Service quality of private universities in ho chi minh city

x ABSTRACT Title of Research : SERVICE QUALITY OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN HO CHI MINH CITY Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Name and Address of Institution : South

i

_

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

ii

iii

This is to certify that the research work entitled “Service Quality of

Private Universities in Ho Chi Minh City” orally defended/presented under

the DBA program jointly offered by Southern Luzon State University of the Republic of the Philippines and Thai Nguyen University of the Socialist Republic

of Vietnam, embodies the result of original work carried out by the undersigned

This dissertation does not contain words or ideas taken from published sources or written works by other persons which have been accepted as basis for the award of any degree from other higher education institutions, except where proper referencing and acknowledgement were made

VU QUOC KHANH (Clinton)

Date Orally Defended: June 2018

iv

The researcher sincerely extends deepest gratitude and appreciation to the following persons who give contributions in the completion of this study:

DR WALBERTO A MACARAAN, research adviser, for his valuable

advice, constructive criticisms, and patient encouragement; for sharing his sheer intelligence; for helping the researcher to grow and have his skills and for being the source of encouragement, the researcher humbly extends gratitude;

DR DANG KIM VUI, president of Thai Nguyen University in the Socialist

Republic of Vietnam, for his untiring effort and belief that this collaboration is possible thus enabling us to pursue the DBA degree;

DR JOANNA PAULA A ELLAGA, DR CHONA V CAYABAT, DR ERIBERTO A CASIÑO, DR MOSES T MACALINAO, and DR FLORMANDO P BALDOVINO, Oral Examination Committee, for their interest

in the researcher’s work, inputs, and for their valuable suggestions for the improvement of this study;

IS-TNU staff, for providing necessary research materials;

Respondents, for their time, cooperation, honesty in answering the

guide questionnaire;

His parents, for the inspiration and encouragement to complete this

doctoral course; and

His family, friends and colleagues, for the love and support in one way

or the other; and to all who have contributed to make this study success

VQK

v

DEDICATION

This piece of work is humbly dedicated to

My colleagues and fellow instructors,

My students, my family and

My relatives, my friends,

My wife and children

VQK

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……….… iv

DEDICATION ……….…… …… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….………… vi

LIST OF TABLES ……… viii

LIST OF FIGURES ……… ix

ABSTRACT ……… x

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……….……… 1

Background of the Study ……….….… 3

Objectives of the Study ……… 5

Null Hypotheses 6

Significance of the Study … 7

Scope and Limitation of the Study 7

Definition of Terms ……….………… 8

II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE …… ….…… 11

Conceptual Framework ……… 36

Research Paradigm ……… 37

III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……… 38

Research Design ……….… ……….… 38

Locale of the Study ……… 38

Population and Sampling ……… 39

Research Instrumentation ……… 41

Data Gathering Procedure ……….…… 42

Statistical Treatment ……….… …….…… 43

vii

IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ………… ……… 47

V SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary ……….……….……… 66

Findings ……….……….………… 67

Conclusions ……… 70

Recommendations ……… 74

REFERENCES ……… ……… ……… 87

APPENDICES ……….…… 92

A Instrument ……… ……….…… 93

B Computations ……… 95

C Plagiarism Check - Originality Report ……… 116

CURRICULUM VITAE ……….…… 117

Number of students in respondent universities ………

Frequency distribution of respondent profile upon gender

Frequency distribution of respondent profile upon Courses

Frequency distribution of respondent profile upon year

level

Quality of service provided by the private universities ………

Ratings of satisfaction descriptive statistics ………

Ratings of satisfaction to services of the private

universities ………

ANOVA for each dimension ………

ANOVA for the quality of services ………

ANOVA for the profile of the respondents upon gender ……

Summary of Results of Anova Test for 3 Research

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

1

2

3

4

5

Service Quality Gap Model

Gap 5 Model of Service Quality

Research Paradigm

Research Design

Simple Strategic Development Plan

23

24

37

46

64

x

ABSTRACT

Title of Research : SERVICE QUALITY OF PRIVATE

UNIVERSITIES IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

of the variables have positive and statistical significant influenced on student satisfaction There is a difference in student satisfaction by gender, year level and faculties Specifically, the satisfaction of service quality of the male and female group was not different Similarly, students in different year level have the same satisfaction on service quality However, students in different faculties

xi

have different satisfaction It was concluded that student satisfaction on the quality of service of private universities in HCMC is influenced by factors arranged in ascending order: extracurricular activities, training and teaching program, qualification of lecturers, and physical facilities and equipment A number of recommendations from students' expectations and survey results, together with discussions with the experts have been proposed

