to the option which in your opinion are believed to be true. All data will be kept confidential. Name: Age: Educational Qualifications
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither agree Agree Strongly Agree Nor disagree

1. HDFC bank has modern looking equipment. 2. The bank's physical features are visually appealing. 3. The bank's reception desk employees are neat appearing. 4. Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or statements) are visually appealing at the bank. 5. When the bank promises to do something by a certain time, it does so. 6. When you have a problem, the bank shows a sincere interest in solving it. 7. The bank performs the service right the first time. 8. The bank insists on error free records. 9. Employees in the bank tell you exactly when the services will be performed. 10. Employees in the bank give you prompt service. 11. Employees in the bank are always willing to help you. 12. Employees in the bank are never too busy to respond to your request. 13. The employees of the bank are trustworthy. 14. The behavior of employees in the bank instills

confidence in you. 15. You feel safe in your transactions with the bank. 16. Employees in the bank have the knowledge to answer your questions. 17. The bank gives you individual attention. 18. The bank has operating hours convenient to all its customers. 19. The bank has your best interests at heart. 20. The employees of the bank understand your specific needs.