Summary of doctoral thesis: Exploring the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector based on student’s perspective in Ho Chi Minh city

This study aims to explore the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s perspective. More specifically, this study was conducted to achieve the following key objectives: Identify the components that make up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective. Exploring and testing the measurement scale of the components those make up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective. Proposing some implied suggestions from research findings to improve the quality of higher education on student’s perspective.

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DAM TRI CUONG

HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY OF BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION SECTOR BASED ON STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Major: Business and Administration Code: 62340102

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

Scientific instructor:

1 Assoc.Prof.PhD VO THI QUY

2 Assoc.Prof.PhD PHAM XUAN LAN

Ho Chi Minh City – 2016

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS

1.1 The necessity of the research problem

The trend of international integration, the education integration issue and the interface between the education system in the world is going on is very popular Chen et al (2009) suggested that when international competition is becoming increasingly fierce, many countries to increase investment in higher education in an effort to improve their competitiveness To accommodate the huge competition from around the world, there is an important and immediate required improvement

to the quality of higher education to meet international academic trend and increase general academic standards and education quality On the other hand, Lawrence and McCollough (2001) suggested that in response to growing concerns from stakeholders about the poor quality or inconsistent, institutions of higher education are increasingly seeking ways to improve education quality

Besides, the opening of the Vietnam government in which has open policy to the education market leads to the entry of foreign universities In addition, the process of education socialization leads to the introduction of the non-public universities Otherwise, now the government is extending financial autonomy for public universities Moreover, students viewed as customer in the competition education market Students must pay for their education as well as they seek universities have high education quality as a reference basis for school choice

These problems make to pressure competition takes place between universities to attract students Thus, students choose the university will create a budget for the university and as a basis for the university development Therefore, improving the quality of education is an urgent requirement today for Vietnam universities to serve and attract students So, having the measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective becomes extremely urgent now, because in addition to its contribution to the development of national economy, it still relevant the existence of national education system Moreover, the study measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective is essential because it helps higher education managers have the correct view of the measurement scale (or dimensions) make up the quality of higher education on student’s perspective Based on that, they set the reasonable management ways to improve the quality of higher education on student’s perspective

Based on the approach to higher education is a type of service, viewing schools as service providers and students who use the service Higher education is understood as a type of service and the quality of higher education that the author used in the thesis is implied that the service quality of higher education On the other hand, in this study the author's thesis do not approach to evaluate the quality

of school, do not approach to evaluate the quality of training programs, but here the approach of the author only evaluate the perceived quality of students (service users) about the service quality of higher education that they use are provided by schools

Currently, the quality of higher education has many different approaches: (1) Providers (e.g funding bodies and community at large); (2) Users of products (courseware) (e.g students); (3) Users of outputs (graduates) (e.g employers); (4) The employees of the sector (e.g academics and administrators) (Harvey and Green, 1993; Srikanthan and Dalrymple, 2003, 2007) At the same point of view, AUN-QA (ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance) (2006) said that the quality of higher education are also many different approaches such as (1) Students; (2) The employer/Social; (3) Government; (4) The managers of university; and (5) Employees (faculty, support staff ) In this study, the thesis is limited approach on student’s perspective to explore the components, the measurement scale of the components that make up the quality of higher education The approach on student’s perspective has chosen because it has four main reasons Frist, in the context of higher education has a decline in funding from the government Second, the universities are increasing Third, student must bear the complete expenditure of education, so the quality of higher education becomes a competitive weapon for universities to serve and attract students Fourth, student considered as primary customers of higher education (Hill, 1995; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1996; Senthilkumar and Arulraj, 2011; Sumaedi et al, 2012) The other potential customers as former student, parents, employers, employees, industry and society considered secondary customers (Owlia and Aspinwall, 1996) The other hand, universities are recognizing the importance of the student-centered (Sahney, 2012) Therefore, improving the quality of higher education, trying to define the concept and measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective as key areas and are being educational policy planners, and the administrators resolve current (Sahney, 2012)