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

Globalization is the trend of the times, and this not only in the field of economy, trade, science and technology, but also being a strong impact to the field of education of any country in the world In Vietnam, the education system

in general and higher education in particular, with functional training high-quality human resources for integration and development of the country, is no exception to that trend

In the past, education was viewed as a non-commercial, non-profit humanitarian training activity but over a long period of time was influenced by outside factors, especially the impact of the market economy has made the nature of this activity not purely a public welfare but has gradually changed to

"educational services." Education becomes a form of service, and customers can spend money to invest and use the service they think is best This is the reason that educational institutions are born to meet the needs of customer

Bothpublicandprivatelyownedinstitutionsindifferentcountriesplayvital roles in providing higher education Higher education gradually has been accepted as a type of service, the university is the service provider for the object

of his customers who are mostly students Accordingly, one of the decisive factors for the survival and development of the business unit general and units

in the field of education in particular is customer satisfaction for the quality of products and services offered

In the field of education, assessment of the service quality through customer reviews, in which customer is the focus of students are becoming essential Service quality assessment will be conducted based on customer

feedback (Parasuraman et al., 2015) Clients of higher education services include students, parents, business and teachers (Clare Chua, 2004; Firdaus, 2006; Costas & Vasiliki, 2007; Senthikumar & Arulraj, 2009) However, many researchers believe that the main customer of higher education is the student because the student is directly benefiting from the educational service Therefore, this study also uses the measure of the service quality of higher education based on the opinions of those who have used this service – they are students

Indeed, issues such as poor training quality, graduation students do not meet the demand for human resources of businesses coming mainly from the fact that curriculum and teaching content are too heavy and even not suitable for practice Current Higher education of Viet Nam exists simultaneously two systems: public and private With the formation and development in the short period of over 20years, system of private universities contributed remarkably to comprehensive overview of non-public university system over the past 20 years However, they have been still facing many limitations and challenges One of the reasons is not be able to deny, that is, Service Quality

Indeed, by 2016, only 2 out of 60 private universities in the country were accredited by the Ministry of Education and Training, of which Ho Chi Minh City had only one university Private universities in Viet Nam in general and in Ho Chi Minh city in particular are not different from other businesses operate in a competitive environment It is undeniable that the existence and development

of universities in general, especially in private universities, in particular, was decided mainly by the customers who use service products - these are the students

Besides, Private universities need to know what to do to in order to satisfy their students because satisfied students can recommend their friends and relatives to join these institutions in future Service quality is one of the factors that can lead to customer satisfaction (Kasper, Helsdingen &Gabbott's 2006) Service quality can be used as a strategy for competitive advantage (Gronroos, 2007) For the purposes of determining and evaluating satisfaction

of students to have solutions aiming at improvement of the service quality in universities in Ho Chi Minh city – the biggest city of Viet Nam - with population

of about 10 million residents

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam currently has 145 public universities (excluding institutes), 60 private ones In Ho Chi Minh City alone, there are 49 public universities (belong to ministries, and belong to the People Committee of HCM city) in which there are 37public universities and 12 private universities founded in Ho Chi Minh city, the researcher decided to study service quality of private universities in Ho Chi Minh City

Background of the Study

For Vietnam, in recent years, the education sector is changing much to improve the quality of training services, avoid the negative in the industry There are a lot of research articles and topics aiming at setting up policies and plans

to improve the service quality in training schools at all levels, which will soon bring the quality of Vietnam's education to the world‘s standard One of the most important levels is higher education as higher education is the place where the skilled, technical and scientific labor force meets the demands of labor in

society However, this force in Viet Nam is still underestimated One of the main reasons is that the provided service quality is still lacking The Ministry of Education and Training has launched a student-centered learning plan that is

to meet and satisfy basic needs for learners

Associate Professor Pham Thi Huyen, a representative from a group of independent researchers from number of universities and research institutes, said the group had surveyed the status of non-public universities in the country The study found that the number of non-public universities increased from five (1994) to 60 by the end of 2016, of which Ho Chi Minh City accounted for 20% There are more than 253,000 students in non-public universities, accounting for 13% Non-public universities, however, now have to compete unequally with public schools having long history of development and state support for land, finance, equipment, and human resources

