Electronic government is referred to as e-government and the services provided by e-government include communication technologies and application of information for the delivery of public services and design of online services. The e-government service analysis includes evaluation of online service quality and portal of customer satisfaction. In Oman, the number of government organizations is working to develop and undertake initiatives to improve the performance of public services and the dimension of services are to analyze the efficiency, security measurement, and responsiveness. The government of Oman relied on the e-government services to obtain the superior relationship of management with the key stakeholders of the state including customers, non-profit organizations, citizens, businesses, and other government agencies (Agrawal, 2018). The ultimate aim of the online services is not merely to automate the existing functions but also improve the processing efficiency of services but also it can be used to provide leverages to the use of technology that can improve the effectiveness of governance, engagement of citizens with the services, trust, and awareness. The accomplishment of all these objectives is contingent on the use of e-government services in Oman. Although, the government of Oman is taking initiatives to develop technological infrastructure the ensure essential web-based services for the users of the online portal (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). The growth of users and customers of the online service portal correspond to the use of government services and online service portal use internet-based services such as e-commerce. The citizens of all nations expect the delivery of high-quality services to the customers by their respective governments. The initiatives of e-commerce websites are based on the capabilities and it can be achieved through proper use of information technology. One of the important aspects of online services is to use government web portals as the electronic medium for the interaction of citizens to the government (Balush & Ali, 2016).

1.1.1        Overview of the Project of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The present study aims to analyze the finding quality of online services of the Oman government. The study determines e-government online service quality from the perspective of citizens of Oman and users. Some of the major aspects that can influence on the success of government and online services depend on the awareness levels of citizens, hopes and fears, the acceptance level of the services in customers, and quality of services provided by the government of Oman to the citizens (Balush & Ali, 2016). The research will analyze substantial investments of government in the development of the technological infrastructure of Oman. The research will analyze the supply of essential web-based services, use of government services, growth of a number of customers of the online website and internet-based services. In the present case, the emerging economies are also considered to analyze how service quality constitutes the major concerns and what are the significant impact on the approaches of government towards online services and e-government. The approach of the present research is to investigate the quality of online services under different dimensions and in relation to e-government services.

1.1.2  Justification for choosing the project of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

Despite the number of factors and the increasing importance of e-government services it is important to analyze the quality of online services in Oman. In Oman, the issue is appearing, and it is obvious since the process of evaluating e-government services form various perspectives. In literature, many studies reported that the majority of customers of the e-government portal shows their strong preferences towards the traditional interactions of customers with the government that led to high unsatisfactory experiences. (Balush & Ali, 2016) The e-government portal and indicators show frequent inclinations for Oman at the regional and international levels. Furthermore, there is a number of factors that have a potential influence on the decision-making process of customers and government. It is important to have a reasonable framework dealing with the evaluation of the quality of e-services that are provided by the government of Oman to the citizens. There is the number of problems that e-government portal is facing particularly lacking understanding, ignoring the needs of users, and influence of process that evaluate services. It is important to develop a valid frame that provides effective methods to evaluate service quality (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). This framework in present work may contribute to reducing the confusion related to the valid and effective process. All these reasons have stimulated the current study and the aim is to evaluate the quality of e-government services from the perspective of customers and citizens. To conclude, the rationale behind this research is based on the conclusions after the evaluation of the quality of services. Precisely, the current study investigates how the model can be used to evaluate the services from the business perspective.

1.2  Statement of the Problem of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The focus of the present study is to analyze and evaluate the quality of e-government services in Oman. The research is based on the perspective of needs to develop and confirm the standards of quality and success factors of online services and customer services portal. The research realizes the separate approaches for the standards, action plans, and beneficiary orientated actions. The emphasize of research is to enable the IT service management services, compliant management standards, and technical standards in Oman. Customer involvement and customer orientation are becoming a success of services around the world. In the case of improved services, the government of Oman cannot ignore the customers and users of public services of government. The improved services quality can be perceived by the services and it can result in the positive behavioural intentions. The direct implications of e-governance initiatives are to understand the perceptions of users and to review the quality of services. The study uses expectations of customers and perceptions of users about the online service quality and e-government and what users explore the services (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013).

1.3 Objectives of the Project of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

1.3.1 General Objectives of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The research is related to the evaluation of e-government portal and online services provided to the citizens of Oman. The evaluation of e-government service quality is an important issue that deals with the firm perspectives of business and services for the stakeholders in Oman. The research aim of the present work can be summarized as follows,

"To develop an applicable and valid framework for the evaluation of online services of Oman with respect to the reference to the designed framework. The research will also evaluate the quality of services and level of customer satisfaction with the website services. The process used in the research will provide support to the process of decision making of customers and citizens of Oman under the services of government.”

