Quality Management Reengineering in Higher Education Institutions, Case study: Yazd University Educational Services

This study seeks to find the gap among service quality indicators in Iranian higher education. The objective is to suggest the most important service elements for improving higher education service quality of Yazd University using Kano’s and (Quality Function Deployment) QFD. It also aims to measure how successful the University has been in meeting users’ needs by providing reliable services. Our empirical investigation plans to increase both the validity of the 3 quality improvement models and their application as a mean to understand the variation of customer perceptions of service dimensions. The research was conducted among Yazd University students in order to meet the objectives of the study, SERVQUAL; Kano’s and QFD methods were used. Information was gathered via questionnaires which consisted of structured questions. All the closed ended questions were designed to elicit responses on a five-point Likert scale to measure both respondent satisfaction and perception of service quality. Also, for obtaining service elements, we used faculty member opinions through continuous interviews.

It was found that there is a gap between 26 out of 30 service quality indicators. In addition only 7 indicators were identified as basic needs using Kano’s model. At the end of this process, we revealed 14 service elements for Yazd University managers that could decrease the gap between student perceptions and expectations of higher education service quality. In order to improve service elements, 14 KPO were suggested after continuous interviews with faculty members. The concept of service quality assessment through QFD is relatively a new theory among Iranian higher education institutions. Also there is a lack of previous studies using this methodology in assessing quality of academic environments. The paper also offers practical guidance that could be used by University managers for promoting the grade of university in the world rankings.