Associate Prof Dr Pham Thi Huyen said that on average, there are about 3.6 training centers in each non-public university, reflecting the diversity but also dispersed in training activities, making it difficult to create convenient and good learning environment for students It is worth noting that 5 out of 12 private universities have operated for more than 20 years but still have to hire 100% of training institutions For the training of private universities, enrollment

is the most difficult problem in the present time For 2013-2015, approximately 81,000 students enrolled in private universities each year By 2016, this figure

is only more than 72,000 students, significantly affecting the operation of universities The main source of income for private universities is tuition fees

The Vietnam Education Development Strategy sets a target of 40% of the total number of students enrolled in private schools by 2020 However, the

trend in recent years, the number of students entering private schools not only not increased, but also drastically reduced where the courses has to be closed and the university is at risk of failure In the past, private universities were mainly based on the forces of lecturers from public universities That is a temporary solution Visionary universities will have a strategy to build human resources according to their own philosophy and will not copy the public school governance model To date, private schools account for only 19% of all universities and 13.5% of students Public schools are still mainstream In addition, along with online and cross-border education, students increasingly choose When a degree is no longer a guarantee of a good career, private universities will have to make a real investment in and focus on service quality, not just the place with function to grant degrees for students mainly

Director of Education Testing and Accreditation in Ministry of Education and Training - Mr Mai Van Trinh affirmed: The reality is that universities that do well in quality of higher education service will develop sustainably Private universities must develop and adhere to quality standards for higher education

in order to have proper investment and concentration plans for this mission This is one of the long-term solutions to improve the service quality for private ones Thus, research on the quality of service of private universities in Vietnam

in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular is of significance for the sustainable development of private universities

Objectives of the Study

The study aimed to evaluate service quality among private universities

in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam Specifically, it aimed to attain the following

2.4 Training and teaching program,

2.4 Physical facilities and equipment, and

6 Create a model for strategic development plan for the private university

Null Hypotheses

There is no significant difference on the quality of services provided by the private universities as perceived by the respondents

There is no significant difference on general satisfaction of respondents

on the services provided by private universities when grouped according to the profile of the respondents

Significance of the Study

The study could be of help to the following beneficiaries:

Educational management organizations Educational management

organizations have a comprehensive view about the real picture of current service quality status of private universities in Ho Chi Minh city in order that they have proper and appropriate policies The research will also provide useful information to policy makers in which it will be significant in providing direction

on quality service in higher education sector in Viet Nam

Private universities Private universities will know the level of student

satisfaction and which factor is the most important to focus on, undergo new changes, help the universities serve students more effectively and improve their quality of service to increase the satisfaction level of students

Recruiters Recruiters will be able to recruit human resources that best

meet their requirements This does not only benefit universities or businesses but also creates competition in international market Universities cooperate with businesses on all aspects of training such as program design according to business requirements based on the principle of win - win

Future researchers Future researchers may discover more research

issues and expand the scopes of research Researchers will gather more information on measurement instruments and whether it might be improved help deliver more suggestions on service quality

Scope and Limitations

The study focused on service quality delivered by private universities in

Ho Chi Minh City At the same time, the survey wasconductedin12 private

universities founded and located in Ho Chi Minh City - Viet Nam About respondents for evaluating service quality in universities, chosen respondents will only be students attending in formal schooldays Students are from the first year to the final year

Respondents will not include in-service students, graduate students coming from most of the above-mentioned respondents will find it difficult to give objective opinions on the quality of services because they are actually employed, even if their jobs are very stable with high salary but their goal is to get an expected degree to help them advanced For employers or recruiters of students in the 12 universities, conducting the survey to them is very complex and takes more time and money Those also lead to why sampling method will

be convenience sampling, not purposive or based on strata It is also one of the limitations of the study Moreover, timeframe of the study had been 10 months (2015-2016) from the time the researcher commenced the study

Definition of Terms

To have provide a better understanding of some of the terms used in this study, the following were theoretically and operationally defined:

Administrative Services play a vital role in service provision of a university In

this study, administrative service was defined as service provided by non-academic staff to students As such, it includes such attributes as attitude of administrative staff towards students According to Abdullah (2006), administrative services were understood to be non-academic services provided by university to students Administrative service was considered quality of supervision and feedback from academic staff

Customer Satisfaction is the level of a person's sense state that results from

comparing the results obtained from the product / service with his/her expectations (Kotler, 2012) Expectation is considered human desire and/or expectation It derives from personal needs, past experiences and external information such as advertising, word of mouth of friends and family