In Vietnam, on the issue of measurement scale of higher education quality, then until 2004, the Ministry of Education and Training has no measurement scale

of the quality of higher education in a scientific basis and practicality (Ministry of Education and Training, 2009) By 2004, the Ministry of Education and Training issued temporary regulations for quality accreditation of universities, of these, 10 standards and 53 criteria (Ministry of Education and Training, 2004) These standards have been assessed trials for the first 20 universities and through a number of workshops to draw experiences, have received many comments and was conducted editing to prepare official issued the standards measurement of the quality of higher education (Nguyen Kim Dung, 2007) At present, there are some authors or research organizations related to education and the quality of higher education: (1) the standards evaluate the quality in higher education of Ministry of Education and Training (2007) However, these assessment standards are standards management of education rather than the standards of the quality in higher education (Nguyen Van Tuan, 2011) (2) The standards assured the quality in higher education of AUN - QA (2011) However, the AUN-QA standards (2011) are the standards standpoint educational managers include many different perspectives that

is the view of the university managers, staff (lecturers, support staff .), students, employers/social and government (3) The study of Nguyen Thi Mai Trang et al (2008) on “The main factors that affect the knowledge obtained of business students

in Ho Chi Minh City” This study only purpose is to explore the impact directly and indirectly - through learning motivation of students – of the faculty capacity to obtained knowledge of undergraduate students of economics sector (economics, business and administration) at a number of universities in Ho Chi Minh City (4) The study of Nguyen Van Tuan (2011) about “The standards of higher education quality”, however, this study was limited to proposing the components that make up the quality of tertiary education, but no conducted empirical research (5) Moreover,

at present there is a number of the measurement scale of service quality in higher education to assess student satisfaction However, these studies have inherited the existing scale of previous studies in different countries For example, Hoang Trong and Hoang Thi Phuong Thao (2007) studied on "The value and service quality in higher education from the perspective of student – A study at Economics of University" However, in this study, the authors based on the study of the Hill (1995) and Harvey (1995) for a list of service quality components to investigate the perceptions of student about service quality Diep Quoc Bao and Nguyen Dong

Phong (2014) studied on "Service quality, perceived value and customer satisfaction

in higher education - A comparison between public and non - public universities in Vietnam", however, this study to employ the determinants of service quality in higher education through HEdPERF scale of Firdaus (2006) to explain customer satisfaction

Therefore, in Vietnam until the present time, in the field of research on exploring the measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective has no publish similar Thus, there should be research on the measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective

In the world, over the years the problem of the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality has been some research authors with many different views Following the introduction of relevant previous studies of the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality in terms of theory, research methods and research results of the components those make up the quality

of higher education on student’s perspective First, in terms of the theory: The previous study based on the theory to determine the components of higher education quality as service quality theory (Owlia and Aspinwall, 1996; Lagrosen et al, 2004), quality theory, higher education quality theory (Lagrosen et al, 2004; Chen et al, 2007), total quality management theory (Ardi et al, 2012) Second, in terms of research methods: The majority of the studies used as statistical described method (Chen et al, 2007; Ullah et al, 2013); qualitative methods with techniques GT (Grounded Theory) – here the theory building method based on process of collecting and analyzing data in a systematically (Nguyen Dinh Tho, 2011) The main objective of the GT method creates a new theory (Hill et al, 2003); quantitative method (Gamage et al, 2008; Tsinidou et al, 2010; Ardi et al, 2012); qualitative and quantitative method (Kwan and Ng, 1999; Peng and Samah, 2006) Third, in terms of the results of the study of components those make up the quality

of higher education on student’s perspective: Although there are many studies in this field (such as Joseph and Joseph, 1997a; LeBlanc and Nguyen, 1997; Firdaus, 2006; Jain et al, 2013 ) However, these studies have not been thoroughly addressed the components that make up the quality of higher education (Jain et al, 2010) Specifically, first, to study in Europe, such as Joseph and Joseph (1997a); LeBlanc and Nguyen (1997); Lagrosen et al (2004); Tsinidou et al (2010) findings suggested that the studies have different on the components that make up the quality of higher education (different in number and content components) On

the other hand, the majority of the studies in Europe, the researchers referred to the common components such as curriculum, faculty, facilities and university-industry interaction Second, to study in Asia such as Kwan and Ng (1999); Firdaus (2006); Chen et al (2007); Gamage et al (2008); Jain et al (2013) findings suggested that these study may also differ about the components that make up the quality of higher education (different in number and content components) Besides, the majority of the studies in Asia, the researchers mentioned the common components such as curriculum, faculty, facilities, university-industry interaction, and extracurricular activities

In general, although there are many studies of the components that make up the quality of higher education on student’s perspective have done in the world However, based on research findings about the components that make up the quality

of higher education, these studies have no uniformity about the components that make up the quality of higher education Due to differences in the components that make up the quality of higher education, so also differences the measurement scale

of the quality of higher education Therefore, the research problem of the measurement scale (or components) of the quality of higher education on student’s perspective is still being studied worldwide in various markets So in Vietnam, what

is the measurement scale of the quality of higher education on student’s perspective?

