Suggestions to enhance the quality of transportation agency service at VOSA

SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG PREFACE During my internship in VOSA Haiphong, I had a chance to investigate about transportation agency service This is currently one of the main business of agency Under determination of managers of VOSA, this service will play very important role in transportation field in the near future Therefore, I decided to choose the topic: “Suggestions to enhance the quality of transportation agency service at VOSA” which the aim to understand the current status of implementing this service in this agency This dissertation consists  Chapter 1: Literature  Chapter 2: Current Status Of Implementing Cargo Transportation Agency Service At VOSA  Chapter 3: Suggestions To Enhance The Quality Of Transportation Agency Service At VOSA Haiphong I declare that this report is my own unaided work It has not been submitted before If violated, I am solely responsible for and bear the punishments of the Institution and University Student Name and Signature NGUYEN DANG LUAN NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pagei SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG ACKNOWLED GEMENT Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank the guide of my advisor: Prof: Vuong Thu Giang and all employeesand staff of Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agency in Haiphong who created conditions for me to complete this topic Due to limitation of time and knowledge, the dissertation inevitably has mistaken I look forward to the instructions of lecturers and teacher in board of appraisal NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pageii SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii INTRODUCTION 1 Necessitation Dissertation Purpose .1 Dissertation Object and Scope .2 Dissertation Methodology .2 Scientific and real significance of dissertation .2 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Quality of transportation agency service .3 1.1.1 Service and Features of Service 1.1.2 Service quality and the features of service quality 1.1.3 Characteristics of transportation service sector 1.1.4 The factors constituting the quality of transport agency service .6 1.1.5 Other factors affecting to the quality of transportation agency service 1.2 The role of quality improvement of transport agency service for improving business efficiency 1.2.1 The concept, content and the necessity of improving business efficiency 1.2.2 The role of enhancing the quality of transportation agency service to business performance in VOSA 10 CHAPTER 2: CURRENT STATUS OF IMPLEMENTING CARGO TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA 12 2.1 Introduction about VOSA Haiphong 12 2.1.1 General description about VOSA Haiphong 12 2.1.2 History and development 12 2.1.3 Main business and mission of VOSA Haiphong 13 2.1.4 The organizational structure and functions and responsibilities of each department 15 NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pageiii SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG 2.1.5 Activities in term of transportation agency service of VOSA Haiphong 17 2.1.6 Business performance of VOSA Haiphong 17 2.2 The quality of transportation agency service at VOSA Haiphong 20 2.2.1 Safety (Avoidance of cargo loss and damage) 20 2.2.2 Time (Speed) 23 2.2.3 Cost 25 2.3 Advantages and disadvantages of implementation of transportation agency service at VOSA Haiphong 28 2.3.1 Advantages 28 2.3.2 Disadvantages 29 CHAPTER 3: SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAIPHONG 32 3.1 Development objectives of VOSA 32 3.1.1 Main objectives of company 32 3.1.2 Strategies for the medium and long-term development 32 3.2 Suggestions to improve the quality of transportation agency service 33 3.2.1 Improve the quality of human resources 33 3.2.2 Improve the ability of staff in the preparation of contracts and administrative procedures 34 3.2.3 Investing in modernization of equipment in service as well as freight vehicles 35 3.2.4 Having indicator systems to monitor service quality affects customers 36 3.2.5 Have a system to collect the feedback from customers as the basis for quality management 37 3.2.6 Developing policies to encourage customers 39 3.2.7 Improve the service quality by reducing the time of transport 40 CONCLUSION 44 REFERENCES 45 NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pageiv SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS WTO World Trade Organization VOSA Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agency BL Bill of Lading NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pagev SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of indicators .8 Table 2: Revenue and profit Of VOSA Haiphong from 2011 to 2014 18 Table 3: Number of ships served by VOSA Haiphong 20 Table 4: Summary of damage cargo in the progress of implementation of transportation agency service 22 Table 5: Summarize of plan for cargo transportation 24 Table 6: Cost for business activities of VOSA Haiphong in from 2011 to 2014 26 Table 7: Suggested questionnaire for customer’s opinion about service 38 NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pagevi SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: VOSA Haiphong 12 Figure 2: Organizational Structure of VOSA Haiphong 15 Figure 3: Progress of examining the reasons for late delivery 39 Figure 4: Selection of mean of transportation 42 NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Pagevii SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG INTRODUCTION Necessitation International Trade of Vietnam has grown rapidly over the past 15 years since integrating into the world economy, especially after Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) In addition, the significant growth of