Extracurricular activities are performed outside of school hours, depending

on the interests, interests and aspirations of each student within the framework of institution's ability and condition towards comprehensive development for students These activities are participated excluding activities required to students aiming to receive a certain degree When students attended in extracurricular activities, they tend more positive self-concept than students who did not attend these activities (Duque & Weeks, 2010; Thompson et al., 2013)

Physical facilities and equipment are the physical means such as layout,

lighting, classroom, appearance of buildings and the overall cleanliness used by teachers and students to effectively implement the education program (Sohail & Shaikh, 2004) Modern educational facilities such as library, textbook, learning and living environment are reliable equipment

to support and sustain teaching and learning (Mavondo et al., 2000)

Private university is typically not operated by the government but may be

subject to government regulation It is an institution of higher education belonging to the national education system Unlike public universities, private universities do not receive state funding Financial resources for their activities are mainly from the tuition fees of students, the clients,

donations and even the owner Tuition fees at these universities tend to

be much higher than public universities

Qualification of lecturers is usually measured in three dimensions, they are

professional competence, teaching ability, and research ability Good lecturers provided more useful knowledge, skills, class notes, and the reading materials, depth of lecture and teacher feedback on their work (Dill, 2007) Besides, the qualification of lecturers is expressed through

empathy, trust, usefulness, willingness to answer student questions

Service quality is a vital factor in the success of institutions as it affects

their survival, cost, profitability, and clients’ contentment Quality is one of the most critical issues at all universities (Daunorienė, 2011) Quality is the satisfaction of the customer, if a service product does not meet the needs of the customer is considered to be of poor quality

Training and teaching program is defined as the basic components of an

academic program Good training and teaching programs enhanced student learning (Griffin et al., 2003) Also, these should be meaningful, valuable, and beneficial to learners’ career prospect

Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter talks about the concepts, past studies including abroad and domestic’s studies, and varied literature related to service quality, student satisfaction and dimensions of service equality which would provide the researcher a basis to present a research model that is appropriate to the current reality, meeting the stated research objectives

Service Quality

Starting from the quality perspectives in the manufacturing sector of the 1930's, in recent decades, service quality has been identified as a strategic competitive element Quality of service is a very broad and complex category, reflecting the combination of economic, technical, and social content Because

of this complexity, there are many different concepts of quality that can be perceived, depending on the approach to which the concept of quality is understood in different ways

Besides, according to Ali et al 2016 and Karatepe (2016), service quality has still been relevant to help organizations in creating differentiation and gaining competitive advantage in an era of borderless world and globalization

Service quality can be viewed as the level of service response to the needs or expectations of customers, or the distance between customer expectations and their perceptions when using the service According to Abdullah (2006), the service industry has grown remarkably since the 1970s and it is now playing an increasingly important role in the economy of many countries The quality of service provided is often coupled with increased profitability, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer engagement

(Abdullah, 2006) Consistent with this view, service quality has become a core issue in service literature

Definition of Service

In today's life we know a lot of exchange activities are referred to as general services and vice versa The service consists of many types of operations and exchanges in different fields and at different levels There are many definitions of services, but in order to visualize the service in this study, the researcher referred to some basic service concepts

The definition of service in economics is understood to be similar to commodity but non-material From an economic point of view, the nature of the service is to provide services such as travel services, fashion, health care, and

so on

According to Zeithaml & Britner (2000), services are behaviors, processes, and ways of performing a task that create value for the customer to satisfy the needs and expectations of the customer Kotler & Armstrong (2004) also defined services as, activities or benefits that businesses can offer their customers to establish, strengthen and extend long-term relationships and partnerships with their customers

Philip Kotler defines the service: "Service is an activity or benefit provided for the purpose of exchange, which is essentially intangible and does not result in transfer of property Service performance may or may not be linked

to physical products "

According to ISO 8402, "Service is the result of interactions between suppliers and customers and internal operations of the supplier to meet customer needs."

