Measuring service quality of the Greek Ministry of Agriculture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is mainly to investigate how Greek Farmers perceive service quality provided by the Greek Ministry of Agriculture and secondly, to confirm the five quality dimensions proposed by the SERVQUAL instrument for the Ministry’s service. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire based on the SERVQUAL scale, was used to determine farmers’ perceptions of service quality in the area of central Macedonia in Greece. A total of 245 completed questionnaires were collected. Findings – The analysis has shed some light on the quality gaps for the services provided by the Greek Public sector, suggesting that there is scope for improvement strategies. The results revealed a three-dimensional structure instead of the five dimensions of the SERVQUAL instrument. “Social skills” of the human factor were revealed as being the most critical dimension of quality. Practical implications – This paper provides guidelines for policymakers to develop strategies to identify service quality gaps, while the decrease of such gaps could result in the public services’ improvement. Originality/value – The current study is the first attempt to measure farmers’ perceptions of the service provided by the Greece ministry of Rural Development and Food. Secondly, this study provides additional evidence that the modification of the SERVQUAL scale could be used in different service sectors and cultures.