Brewing service quality in higher education. Characteristics of ingredients that make up the recipe
| Date | 11 July 2008 |
| Published date | 11 July 2008 |
| Pages | 266-286 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880810886277 |
| Author | Roland K. Yeo |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Brewing service quality in higher
education
Characteristics of ingredients that make
up the recipe
Roland K. Yeo
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose – The paper seeks to explore the influences of service quality in higher education and the
perceptions associated with the implementation of a Singapore tertiary institution. It draws on the
underpinnings of SERVQUAL, and discusses the dichotomy and interrelation between customer
perception and expectation.
Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methodology was employed and data were collected
by means of structured in-depth interviewing with both internal (18 academics and ten current
students) and external samples (ten graduates and five industry representatives). Content analysis
was utilized to examine three key aspects of service standards: customer orientation, course
design/delivery, and support services.
Findings – The way students are perceived, whether as customers or products, will have an
influence on the type of learning dynamics that develop both within and outside the classroom. Service
quality, therefore, needs to be evaluated based on an integrated experience which occurs in a network
of learning spaces created to promote dialogue, inquiry and reflection.
Practical implications – Management of student expectations is fundamental to ensuring
appropriate service quality in higher education. Closer working relationship with industry partners
should be encouraged to serve as an audit on curricula relevance. Long-term quality of support
services can be achieved by short-term measures such as training staff to be student-centered rather
than task-driven.
Originality/value – This paper is based on an actual framework developed by the engineering
school as part of their strategic plan in achieving excellence in both quality of courses and learning
experiences.
Keywords Higher education,SERVQUAL, Service quality assurance,Singapore
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking (Henry Ford, 1863-1947).
Quality improvement is no longer an organizational buzzword that resides in the
practices of quality control circles. It goes beyond examining products and processes as
influencing final outcomes that would contribute towards the competitive advantage
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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The author thanks the Editors and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The
author acknowledges the help of Andy Kwek in the initial stage of data collection and
appreciates King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the support given in the
preparation of this paper.
QAE
16,3
266
Received August 2007
Revised February 2008
Accepted March 2008
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 16 No. 3, 2008
pp. 266-286
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684880810886277
of organizations. Increasingly, “quality” has become a subjective term tha t is not solely
determined by tangible satisfaction; it is concerned with customers’ expectations and
perceptions (Harvey and Green, 1993; Lawson, 1992; Parasuraman et al., 1988). In fact,
what has been perceived to be of greater importance is “service quality” (Brysland and
Curry, 2001; Cronin and Taylor, 1992). As American industrialist, Henry Ford, would
argue, quality can only be maintained through a consistent and conscientious effort;
hence the need for a continuous pursuit of excellence.
The rapid competition in the service industry has led many organizations to focus
on their internal and external customers as there are sometimes no actual products
involved (Lewis and Smith, 1994). As such, higher education would be considered a
part of service industry since the primary focus of tertiary institutions is to provide
quality learning experiences to students. With the proliferation of study options
available to students internationally including the use of virtual technology to deliver
courses, it is no wonder tertiary institutions worldwide are under pressure to provide
unique learning experiences to students so as to capture the market share (Gapp and
Fisher, 2006; O’Neill and Palmer, 2004). Hence, service quality becomes the means for
many institutions to retain student numbers and to capture the educational market.
The most common understanding of service quality is its association with
teacher-student participation in relation to the professionalism-intimacy scale as
affecting immediate and lifelong learning. However, service quality is far more
complex; it is concerned with the physical, institutional and psychological aspects of
higher education. For instance, Li and Kaye (1998) argue that service quality deals with
the environment, corporate image and interaction among people. They distinguish
between process and output quality, where the former is judged by customers during
the service and the latter, after the service. Emphasis on continuous improvement is
crucial to the sustainability of service quality. As defined, continuous improvement is a
systematic way of evaluating process and outcome, learning from mistakes as well as
exceeding internal and external expectations (Henderson-Smart et al., 2006). It also
requires a constant negotiation of deep-rooted values as a result of the changing needs
and expectations of customers (Koslowski, 2006).
The Singapore educational scene
Educationally, Singapore is driven by a significant level of competition with
institutions developing specialist and interdisciplinary courses to cater to a wide
variety of students to create a unique learning experience. Increasingly, institutional
management and administration have become more systematized and efficient. For
instance, in their quest for excellence, many institutions have adopted the benchmark
systems such as the ISO 9000 (a type of standards for quality management systems
and maintained by the International Organization for Standardization) and Singapore
Quality Award (SQA) – two uppermost desirable service quality achievements
commonly striven for by organizations in the commercial sector. The SQA was
established in 1994 to help Singapore organizations attain world-class standards of
business excellence. The business excellence model underpinning the SQA is based on
universally accepted standards that are found in the US Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award, the European Quality Award and the Australian Business Excellence
Award (Quazi and Padibjo, 1998). A fundamental emphasis of ISO 9000 and SQA is
being customer focused.
Brewing service
quality in higher
education
267
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