In summary, as mentioned above, based on the approach to higher education

is a type of service, viewing schools as service providers and student who use the service, then the study of the measurement scale of the quality of higher education

on student’s perspective has done in the world However, these studies have not been thoroughly addressed the components that make up the quality of higher education (Jain et al, 2010) Besides, various studies for the various market research, the measurement scale (or components) the quality of higher education is also different (different in number and content components) Thus, the present studies have no consistency between markets on the measurement scale (or components) of the quality of higher education on student’s perspective This issue

is still being studied in the world between the different markets Moreover, in Vietnam until the present time, in the field of research on exploring the measurement scale of higher education quality on student’s perspective has no publish similar Therefore, this study strives to the specification measurement scale

of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s

perspective in Ho Chi Minh City Moreover, this study has only to explore the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector

on student’s perspective, rather than study the relationship (for example: the relationship between the measurement scale of higher education quality with student satisfaction or student loyalty )

1.2 Research objectives

This study aims to explore the measurement scale of higher education quality

of business and administration sector on student’s perspective More specifically, this study was conducted to achieve the following key objectives:

- Identify the components that make up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective

- Exploring and testing the measurement scale of the components those make

up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective

- Proposing some implied suggestions from research findings to improve the quality of higher education on student’s perspective

1.3 The scope of the study and research subject

The scope of the study: to be limited access as a person in business and administrator sector, exploring the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s perspective (perspective of the learner - service user - feeling about the services quality of higher education) in Ho Chi Minh City, as described in section 1.2 On the other hand, this study has only to exploring the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s perspective, rather than study the relationship (for example: the relationship between the measurement scale of higher education

quality with student satisfaction or student loyalty ) as described in section 1.1

Research subject: The components that make up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective

1.4 Research Methodology

This study combined (1) qualitative research and (2) quantitative research (1) Qualitative research was conducted by focus group method with university students (e.g particularly students of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh city, Open University Ho Chi Minh City, Ton Duc Thang University, Industrial University Ho Chi Minh City, Van Lang University, and Saigon Technology University) This study aimed to explore the components that make up

the quality of higher education of business and administration sector, exploring, adjust and supplement the measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s perspective to suit the conditions of universities in Vietnam

(2) Quantitative research was conducted by a preliminary qualitative research and official quantitative research Preliminary quantitative study is done by directly interviewing students of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City through detailed questionnaire, means the author directly went the classes of business and administration sector to interview students after guided the questionnaire answering Samples for this quantitative research has size n = 121 The data collected from this study was used to assess the measurement scale preliminary of the study concepts of the value scale and reliability coefficients before proceeding formal study Two methods are used as Exploratory Factor Analysis – EFA method and Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient method Quantitative research was officially done by directly interviewing students of the universities through detailed questionnaire (Appendix 2) Specifically, the universities are University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Open University Ho Chi Minh City and Van Lang University The sample size of this study is 2713 students The objective of this study was to retest the measurement scales through Confirmatory Factor Analysis - CFA method The measurement scale of the components is retested unidimensionality, convergent validity, discriminant validity, composite reliability and average variance extracted

1.5 Contribution of the thesis

1.5.1 Contributions in science

First, this study systematically synthesized higher education quality theory from the previous studies in the world and in Vietnam In the theory synthesized of the quality of higher education identified a student support services quality element

is the element belonging to the theoretical basis However, until now, no study to mention the student support services quality element

Second, this research explored and tested the measurement scale of components that make up the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on the student's perspective The measurement scale of higher education quality of business and administration sector based on student's

perspective is composed of 6 components: (1) Curriculum, (2) Teaching skills of

faculty, (3) Faculty-student interaction, (4) Facilities, (5) Extracurricular activities, and (6) Student support services quality The scale of the components above were

tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that these scales meet the requirements of reliability and validity (unidimensionality, convergent validity, discriminant validity, composite reliability and average variance extracted)