1.3.2 Specific Objectives of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

In order to meet the research requirements and objectives, there are two-stage research designs are considered. In the first stage, the literature survey will be carried out in all the related fields of online services portals of Oman including technology adaptation model (TAM), service quality measurement, information quality, e-service quality measurements, system quality, self-service technologies, end-user satisfaction, and e-government assessment models. In this process, research will analyze different fields to develop instrumentation that measure the quality of e-government services. A pool of potentials will be considered to measure quality of online services of the e-government portal and the results will be based on the literature survey (Sahi, Sambyal, & Sekhon, 2016). The research will define a framework based on qualitative techniques, and it will consider different attributes to extract results. The highlighted research objectives are mentioned below,

1)      To explore and understand the quality of government’s services in Oman.

2)      To analyze the linkage between the behavioural intentions and satisfaction and level of acceptance.

3)      To analyze the models and theory related to the evaluation of service quality of online services.

4)      To analyze the quality of online services, form the business perspective and how it can be applied to improve services.

5)      To develop a complete conceptual framework that is based on the models to improve the quality of services from the business perspective.

6)      To identify the gaps that may exist between the actual e-government service quality and expected services.

1.3.3 Research questions of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

Mainly, the research objectives are in concordance with the research methods and the current study will attempt to follow the measurable questions and these questions are mentioned below,

1)      Is there any gap between the expected and actual e-service provided to the citizens of Oman from the perspective of customers?

2)      What are the barriers and enables that induce impact on the e-government services and how the services can be improved?

1.4  Literature Review of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The research work conducted by Shostack (1982, 1984), Gronroos (1984) and Parasuraman (1985) introduced a conceptual framework that can be used to measure and improve the quality of services (Shostack L. , 1982; Shostack L. , 1984). The work includes two different models that measure and investigate the methods to improve the quality of services. The early work considers the model that attracts the attention of the researcher towards the quality of services. Parasurman et all (1985) developed a two-dimensional framework to perceive the quality service model. There is a number of research studies that consider the models to overcome the challenges and support and then propose new models to provide an alternative understanding of the concept of service quality. The prominent work in the literature about analysis of online service portal and website include the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005). The research of Cronin and Taylor (1992, 1994) concluded service quality as a function that can be used to perceive the performance. In the model, the service firms provide appropriate modifications in the situations. After that in the late nineties, the potential growth was measured to analyze the service quality and development of specific models. The measurement of quality is based on information services. The research conducted by Kettinger et al., 1995; Kettinger and Lee, 1999; Loiacono et al., 2000 pointed out some modifications in the model to evaluate effectiveness of services and drawbacks of traditional models about the service quality to characterize the online system on the basis of user perception (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). The research of Liu and Kirk, 2000; Parasuraman et al., 2005 emphasized the important attributes that are required to define the service quality in the environment of information system (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005). Some of the other models were proposed to evaluate the quality of service provided to the customers through online website portal (Liu & Kirk, 2000). The models proposed by Loiacono et al (2000) is WebQual, Yoo and Donthu (2001) proposed SITE-QUAL model, Webb and Webb (2004) introduced SiteQual model, Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2002, 2003) proposed email model, and Parasuraman et al (2005) designed E-S-QUAL to improve service quality in the system environment (Loiacono, Watson, & Goodhue, 2000). These research models include attributes such as compensation, content, interactivity, responsiveness, and ease of use for the models and to evaluate the online system.

 The research work was further extended to apply models for evaluation of online internet-based service quality models and the study is based on the perception of service quality models from the web-based services. In these researches, the study was based on the service quality perception of the online and web-based services. In all the researches the service quality perception of web-based services is considered from a customer perspective (Izogo, 2017; Agrawal, 2018). In the literature, different studies were carried out to address the adoption issues from the perspective of customers and government (Benedetto, Deiana, & Tilocca, 2012). Tan et al (2010) and Lee et al (2011) tested the model about the quality of e-government services and online portal for the customers of different areas. The focus of the model was on the transactional frequency on the perception of service quality and websites of e-government (Tan, Benbasat, & Cenfetelli, 2010). The work conducted by Krishnan and Thompson (2011) was based on the use of technology, environment theory, and organization and the research conducted different factors analysis on the basis of citizen participation and to measure the relationship of citizens with the service quality (Krishnan & Thompson, 2011).

Papadomichelaki and Mentzas (2009) researched to analyze the perception of users based on e-government services and testing of services. The models were mainly dealing with the user perception and conceptualization of e-government service quality. The testing of models was against the developed scales. The models were oriented towards the development of services and how they can be improved. The models are oriented towards the advanced nations and developing countries received the attention of scholars. The research work pertains initiatives of e-government models and receives the attention of scholars (Papadomichelaki & Mentzas, 2009).