Logistics has promoted people use the resources in an optimal way to deliver products and services with the highest quality and lowest costs to the last users Therein, cargo transportation is also one of the important contents of logistics and currently become an indispensable activity in the international merchandise trade However, the progress of commercialization also means that there are more competitions in cargo transportation in particular and freight forwarding in general For the transport sector, a sector with the increasingly fierce competition, in order to survive, each transport company and agency have to create its own way so as to have the best competitiveness Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agency (VOSA) is a company operating effectively in the freight industry in Vietnam today Over long time of development, branch Haiphong of VOSA has grown steadily with various types of business and cargo transportation agency service was one of the most important services contributing primarily to revenue of agency Therefore, investigating and studying the business operations of VOSA Haiphong in general and cargo transportation agency activities in particular will help us have a more complete view of the development of agency and the quality of cargo transportation agency services Dissertation Purpose Investigating the quality of cargo transportation agency service at VOSA Haiphong is very necessary inorder to carry out accurate assessment about pros and cons in the implementation of this service at VOSA Haiphong From there, we can suggest some effective resolutions to contribute to enhance the quality of service that VOSA Haiphong is applying The improvement in service quality can help to promote cargo transportation activity and stabilize the steady development of business at VOSA Haiphong This is very important issues for manager and the main purpose of dissertation NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page1 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG Dissertation Object and Scope 3.1 Dissertation Object Examining the literature about cargo transportation agency service, investigating the situation about providing cargo transportation agency service at Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agency and offering some basic suggestions to enhance the service quality of cargo transportation agency service at Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agency Service (VOSA) 3.2 Dissertation Scope Cargo transportation agency service has been being applied by the company in the period from 2011 to 2014 Dissertation Methodology During the progress of investigating and researching topic, the dissertation has used the following methods:  Data collecting and summarizing  Data processing  Data analyzing  Systemize the investigated indicators Scientific and real significance of dissertation Dissertation will systemize some general issues about cargo transportation field and basis to assess the quality of service as well In addition, the dissertation also generalizes the foundation and development of VOSA and assesses the quality of offering the current cargo transportation agency service of company This will focus on finding some problems when providing service, the reason of these issues to suggest the appropriate solutions in order to enhance the quality of cargo transportation agency service at VOSA NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page2 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Quality of transportation agency service 1.1.1 Service and Features of Service The term “service” is used to define as “any act or performance, one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything its production may or may not be tied to a physical product Service includes all economic activities whose output is not a physical product or construction, consumed at the time it is produced and provides added value in forms (such as convenience, amusement, timeliness, comfort and health) that are essentially intangible and it concerns of its first purchaser”(Dabhade, 2013) In other words, service is the result of at least one activity to be conducted at relationships between suppliers and customers and often not visible Which customers are organizations or individuals receiving product, consumer, service beneficiaries, final users, retailers, beneficiaries? The supplier is an organization or individual providing products, the manufacturer, distributor, retailer or wholesaler, service providers Suppliers may be internal or outside the organization If there is a contract for the use of service, supplier may appoint a representative or use other mean of transactions Customer activity upon contact with suppliers is also important for the provision of services The provision or use of tangible products may be part of the service provider Service may be associated with the production and the supply, manufacture tangible products Nowadays, all manufacturing activities are included small services: supply service, distribution service, warranty service, installation service It can be seen as special type of commodities However, service includes several following features:  Intangibility: the main characteristic of services is that they have no particular tangibility or physicality This feature makes the quality of service largely depends on customer perceptions but not always customers have the same feeling NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page3 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG CHAPTER 3: SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAIPHONG 3.1 Development objectives of VOSA 3.1.1 Main objectives of company Being one of the branches of Vietnam Ocean Shipping Agent, VOSA Haiphong also has main objectives as follow:  Make the