A research on quality of postgraduate join programs at international school vietnam national university

Lunghwa University of Science and Technology Graduate School of Department of Business Administration Thesis for a Master’s Degree A RESEARCH ON QUALITY OF POSTGRADUATE JOIN PROGRAMS

Lunghwa University of Science and Technology

Graduate School of Department of Business

Administration Thesis for a Master’s Degree

A RESEARCH ON QUALITY OF

POSTGRADUATE JOIN PROGRAMS AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL – VIETNAM

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Graduate Student: Nguyen Lam Chien

Supervisor 1: Assoc Prof Chir-Ho Chang (LHU) Supervisor 2: Dr Pham Thi Lien (VNU-IS)

Hanoi, 12/2017

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Lunghwa University of Science and

Technology Graduate School of Business and Management

Thesis for a Master’s Degree

A RESEARCH ON QUALITY OF

POSTGRADUATE JOIN PROGRAMS AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL – VIETNAM

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Graduate Student: Nguyen Lam Chien

Supervisor 1: Dr Pham Thi Lien Supervisor 2: Assoc Prof Chir-Ho Chang

2017/12

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Graduate School of Business and Management in Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, and has completed this Thesis for a Master’s Degree, in June, 2017

Title of Thesis: A research on quality of postgraduate join programs at International School - Vietnam National University

Supervisor 1：Assoc Prof Chir-Ho Chang

Supervisor 2 Dr Phạm Thị Liên

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Graduate School of Business and Management

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His Master’s Thesis

A research on quality of postgraduate joint programs at International

School - Vietnam National University

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ABSTRACT

Title: A research on quality of postgraduate joint programs at International School - Vietnam National University

Pages: 128

School: Lunghwa University of Science and Technology

Department: Graduate School of Business and Management

Time: 2017/12

Degree: Master

Researcher: Nguyen Lam Chien

Advisor 1: Assoc Prof Chir-Ho Chang

Advisor 2: Dr Pham Thi Lien

This Thesis is about the quality of postgraduate programs at VNU-IS After reviewing documents, official letters, reports and sent out to more than 400 postgraduate students and alumni from academic year from 2011 to 2017, the Author has received 214 responces and pointed out the strengthnesses to be continued and promoted; Weaknesses and issues that need to be improved and enhanced for these programs

The questionnaire includes 5 factors with 31 questions scaled from 1 to 5 for students to assess the postgraduate programs

In general, postgraduate students and alumni are satisfied with the programs Only 3 responses 1 for the 3 questions: lecturers convey subject contents clearly, facilities and infrastructure and you are well-promoted after graduation The average response of all questions and is 4.48/5 The 2 questions that has highest assessment is the last 2 questions: you are satisfied with the training and service quality of VNU-IS: 4.85 and you are satisfied with the program: 4.81, it means that the students and alumni assessed quite exactly and most of them are satisfied with the training and service quality and the program of VNU-IS However, there are a lot of things need to

be updated, enhanced and improved to have the competitiveness with other master programs forn aother univerisities in Hanoi

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Keywords: Postgraduate join programs; quality; Improvement; Recommendations; Vietnam national University – International school; VNU-IS; FBA; EMBA; MIM, MKT

Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to send my most sincerely thankful to the Postgraduate Join Program named EMBA between International School - Vietnam National University, Hanoi and Lunghwa University of Science and Technology- Taiwan Both institutions have granted scholarship me for the whole cohort and have created favorable conditions for me to pursue the Course

Secondly, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the lecturers, doctors, professors from both institutions who have transferred updated and valuables skills and knowledge to me, and my classmates, my colleagues at VNU-IS, VNU-IS’ staff in charge

of the EMBA class and technician, who have helped me much in studying and researching

Thirdly, without my family’s help, I would have not been able to take the Course and Thesis This is a good chance to send my thankful to my family

I would like to take this opportunity to send my special thanks to my supervisor Dr Pham Thị Lien from VNU-IS and Assoc Prof Chir-Ho Chang from LHU for their valuable and enthusiastic guidance, consultancy, supervision as well as feedbacks to complete the Thesis

Once again, thank you very much

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Table of Contents

List of Figures 3

FULL NAMES OF ACRONYMS 4

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 5

1.1 Rationale of the thesis 5

1.2 Aims and targets of the research 6

1.3 Questions of the research 6

1.4 Tentative research methodologies 6

1.5 Contributions of the thesis 6

1.6 Structure of the thesis 7

1.7 Scope of the research 8

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Quality definations 9

2.1.1 Quality in general: 9

2.1.3 Categorising quality 10

2.1.3.1 Quality as exceptional or as excellence 10

2.1.3.2 Quality as perfection or consistency 10

2.1.3.3 Quality as fitness for purpose 10

2.1.2 Quality in education: 11

2.2 The elements of quality culture 15

2.2.1 Service quality 19

2.2.1 Models for Measuring Service Quality 23

2.2.2 Quality measurements and some models 40

2.2.3 Factors influence to training service quality 44

CHAPTER 3 RESEACRH MODEL AND METHODOLOGIES 45

3.1 A training quality model 45

3.2 Questions for the research and assumptions 46

3.3 Research procedures 46

3.4 Development of questionnaires 48

3.5 Pilot test of questionnaires 50

3.6 Validity and reliability 50

3.7 Send out questionnaires 53

3.8 Analysis of questionaires using SPSS software 54

CHAPTER 4 SERVICE QUALITY OF POSTGRADUATE JOIN PROGRAMS AT VNU-IS 55 4.1 Introduction of the postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS 55

