SERVQUAL: A STUDY ABOUT THE PERCEPTION OF QUALITY IN A BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITY

Carla França Medeiros, Adalena Kennedy Vieira, Raimundo Kennedy Vieira

Abstract


Objective: This study aims to evaluate the quality of the services provided by the Faculty of Technology of the Federal University of Amazonas (TF/FUA) through the expectations and perceptions of the clients (students), as well as to propose possible improvements in the provision of services. Methodology: The SERVQUAL analysis tool was adapted to the reality of higher education, which has seven dimensions of quality: tangibility, reliability, competence, receptivity, clarity, autonomy, and accessibility. Results: It was possible to identify that the perceptions do not match the expectations of the students, indicating the need for policies for quality and customer satisfaction. The most significant dimensions of quality are reliability and competence. The dimensions with lesser importance were autonomy and tangibility. Based on the analysis of perceptions, the best dimensions evaluated were competence and receptivity, and the worst dimensions were autonomy and tangibility. Practical Implications: The study aimed to assist the management of TF/FUA in self-knowledge about the quality of services provided. It aided decision-making to improve services. In addition, it supported the consolidation of the student as a university client, capturing their expectations and perceptions regarding services. Thus, it was possible to contribute to their autonomy and participation in services.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


quality in services, quality in educational services, HEI, and SERVQUAL

Full Text:

PDF

References


Albrecht, Karl. Quality Services: the competitive advantage. Sao Paulo. Makron Books, 1992.

Albrecht, Karl. Revolution in services - how companies can revolutionize the way they treat their customers. 5th ed. Publisher Pioneira, 256p., 1998.

Almeida, C.; Pscheira, C.; Seleme, R.; Muller, S.; Silva, R.. Perception of quality in higher education: application of SERQUAL in the undergraduate course in production engineering at UFPR. XL Brazilian Congress of Engineering Education, Belém, Sept., 2012. Available at: http://www.abenge.org.br/CobengeAnteriores/2012/artigos/104382.pdf. Accessed on 11 Jul. 2016.

Baker, D. M. A. (2013). Service quality and customer satisfaction in the airline industry: A comparison between legacy airlines and low-cost airlines. American Journal of Tourism Research, 2 (1), 67-77.

Brito, Rosa Mendonça de. 100 years UFAM. 2. Ed. Ver. Amp. - Manaus. Publisher Federal University of Amazonas, 2011.

Coelho, C. D. A. Evaluation of perceived quality in services: application in a private primary and secondary school. Florianópolis, 2004, 178 f. Dissertation (Master in Production Engineering) Post-graduation Program in Production Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Fitzsimmons, J.; Fitzsimmons, M. Administration of services: operations, strategy, and information technology. 2. ed. Porto Alegre: Bookman, 2010.

Freitas, A.L.P., Costa, H. G. A Multicriteria Analysis for the Classification of Service Quality Using the ELECTRE TRI Method, Annals of XXIII ENEGEP - National Meeting of Production Engineering, Ouro Preto / MG, 2003.

Gokcen, N. 2014. "The Rise of Student Consumerism." The Psychologist 27: 940-1.

Gonçalves, T.; Belderrain, M.. Evaluation of quality in lan houses through the adaptation of the SERVQUAL instrument. Revista Produção Online, Florianópolis, v. 12, n. 1, p. 248-268, 2012.

Green, D. (1994). What Is Quality in Higher Education?. Taylor & Francis, 1900 Frost Road, Bristol, PA 19007-1598.

Grönroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18 (4), 36-44.

Hoque, K. E., Zabidi, A., Othman, A.J., Mishra, P. K., & Sukor, R. (2013). Quality Services as perceived by students of International and Public schools. Life Science Journal, 10 (2), 74-78.

Jeevarathnam, P. G., Veerasamy, D., & Noel, D. T. (2014). The Service Quality Experience of International Students: The Case of a Selected Higher Education Institution in South Africa. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5 (8), 465.

Kotler, P.; Keller, K. L. Marketing Administration. 14. Ed. São Paulo: Pearson Education Do Brasil, 2012.

Lacerda, Flávia Alves de Brito. Quality management: fundamentals of excellence. Brasília: SEBRAE, 2005.

Lupo, T. (2013). The fuzzy ServQual based method for reliable measurements of education quality in Italian higher education area. Expert systems with applications, 40 (17), 7096-7110.