In the literature, there are two main dimensions to measure the service quality of online services provided to the customer by the government of the state. The core dimensions of research measure different aspects that can be concerning with the relational dimensions, services delivered, and process concerning aspects. The question of research in the literature is how the services are delivered and how it can be improved from the customer perspective. In the late 1990s, the research studies were mainly focusing on the impact of service quality (Prakash & Mathew, 2014).

The framework to measure the effectiveness of services is known as SERVAL that measures perceptions and expectations of performance levels and service attributes. The conceptualization of service quality is to measure the direction and degree of discrepancy between the expectations and consumer perceptions. The expectations can be viewed on the bases of services provided to the customers (Agrawal, 2018). Cohen, Fishbein and Ahtola (1972) worked to determine individual attitude towards the service quality. Brady and Cronin (2001) argued about the factors that induce impact on the measurement of services and factors that contribute to the improvement of service quality (Krishnan & Thompson, 2011).

The research tried to focus on how the services are delivered and how services can be measured. The factors considered in SERVQUAL are not considered as the initial point of research. Parasuraman and Grewal (2000) suggested research that defines relative importance and definitions of the five service quality dimensions that interact the customers with new technology instead of services (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985). The key outcomes of literature and research include the development and adaptation of models that illustrate factors and associations. Al-Shihi (2006) developed e-government adoption framework that can be used to analyze service quality of online portals for the customers.

1.4.1 Theoretical Review of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The location of Sultanate of Oman is in the southeastern regions of the Arabian Peninsula and it is adjacent to the Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Yemen. The current GDP status of Oman is 27.95 billion rials. Since the 1990s, Oman is embarking the major modernization and working to launch internet services for the customers and citizens. The beginning of modernization is from the e-revolution. The proportion of internet users in Oman has been growing steeply as the annual growth rate is increased by about 27% between 2000 to 2010 (Belwal & Amireh, 2018). In the first quarter of 2012, the user and internet subscribers were 2,483,833. The implementation of new technology and development process is improving the lay foundation for the digital society and e-commerce and e-government constitutes major strategic priorities for the development of online services in Oman (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). Recent researches show an increase in online service usage as 89.6 per cent. In Oman, the progress of e-government services varies considerably, and organizations are taking initiatives to deal with the issues. The municipality of Oman has introduced online information services where all the clients can contact for the services. In case of these portals, the clients can apply for the different services and then they pay for the services through the internet (Mumuni, Luqmani, & Quraeshi, 2017). The system is improving in case of services from the customer perspectives and they use smart multifunction ID card of users and these cards have access to the civil status of customers. The other online services are provided under the rules and regulations of the Ministry of commerce and industry (Agrawal, 2018). In these services, the process of registering the online services are under the need of involvement of multiple government parties such as Muscat Municipality, Oman chamber of commerce and industry, ROP, Ministry of manpower, and the ministry of commerce and industry. The process used in these services is time consuming and lengthy due to lengthy procedures, geographic separation, and complications. Recently, the representatives of government introduced a new method for online services and the cost of services is around the US $2.6 million (Agrawal, 2018; Mumuni, Luqmani, & Quraeshi, 2017). 

1.4.2  Related Work of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

One of the widely used models was introduced by Davis (1989) that can be used to predict the adoption of information technology. The technology adoption model can be used to understand the behaviour of the customer by using the information system. The model was basically a modified the form of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and was incorporated with the technology to explain the use of behaviour of technology (Shostack L. , 1982; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985). There are two concepts in the previous related work including measurement of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use for the customers. The research can explore different aspects for assessment of e-government online services of users (Agrawal, 2018). The prospective users are subjected to measure the specific application system. The second parameter of analysis is “Perceived ease of use” and the concept is useful to measure the performance of online services for the customers. According to Yang and Fang (2004), the use of online services can be significant for new technology adoption, but it is important to analyze the online service quality (Yang & Fang, 2004). 

1.4.3 Synthesis of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

There are several key dimensions to measure and analyze the online service quality for instance response rate of customers and clients, customization, reliability, content, and usefulness of the services. The research finds a significant effect of services perceived from the ease of use and how it influences on the attitudes towards the usage and re-usage of the websites (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). The previous research work better helps to get the idea about the topic under consideration along with the findings. Also, in any country this research work will better help to evaluate the service’s quality of the government.

1.5  Scope and Success Criteria of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The evaluation of online services provided by the government of Oman has focused on the process of assessing the system, effectiveness of the system, quality of services, user satisfaction, cost and benefits analysis, and information economics. Therefore, it is essential to measure the quality of services in light of e-government projects and services (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). The research explores the prospects and effectiveness of service quality. The quality of service is measured in terms of gaps between the expectation and perception of customers. The greater the gap is the fewer customers are satisfied with the services and vice versa. The success of services is dependent on the capability and expectation of users (Agrawal, 2018).

