An analysis of service quality measurements in tertiary Colleges in Kenya. A case study of Zetech College.
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Date
2014-06-24
Authors
Mputhia, Muthomi Raphael
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Abstract
The role of service quality in tertiary education institutions has received increasing
attention during the last two decades. Tertiary education institutions should ensure that all
services encounters are managed to enhance students’ perceived service quality. While
there is consensus on the importance of service quality, its measurement is a challenge that
tertiary education providers who aim to gain a better understanding of the quality issues of
students’ experiences face. In fact, the use of the most appropriate measurement tools
would help managers to assess service quality provided by their institution, thus having
the ability to use the results to better design service delivery. In an effort to increase
students’ satisfaction, it is imperative that tertiary education institutions measure the
quality of services they provide to be able to improve on them. Students’ perceptions of
the quality of services experiences against actual service received should be assessed. In a
competitive higher education market place, the quality of services delivered separates an
institution from its competitors. Therefore the results from service quality measurement
can be used to position a tertiary education institution strategically in the market. Zetech
College is one of the leading private tertiary education providers in Kenya. There has been
an urgent need to measure service quality recently due to increased students complains on
service delivery even with the existence of a very nicely articulated customer service
charter. The aim of this study was to measure service quality in tertiary education
institutions in Kenya. A case study of Zetech College was conducted. The study
highlighted the students’ expectations about the quality of tertiary education services they
are receiving at Zetech College. It also examined the current service quality levels and
determined the size and direction of the gap between students’ perceived service quality
and service expectations. The information from this study is expected to be very useful to
all tertiary education providers in Kenya. The study was carried out on the basis that the
sampled students were able and willing to make an evaluation and assessment of services
received. The study was a case study of Zetech College. The ex-post facto research design
was used. Stratified random sampling was used to select one hundred and twenty two
(122) students out of five thousand one hundred and twenty four (5124) Zetech college
students taking course for seven (7) examination bodies. Descriptive statistics was used
for final analysis and results. The researcher found out that there was an 85.5% students’
expectations’ on service quality, with 62.5% of services offered being below what
students expected in terms of service quality. There was negative 2.41/7 deviation in
service quality from the students’ service quality expectations.
Description
Department of Business Administration, 137p. 2014