According to Palmer (2011) the service is the production of an intangible benefit, either in its own right or as significant element of a tangible product, which through some form of exchange satisfies an identified need

Definitions reflect the invisible nature of services, which express the most fundamental difference between services and goods On the other hand, parallel to the difference, the similarity between services and goods exists

In summary, there are many terms of service expressed in different angles, but the service is intended to meet some human needs The characteristic of the service is that it does not exist in the form of tangible products as goods, but it directly serves certain needs of the society

Characteristics of Services

The service is a special product, with many different characteristics, such

as invisibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and inability to store These characteristics make the service difficult to quantify and cannot be identified with the naked eye (Nadiri, et al., 2009; Palmer, 2011)

consumers receive

 Inseparability

The indivisibility of the service demonstrates that it is difficult to divide the service into two distinct stages: the production stage and the stage of use Service is usually created and used concurrently For commodity products, the customer only uses the product in the final stage, while for services, the customer contributes throughout or takes part in the process of creating services

 Inability to store

Services cannot be stored and sold as other goods This results in the need to pay more attention to the management of supply and demand of the service to ensure that the service is utilized to its maximum potential (Palmer, 2011) The non-retention of the service will not be a problem when the demand

is stable As demand changes, service supplier will have difficulty

Service quality in higher education

According to Alves and Raposo 2009, service quality in the field of higher education is particularly essential and important It is an established fact that positive perceptions of service quality have a significant influence

on student satisfaction

For universities, the quality of service in higher education can be said

to be very important because it really affects the existence and development

of universities (Daunorienes, 2011).In essence, the quality of higher education services is a relative concept and is understood in different ways, depending on the approach to the problem which people perceive quality in different aspects Students, employers, teaching and non-teaching staff,

government and funding agencies, censors, accreditation specialists, and assessors have their own viewpoints for the concept of service quality in higher education

In addition, another scale called “The Performance-based Higher Education” was also developed, which included a 67-item instrument for evaluating the perceived service quality of Japanese universities ( Sultan and Wong, 2010a)

Furthermore, in another study, Tahar (2008) postulated that students define quality based on five dimensions, namely, ability to create career opportunities, issues of the program, cost/time, physical aspects , and location All of these studies suggest that the dimensions of higher education service quality vary widely (Sultan and Wong, 2013)

According Bui Nguyen Hung and Nguyen Thuy Quynh Loan (2010), each customer often feels different in quality, so the participation of customers in the development and evaluation of service quality is very important In the service sector, quality is a function of customer perception

In other words, the quality of service is determined by the perception of the customer depending on his or her individual needs

Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a feeling of happiness that obtain when a person fulfilled his or her needs and desire (Saif, N I., 2014) It is a state felt by a person who has experienced performance or an outcome that fulfilled his or her expectations (Ilyas, M & Arif, S., 2013)

According to Kotler and Keller (2012), satisfaction is the degree to which

a person's sense of place is derived from comparing the perception of a product

to his or her expectations Accordingly, there are three levels of satisfaction: First, if the customer's perception is smaller than expected, the customer feels unsatisfied Second, if perceived by expectations, customers feel satisfied; and last, if the perception is greater than expectations, the customer feels satisfied

or interested

Satisfaction refers to the feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing perceived performance in relation to the expectation (Kotler & Keller, 2012) Customers are satisfied when services fit with their expectation Hence, it is a function of relative level of expectation connecting with people’s perception (Mukhtar, U., Anwar, S., Ahmed, U & Baloch, M A., 2015) When a person perceives the service encountered as good, he is satisfied On the other hand, person is dissatisfied when his or her perception crashes with the service expectation Therefore, satisfaction is a perception of pleasurable fulfillment of

a service

Customer Satisfaction

There are many views on customer satisfaction According to Parasuraman

et al (1988) found that customer satisfaction was their reaction to the perceived difference between known experience and expectation This means that the customer knows the experience of using the service and the results after using the service

According to Zeithaml & Bitner (2000), customer satisfaction is the customer's evaluation of a product or service that meets the needs and expectations of customers

As for students’ satisfaction, it is as a short-term attitude, resulting from

an evaluation of a students’ educational experiences (Elliott, K & Healy, M.,

2001) It is a positive antecedent of student loyalty and is the result and outcome of an educational system (Zeithaml, 1988) Again Elliot & Shin defined student satisfaction as students’ disposition by subjective evaluation of educational outcomes and experience Therefore, student satisfaction can be defined as a function of relative level of experiences and perceived performance about educational service (Mukhtar, U., Anwar, S., Ahmed, U & Baloch, M A., 2015) during the study period By considering all of these, students’ satisfaction can be defined as a short-term attitude resulting from an evaluation of students’ educational experience, services and facilities