Therefore, this study added to the measurement scale of higher education quality of

business and administration sector on the student's perspective Specifically, firstly,

in six components that make up the quality of higher education on student’s perspective above, this study added new component is student support services quality; secondly, this study added to the measurement scale of components such as curriculum, teaching skills of faculty, facilities, and student support services quality This, to help academic and applying researchers in the field of higher education quality in Vietnam and in the world get the measurement scale system to adjust, supplement and used for their research in Vietnam market

1.5.2 Contributions in practice

First, the findings help to managers of higher education have a correct view

of the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality of business and administration sector on student’s perspective

Second, the findings are a good reference for educational managers if they want to have a basis for improving the quality of higher education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective

Third, in today's competitive environment, the managers of higher education are always looking for ways to improve and enhance the quality of higher education The research results help the managers of higher education know the most important components that make up the quality of education of business and administration sector on student’s perspective These components are the components determining the quality of higher education of business and administration Based on that, they can set appropriate management ways in the field of higher education to improve the quality of higher education of business and administration

1.6 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is presented in chapter 5 Chapter 1: Overview of the study; Chapter 2: Literature review; Chapter 3: Exploring the components, the measurement scale and preliminary assessment; Chapter 4: Testing the measurement scale and discussion of research results; Chapter 5: Conclusion, implications and limitations of the subject;

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Service quality theory

2.1.1 Service quality definition

Now there are many different views of academic researchers in the world for service quality definition However, there are two commonly definitions researchers mentioned that the definition of Parasuraman et al (1988); and Cronin and Taylor (1992)

Parasuraman et al (1988) suggested that service quality is the gap between customer service expectations and performance perceptions

Cronin and Taylor (1992) suggested that service quality is only performance perceptions

2.1.2 Service quality components

Since there is no consensus among the researchers concerning service quality concept, so that will exist different views concerning service quality scale (Yildiz and Kara, 2009) Gilmore and McMullan (2009) suggested that there are two common scales that SERVQUAL of Parasuraman et al (1988) and SERVPERF of Cronin and Taylor (1992) commonly applied to service quality measurement in a specific industry The service quality components of the authors are as follows:

Parasuraman et al (1988) suggested that service quality components include: (1) reliability, (2) responsiveness, (3) assurance, (4) empathy, (5) tangibles (called SERVQUAL scale) SERVQUAL consists of two parts: the first to determine the customer service expectations and the second to determine their perceptions of service outcomes

Cronin and Taylor (1992) suggested that service quality components include: (1) reliability, (2) responsiveness, (3) assurance, (4) empathy, (5) tangibles Five components similar to asking about customer perception of performance of SERVQUAL and these researchers called SERVPERF scale

2.2 Higher education quality theory

2.2.1 Approach to higher education as a service

According to Zeithaml et al (2006), Fisk et al (2007) said that in service marketing theory, higher education often cited as a key example of a service with limited tangible outputs Higher education is classified as a service with its primary outputs being the mental development, knowledge, skills and graduate outcomes

rather than the ownership of an object such as the degree certificate that represents tangible evidence of the education service (Dann, 2008)

Moreover, Yeo (2008) also suggested that education is a type of service Higher education is considered a part of the service sector as the key focus of the university is to provide a quality learning experience for students The process of education in the form of lesson delivery, advising and project supervision can be regarded a type service provided to student who assume the role of customers The service quality of each learning experience, particularly in higher education, is unique as it is largely determined by the expectation of the student, also the individual customer (Yeo, 2008)

Cuthbert (1996) said that higher education represents all the characteristics

of a service provider It is intangible and heterogeneous, meets the criterion inseparability by produced and consumed simultaneously, satisfying the perishability criteria and can consider students as customers who undergo the higher education service experience

At the same point of view, other authors also support the view that the higher education institutions are service organizations (see e.g Joseph and Joseph, 1997a; Hennig-Thurau et al, 2001; Yildiz and Kara, 2009; Sultan and Wong, 2010; Kotler and Keller, 2012)