company become one of the leading companies in the field of maritime and logistics services; rapid and sustainable development based on core businesses are shipping agency, transportation agency services, warehousing and logistics services; multimodal transportation; port operators and export-import trade  Promote manufacture and business, apply new technologies in production, manage efficiently resources, practice saving management cost, use well and effectively source of capital in order to maximize profits for the company  Expand the network of company and the production and business activities in international markets  Develop human resources, ensure the legitimate rights and create the best working environment for employees  Fully implement the obligations of the state, contribute to the development of country 3.1.2 Strategies for the medium and long-term development Constructing and persistently implementing market strategy, maintaining the tradition of maritime services such as shipping agents, ship supply and related services; extending linear agency service for new carriers in Vietnam; promote logistics activities such as cargo transportation agency service, warehousing, bonded warehousing; commodities exporting and importing service, investing to construct the big network of warehouse and upgrading handling facilities to reach NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page32 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG the international standards, investing to transportation vehicles to meet the needs of customers, gradually reaching out international markets 3.2 Suggestions to improve the quality of transportation agency service Based on the current status of implementing cargo transportation agency service at VOSA and the development objectives of company in the future, agency should implement the following solutions in order to enhance the quality of transportation agency service from my own perspectives 3.2.1 Improve the quality of human resources  Changing the attitudes of managers and staff at VOSA Haiphong About managers: We know that human resources are the key element of any organization The role of managers is to set up a leading position which makes leaders offer policies and measures to improve the effectiveness of individuals and staff in the company From there, it may have the direct impact on the quality of this service Therefore, the managers of VOSA Haiphong must also be qualified people and have responsibility To improve the quality of transportation agency service, senior managers of VOSA Haiphong must be immediately have appropriate policy strategies The next is to design services based on the customer's request (through market surveys) to provide quality characteristics Then, the managers must have committed to implementing a quality management program About staff, workers: staff and workers must be educated with high sense of responsibility for the cargoes In all cases, they must well their duties in the progress of providing transportation service In cases, problems are not within the scope of their responsibilities but there are errors in operation, the risk of cargoes loss or damage, they must also take measures to immediately notify the shippers If someone cause damage for cargoes must compensate Some employees are not aware of the importance of quality of service and service quality management, they must be retrained  Training to improve the professional qualifications of transport and freight forwarding for the workers and employees of VOSA Haiphong NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page33 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG Agency should organize frequently the foreign trade course, foreign language course, computer course for business officers and appoint officials to go abroad to learn and discuss about profession with foreign partners In addition, agency also need to retrain staff in order to enhance theirawareness of service quality, the goals and challenges so company can satisfy customers Thus, staff training is one of the company’s strategies  Offering promotion or reward to encourage the staff, workers Ensuring all members are equal in the organization Rewarding for employees who have ability to complete the tasks Giving incentives for those who are conscious of teamwork and rewarding those groups that interested in finding out the cause of reduced service quality 3.2.2 Improve the ability of staff in the preparation of contracts and administrative procedures  Before writing contract Before signing the contract, both parties must review the contract and think carefully about the issues in the contract Identifying accurately what contracts was Company should have an objective viewpoint and serious perspective about issues before drafting  While writing contract Agency must pay attention to the invitation of the contract The definitions in the contract must also be clear and the use of words must be accurate Regarding to terms in the contract, this is a very important content of contract In this case, company need to clearly specify: - Delivery time is correct - The volume and type of cargoes - Form of transport - Place of delivery NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page34 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG - The resolutions for problems - The choice of transport routes  After writing contract After completing the contract, the most important thing is VOSA Haiphong need to monitor the implementation of the transport contract by carriers Company must also manage the time from the contract has been signed to the terms in the contract is fulfilled  For preparation of administrative procedures Improving the quality of preparations of administrative procedures contribute significant on reducing transport