4.2 Quality management and assurance 55

4.2.1 Quality management for postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS 55

Staff for postgraduate programs 57

Lecturers for postgraduate programs 57

4.2.2 Quality Assurance 57

4.3 Key features of VNU-IS’ approach to managing quality 60

4.3.1 Accreditation 60

4.3.2 Infrastructure for quality assurance and enhancement 61

4.4 Training services quality of postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS 64

4.4.1 Define training services 64

4.4.2 Introduction of VNU-IS 66

4.4.3 Evaluation and assessment 70

CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 72

5.1 Analysis 72

5.2 Recommendations 82

5.2.1 For Factor 1: Training objectives and program 82

5.2.2 Factor 2: Teaching and Learning activities 83

5.2.3 Factor 3: Facilities and Infrastructure 83

5.2.4 Factor 4: Training management 84

5.2.5 Factor 5: General assessment and satisfaction 84

CONCLUSIONS 85

REFERENCES 86 APPENDICES 88 APPENDIX 1 88

APPENDIX 2 90

APPENDIX 3 93

APENDIX 4: 97

APENDIX 5 106

APENDIX 6 108

APENDIX 7 110

APENDIX 8 114

APENDIX 9 117

APENDIX 10 118

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List of Figures

2.1 Figure 1: Quality model for instutions, AUN 18

2.2 Figure 2: Quality culture in University 19

2.3 Figure 3: Perceived Service Quality Model 24

2.4 Figure 4: The SERVQUAL model 25

2.5 Figure 5: Determinants of Perceived Service Quality 26

2.6 Figure 6 – AUN-QA Model for Program Level (3 rd Version) 29

2.7 Figure 7: Whole School Development Model 30

2.8 Figure 8: Whole School Developemnt Model 30

2.9 Figure 9: The disconfirmation model 34

2.10 Figure 10: Perceived Service Quality Model 36

2.11 Figure 11: ISO Model 39

2.12 Figure 12: Baldride education model 39

2.13 Figure 13: Model of Management Capacity Building for Improving the Quality of School 42

3.1 Figure 14: Model for postgraduate programs quality assessment at VNU-IS 46

4.2Figure 15: Link to Criterion 13 – Stakeholders Feedback 58

4.1 Figure 15: Facility and Infrastracture 61

FULL NAMES OF ACRONYMS

VNU-IS Vietnam National University – International School LHU Lunghwa University of Science and Technology

AUN Asian University Network

INFEQA VNU Institution of Education Quality Assurance CFQAT VNU-IS Center for Quality Assurance and Testing

MOET Ministry of Education and Training

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the thesis

In order to meet the requirements of high quality human resources for the country’s goals

of industrialization, modernization and international integration process in accordance with national and Party’s policies and guidelines, VNU-IS had conducted researches on the needs of high quality master training programs and became one leading institution to organize join postprograms with good universities in the world The advantages of these programs are that students can enjoy and study the advanced education system of prestigious universities in the world in Vietnam, while they are on the job with much lower fees

VNU-IS is one of the affiliated members of VNU with its mission is to educate and do scientific research subject to international standards based on fundamental science, applied science and technology development, providing high quality human resources and technological products for the development of Vietnam VNU-IS is one of VNU leading and first institution to organized join programs including postgraduate join programs and has been cooperated with many prestigious universities in the world to implement postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS For more than 15 years of growth and development, VNU-IS have thoudsands of students studied, enjoyed the advanced education systems and graduated from the school The students get master degrees from prestigious universities in the world, and soon after graduation, a majority of graduates get well-paid jobs in their fields, promoted or applied successfully the knowledge and skills to their business and their positions

The quality for postgraduate join programs is always an issue that every institution has to focus on The competition among universities is becoming more and more servere The important factor can be competed is quality All the postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS have been accredited; VNU-IS has a very good and professional training pool, who are doctors, associate professors and had studied and worked abroad for years and are very fluent in foreign languages However, the programs should be better, better, and improved day by day to meet requirements of students and society In order to improve the quality, there must be an intensive research on the quality of these programs

As an officer working in the Centerfor Quality assurance and Testing in VNU-IS, and an EMBA student, a join program between VNU-IS and LHU, I know these programs quite well but there has not been any research on the comprehensive quality so far VNU-IS has only carried out the feedback of the students after one subject completed Feedback of the alumni has not been carried out and after graduation and applying the knowlegdge; they may have different feedback

and ideas With the help from my supervisor and colleagues, I have decided to select the topic “A research on quality of postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS” for this thesis and this is also the research for all the postgraduate join programs Recommendations will be reported to VNU-IS to improve the quality of the programs

1.2 Aims and targets of the research

The aims of the thesis are to get feedback from master graduate amumni to enhance the quality of postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS

The targets of the thesis are:

- To do research on quality model for postgraduate join programs;

- To analyze the current situation of training quality and service quality of postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS;

- To measure the satisfaction of postgraduate join programs students and alumni and get their feedback about the programs

- To propose solutions and recommnendations to enhance the training quality and service quality of postgraduate join programs

1.3 Questions of the research

The thesis will answer some questions as the followings:

- How was the postgraduate programs training quality at VNU-IS assessed?

- Satisfaction of students and alumni on the quality service?

- Satisfaction of students and alumni on postgraduate programs?

- Recommendations to improve the quality of postgraduate programs at VNU-IS?

1.4 Tentative research methodologies

Documents and feedback from postgraduate programs are reviewed, and based on literature reviews, questionnaires are developed to send to the students and alumni After receiving the feedback, SPSS solfware is used to analyze the results

1.5 Contributions of the thesis

Training and service quality of postgraduate programs are always good VNU-IS has chosen and cooperated with prestigious universities in the world Those universities have been approved, recognized, accredited, evaluated and ranked by both the official reliable accreditation agencies abroad and by the MOET in Vietnam

VNU-IS is a leading institution under VNU, one of its mission is to provide training high quality postgraduates for the country with a very well trained staff and lecturers The research will point out the shortcomings and weaknesses of the postgraduate programs, the

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research also makes some solutions and recommendations for VNU-IS to improve the quality

of the programs, and to improve the outcome students I hope that the programs could be improved day by day and getting better and better and even innovated Besides, more students can be recruited for these programs

1.6 Structure of the thesis

The research is comprised of five Chapters (excluding appendix and references):

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, there are rational, aims and targets, methods, contributions and scope of the research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter includes literature review, theories of quality, quality definations and educational quality definations

CHAPTER 3: MODEL AND METHODOLOGIES

This chapter includes questions of the research and asumptions, methodologies, development of questionnaires, pilot test of questionaires, send out questionnaires, analysis of questionaires using SPSS software, validity and reliability of the questionaires, direct and deep interviews and choosing questionnaires

Models for quality at VNU, AUN and MOET

CHAPTER 4: SERVICE QUALITY OF POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS AT VNU-IS

This chapter consists of current situation training quality and service quality of postgraduate join programs at VNU-IS

Analysis of training quality and service quality of postgraduate join programs and feedback from

postgraduate students and alumni

CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After reviewing and analyzing feedback and interviews, findings were found and based

on that, recommedations were made for VNU-IS to improve the quality of the join programs

