Increasing service quality at a university: a continuous improvement project

Fernando Gonzalez Aleu*, Edgar Marco Aurelio Granda Gutierrez, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes, Juan Baldemar Garza Villegas, Jesus Vazquez Hernandez

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a continuous improvement project (CIP) at a Mexican university designed to increase engineering graduate student loyalty. Design/methodology/approach: A plan-do-check-act problem-solving methodology was implemented, and a SERVQUAL survey was conducted on 67 master’s engineering students. Findings: Five factors were found to affect student loyalty: facility cleanliness; faculty teaching skills; evening student services; master’s degree student management roles at work; and master’s degree students’ ages. After the implementation of the improvement and control actions, there was a 7.7% increase in the engineering master’s degree students’ loyalty scores. Research limitations/implications: However, there were several research limitations: data availability (such as student loyalty, student satisfaction and a small master’s degree student population size) and factors outside the CIP’s scope (such as the country’s economic situation, university rankings, master’s programme accreditations and COVID-19). Practical implications: The findings from this research study could be used by other higher education institutions (HEIs)to improve student loyalty and as a reference when conducting similar studies in other service organisations such as hospitals and hotels. Originality/value: This research work took a different approach in assessing student satisfaction and student loyalty in a HEI by using the SERVQUAL survey as the data collection instrument for conducting CIP.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)209-224
Number of pages16
JournalQuality Assurance in Education
Volume29
Issue number2-3
Early online date5 Jul 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education

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