Page 43 - IRC Research Abstracts _ Souvenir_Neat 9 6

MEASURING THE QUALITY OF COOPERATIVE’S SAVINGS AND
CREDIT SERVICES FROM THEIR MEMBERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Madelle P. Conales, CPA, MBA
Faculty, Accountancy Department
College of Business Administration and Accountancy
Mindanao State University-Main Campus
Lanao del Sur, Philippines
madelle.conales@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Cooperatives are vital contributors in the socio-economic development of our society as they
help in attaining better quality of life for their members. With the fact that the value of the
cooperative to members lies primarily in the use of its services, attention must be drawn to
develop quality products and services based on their members’ needs, interests and expectations.
It is imperative that cooperatives regularly assess their members’ satisfaction to further improve
member retention, service offers and attract more members. This study examined the service
quality and levels of satisfaction derived by members in the savings, lending and consumer
credit services of a multi purpose cooperative in Marawi City. This research employed
quantitative techniques and supplemented by qualitative methods. The conceptual framework of
service quality model known as SERVQUAL was conducted with multi-purpose cooperative
members as the respondents of the study. The sample size of 276 respondents was derived using
Cochran’s Formula. Cronbach alpha values for each dimension in both expectations and
perceptions was deemed acceptable with ≤ 0.70 values. Aside from SERVQUAL Gap Score,
this study used SPSS software and employed the statistical tools of mean, percentage, ranking,
frequency and ranking in the interpretation and analysis of data. Paired t test was also conducted
to compare the differences between member expectations and perceptions on their cooperative’s
service quality. The findings of the study revealed that there exists a negative gap for the
cooperative’s service quality, hence a que for quality improvement. Results showed that
management should focus on responsiveness dimension, followed by reliability, then tangibles,
assurance and empathy dimension. Using the weighted gap and incorporating the importance
weights, this study presented a useful diagnosis and recommendations for cooperative
management in prioritizing service quality improvement. The implications of this study is the
ease of use and adaptability of SERVQUAL in regularly assessing and continually improving
the cooperative's savings, credit and lending services.

KEYWORDS
Cooperative, Service Quality Dimensions, SERVQUAL, Service Quality Improvement