1.7 Scope of the research

The research was implemented within the postgraduate join programs between VNU-IS and its university partners around the world and only at VNU-IS by reviewing documents, sending questionnaires, direct interviewing with the Board of Deans Questionaires were only sent to current students, alumni, and teachers involved, including foreign teachers, but were not sent to employers nor experts nor employers because of time and resources limitation and because most sutdents are also the employers or self-employed business people

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 3: MODEL AND METHODOLOGIES

CHAPTER 4: SERVICE QUALITY OF POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS

AT VNU-IS

CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Quality definations

2.1.1 Quality in general:

Quality is “A creature of political fashion” (Becher, 1999); “multi-faceted” (Frazer, 1992);

“elusive” (Neave, 1994); “slippery and value-laden” (Harvey and Green, 1993)

“If you want a definition of quality read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”: there is no definition but you will know it when you find it! (McConville, 2000, P 21)

“In the last resort, quality is a philosophical concept” (Green, 1994)

Quality and standard should be distighuished as the follows:

Quality relates to process (e.g., the quality of the educational process experienced by students) while standard is intended or actual achievement or outcome

“Linking quality and standards”

+ Contribution of educational process (quality) to attainment of a defined standard

+ The notions of academic standards, service standards, and quality standards

2.1.1.1 Apply quality concepts

+ Quality as a “stakeholder-relative” concept

+ Quality as a mechanism (processes of quality assurance)

+ Quality as a concept: Harvey and Green’s (1993) five categorizations

+ Quality not a unitary concept: it’s stakeholder-relative

+ Multiple perspectives: different interest groups (“stakeholders”), different priorities

+ for students and teachers, the process of education;

+ for employers, the outputs of higher education;

“The best that can be achieved is to define as clearly as possible the criteria that each stakeholder uses when judging quality, and for these competing views to be taken into account when assessments of quality are undertaken” (Green, 1994)

2.1.1.2 Quality as a mechanism

+ “Quality” as a mechanism refers to processes of assessment, accreditation, audit, and external examination (Harvey and Newton 2005)

+ Quality assurance … checking quality of a process or outcomes;

+ Audit… external or internal check on internal quality management system or processes;

+ Assessment … external or internal judgement of performance against criteria (e.g ‘quality” of teaching or research);

+ Accreditation … process resulting in decision to “warrant” an institution or a programme;

+ External examination…checks standards;

2.1.3 Categorising quality

2.1.3.1 Quality as exceptional or as excellence

+ Associated with distinctiveness or standards

+ Various connotations: league tables; benchmarks; standards checking; “gold standard;

+ Assurance through external examiners, accreditation, or audit

2.1.3.2 Quality as perfection or consistency

+ shift to measurement of process standards not outcome standards;

+ relative concept of quality;

+ more applicable to organisational and service standards;

2.1.3.3 Quality as fitness for purpose

+ contrast with elitist notions

+ does product or service fit the stated purpose?

+ is institution fulfilling its mission?

+ Accrediting or assurance body requirement for conformance to defined standards, or ‘subject benchmarks’ (UK QAA);

+ Quality assessment/accreditation focus on “fitness for purpose” of academic standards;

+ ENQA standards permit generic judgements of organisational standards;

2.1.3.4 Quality as value for money

+ Quality of provision, processes, or outcomes, judged against monetary cost;

+ Quality as return on investment by stakeholders;

+ Assurance mechanisms include performance data (student retention/completion/employment);

After reviewing the literature, the authors noted two strategies for defining quality The first is to construct a broad definition that targets one central goal or outcome, such as fulfilling

a stated mission or vision (Bogue, 1998; Harvey & Green, 1993) There are 13 broadly constructed definitions of quality in the literature reviewed Some definitions are primarily standards-driven, focusing on meeting a pre-defined set of standards, specifications, and requirements, or focusing on exceeding the highest standards in pursuit of excellence and exclusivity (Cheng & Tam, 1997; Garvin, 1987; Green, 1994; Harvey & Green, 1993; Harvey

& Knight, 1996; Martin & Stella, 2007; Peterson, 1999; Vlăsceanu et al., 2007) Conversely, other definitions are primarily stakeholderdriven, focusing on accountability to the public or providing a transformative learning experience to benefit students and employers (Bogue, 1998;

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Harvey, 2005; Haworth & Conrad, 1997; Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2012; Srikanthan & Dalrymple, 2002, 2004, 2007)

2.1.2 Quality in education:

“No authoritative definition of quality in higher education is possible” (Scott, 1994) “Lack

of theory of quality” (Westerheijden, 1999)

“The concept of quality is not new: it has always been part of the academic tradition The outside world now emphasises the need for attention to quality… It is the relationship between higher education and society which has changed” (Vroeijenstijn 1995)

2.1.2.1 Quality as transformation (Harvey and Knight, 1995)

+ Development or empowerment of student through learning process;

+ also institutional changes enabling better learning or research;

+ accreditation may explore value added element of “widening access”;

+ external examination of research degrees evaluates transformation;

+ principal evaluation mechanism is improvement audit…;

+ …forward-looking and agenda-setting;

“Quality assurance is not just the latest fashion, but is a remarkably successful management fad…” (Stensaker 2005) “This is a success that is sustained by government endorsement, because it provides a means of securing accountability” (Harvey, 2005)

“The purposes of quality enhancement and institutional development…are considered achievable if

an appropriate alignment can be found between philosophy, technology, and context” (Williams, G., 1996; emphasis added)

+ Philosophy: “the shared values and ideals which inform the approach to quality” (quality culture); + Technology: “the range of instruments, techniques, and operating procedures which promote and support quality assurance and enhancement” (…quality system);

+ Context: “distinctiveness of mission” and circumstances of an institution (“the realities of context”);

+ Alignment: between quality culture, quality system, regulatory context and climate of operation The meaning of teaching quality has been transformed by the audit process … This major transformation remains curiously under-researched and under-theorised (Shore and Wright, Coercive Accountability, 2000)

“Any quality assurance model, method or system, will always be affected by situational factors and context This leads to the view that the success of a system may be less dependent on the rigour of

application, and more on its contingent use by actors and protagonists, and on how the system is viewed and interpreted by them” (Newton, 1999b)