In conclusion, the views of the authors mentioned above support for higher education that is a service, viewing schools as service providers and students who use the service Therefore, in this study, the quality of higher education implied that the service quality of higher education

2.2.2 Defining quality of higher education

Defining quality of higher education has proved to be a challenging task and

no consistent definition (Cheng và Tam, 1997; Nguyen Van Tuan, 2011)

Academic researchers in the world offer different perspectives on the definition of quality of higher education In this study, the definition of higher education quality of O'Neill and Palmer (2004) was used as it relates to the student's perception of the quality of higher education

O'Neill and Palmer (2004) suggested that the quality of higher education as the difference between what a student expects to receive and his/her perceptions of actual delivery

In summary, the quality of higher education is a complex and multidirectional concept and a single appropriate definition of higher education quality is still lacking (Harvey and Green, 1993)

2.2.3 The components of higher education quality of previous studies related

Currently, there is no consensus on the definition of higher education quality,

so the components of higher education quality still no consensus (Voss et al, 2007) Following the components synthetic presentation of higher education quality of previous studies related

Table 2.1: Summary of the components of higher education quality on

student’s perspective in Europe

3 Hill et al

(2003)

United Kingdom

(1) Quality of the lecturer; (2) Student engagement with learning (curriculum); (3) Social/emotional support systems; (4) Resources of library and IT

(1) Corporate collaboration; (2) Information and responsiveness; (3) Courses offered; (4) Campus facilities; (5) Teaching practices; (6) Internal evaluations; (7) External evaluations; (8) Computer facilities; (9) Collaboration and comparisons; (10) Post-study factors; (11) Library resources

Source: Synthetic author

Table 2.2: Summary of the components of higher education quality on

student’s perspective in Asia

(1) Course content; (2) Concern for student; (3) Facilities; (4) Assessment; (5) Instruction medium; (6) Social activities; (7) People

2 Firdaus

(2006) Malaysia

(1) Non-academic aspects; (2) Academic aspects; (3) Reputation; (4) Access; (5) Programs issues; và (6) Understanding

(1) Course content; (2) Facilities; (3) Lecturer

& Faculty; (4) Social activities; (5) Concern for student; (6) Assessment; (7) Instruction medium

4 Chen et al

(2007) Campuchia

(1) Curriculum and extra-curriculum activities; (2) Teaching faculty; (3) Budget; (4) Facilities; (5) Interactive network

5 Gamage et

al (2008)

Thailand and Japan

(1) Academic aspect: quality of academic staff, quality of programs, and university reputation; (2) Non-academic aspect: financial assistance and tuition fees, counseling and support services, job placement services, and grievance procedures; (3) Facilities aspect: physical plants and facilities, library and computing facilities, and student organizations

6 Vanniarajan

et al (2011) India

(1) Programming issues; (2) Physical aspects; (3) Academic reputation; (4) Location; (5) Career opportunities; (6) Promotion; và (7) Cost

7 Jain et al

(2013) India

(1) Input quality; (2) Curriculum; (3) Facilities; (4) Industry interaction; (5) Interaction quality; (6) Support facilities; và (7) Non-academic processes

Source: Synthetic author

Table 2.3: Summary of the components of higher education quality on

student’s perspective in Vietnam

1

Hoang Trong and

Hoang Thi Phuong

3

Diep Quoc Bao and

Nguyen Dong Phong

(2014)

(1) Non-academic aspects; (2) Academic aspects; (3) Reputation; (4) Access; (5) Programs issues; và (6) Understanding

Source: Synthetic author

2.2.1 Research gap in theoretical research on higher education quality

As mentioned above, although there are much studies on the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality is done in the world and in Vietnam However, according to research results on the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality on student’s perspective, the present studies have the following problems:

First, in the theory synthesized of the quality of higher education identified a student support services quality element is the element belonging to the theoretical basis However, until now, no study to mention the student support services quality element

Second, in the world, these studies have not been thoroughly addressed the components that make up the quality of higher education (Jain et al, 2010) Besides, various studies for the various market research, the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality are also different (different in number and content components) Thus, these studies have no consistency between markets on the measurement scale (or components) of higher education quality on student’s perspective This issue is still being studied in the world between the different markets

Third, in Vietnam, these studies only used the measurement scale (adjusted)

of other authors such as Hill (1995); Firdaus (2006) to put into research in this