1.6   Project Plan of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The research attempts to focus on the quality of e-government services from the customer perspective. Therefore, the present study will consider all domains of e-government and e-services. The project plan is based on the determination of different areas to show continuous increase in the e-services and dominant services. The quest of research is to encourage the adaptation of business and citizens. The research plan outline presence of services and diversity in the service targets. The motivation of research is to analyze difficulties faced by customers and citizens of Oman while using online service portal. The other factors considered in the research are issues faced by government for establishment of high-quality e-services (Sharma, Al-Shihi, & Govindaluri, 2013). The strategic plan used in the research provides a roadmap for the organization. In the research studies assessment tools are considered to analyze the quality of online services and web portal for the customers. The strategic plan as an action plan includes different considerations of online services such as structure of services, accountability, IT process and procedures, and resource allocation. The suitable project plan will assist all the factors including framework, goal, risk, and capacity. The model used in the research will consider action plans and transformation in the services. The research is based on two plans including investigation plan and development plan. In the first stage the qualitative research is considered that consist of focus groups and in-depth interviews. The second stage of the plan is comprised of questionnaire survey. The questionnaire will consist of questions related to services and issues faced by the customers. The measurement scales will be defined to study the empirical studies and explanatory studies (Agrawal, 2018).

1.6.1     Project Deliverables and Milestones with Timescale (GANTT Chart)

The Gantt Chart include all the information about the timeline of research.  The factors considered in the Gantt are mentioned below,

Table 1: Gantt chart and milestone table

1.6.2 An Investigation Plan of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The assessment of online service portal and e-governance service quality is based on different categories. In the analysis the collected information was of different types including accurate information, reliable information, useful information, timely information, and comprehensive information. The data will be analyzed by retrieving different methods. The data will be integrated under wide range of services provided through the website and it will measure customized features of e-service portal (Sahi, Sambyal, & Sekhon, 2016). The research will analyze the availability of online services for the customers. The analysis will consider fast navigation of services, quick response of actions of e-government website. If the web pages load quickly then the services of online portal are improved and high-quality services. Another factor of analysis is measurement of emotional engagement of users with the online forum. The active service recovery, compensation, responsibility, and control of online services will be analyzed. The whole analysis that is considered in the investigation plan is dependent on response of users about the services through the questionnaire. The concern of present work is to demonstrate quickness of services and recovery of services in case of any issue (Belwal & Amireh, 2018). The government of Oman is responsible to introduce excellent complaint handling process that can satisfy service failure. The investigation plan about the services is dependent on the outcomes of questionnaire and the pre-test questionnaire consisted of,

1.      The research will measure different quality items under two set of statements. The first statement will reflect the expectation of the citizens of Oman about the level of e-governance online services and online customer satisfaction portal. In this section customers will reflect the level of e-governance online services according to their needs and perception. Likert scale will use the range of responses from completely disagree to completely agree with all the statement.

2.      The demographic and online services will also be considered.

Table 2: Parameters and considerations of research

 1.6.3 A Development Plan of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

Table 3:Development plan of the research

1.6.4 Evaluation and Test Plan of Government Online Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Portal

The adaptation of e-government services is becoming a very significant strategic plan for the government of Oman. The services will be provided to the citizens of Oman under the proven fundamental framework of government. It is important to analyze significance of project from the perspective of customers and government of Oman.  The research will identify the factors affecting efficiency of services and unification of government application and IT for the citizens of Oman. In general, the aim of online services is to transform the service delivery and to make the process easy and effective for the citizens. The sequential conditions are different for customers and research aim to measure effectiveness of these strategies for the customers.

2.  References of Context and Preliminary Investigation

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Balush, T. H., & Ali, S. (2016). Exploring the Dimensions of Electronic Government Service Quality. Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School.

Belwal, R., & Amireh, M. (2018). Service quality and attitudinal loyalty: Consumers’ perception of two major telecommunication companies in Oman. Arab Economic and Business Journal, 13(02), 197-208.

Benedetto, B., Deiana, E., & Tilocca, P. (2012). Measuring service quality in urban bus transport: a modified SERVQUAL approach. International Journal of Quality and Service, 04(03), 238-252.

Izogo, E. (2017). Customer loyalty in telecom service sector: The role of service quality and customer commitment. The TQM Journal, 29(01), 19-36.

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Loiacono, E., Watson, R., & Goodhue, D. (2000). WebQual: a web site quality instrument working paper. Worcester : Worcester Polytechnic Institute, .

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Papadomichelaki, X., & Mentzas, G. (2009). A multiple-item scale for assessing e-government service quality. berlin: Springer.

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Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra. (2005). E-S-QUAL: a multiple-item scale for assessing electronic service quality. Journal of Service Research, 07(03), 213-234.

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