Defining quality: illustrating the confusion quite a debate brewed up across Europe regarding the

concept of quality and how it should be defined For Becher (1989), quality was “a creature of political fashion” For Neave (1986), it was “elusive”, a sentiment echoed by Harvey and Green (1993) who saw it as “slippery” and “value-laden’ Scott (1994) was quite clear that: “No authoritative definition of quality in higher education is possible”, reflecting the “Lack of theory of quality in higher education literature” referred to by another commentator (Westerheidjen, 1999) Those who read Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in the 1990s will have learned that while ‘there is no defi nition…of quality…you know it when you fi nd it!” (McConville, 1999)

So, as Green (1994) concluded: ‘In the last resort, quality is a philosophical concept”

In Vietnam, educational scholars in their research have mentioned Quality definitions and different quality approaches: Educational quality: Theory and pratical issues (Nguyen Huu Chau, 2008); Educational accreditation in HE; (Nguyen Dui Chinh, 2002), HE quality management (Pham Thanh Nghi, 2000), HE, prospetives and solutions (Le Duc Ngoc, 2004)

According to the author Nguyen Duc Chinh (2002), there are six prospectives on HE quality

in the world as the followings [9, p 23-26]:

(1) “Input” is assessed as educational quality: Accordingly, a high quality university if they recruit many good students, they have a good teaching pool with good facility and model equipment However, it is difficult to explain if a university that has a good teaching pool with good facility and model equipment but their traning activities are limited or vise versa, a university that has a limit resource but provides effective programs

(2) “Output” is assessed as educational quality: Accordingly, a high quality university if they have excellent graduates and valuable scientific works or attract many students In fact, this prospective is not very suitable because one university can recruit many excellent students does not mean that their students will graduate at excellence grades Moreover, the output essessment is very different depending on different universities

(3) Value added is assessed as educational quality: Accordingly, a high quality university if they make big different on students’ intellectual and knowledge after graduation The limitation of this prospective is that it is difficult to design a consolidated measurer in order to assess the input and output quality to find out a difference and to assess the quality of that institution

(4) Quality is assessed as academic value: Accordingly, a high quality university if they have excellent lecturers and prestige scientists However, the weakness of this prospective is that

(6) Quality is assessed by audit: a high quality university if the quality audit results show that the institution has collected necessary information and the decision makers have all the necessary information, suitability and effectiveness of the implementation process on quality decisions The weaknesses of this prospective is that it is difficult to explain that there are institutions which have all the information data and information but thye do not have optimal decisions

Based on the analysis of the 6 prospectives mentioned above, the author Nguyen Duc Chinh has quoted that “Quality is a relative, variation and multi-dimensional definition, quality

is to suit or to reach the planned purposes/objectives [9, P.29-32]

In the Regulations on HE criteria for quality assessment, MOET stated: “the quality of the university education is to meet the objectives set by the school, the educational criteria of the Education Law are in line with the requirements of human resource training for local and national socio-economic development” [8, P.1]

The quality of higher education is conceived as being in line with the goals of HE; The goal in a broad sense includes the missions (or common and long-term goals), purposes, objects and other characteristics of the school The missions and goals of a nation's higher education are generally defined as promoting the country's socio-economic development through the provision of trained human resources at certain levels

The missions of the university can not be changed; However, in order to meet the goals

of HE, the quality of HE must be a dynamic concept which can not be invariable due to the relentless mobilization of the country's economic and socio-political life The socio-economic development process requires higher and higher quality of human resources; Therefore, ensuring and constantly improving the quality of HED is required for a university

Moreover, in the context of comprehensive and profound international integration, attention and focus on quality is vital to any institution, whether it is a public school or a university The essence of this movement is the move from quality assurance to quality satisfying the needs of customers and through customers That movement does not originate from quality assurance with some elements of quality through customers but primarily from the quality concept

through customer support with quality assurance Because current customers are not simply expecting what they are offered, but how they are provided This changes the perception of quality, rather than the concept determined by the expert, and gradually changes to a concept in which meeting the needs and expectations of customers is a top priority

Refering to the quality approach through customers, first of all, the concept of customer

is need to be clarified Customer is understood as the entire audience directly related to the quality of products or services that the organization must meet their needs With that view, customers include internal customers and external customers The internal customer is all members, all units within the organization that consume the organization's internal syndication products or services Each person is both a supplier and a producer, and a customer External customers are all individuals and organizations who have direct requirements for the quality of products and services that the unit must provide

For education, customers are understood in the broadest sense as people using educational products Thus, there are external customers and customers inside the service Accordingly, the customers outside the college are the employers; students’ Parents; Graduated students Internal customers are teachers and students of the school are connected through the teaching process Based on the quality definitions mentioned above, training quality service in the framework of the thesis is understood to implement all the steps of the training procedures, and the procedures are amended and improved frequently to reach the training objectives

QA is a general term, referring to the measures and approaches used to improve the quality of training (SEAMEO, 2003)

Quality assurance is the views, guidelines, policies, objectives, actions, tools, processes and procedures through which they can be used to ensure that the mission and goals are being implemented, the standards are being maintained and enhanced (SEAMEO, 2002)

When the authors examined the definitions in totality, several themes emerged, the literature revealed four broad conceptualizations of quality: quality as purposeful, exceptional, transformative, and accountable The conceptualizations are consistent with those originally developed in the 1990s (Green, 1994; Harvey & Green, 1993; Harvey & Knight, 1996) despite a number of newer publications on quality in recent years, which suggests that the meaning of quality in higher education has remained relatively stable for the past 20 years It is worth noting, however, that there is a trend in many of the newer publications towards stakeholder-driven definitions of quality (Bobby, 2014; Harvey, 2005; Nicholson, 2011; Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2012; Srikanthan & Dalrymple, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007) This

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trend is consistent with educational changes in the United Kingdom and United States over the past 20 years in which, to bolster public trust, institutions were compelled to demonstrate quality through evidence of student learning as opposed to relying on accrediting bodies to confirm quality based on adherence to pre-defined standards (Amaral & Rosa, 2010; Ewell, 2010; Harvey, 2005)