Through opinions of experts, customer satisfaction has an impact on the objectives and strategies of organizations and enterprises Satisfaction of customers become an important asset in the effort to improve service quality, maintain loyalty and improve the competitiveness of organizations and businesses A satisfied customer is an important factor in maintaining long-term business success and appropriate business strategies to attract and retain customers

Thus, the level of satisfaction is the function of the difference between the result obtained and the expectation Customers can feel one of three levels of satisfaction First, if the performance is worse than expected, the customer will not be satisfied Second, if the results match expectations, the customer will be satisfied; and third, if the actual results exceed expectations, the customer is very satisfied and delighted

Students as customers

Nowadays, we can’t deny the fact that Higher education is a service (Ostrom et al.,2011).In addition, if universities view students as customers and

as co-creators of educational services, then the educational services provided will always be improved to obtain the best quality and be able to meet the requirements of the customers

Therefore, universities attach great importance to the student& school relationship and consider "students as customers and as products of the university." This relationship is built and developed sustainably in order to create global citizens who have a knowledge of culture, science, professional skills and the ability to integrate effectively into industrialization, modernization and international economic integration of the country

In this relationship, the university plays a role both as a producer and as

a supplier of products and services to the society, while students are seen as consumers of services and products of the training process in the university Indeed, higher education is a service Although it is acknowledged higher education has many customers and stakeholders, wherein students are the core customers According to Carter, P (2014), higher education is a service that the customers are students, so the marketing in higher education needs to clearly identify students as customers

Customer Satisfaction Models

This section presents few models and frameworks applied by researchers to uplift students’ satisfactions in higher education literature The models and frameworks have been arranged on chronological order of years to identify how focus has changed from past to now

SERVQUAL is a most popular and widely used service quality model which has been applied to measure students’ satisfaction around the world SERVQUAL is a questionnaire that has been designed, developed and tested

in business environment by Parasuman in 1985 to measure service quality and customer satisfaction of a business taking five dimensions into consideration These are tangibility, reliability, empathy, responsiveness and assurance That questionnaire was administrated twice First to measure customer expectation and then to gain customer perception Though it is widely applied in industry, it

is much criticized in higher education literature by scholars

Alves and Raposo developed a conceptual model to assess students’ satisfaction in 2010 According to the model, student’s satisfaction in higher education is determined by institute’s image, student expectations, perceived technical quality, functional quality and perceived value These influences can

be identified directly or indirectly through other variables The model further illustrated student loyalty and word of mouth as the main successors of satisfaction When student satisfaction upsurge, he will psychologically bound with university and its activities This represents the level of loyalty the student has

Recently, Hanssen & Solvoll (2015) develop a conceptual model combining satisfaction model and facility model The satisfaction model was developed to explain how different factors influences students’ overall satisfaction and facility model was developed to explain influence of university facilities on students’ overall satisfaction According to the model, student satisfaction work as a dependent variable of overall model while host city, job prospects, costs of studying, reputation, and physical facility are working as independent variables of the satisfaction model Facility model of the framework

is used to identify the facilities in institutes that are most influential in formation

of student overall satisfaction Therefore, dependent variable (university facility)

of facility model is used as one of explanatory variables in satisfaction model The model has more focus on university facilities and little attention was paid into teaching, learning and administrative process of institutes Nevertheless, it revealed a new path for scholars precisely combing two separate models for satisfaction literature

Different scholars have used different models to assess students’ satisfaction in higher education and every model is more or less criticized by scholars As a result, old models have been gradually developed with new insights Following table summarized the satisfaction models developed by various scholars to measure student satisfaction in higher education

Relationship between Service Quality (Independent) and Student Satisfaction (Dependent) In Higher Education

Service quality and satisfaction has become an important topic of discussion among the academicians and researchers for the last couple of decades and this trend can also been seen in higher education also (Avdjieva

& Wilson, 2002, Barnes, 2006)

Service quality and Satisfaction are often used in an interchangeable manner, causing difficulty when attempting to distinguish between the two theoretical concepts (Palmer, 2011) Like service quality, customer satisfaction

is an abstract and ambiguous concept (Munteanu et al., 2010) The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been the subject of continuous discussion among researchers over the past decades Much research on customer satisfaction in service industries has been made and it is commonly concluded that service quality and satisfaction are two distinct concepts

Customer satisfaction is a general concept that expresses their satisfaction when consuming a service, even when quality of service is concerned with the specific components of service (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000)

