The Impact of ICTs on Customer Service Excellence in Zimbabwe

The diffusion and adoption of ICT innovations permeate through a social system that positively affects customer satisfaction and support customer service excellence. The three discourses with respect to information systems innovation are discussed in the context of Zimbabwe with particular reference to diffusion, social embeddedness, and the transformative nature of ICT interventions. The framework for service excellence links the customer to the service environment, service delivery and the processes. The Xerox Excellence Model represents one of the early excellence pioneering models, and the EFQM European Excellence Model is a representative of international quality award model that informs customer service excellence. The methodology used is a mixed method approach, where the quantitative approach was used in assessing the ICT usage patterns and indicators in Zimbabwe. The research used the quantitative approach on Infodensity covering 18 countries in East and Southern Africa for the period 2000 to 2012, and for Africa in comparison with the rest of the world from 2005 to 2014. The qualitative approach was used in the analysis of online query handling facilities at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) website. Through a random sampling technique a total of 42,349 views were collected through the ZOU website on addressing frequently asked questions as a way to improve customer service excellence. The ICT development index in Zimbabwe has grown steadily from the year 2000 to 2012, where Zimbabwe experienced one of the highest mobile density increases from 2007 to 2012 due to the enabling environment created by the Government of Zimbabwe. The infrastructural facilities for ICTs are now sound in Zimbabwe. However, the gap is on the application and effective utilization of ICTs to improve on customer service excellence with some innovation. Keywords—ICT diffusion, innovation, customer service excellence, model, education, business