The second strategy for defining quality is to identify specific indicators that reflect desired inputs (e.g., responsive faculty and staff) and outputs (e.g., employment of graduates) (Barker, 2002; Cheng & Tam, 1997; Lagrosen, Seyyed-Hashemi, & Leitner, 2004; Oldfield & Baron, 2000; Scott, 2008; Tam, 2010; Vlăsceanu et al., 2007) Many of the publications and quality assurance models from the past decade reflect this strategy For example, the Quality Matters Rubric does not include a broad definition of quality, but does include specific standards that articulate indicators of quality (e.g., A variety of instructional materials is used in the course”; Quality Matters, 2014) There are over 50 specific quality indicators in the literature we reviewed After reviewing all of the indicators, we identified four distinct categories: administrative, student support, instructional, and student performance indicators The first three categories primarily address the desired inputs, such as educational resources available to students The last category, student performance, focuses more on outputs, such as gains in learning, which reflects the trends in assessing student outcomes to assure quality (Tam, 2014)

2.2 The elements of quality culture

EUA’s Quality Culture project’s (which ran in three rounds from 2002 to 2006) main aim was to “increase awareness for the need to develop an internal quality culture in institutions and to promote the introduction of internal quality management to improve quality levels” (EUA 2006: 6-7)

As EQC continues the long-standing work of EUA in promoting quality culture, the following defi nition of quality culture developed by the aforementioned project was chosen as the starting point for our work Thus, in the context of this project:

culture refers to an organisational culture that intends to enhance quality permanently and is characterised by two distinct elements: on the one hand, a cultural/psychological element of shared values, beliefs, expectations and commitment towards quality and, on the other hand, a structural/ managerial element with defi ned processes that enhance quality and aim at coordinating individual efforts (EUA 2006: 10)

The recent discussions in the fi eld of quality and quality assurance in higher education are quite unanimous in advocating promoting quality culture, so much so, that often quality culture is considered to be a synonym for “the development of, and compliance with, processes

of internal quality assurance” (Harvey 2009: 1) However, as demonstrated by Figure 3, it is crucial to distinguish these two concepts: quality culture and quality assurance Whereas quality assurance processes are something tangible and manageable by institutional decisions, the cultural aspect of quality culture – shared values, beliefs, expectations and commitment – is far more diffi cult to change (Ehlers 2009)

The basic assumption in our project has been that quality culture, quality assurance processes are interrelated, and that quality culture can be enforced by structural decisions, which stimulate shared values and beliefs (Harvey & Stensaker 2008: 434) Furthermore, we accept that no one (correct) quality culture exists as a culture is always closely linked to the environment and within one HEI there might even be several sub-cultures of quality (Harvey & Stensaker 2008; Harvey 2009; Ehlers 2009) When describing how a HEI could go about developing its quality culture, Lanarès wrote: There are at least two ways of seeing this In some cases, the institution will introduce quality assurance This will imply new values which will have to be integrated in the organisational culture In other ones, the creation of quality assurance will start from the existing quality culture Once finalised, quality assurance will in turn influence and modify the quality culture [ ] This second option may be preferable, considering that some continuity will facilitate change (Lanarès 2008: 13) This makes the challenge that HEIs are facing, and thus the topic of our project, even more intriguing

In the view of Uludag University (Turkey): QC is a multidimensional concept that depends on specific context, aiming to achieve excellence in the vision and mission of each specific program as well as each university They believe that the establishment and management of a continuous quality process, control, evaluation and improvement is at the core of creating and maintaining a quality culture (Uludag University, 2002, p.3)

So, in order to understand and build QC, on the one hand it is necessary to influence knowledge, regulation / organization and management measures; On the other hand, it must be influenced the views and beliefs of the values of the participants

FACTORS TO SHOW QUALITY CULTURE

According to Davison (2005), QC of an institution is characterized by eight factors:

1 / Commitment and practical demonstration of the leader (in this case leader means the Dean)

to quality activities;

2 / Work group approaches;

3) Participation and empowerment of members of the organization;

4 / Focus on customers;

5 / Communication in open and friendly manner;

6 / Effective partnership;

7 / Spirit of creativity and learning;

8 / Focus on the process

Quality culture is a whole, consisting of the above eight constituent elements and the dialectical relationship to create the culture and affirm the position of an organization

Quality definitions that are most suitable with the environment and conditions at VNU and VNU-IS are:

“Educational quality is customers’ satisfaction, is to meet human resource training requirements for the society”

Pursuant to Regulations of education quality accreditation (EQA) at Vietnam National University, Hanoi (According to regulations of EQA at VNU promulgated by Decision No 1024/QD-Quality dated March 5, 2009 of the President of VNU, Hanoi), quality at VNU is construed as follows: “Quality of the institution under verification for EQA is the level of satisfying the objectives and standards / criteria promugated or approved by MOET, VNU or independent domestic and foreign EQA organizations”

Based on this definition, the autor develops questionaires to measure the students’ and alumni’s satisfactions

"Quality culture is a set of values, norms and quality work habits that shape every member of the unit to perform the best job assigned."

Quality culture is a system of organizational values that lead to an environment conducive to the creation and continuous quality improvement It consists of values, traditions, procedures and expectations that promote the quality

An organizational value system that results in an environment that is conducive to the

establishment and continual improvement of quality

5 Periodical inspection and supervision

6 Reviewing; wrapping up, exemplifying

7 Repeat the process from step 1 to step 7

- Related to evaluation and improvement process;

- Constant and continuous improvement has the effect of helping each and every organization form idea, thinking about continuous improvement to achieve better quality;

2.1 Figure 1: Quality model for instutions, AUN

19

- Create a quality circle;

- Set goals;

- Make the purpose;

- Check - evaluate process

- Action to draw experience towards better quality

2.2.1 Service quality

A service is an act or performance offered by one party to another Although the process may be tied to a physical product, the performance is essentially intangible and does not normally result in ownership of any of the factors of production Services are economic activities that create value and provide benefits for customers at specific times and places, as a result of bringing about a desired change in or on behalf of the recipient of the service (Lovelock and Wright, 2002) Services are deeds, processes, and performances (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000) Services are described as objects of transaction offered by firms and institutions that generally offer services or that consider themselves service organizations (Steve and Kim, 1995)

Support and advising students

2.2 Figure 2: Quality culture in University

Service Quality Service quality is the ability of the organization to meet or exceed customer expectations Customer expectation may be defined as the “desires and wants of consumers” i.e what they feel a service provider should offer rather than would offer (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and berry, 1988)

