An investigation of students' perceptions of service quality at the Namibia Business School
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Date
2018
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The aim of this study, was to explore students’ perceptions of the service quality offered by the Namibia Business School in relation to its degree and diploma programmes as well as to measure the gap between students’ perceptions and expectations from the Namibia Business School. The study chose a sample of n=114 from a population size of N= 228 of the programmes that ran on a long-term basis, where students would have been engaged with the school for a longer period and these students had completed at least one year with the school. The questionnaires were administered and distributed using a probability random sampling technique, 114 questionnaires were given, 100 questionnaires were returned. That is 87.8 percent response rate, which is considered as an excellent response rate. 54% were female, while 46% were male. Ninety percent of the respondents were registered for a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, Masters in Business Administration in Finance and Strategic Management. Ten percent of the respondents were in the Master of Business Administration: Natural Resources, Doctor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration: Entrepreneurship courses of study. The study showed that students’ expectations of service quality exceeded their perceptions on the five service quality dimensions. The average level of service quality at Namibia Business School in relation to the different dimensions, registered gap scores of Tangibles (-1.059), Reliability (-1.528), Assurance (-0.670), Responsiveness (-1.443) and Empathy (-0.919). The smallest dimension gap score proved to be Assurance followed Empathy, while the largest gap score in the study proved to be Reliability followed by Responsiveness. The data offered in this study revealed that the dimension, Reliability is the one that the school will have to pay attention to; the school will have to look into its ability to perform the services consistently and accurately. The findings can be used as a guide to the school’s management, to improve the crucial quality attributes and enhance service quality and its performance. An improved service quality will also help the school to face the competition from other higher education institutions. Therefore, more effort in planning to improve services in order to meet the students’ expectations and those dimensions which have a larger gap should be the priority.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Business Administration (Entrepreneurship)
Keywords
Service quality