time, especially the issue of customs procedures Therefore, the preparation to submit document to the customs gate must be quick and complete The key for VOSA Haiphong to make customs procedures for trade goods as quickly as possible is maintaining the relationship between the company and related customs authorities Understanding procedures is very important because the quick reaction will improve the service quality of the company 3.2.3 Investing in modernization of equipment in service as well as freight vehicles • Modernization of facilities, equipment transport Investing more in container trucks Nowadays, the trend of shipping cargoes is quickly transformed into the use of container for transportation The method of using container for cargo transportation has economic efficiency while improving service quality In Vietnam, although the current technical infrastructure to form the container transport system is still limited but we have been applying container on inland transport This is consistent with the progress of development in science and technology in international transport NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page35 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG In VOSA Haiphong, although agency has been invested in transport equipment and facilities but sometimes company still has to outsource Therefore, investing more container truck seems to be essential Working with transport, necessary facilities is not simply container truck but also many mean other transport equipment That means the vehicle must be designed as specialized for transporting containers The containerization also promotes VOSA Haiphong should invest in agency’s warehouse to develop and establish additional container yards, warehouses Besides, the trend of containerization in cargo transportation in foreign trade facilitates renting and modern stevedoring services Therefore, to improve the quality of transportation service, it is necessary to pay attention to this aspect • Modernization of the equipment for service management To be able to achieve good results in production and business and improve the quality of transportation agency service in particular and other services of agency in general, the number of computers must be installed for most departments, especially transportation agency department Telephone should be available anytime because currently VOSA Haiphong has many shippers contacting via telephone and network computers Customers will be more satisfied if the call on agency is picked up immediately They will not have to wait for the phone or whatever reasons It is necessary to be equipped with a modern computer network throughout agency Meanwhile, internal communication network and information between the departments will be exchanged with a higher intensity, more effective For regular staff in external activities, equipping devices such as mass media as pagers, mobile radios or laptops is also essential It may ensure that agency officers complete the work more efficiently The information within agency or between the Company and shippers is exchanged faster can help to catch up with newest information about transported shipment 3.2.4 Having indicator systems to monitor service quality affects customers In Vietnam in general and transportation service provider in particular, the concern about developing indicators to measure the quality of service is usually ignored because of following reason: NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page36 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG - Firstly: service is intangible and invisible, especially the quality of transport services is difficult to quantify and calculate - Second: the majority of managers in the company not pay much attention to this issue, or they hesitate to concern about them because it is quite complicated problem To build a system of quality indicators, VOSA Haiphong needs to collect information through the reviews of customers and investigate customers to evaluate the customer's requirements for quality services that the company offers VOSA Haiphong has to investigate the opinions of customers on the basis of building a system that precisely reflects indicators of the quality of service provided One of the indicators that VOSA Haiphong need to have: - Maximum measurement uncertainty of time allowed when delivery cargo in the final destination - Maximum measurement uncertainty of time allowed since the contract was signed until the contract is done - The safety level of transported cargoes - Build the tariff for each different type of customers - The level of modernity of machinery and equipment - The level of knowledge of the staff and employees in the willingness to address questions to the client On that basis, company can assess the level of customer satisfaction toward transportation agency service: - Percentage of customers using the service of company once - Percentage of customers who use the company's service twice or more - The number of customers complained about this service of company 3.2.5 Have a system to collect the feedback from customers as the basis for quality management NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page37 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG  Organizing customer conference Company should organize customer conference for those who use the transportation agency service of company So, board of directors can get their opinions about the quality of services that VOSA Haiphong offers Since then, agency may promote the advantages and reduce the disadvantages and enhance the quality of cargo transportation service Collecting customer feedback can be carried out through a questionnaire form The questionnaire can be made with the following contents: Table 7: Suggested questionnaire