Antecedents and Consequences of Service Quality in a Higher Education Context - Book Report/Review Example

Thesis Summary Antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context’ The study ‘Antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context’ aims to identify how service quality affects the performance of a University in terms of student retention, enrolment of new students, and reputation. In the process, the study develops three important constructs; namely information, past experience, and brand performance. The study begins with the realization that students are becoming extremely critical and analytical in nature while selecting their educational institutions. Similarly, universities are aggressively trying to improve offers and brand name in order to attract more students. Thus, the study claims that education is a business and students are customers. Looking into relevant literature, the study finds that students search for evidence of quality, value and cost comparisons while selecting an educational institution. Also, there is evidence to believe that students look for evidence of quality of services. The main questions answered by the study are; what are the antecedents of service quality in a higher education context, what is perceived service quality in terms of a higher education institution, what are the impacts of antecedents or service quality on perceived service quality in a higher education context, what are the consequences of perceived service quality in a higher education context, and how does perceived service quality affect these consequences. The study relies on both qualitative and quantitative methods for research and it derives the data from literature review and discussion with nineteen students at the CQ University, Rockhampton. In addition, there was an online survey which received 1032 responses. From the study, it becomes evident that there is a positive relationship between information received by the students and their evaluation of service quality. Also, the study proves that there is positive connection between past experience of the students and perception of service quality. Thirdly, the study shows that performance of service quality can positively influence student’s satisfaction in a higher education context. Furthermore, it is seen that trust can be positively influenced by perception of service quality in the higher education context. In addition, the study proves that trust can be positively influenced by perceived satisfaction in the higher education context. Yet another important finding is that perceived brand performance can affect behavioral intention in a positive way. Lastly, perceived satisfaction affects the behavioral intention of students in a positive way. Thus, the study proves that it is for the managers of higher education institutions to ensure that they maintain good relationships with present and past students. Moreover, it is necessary to have good relationships with authorities and other stakeholders. In addition, it is highly necessary to regularly update the service performance in order to retain satisfaction and trust. When these steps are taken, there will be more student retention and increased student enrolment. This will lead to higher reputation in the long term. Thus, the study succeeds in expanding the existing knowledge regarding the role of service quality in higher education. It successfully explores the relationship among service quality, satisfaction, trust, behavioral intention, brand performance, and perception of service quality. Thesis Summary 2 The introduction of automated banking services in Australia The work looks into the way service quality in automated banking services impact on customer satisfaction, retention and financial performance, and it also compares the same with customer satisfaction, retention and financial performance in traditional banks. The study is based on the realization that presently, the few studies which deal with marketing relationships and financial performance in automated banking services are limited in the fact that they only focus on internet, ignoring other automated service channels like ATMs. The present study takes into account all the automated delivery channels which are capable of influencing quality issues. The study looks into various works in the field in order to develop the background for the research. From the literature review, it is found that during 1950s and 1960s, Australian financial system underwent tremendous changes to become an open system with a wide range of services. In addition is the finding that service quality has become a major element in deciding the success of any business. Another point that becomes evident is that technology has a great impact on the banks operate as it enabled banks to offer a new range of products and improved delivery channels. Also, it is possible for banks to use services like ATM, telephone banking and internet to enhance customer satisfaction and retention. The research answers three questions. The first question is the extent to which automated bank service quality positively affects customer satisfaction, retention and bank financial performance. Based on the literature, the present study hypothesizes that automated service quality has a direct positive impact on customer satisfaction. The second hypothesis is that automated service quality has a direct positive impact on customer retention, and the third one is that automated service quality will positively impact on bank financial performance. The second important question is whether the impact of service quality on satisfaction in the automated context differs from the traditional context. Based on the literature, the work hypothesizes that automated service quality has stronger impact on customer satisfaction, retention, and financial performance than traditional service quality models. The work has adopted a quantitative methodology which used a questionnaire. It conducted 442 usable surveys which included service quality evaluation of ten different banks and the interviews were conducted in shopping malls in various cities. Through descriptive analysis and inferential analysis, the study reaches a number of findings. The first one is that automated service quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, no influence on the financial performance of the bank, and a negative significant relationship with customer retention. Also, the study finds that automated service quality does not have more influence on customer satisfaction than the traditional service quality. However, it is found that automated service quality can have stronger impact on customer retention than the traditional service quality can do. Also, it is found that automated service quality has no more influence on financial performance than traditional service quality. Finally, the study also reaches the conclusion that there are no similarities in the pattern of structural relationships detected by the automated and traditional service quality models. Read More