American Journal of Operations Management and Information Systems 2017; 2(2): 76-80 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajomis doi: 10.11648/j.ajomis.20170202.12 Assessing Total Quality Customer Service as the New Paradigm in Nigeria Banking System Marcus Garvey Orji 1 , Olowu Daudu Malachy 1 , Mohammed Zubairu 1 , Akhimien Emmanuel 2 1 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 2 Department of Business Administration, Igbinedion University Okada, Okada, Nigeria Email address: orjimarcusgarvey@yahoo.com (M. G. Orji) To cite this article: Marcus Garvey Orji, Olowu Daudu Malachy, Mohammed Zubairu, Akhimien Emmanuel. Assessing Total Quality Customer Service as the New Paradigm in Nigeria Banking System. American Journal of Operations Management and Information Systems. Vol. 2, No. 2, 2017, pp. 76-80. doi: 10.11648/j.ajomis.20170202.12 Received: October 31, 2016; Accepted: January 6, 2017; Published: January 27, 2017 Abstract: The adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) as part of marketing concepts has shifted competitive advantage from production to customer service. Consequently, how each producer treats the customers has become the subject of competitive manipulation. In the developed nations of the world, quality customer service has proved to be the least unexplored frontiers where organizations can gain competitive advantage. As a result of this new thrust in quality customer service and the need to follow the example of the developed nations. This study sets out to examine whether or not the Nigerian producer or service provider, especially in the banking sector has adjusted to the new trend through its strategic manufactures. The study is a survey research and employed the use of questionnaires, and Blanchard’s (1992) elements of legendary customer strategies were used as the basis for the questionnaires. These strategies were described in terms of commitment to service, recovery strategy, commitment to continuous improvement, listening to customers and responding. The findings revealed that frontline workers have no autonomy to take independent actions when necessary in the interest of both the customer and the bank’s long run profitability, and that Measuring customer satisfaction and feeding the result back to the management for the purpose of improving service delivery is not given due consideration by Nigerian banks. The study recommended among others that banks should define and emphasis service as the primary function of daily operations, and must be able to communicate the goal of complete customer satisfaction to all employees, also Training programmes are effective ways of emphasizing and rewarding talented employees who are tuned into customer needs and satisfaction. Keywords: Total Quality, Customer Services, Nigerian Banking System 1. Introduction With the introduction of marketing philosophy known as the marketing concept in the early 1980s emphasis has shifted from the product to the customer. Akpan [1] defined a customer as the “individuals(s) who exercise the right of acquisition and use over goods and services (products) offered for sale by marketing institutions”. The customer thus, is the source of revenue to the business organization, although customer may mean different things to different people. One thing that is clear from the above description of the customer is that apart from a business’s existing customers, there are those the business does not really know, but are serving, and yet another group which the business is not yet serving but hopes to serve in the future. Many organizations in today’s business environment are turning to embrace this marketing philosophy for their growth and survival. When one takes a critical look at the activities of business and the importance attached to them, one will note that what dominates business declaration of intent are such issues as maximization of profits, welfare of the employee, values of the CEO, social responsibility etc. Hardly, is the quality of service to customer ever mentioned as a feature of such declarations. To reflect the changing paradigm of customer satisfaction, many organizations are beginning to redefine their corporate mission to reflect the new understanding of the customer. This is indicative of the rate and types of changes taking place in today’s business environment. These changes are not only as a result of information explosion, but also a consequence of changing values and economic imperatives. Thus, striving to do business