for customer’s opinion about service Indicators VOSA Haiphong has modern equipment and facilities for service Assessment VOSA Haiphong delivers cargoes on-time VOSA Haiphong delivers cargoes safely Staff of agency are always ready to support customers Staff of agency seem to understand customer's issues VOSA Haiphong always implement company's commitment accurately (1: strongly disagree/5: strongly agree)  Evaluating the level of customer satisfaction with other competitors In the transportation field with fierce competition, only little problems during process of providing services will make the customers decide to not cooperate with company Businesses will lose their advantage when customers find providers of similar services with higher quality So, VOSA Haiphong need to assess the level of customer satisfaction toward transportation agency service and competitors to continually improve quality and create customer satisfaction with the services offered Some suggested collection methods, customer reviews may include: - Periodically investigate customers of competitors NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page38 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG - Periodically investigate customers of agency - Investigate customers who use service of company once - Evaluate the quality of service of competitors - Evaluate the results achieved by the Company and competitors after the quality effort From there, VOSA Haiphong can enhance and improve quality of service provided In addition, agency must assess positive and negative aspects after a large shipment After each important shipment, agency’s managers and the workers directly involved in the transport of shipment need to have a meeting to identify problems and reasons An example of finding the reasons why truck delivers cargoes late can be explained as follow: Human Resource Attitude/Profession Speed of delivery Driving ability/Road system/Vehicles Time of delay Organizing transport/Procedures /Road System Service quality Figure 3: Progress of examining the reasons for late delivery 3.2.6 Developing policies to encourage customers  Giving customers some the free and small benefits The essence of this measure is to give customers some free services (additional service) with no surcharges This measure does not affect the pricing structure but has great significance for agency’s customers To implement this measure, VOSA Haiphong should: - Advising customers on the status in the transportation market, the situation of foreign trade, international law NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page39 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG - Advising customers on import and export partners who have the potential and reputation in the transportation market - Advising customers on reputable shipping lines, transportation firms and the general procedure for importing and exporting cargoes - Advising customers on the selection of suppliers who are the most suitable for them That means the customers who have transportation needs but could not find material and cargoes suppliers So, VOSA Haiphong may advise customers to purchase at the supplier who have the cheapest price and best quality - Within the ability, agency should offer some benefits like insurance of goods during transportation from customer location or free storage for customers in a number of days if the cargoes are expired for storage However, offering free and attractive services to the customer but agency should be easy to implement and the services are inexpensive For example, with free storage, during off-peak time, there are usually more spacious warehouse and more capability for faster clearance so the fee is inexpensive to agency  There are priority policies for traditional customers, customer shipping with large quantities In order to improve the quality of transportation agency service to keep customers stay with VOSA Haiphong, the indispensable measures which agency must carry out is that there are incentives for traditional customers, or shippers who transported in bulk So, customers will be satisfied and consider continuing using agency's service With traditional customers, especially large companies who had long-term business with agency, in the holidays or any occasions, VOSA Haiphong should send people to visit and give a gift In case the traditional customers of agency are individuals, if they are in sickness, agency should send representatives to visit A series of measures may help VOSA Haiphong increase its service quality and make customers feel to be cared 3.2.7 Improve the service quality by reducing the time of transport NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page40 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG T (transport) = T (loaded) + T (without load) + T (parking) + T (stevedoring) Based on the above formula, we have: With running time with load: this time depends on the capacity and means of transport and the conditions of the transport system Therefore, to reduce the running time with load, agency needs to improve the capacity of means of transport That is the improvement and renewal of transport vehicles in order to improve capacity Transportation system is also a factor affecting running time of vehicle with load The effective system will facilitate vehicle during transportation and reduce running time with load To get a convenient transportation system, VOSA Haiphong will have been proposals for department of authorities on maintenance of road and waterway This very difficult job and require agency to coordinate with other transport companies and propose to Ministry of Transport to have appropriate resolutions Reduce parking time and running time without load of vehicle: parking time and running time without load of vehicle are