According to Abdullah(2006) service quality affects the level of customer satisfaction Quality of service is determined by a variety of factors, and quality

of service is a component of satisfaction In other words, the concept of satisfaction is broader than service quality (Zeithaml et al (2009)

Many practical studies focuses on the relationship between quality of service and customer satisfaction Cronin & Taylor (1992) validated this view and concluded that perceived quality of service leads to customer satisfaction Studies have concluded that quality of service is a precondition for satisfaction and a major factor in satisfying satisfaction

Therefore, to increase customer satisfaction, service providers must improve service quality ( Munteanu et al., 2010) In other words, quality of service and customer satisfaction are closely related, wherein quality of service

is created first before determining customer satisfaction The relationship between these two factors is causalwhich is a key issue in most studies on customer satisfaction

In short, quality of service is a factor that greatly affects customer satisfaction If a service provider delivers quality products that satisfy their needs, then the service provider will initially make the customers happy Therefore, to improve customer satisfaction, service providers must improve service quality In other words, service quality and customer satisfaction are interrelated, in which the quality of service is what precedes and determines customer satisfaction The causal relationship between these two factors is a

key issue in most customer satisfaction studies If quality is improved but not based on customer’s demand, then the customer will never be satisfied with the service

Therefore, when using the service, if the customer feels that the service

is high quality then they will be satisfied with that service On the contrary, if customers feel that the service is of low quality, dissatisfaction will arise

Service Quality Measurement Models

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 conceptualizing and measuring the construct (Parasuraman et al., 1985 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

these are: Reliability, the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately; Assurance, the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence; Tangibles, the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials; Empathy, the provision of caring, individualized attention to customers; and Responsiveness, the willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service

The simplified RATER model allows customer service experiences to be explored and assessed quantitatively and has been used widely by service delivery organizations

Figure 1 Service Quality Gap Model

Figure 2 Gap 5 Model of Service Quality

Gap (1) is the difference between the customer's expectations and the provider's perception of the expectation Expectation of customers does not fully understand the characteristics of service quality and customer characteristics which creates this difference

Gap (2) is created when the supplier encounters difficulties and obstacles both subjectively and objectively when moving the expected expectations into specific quality criteria and delivering them as expected These criteria become the marketing information to the customer

Gap (3) formed when staff delivered service to customers did not meet the criteria set The role of direct dealing staff is important in creating quality service

Gap (4) is the difference between the delivery service and the information that the customer receives This information can increase expectations but may reduce the quality of the service when the customer does not receive what is promised

Gap (5) is formed by the difference between the quality of perception and the quality of expectation when consumers consume the service As such, Quality of Service is the fifth gap This distance is dependent on the first four distances

Performance-based Measures (SERVPREF)

Cronin and Taylor (1992) suggested that SERVQUAL is inadequate; alternatively, they introduced the SERVPREF instrument to measure service

quality The major difference between the two approaches is that SERVQUAL utilizes a disconfirmation paradigm whereas SERVPREF utilizes an attitudinal paradigm

Cronin and Taylor (1992) defined service quality as a long-term attitude and suggested that it would be inappropriate to include an expectation construct

in the measure Therefore, perceived service quality is considered purely as a performance-based construct and only customers’ perception of performance

by an organization are measured

Cronin and Taylor’s (1992) empirical results suggested that SERVPREF exerted better predictability of customers’ responses on the service quality delivered by an organization than SERVQUAL Parasuraman et al (1994) defended the inclusion of expectations and maintained it to be more favorable

as a construct for practitioners because the superior diagnostic value of SERVQUAL more than offsets the instruments loss of predictive power

However, Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996) later conceded that the perceptions only measurement was more appropriate if the primary purpose

of research was an attempt to explain the variance in a dependent construct Therefore, several studies have excluded the expectation construct when measuring service quality (Bigne, Moliner, and Sanchez, 2003; Brady and Cronin, 2001; Clemes et al., 2001)

In summary, it can be seen that the problem of accessing the concept of service quality is the level of satisfying demand and the desire of customers as well as the trend of quality experts in the current period In view of that quality

of service has these following characteristics: (1) Quality is the satisfaction of the customer, if a service product does not meet the needs of the customer, it

is considered to be of poor quality (2) Because quality is measured by the level

of satisfaction of demand, the demand is constantly changing, so quality always changes with time, space and conditions of use; and (3) Customer needs can

be clearly disclosed in terms of regulations, but there are also needs that consumers feel during and after the end of the process