2.2.1.1 Definitions

From the viewpoint of business administration, service quality is an achievement

in customer service (Peter Kenzelmann Kundenbindung German, 3 Auflage, Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag Skriptor GmbH & Co KG 2008) It reflects at each service encounter Customers form service expectations from experiences, word of mouth and marketing communications (Parasuraman, A.; Berry, Leonard L.; Zeithaml, Valarie A., "Understanding Customer Expectations of Service," Sloan Management Review, Vol 32, no 3, 1991, pp 39 - 48) In general, customers compare perceived service with expected service, and which if the former falls short of the latter the customers are disappointed

Pre-defined objective criteria may be unattainable in practice, in which case, the best possible achievable result becomes the ideal The objective ideal may still be poor, in subjective terms

Service quality can be related to service potential (for example, worker's qualifications); service process (for example, the quickness of service) and service result (customer satisfaction)

Individual service quality states the service quality of employees as distinct from the quality that the customers perceived (UYSAL, H.Tezcan & Mehmet Selami YILDIZ (2013),

“Effect of Organizational Levels on Individual Service Quality in Health Service: A Research

on Doctors” İktisat İşletme ve Finans Dergisi 28(329), pp.21-48)

2.2.1.2 Training service quality definitions

According to Lovelock and Wirtz (2011, p.37) Services are economic activities offered

by one party to another Often time-based, performances bring about desired results to recipients, objects, or other assets for which purchasers have responsibility 13 According to Kotler and Armstrong (2012, p.248), Service is an activity, benefit, or satisfaction offered for sale that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything From the definition above, Service is an activity that offered by a person to another person to give a satisfaction toward them So, service should be defined in their own right, not in relation to goods

21

The Post-Graduate Training Service is the body that deals with the organization and promotion of the post-graduate training possibilities offered by the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome In collaboration with the various Departmental Faculties, the Service identifies training paths that are in line with the University’s strategies and compatible with the requirements of the job market, thus guaranteeing the participants in these programs a human,

as well as a professional, experience The services offered by the Post-Graduate Training Service can be subdivided into three main categories, namely Master’s and Specialization Programs, CME Programs and Lifelong Learning Programs

Source:http://www.unicampus.it/eng/academics/postgraduate-education

According to Lupioyadi (2008, p.181), Service quality is a factor in determining the success and quality of the company where the company's ability to provide quality service to consumers and as a strategy to defend themselves and achieve success in the face of competition According to Nasution (2004, p.47), Service quality is the expected level of excellence and control over the level of excellence to meet customer desires From the description above, Service quality is defined as the difference between customer’s expectation for service output to the service input and the perception of the service received Therefore, Customer’s expectation serves as a foundation for evaluating service received because when performance exceed expectation, it means that the quality is high and when performance is low

it means performance does not meet their expectation

Source: http://library.binus.ac.id/eColls/eThesisdoc/Bab2/2013-1-00352-MN%20Bab2001.pdf

Owlia and Aspinwall (1996) interpreted the quality for higher education in terms of the quality dimension by using Garvin’s quality framework (Garvin, 1987), service quality dimension (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1985; 1988), and software quality dimension (Watts, 1987) However, the dimension identification frameworks focus mainly on defining the quality aspect of the product features (Garvin, 1987) and service features (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1985; 1988)

The concept of quality has been contemplated throughout history and various definitions have been initiated and developed until the present time Quality has been defined as excellence (Pirsig, 1974), value (Abbott, 1955; Feigenbaum, 1951), conformance to specifications (Gilmore, 1974; Levitt, 1972), and meeting and/or exceeding customers’ expectations (Gronroos, 1983; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1985) Table 1 shows the various definitions of quality

(Source: http://repository.maranatha.edu/83/1/Would%20marketing%20aspect%20be%20a%20

Quality of service is a very broad and complex category It reflects the combination of economic, technical and social aspects Because of this complexity, there are now many different concepts of quality that can be perceived, depending on the approach to which the concept of quality is understood in different ways, each way is understood based on scientific bases to solve certain objecvtives and tasks in real life According to ISO 8402, quality is “the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear upon its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs” The quality of service provided by Parasuraman et al (1988) [2] is the difference between consumer expectations of service and their perceptions of service outcomes It is understandable that the quality of service is customer satisfaction measured by the difference between expected quality and quality achieved

Pham Thi Lien (Tạp chí Khoa học ĐHQGHN: Kinh tế và Kinh doanh, Tập 32, Số 4 (2016) 81-89) Source:

Training service includes:

Postgraduate join training programs are conducted entirely in foreign languages The School has partnered with many reputable foreign universities Master's degrees are issued by VNU-IS’ foreign partners To date, VNU-IS has parnership with 40 universities abroad

With the pride to be a pioneer in undergraduate and graduate training in foreign languages, through 15 years of and development from a unit having only one training program in Russian

in early days of its establishment in July 2002, the School has now launched and successfully implemented many masters programs such as Master of Business Administration (MBA, EMBA); Master of Finance, Banking, Insurance (Vietnam and Southeast Asia); Master of Marketing &Prospective; Master of Information Management (MIM) as mentioned in details above All training programs of the School are accredited and all the degrees are recognized The School’s Training Programs have been designed and constantly updated with modern trends domestically and abroad to meet the requirements of society, enabling students to work within a dynamic environment, withfluency in foreign languages and deep integration At the same time, these training programs create favorable conditions for learners to be able to continue studying and working abroad

To provide undergraduate and graduate training entirely in foreign languages and conducting scientific research in accordance with international standards and based on basic

23

sciences, applied sciences and technology transfer, contributing to supplying of high quality human resources, scientific and technological products of to serve the cause of national development

Its core values and motto are respecttively “High Quality, Innovation, Pioneering, Responsibility and International Integration” and “Study and Create with the World"

Besides, VNU-IS is going to provide DBA join programs in the near future

Furthermore, the development of the SERVPERF model has encouraged the introduction of context specific models for measuring service quality Abdullah (2006) developed the Higher Education performance-only model (HEdPERF) The model is a comprehensive performance-based measuring scale that attempts to capture the determinants of service quality within the higher education sector

2.2.1.2 The Perceived Service Quality Model

Gronroos (1982, 1984) was one of the first authors to conceptualise service quality with the development of the perceived service quality model (Figure 3) The model is based on the disconfirmation paradigm (Section 2.3.6), where the consumer compares their expectations with their perceptions, and the quality of the service is determined by the outcome of this evaluation process

Gronroos (1984) claims that two types of service quality exist, namely, technical quality and functional quality Technical quality relates to what is provided during the service process (e.g knowledge, tangibles and technical solutions) These are the relatively quantifiable aspects of the service, which the customer and supplier can easily measure (Gronroos, 1984)