mostly influenced by the issue of organizing the transport and finding cargoes sources for agency In order to reduce types of time above, VOSA Haiphong need to organize well the profession of driving ships and trucks This issue could be solved on the basis of distributing resources Therefore, VOSA Haiphong needs to have measures to attract transport demands from shippers To resolve this issue should be aware: the requirement for cargoes transportation, vehicle choices and the attitude of shippers after choosing the mean of transport to have a specific solution: NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page41 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG Shippers Demand for transportation + Flow of cargoes (starting point, destination, cargo volumes) + Standby time and shipping time + Transport capacity, transport costs + Category of goods leads to the need for storage, handling and transportation Selecting mean of transport Attitude when using vehicle + Safety and reliability when transporting + Carrying capacity: includes volume of cargoes and handling equipment + Transport costs Psychology, habits when using vehicles + Satisfied and trust and continue using vehicles chosen + Unsatisfied in whole or in every stage carriage Figure 4: Selection of mean of transportation Therefore, for the selection of the mean of transport, it is necessary to increase the reliability and safety in transport This activity has an effect on many aspects Increasing the level of safety also means reducing some costs for accidents and this is also the form of keeping the word "credit" that was the goal of all companies today pursuing To increase the security and reliability required to perform strict inspection regime periodically with the means of transportation, there are severe disciplinary action against fraudulent activities in the registration There is necessary to strict this issue because of the accident originated from vehicles registration creating huge damage to people, goods and vehicles NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page42 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG During stevedoring progress, it is essential to examine the use of labor protective equipment like helmet, gloves In transport process, it requires rescue system, especially with transport by waterways For cargo vessels during the voyage, weather forecasting department needs to work more effectively in forecasting the weather changes Communications systems within agency with the means of transportation are always guaranteed in good condition Reduce the time for loading and unloading Unloading time is a factor of turnaround time, reduce unloading time may reduce turnaround time Time handling mainly depends on the infrastructure and handling facilities So, investing in additional equipment is extremely important NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page43 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG CONCLUSION Improving the quality of services and products to increase the competitiveness of such enterprises becomes an important factor determining the existence of any businesses as well as the whole economy In the period of integration, the issue of quality is more important than ever The issue of quality is more important than ever Today, the companies not only compete with each other merely through pricing strategies but also the quality of products and services This is important issues that decide the existence of the enterprises, especially the enterprises operating in the agency service sector like VOSA After a period of practice at VOSA Haiphong, I boldly suggest a number of measures to improve the quality of transportation agency service at agency with the aim to help business become better to serve customers and thereby expanding of the business market as well as improving business situation The issue of quality is not a new problem, but the quality of transportation agency service is a very difficult problem Therefore, I sincerely thank supervisor Vuong Thu Giang who has dedicatedly given instruction and recommendation to help me complete this dissertation I also sincerely thank the managers and all employees of VOSA Haiphong who create the best chance to me during the time I practice at agency and help me to make recommendation in this dissertation NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page44 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG REFERENCES A Parasuraman, V A (1985) A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research Journal of Marketing, 42-43 Albert Mancera, D B (n.d.) 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DEVELOPING SERVICE QUALITY USING GAP MODEL- A CRITICAL STUDY IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 46 Roberts, P W (1979) Predicting freight transport level of service for service attributes MIT W.J, R (1963) The Service Revolution Journal of Marketing, 57-62 Zeithaml V.A., P A (1985) Problems and Strategies in Services Marketing Journal of Marketin, 33-46 NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page45 SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION AGENCY SERVICE AT VOSA HAI PHONG NGUYEN DANG LUAN GMA02 Page46 ... need to have strategies so as to provide the best service to their customers 1.1.2 Service quality and the features of service quality What is service quality and features of service quality? The. .. complete view of the development of agency and the quality of cargo transportation agency services Dissertation Purpose Investigating the quality of cargo transportation agency service at VOSA Haiphong... 1.1.4 The factors constituting the quality of transport agency service .6 1.1.5 Other factors affecting to the quality of transportation agency service 1.2 The role of quality improvement of