gender differential paper IJCRB

ijcrb.webs.com
JUNE 2011
INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS VOL 3, NO 2
In the " counter reading" field, the measure of “ the quality of giving information about the
reading time and things that the subscribers need to do in case that the counter is not being read”
with a difference in mean of 0.609 had the best function. By looking at the table above you can
find out that before privatization the mean of this measure has been 2.570 that is so low but after
privatization, it is 3.179 that shows a remarkable increase. You should remember that the
advertisement has played a significant role. The subscribers are not satisfied by the time when
the counter reading officer goes their home to read the counter. So, this measure has not a good
status. Interview with the subscribers shows that the time of counter reading is not suitable and it
is done in the afternoon when most of the people are taking a rest. The electricity company can
have a good plan to resolve this problem. Any way the situation is much better than before
privatization. The effect of “not being read” warning on the subscribers comparing with that
before privatization is too much; so it shows an upward trend in this field.
Approximately all of the measures in the “bill distribution” field have relatively high means. “On
time and regular delivery of bills to the subscribers” measure (0.869) done every other month has
a rational regularity comparing with the period before the privatization. “The clearness of price
and information written on the bill” showing the lowest mean difference of 0.315 comparing
with the other means, states that the subscribers still do not have sufficient knowledge about
some prices and information written on the electricity bill (e.g. subscription cost, taxes, the
subscriber’s previous debt which is not already paid, and total debits, etc) and it may cause a
difference their estimation of price and the real one. The private sector should be responsible
about the clearness of the written information on the bill and be able to make clear the
ambiguities created of this type. It can be done by exact calculation of price and printing enough
explanations, required guidelines or referring them to the related units (departments) in the
electricity company. “Befitting behavior of counter reading officer” measure does not have a
remarkable difference between the means before and after the privatization. The measure of
“being responsible of the counter reading officers about answering the subscribers’ questions”
with a mean of 0.424 does not sound to be so perfect as well and it seems that there are some
problems. So, the best solutions for the mentioned problem are stimulating the in charge
employees of the counter and make it clear for them that answering the subscribers is the main
task. Punishment, penalizing, and reprimand of the in charge employees seem to be suitable
alternatives.
In the “account receiving field”, the measure of “the subscribers’ consent of the bill payment
methods” has the best function. The difference between the means of this measure is 1.429.
There is no need to mention that the “effect of advertisement” measure with a mean of 1.043 has
had a good performance as well. Before the privatization, the payment method was paying the
cost of the used electricity directly to the in charge officer at the door, when they gave the bill to
the subscribers and the best way was payment through the banks. These ways needed to spend a
lot of time and were costly. Nowadays, the costs of coming and going to banks have been
reduced by using the privatization and accompanying the government with private sectors. These
days various methods have been created to pay the bills, e.g. deducting form bank account and
the most important method is paying the bills through the internet. These methods have some
advantages like saving time and money, preventing the useless coming and going, decreasing the
traffic and accidents, decreasing the use of fuel, and as a result reducing the air pollution.
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