On the other hand, functional quality refers to how the service is provided and the interpersonal behaviours contributed by the service employee during the service encounter It is more difficult

to measure than technical quality (Gronroos, 1984) Gronroos (2007) proposes that the gap between the expected service and perceived service is of utmost importance and that it is vital for a service organisation to keep this gap as small as possible In addition, it is important for managers to understand how the technical quality and functional quality of a service is influenced, and how customers perceive these quality dimensions (Gronroos, 2007) to ensure perceived service quality is maximised

Source: Gronroos (1984)

Traditional Marketing

activities (advertising, field

selling, PR, Pricing) and

Perceived Service

Quality

Perceived Service

25

2.2.1.3 The SERVQUAL Model

The introduction of the perceived service quality model encouraged the development of the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988) SERVQUAL is founded on the view that the customer's assessment of service quality is paramount (Figure 5) As with the perceivedservice quality model, the disconfirmation model is employed In this instance, quality evaluations as perceived by customers, stem from a comparison of what the customers feel the organisation should offer and their perceptions of the performance of the organisation providing the service (Aldridge and Rowley, 1998) Parasuraman et al (1988) believe that the level of perceived service quality is dependent on the magnitude of the gap between expectations and perceptions - the smaller the gap, the higher the level of perceived service quality

2.4 Figure 4: The SERVQUAL model

Source: Parasuraman et al., 1985)

As identified by Parasuraman et al (1988), the SERVQUAL model uses 22 items, asking customers what they expect from an organisation in terms of service quality (Appendix A) A seven-point Likert scale is used to record expectations and perceptions (Aldridge and Rowley, 1998) Parasuraman et al (1988, p 23) illustrate that the model incorporates five dimensions:

Reliability: The ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

Empathy: The caring, individualised attention the firm provides its customers

Assurance: The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and

confidence

Tangibles: Physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel

Parasuraman et al (1988) assert that the SERVQUAL instrument could be applied to most service organisations The use of a SERVQUAL instrument is particularly relevant in the context of higher education (see e.g Cuthbert, 1996a, 1996b; Hill, 1995; Oldfield and Baron, 2000) In particular, Cuthbert (1996a, 1996b) used the SERVQUAL scale to measure student perceptions of university service quality The author found very weak results when testing the five SERVQUAL dimensions and concluded that using a SERVQUAL scale to measure university service quality was inappropriate The author argues that a modified SERVQUAL instrument might be applicable since it may be able to capture a better representation of the entire student experience (Cuthbert, 1996a)

Literature relating to the validity and reliability of the SERVQUAL model is extremely well documented (Buttle, 1995; Carman, 1990; Cronin and Taylor, 1992, 1994) One of the

Expected Service

Perceived Service

PERCEIVED

SERVICE QUALITY

2.5 Figure 5: Determinants of Perceived Service Quality

Source: Parasuraman et al., 1988)

27

most controversial issues is the reliability of SERVQUAL (Nadiri et aI., 2009)

Firstly, the dimensions are not generic; that is, the applicability of the SERVQUAL scale to different service settings is questionable (Abdullah, 2006a) Secondly, it is argued that the five dimensions are not universal, since the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualised (Suttle, 1995) Therefore, it is no surprise that the application of the SERVQUAL model in a higher education context has been met with little success (Aldridge and Rowley, 1998) Despite the criticisms SERVQUAL has received, it is clear that the model provides a convenient starting point for practitioners and academics seeking to measure and monitor perceived service quality It provides a platform that is capable of directing attention to issues of service quality, which can be built upon to generate a more comprehensive interpretation of service quality

It is usually impractical to measure expectations before the service is experienced (Palmer, 2011) In the context of higher education, it is commonly out of the bounds of the researcher to be able to capture student expectations of the university they intend on joining As

a result, the researcher often tries to record expectations retrospectively, which can be problematic, since expectations may have been influenced by service delivery resulting in measurement becoming fairly meaningless (Palmer, 2011) Suttle (1996) argues that there is little evidence that customers assess service quality in terms of performance minus expectations Consequently, alternative approaches have been developed that attempt to improve the validity and reliability of this model

2.2.1.4 The HEdPERF Model

Cronin and Taylor (1992) were one of the first authors to criticise the reliability and validity of the SERVQUAL model In response to the limitations of the SERVQUAL model, Cronin and Taylor (1992) developed the SERVPERF scale, which was born out of the inadequacies of SERVQUAL The authors believe that service quality should be defined simply

on perceptions, basing their model on the premise that it is difficult to conceptualise expectations This led to the development of a more direct form of measurement that utilised an attitudinal rather than a disconfirmation paradigm (Cronin and Taylor, 1992) The SERVPERF approach requires the customer to rate only the service provider's performance in a particular service encounter

Empirical results suggest that SERVPERF offers better reliability than SERVQUAL, illustrating that expectations can be disregarded for assessment (Cronin and Taylor, 1992) In response to this, Parasuraman et al (1994) defended the inclusion of expectations suggesting

that the diagnostic value of SERVQUAL offsets the instrument loss of predictive power In consideration of both models, Zeithaml et al (1996) contend that using only perceptions to measure service quality was more appropriate if the primary purpose of the research was to explain the variance in a dependent construct Despite this, a recent study concluded that both the SERVPERF and SERVQUAL scales are adequate predictors of overall service quality (Carrillat et al., 2007)

Taking into account this evidence, this study focuses on collecting current perceptions of students, rather than attempting to collect expectations retrospectively as well Empirical evidence from Cronin and Taylor (1992) endorse the feasibility of this approach, demonstrating that the quality of the study it is not disadvantaged by disregarding expectations

Evidence of the application of the SERVPERF model in the higher education context can be uncovered Many researchers have preferred this methodology to SERVQUAL and have used an adapted performance version of SERVQUAL to measure the perceptions of service quality and evaluate students' course experience (see e.g Abdullah, 2006a; Hill, 1995; McElwee and Redman, 1993; Oldfield and Baron, 2000; Rigotti and Pitt, 1992) In particular, Oldfield and Baron (2000) investigated students' perceptions of service quality in a university

in the UK The research identified that students' perceived service quality has three dimensions:

Requisite elements: Essential to enable students to fulfil their study obligations