Macowski, D.. Quality of services provided by an institution of higher education in the view of graduates: statistical analysis according to the SERVQUAL method. Federal University of Paraná, Postgraduate Program, Curitiba, 2007. Available at: http://www.ppgmne.ufpr.br/arquivos/diss/168.pdf. Access XXXIV National Meeting of Production Engineering Production, Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Engineering: The Agenda Brasil + 10 Curitiba, PR, Brazil, October 7 to 10, 2014. Access in July 20. 2016.

Mauri, A. G., & Minazzi, R. (2013). Web reviews influence on expectations and purchasing intentions of hotel potential customers. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, 99-107.

Melchor Cardona, M., & Bravo, J. J. (2012). Service quality perceptions in higher education institutions: the case of a Colombian university. Management Studies, 28 (125), 23-29.

Naidoo*, R., & Jamieson, I. (2005). Empowering participants or corroding learning? Towards a research agenda on the impact of student consumerism in higher education. Journal of education policy, 20(3), 267-281.

Oliver, R. L. (2014). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. Routledge.

Oliveira, O.J.; Ferreira, E.C., Adaptation and Application of the SERVQUAL Scale in Higher Education. In: ENEGEP, XXIX, 2009 Salvador, pg. 1.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. the Journal of Marketing, 41-50.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). Servqual. Journal of retailing, 64(1), 12-40.

Pisoni, A., Boligon, J.A., R., Medeiros, F. S.B., Denardin, S.A. S., & Murini, L. T. (2013). Servqual Methodology: A Tool for the Evaluation of Quality of Services in an Agricultural Machinery Company. Revista Industrial Gestão, 9 (3).

Quester, P. G., Romaniuk, S., & Wilkinson, J. W. (2015). A test of four service quality measurement scales: the case of the Australian advertising industry. In Proceedings of the 1995 World Marketing Congress (pp. 384-391). Springer International Publishing.

Ranaweera, C., & Jayawardhena, C. (2014). Talk up or criticize? Customer responses to WOM about competitors during social interactions. Journal of Business Research, 67(12), 2645-2656.

Ravindran, S. D., & Kalpana, M. (2012). Student's Expectation, Perception and Satisfaction towards the Management Educational Institutions. Procedia Economics and Finance, 2, 401-410.

Sardar, A., Amjad, S., & Ali, U. (2016). An empirical analysis of the service quality gap in business education: Evidence from higher education in Pakistan. Journal of Education for Business, 91(3), 148-158.

Siu, N. Y. M., Zhang, T. J. F., & Kwan, H. Y. (2014). Effect of corporate social responsibility, customer attribution and prior expectation on post-recovery satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 43, 87-97.

Sofi, M. R., Hakim, I. A., & Gadoo, M. R. (2016). Service Quality Variables and Tourist Satisfaction at Destination Level–A Study of J&K Tourism. International Journal of Applied Research and Studies, 3(2).

Souza, E.; Meira, J.; Maske, D.. A medição da Qualidade dos serviços prestados em hotéis de Balneário Camboriú, SC: Uma aplicação do modelo SERVQUAL. Revista Rosa dos Ventos, v. 4, n. 4, p. 544,555, 2012.

Su, L., Swanson, S. R., & Chen, X. (2016). The effects of perceived service quality on repurchase intentions and subjective well-being of Chinese tourists: The mediating role of relationship quality. Tourism Management, 52, 82-95.

Tseng, S. M., & Wu, P. H. (2014). The impact of customer knowledge and customer relationship management on service quality. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 6(1), 77-96.

Ufam. Manaus, Federal University of Amazonas. Management Report of Ufam, 2015.

Ufam. Manaus, Federal University of Amazonas. Contains institutional information, techniques, news, projects, publications and services. Available at http://www.ufam.edu.br/informacoes-sobre-a-ufam. Accessed on: 02 Aug. 2016.

Xiao, J., & Wilkins, S. (2015). The effects of lecturer commitment on student perceptions of teaching quality and student satisfaction in Chinese higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(1), 98-110.

Wong, I. A., & Dioko, L. D. A. (2013). Understanding the mediated moderating role of customer expectations in the customer satisfaction model: The case of casinos. Tourism Management, 36, 188-199.

Yousapronpaiboon, K. (2014). SERVQUAL: Measuring higher education service quality in Thailand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 1088-1095.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v11i4.5252

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Carla França Medeiros, Adalena Kennedy Vieira, Raimundo Kennedy Vieira

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015-2023. European Journal of Education Studies (ISSN 2501 - 1111) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).