The effects of transport service quality on the financial condition of companies – a methodology proposal

Abstrakt

Transport companies, which, even if privately owned, often operate in markets and in an environment determined by the principles of the functioning of the public sector. On the one hand, they are inclined to maximize the effectiveness of their functioning, including financial efficiency. On the other hand, they are obliged, usually under longterm contracts, to provide services of an appropriate quality and, consequently, to contribute to passenger satisfaction. The aim of the article is to identify the planes of potential correlation, including the negative correlation between financial efficiency and the quality of provided transport services. Measures for both categories are identified. However, due to the fact that within both categories there are measures that are potentially internally correlated, it becomes necessary to use factor analysis to isolate key latent variables and, consequently, to avoid collinearity. For such identified variables, it is advisable to perform canonical analysis to identify correlation groups. Ultimately, this should allow for the construction of a universal model for the analysis of longterm relationships between financial and qualitative performance of transport companies, especially in a panel approach.