In summary, these service quality measurement models have their advantages and disadvantages However, in the assessment of service quality, the customer satisfaction level in the economic sector, the SERVQUAL model and the SERVPERF model are more commonly used than the service quality model of Gronroos

Studies on Service Quality Dimensions & Student Satisfaction In Higher Education

Douglas (2006) evaluated student satisfaction in the Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University Research shows that university facilities are not important in terms of student satisfaction, but they act as the determining factor for students' choice in choosing universities

Kanan & Baker (2006) tried to test the effectiveness of Palestinian universities' academic education programs Research showed that academic programs have a significant impact on student satisfaction

Nguyen Thanh Long (2006) have used variations of the SERVQUAL scale SERVPERF assess the quality of education through student evaluation of An Giang University During that training is seen as a service under customer evaluation of a student The study results showed that SERVPERF scale multi-direction but there is still metamorphosis characterized components from the component services to provide services; factors faculty, facilities and reliability

in the school's three most important elements of quality training Research by Nguyen Thanh Long has a sample size of 650, in which the sample distribution

by year of study: The second year students are 41%, the third year students are also 41%, and fourth year students are 18% The results of the study shows that with a complex services such as higher education, customer (student) package provided services for a long time and by many objects (the part), so different evaluation of service quality for objects may occur Also, the evaluation

of the structure is not dismissed or reduced sense of theory as well as quality

of service SERVPERF scale as can be seen The variables according to specific components are still present in the new component object Research has shown, teachers are the most important components affecting student satisfaction Students can also view a comprehensive faculty These two components have a significant impact followed by facilities and self-confidence

in school According to the authors, because these studies are limited in sample selection, research context should not represent expanding research results to other universities that are not reliable enough Further studies can be confirmed through the trends of SERVPERF scale to find out the quality of university education and training best suited

A study on the factors of service quality affecting satisfaction are the

author named Tran XuanKien (2006) themed "Assessment of Student Satisfaction on the Training and Teaching Quality at the University of Economics and Business Administration–Thai Nguyen University" This study surveyed, junior and senior students (183 female, 77male) and based on the SERVQUAL scale which consists of 5components, they were facilities, enthusiasm of Lecturers and staff, and commitment and interest of the school

to students to determine student satisfaction After Cronbach Alpha analysis, factor analysis EFA and regression analysis showed that students’ satisfaction depends on the5components on the match betweenmodelanddatais87.1%

Alvis and Rapaso (2008), investigated the influence of college images on satisfaction and loyalty among Portuguese students The findings of the study indicated that university images have a direct and indirect impact on student satisfaction and loyalty

Baker (2008) used the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen to compare the dependent variable (academic performance) against an independent variable (extracurricular activities involvement), and no effect was found between academic performance and the category of activity in which students were involved

Extracurricular activities involve activities "outside the core curriculum of students" (Shulruf, 2010) Extra-curricular activities that do not involve academic credit and participation in these activities are not required for students

Nasser et al 2008 investigates college students' knowledge of services and programs related to their satisfaction at the Lebanese Catholic College Studies show that students who have a high level of knowledge of university

processes, rules, and regulations may have greater educational value and therefore a higher level of satisfaction

The results from the study of Navarro (2008) examining the impact of teaching program over Student Satisfaction showed that teaching staff, teaching methods and course management have a significant impact to the satisfaction of students in the Spain University system

In 2008, TranThiTu Anh presented her thesis of Master of Management Education with the title "The Study Evaluates the Quality of Undergraduate Teaching at the Academy of Journalism and Communication" Thesis was done under the guidance of Dr Pham Xuan Thanh, Department of Testing and Inspection, Ministry of Education This study focuses on clarifying the concept

of teaching quality at the Academy of Journalism and Communication then sets out the criteria, approaches and assessment tools to measure quality of teaching at the Academy For assessing the quality of teaching courses, the author evaluated five criteria, and these are: objective of subjects, teaching methods, content of subjects, learning materials and activity of test, and evaluation After putting out the criteria and indicators, the researcher has set-

up a questionnaire to evaluate the quality of teaching which includes 10 questions upon 5- point Likert scale and was conducted to 1764studentsfrom27classesin 15departmentsof the Academy to assess the quality of teaching for 46subjects The results showed that the quality of the courses taught at the academy is different Quality gap between the best and the worst being relatively far Besides, the study also provides5criteria for evaluating teaching qualityfor courses including content of training programs, curriculum structure, teaching equipment, teaching activities and overall