Acceptable elements: Desirable but not essential to students

Functional elements: Possess a practical or utilitarian nature

This study is also based on determining students' perceptions of service quality, but also the relative importance of different elements and how the importance of various factors changes across different years of study (i.e first year and third year students)

Despite the emergence of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF models, it has been suggested that industry-specific service quality measures may prove more relevant (Carman, 1990; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Zeithaml et al., 1985) Generic measures (e.g SERVQUAL and SERVPERF) of service quality may not be totally suitable for assessing perceived quality in higher education (Abdullah, 2006a), creating the need for an instrument specific to the higher education sector In addition, it has been recognised that little has been done to identify the determinants of service quality in higher education from the viewpoint of the student (Abdullah, 2006a) As a result, Abdullah (2006a) developed the HEdPERF model The model

is an adaptation of the standard SERVPERF model, adopting a perceptions-only approach

29

Abdullah (2006a) states that the aim of this model is to capture a context specific view of service quality in higher education, enabling the whole student experience to be measured The instrument measures 41-items (Appendix B) and each item have been tested for reliability and validity, using both types of factorial analysis, exploratory and confirmatory (Abdullah, 2006a) Furthermore, comparative results show that the HEdPERF scale captures more variance relative to that of the SERVPERF scale (Sultan and Wong, 2010)

Abdullah (2006a) argues that tertiary institutions can use HEdPERF to improve service performance In particular, research findings confirm that students' perceptions of service quality can be determined by evaluating six dimensions, specifically, non-academic aspects, academic aspects, reputation, access, programme issues and understanding Evaluating service quality and understanding how these dimensions impact service quality can enable higher education institutions to efficiently design the service delivery process (Abdullah, 2006a) This

is important given the current economic climate since many UK universities are facing substantial funding cuts (Section 1.1.2) In addition, rising tuition fees have the potential to disenchant students from higher education (Section 1.1.1), making it even more crucial to consider the provision of service quality Furthermore, it is important to satisfy students, since satisfied students will recommend the service to other prospective students and will also be more likely to continue the relationship with the service provider (Munteanu et al., 2010) Therefore, since the student is the main recipient of the service, it becomes even more crucial

to understand service quality and its influence on the service delivery process, in an attempt to fulfil students' needs more effectively

Program Structure and

Contents

Teaching and learning approach

Student Assessment

Academic staff quality

Support staff quality

Student quality and Support Facilities and

infrastructure

2.7 Figure 7: Whole School Development Model Source: Akhani Education - Corporate Social Investment Management Company,

India

2.8 Figure 8: Whole School Developemnt Model

31

As mentioned above: “Any quality assurance model, method or system, will always be affected by situational factors and context This leads to the view that the success of a system may be less dependent on the rigour of application, and more on its contingent use by actors and protagonists, and on how the system is viewed and interpreted by them (Newton, 1999b)

2.2.1.5 Measuring service quality

Measuring service quality may involve both subjective and objective processes In both cases, it is often some aspect of customer satisfaction which is being assessed However, customer satisfaction is an indirect measure of service quality

Practitioners and academics are keen to accurately measure service quality in order to better understand its essential antecedents and consequences, and ultimately establish methods for improving quality to achieve a competitive advantage and build customer loyalty (Abdullah, 2006a) In addition, there are many areas of disagreement in the debate of relating to measuring service quality (Abdullah, 2006a) Some authors deem service quality difficult to define and model as a result of the problems involved in conceptualising and measuring the construct (Parasuraman et al., 1985) This is predominantly due to the intangible nature of services, making conceptualisation more difficult for services than goods (Palmer, 2011) Therefore, it is

no surprise that the complexity in conceptualising and measuring service quality has been deemed to be one of the most debated and controversial topics in services marketing (Brady and Cronin, 2001) Despite numerous attempts by academics, no single model of service quality is universally accepted (Clewes, 2003) Moreover, a review of the existing literature demonstrates that there is no agreement pertaining to the measurement of service quality (Marzo-Navarro et al., 2005), providing further evidence to illustrate that a generally accepted measurement scale does not exist

A customer's expectation of a particular service is determined by factors such as recommendations, personal needs and past experiences The expected service and the perceived service sometimes may not be equal, thus leaving a gap The service quality model or the “GAP model” developed in 1985, highlights the main requirements for delivering high service quality

It identifies five “gaps that cause unsuccessful delivery Customers generally have a tendency to compare the service they ‘experience” with the service they “expect” If the experience does not match the expectation, there arises a gap Ten determinants that may influence the appearance

of a gap were described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry in the SERVQUAL model: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the customer and tangibles

Later, the determinants were reduced to five (Parasuraman, Valarie Zeithaml and Berry (1985): tangibles; reliability; responsiveness; service assurance and empathy in the so-called RATER model

2.2.1.6 Measuring subjective elements of service quality

Subjective processes can be assessed in characteristics (assessed be the SERVQUAL method); in incidents (assessed in Critical Incident Theory) and in problems (assessed by Frequenz Relevanz Analyse a German term The most important and most used method with which to measure subjective elements of service quality is the Servqual method (Tilal Elhadi Elbashir, P.16, May 2005)

2.2.1.7.Measuring objective elements of service quality

Objective processes may be subdivided into primary processes and secondary processes During primary processes, silent customers create test episodes of service or the service episodes of normal customers are observed In secondary processes, quantifiable factors such as numbers of customer complaints or numbers of returned goods are analysed in order to make inferences about service quality

2.2.1.8 Approaches to the improvement of service quality

In general, an improvement in service design and delivery helps achieve higher levels of service quality For example, in service design, changes can be brought about in the design of service products and facilities On the other hand, in service delivery, changes can be brought about in the service delivery processes, the environment in which the service delivery takes place and improvements in the interaction processes between customers and service providers Various techniques can be used to make changes such as Quality function deployment (QFD); failsafing; moving the line of visibility and the line of accessibility; and blueprinting

2.2.1.9 Approaches to improve the conformity of service quality

In order to ensure and increase the 'conformance quality' of services, that is, service delivery happening as designed, various methods are available Some of these include Guaranteeing; Mystery Shopping; Recovering; Setting standards and measuring; Statistical process control and Customer involvement

2.2.1.10 Service quality and customer satisfaction

The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has received considerable attention in academic literature The results of most research studies have indicated that the service quality and customer satisfaction are indeed independent but are closely related