STUDENTS’ PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY OF BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Journal Title: Quality Issues and Insightsin the 21st Century - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 1

Abstract

Research applied an extended SERVQUAL instrument to determine the perceived service quality delivered to students’ of two business schools in Tanzania during and after the service encounter. Three hypotheses pertaining to demographics and time were tested. A longitudinal survey was conducted. Extended SERVQUAL instrument was administered to students in the final year of study in interval of six months period. Expectations against the school’s actual service performance along the service quality dimensions were determined. A Likert scale anchored at points 1 to 7 was used for dimension items, whereas a 5-point scale on overall performance was used. Two of the three tested hypotheses (H 1 & H 3) were partly supported while H2 was fully supported, indicating significant differences in students’ perceived service quality by demographic groups; stability of students’/graduates’ perceived service quality received during the two periods of time; and impact on Process Outcome on the overall level of service performance at T1. It is recommended to managers of business schools in Tanzania to continuously apply the extended SERVQUAL while monitoring students’ expectations and perceptions for improvement purposes. The application of the extended SERVQUAL was limited to two conveniently located public business schools in Tanzania in a time interval of six months. This period may not be long enough to track students’ perceptions of education service quality after graduation. In future, the extended SERVQUAL instrument can be applied to a large number of business schools to monitor the dynamics of students and graduates expectations and perceptions in a similar setting. A longitudinal study beyond the 6-month period may be conducted. The study can be extended to other emerging markets.

Authors and Affiliations

Esther R. Mbise

Keywords

Related Articles

WHAT EXAMINATIONS TEST

Examinations play a dominant role at school level in all countries. They determine the future of candidates in many ways. However, what do national examinations actually assess? In a previous study in Bahrain, it was cle...

THE PECULIARITIES OF PREPARATION OF STUDENTS – PSYCHOLOGUES FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL – AKMEOLOGICAL PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TEACHER‘S ACTIVITY QUALITY EVALUATION

The evaluation of pre-school educational institution teacher‘s professional activity quality is one of the most important tasks for us. The article deals with pre-school educational institution teacher‘s pedagogical act...

THIRD-PARTY QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AUDITS: PERCEPTIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENTS

Third-party quality audits have been a continued practice within the manufacturing community since release of the ISO 9000 standard in 1987. In recent times, many within the manufacturing industry are questioning the val...

LIFE SATISFACTION OF THE WOMEN OF RUSSIAN FAR EAST: ILLUSTRATED BY THE WOMEN OF KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMURE

This study investigates life satisfaction as the indicator of subjective well-being of working women of Komsomolsk-on-Amure. The Personal Well-being Index and National Well-being Index were used as the methods of data ac...

CHALLENGES IN EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES

One major area of library and information science research is the evaluation of digital library. The term „digital library” (DL) covers different applications and has been used interchangeably for digitized collections,...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP454457
  • DOI -
  • Views 115
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Esther R. Mbise (2015). STUDENTS’ PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY OF BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY. Quality Issues and Insightsin the 21st Century, 4(1), 28-44. https://www.europub.co.uk/articles/-A-454457