Applying the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Technology to the Management of Government Services: Rationale, Rigor and Results

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (P.L. 103-62) mandates that government agencies institute performance measurement programs to help managers improve the delivery of services to citizens. Effective implementation of the GPRA’s requirements relies upon measurement systems that provide internal and external feedback to managers in a way that helps them make improvements. One key component is the importance of citizen and Federal agency customer satisfaction measurement. Managers faced with constrained budgetary resources and charged with making the service quality measurements mandated in the GPRA require analytic tools with the power to:

• Handle the multiple, often conflicting, objectives confronting decision-makers responsible for building relationships with citizens and Federal agency customers,
• Sort out the best, most cost effective courses of action that can be taken to improve service delivery and increase citizen satisfaction,
• Provide prescriptive guidance for the most effective marginal allocation of resources,
• Predict the effects of program and policy changes, and ultimately,
• Ensure that citizens and Federal customers can feel confident about relying on the government to meet their needs.

The ACSI Technology is the best method available for meeting these multiple requirements. In a world where there are many competing measurement methodologies a manager can choose, the ACSI technology is superior to the diagnostic and prescriptive tools offered by other firms. It is also much more than a single statistical method – it is a system for assessing the current state and future behaviors of the citizen/customer base and for directing the most effective allocation of resources budgeted for the management of that base.