Tài liệu Doctor of philosophy in education management

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY FOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHERN KEY ECONOMIC REGION OF VIETNAM Dissertation Submitted to Bulacan State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT By PHAM DINH SAC ID: BCC120436 January 2014 i APPROVAL SHEET This Dissertation of PHAM DINH SAC entitled IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY FOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHERN KEY ECONOMIC REGION OF VIETNAM”, which is prepared and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree, Doctor of Philosophy, major in Educational Management, is hereby accepted. PHAN NGOC SON, PHD. Dissertation Adviser DISSERTATION COMMITTEE Chairman Member External Panelist Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, major in Educational Management. Date: ____________________ ii ABSTRACT After over 20 years of socialization in Higher Education, Vietnam got some achievements in provide educational chances for learners. However, until now, there have been few of private universities accepted by society. Most of them are trying day by day for survival due to lack of students. Nowadays, education considered as business industry globally. If so, university is service provider and student is their customer. Service supplier cannot do business without customer. Private universities in Vietnam need to build its own brand starting with improving training quality and student satisfaction. Hence, this research was conducted to investigate determinant factors of training service quality affected on student satisfaction. The objectives of this study are: (1) To measure and access service quality of private universities in Southern economic region, (2) To explore determinants of Student satisfaction toward Service quality in Higher education, and (3) To recommend some solutions for service quality improvement in Higher Education. This research aimed to extend and verify the HEdPERF model developed by Ferdaus (2005) in case of Vietnam. The findings of this study showed that there are five determinants of training service quality have mainly effected to student satisfaction, they are: Non-academics, Reputation, Academic, Selection, and Student rights. Practical implications: The results drawn out from this research will be helpful for private university to improve its quality in Higher education and service in severe market as education, which accepts the existence of highly qualified universities. Keywords: Student satisfaction, Service quality in Higher education, Private University, HEdPERF, Education Management. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Completion of this doctoral dissertation was possible with the support of several people. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of them. First of all, I am extremely grateful to my research guide, Dr. Phan Ngoc Son, for his valuable guidance, scholarly inputs and consistent encouragement I received throughout the research work. This feat was possible only because of the unconditional support provided by Sir. A person with an amicable and positive disposition, Sir has always made himself available to clarify my doubts despite his busy schedules and I consider it as a great opportunity to do my doctoral programme under his guidance and to learn from his research expertise. Thank you Sir, for all your help and support. Some faculty members of the Dongnai University of Technology have been very kind enough to extend their help at various phases of this research, whenever I approached them, and I do hereby acknowledge all of them. I thank Dr. Ta Xuan Te, Rector of the Dongnai University of Technology, for his valuable suggestions and concise comments on some of the research papers of the thesis. My colleague-Vu Thinh Truong has extended his support in statistical data analysis and I thank them for their contributions. I am myself showing my deepest thanks to Victoria P. Valenzuela, D.P.A - Dean of the Graduate School Bulacan State University, friends who support and create advantageous conditions for me to study and complete this dessertation. Last but not least, I would like to give my special thanks to my family whose patient love enabled me to finish this work. Dong Nai / January, 2014. Pham Dinh Sac iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE TITLE: IMPROVING SERVICE QUALITY FOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHERN KEY ECONOMIC REGION OF VIETNAM APPROVAL SHEET ........................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FINGURES ...................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FINGURES ...................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND...................................... 1 1.1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Problem Statement ........................................................................................... 2 1.3. Objectives......................................................................................................... 2 1.4. Importance of the study.................................................................................... 3 1.5. Time and Place of Study .................................................................................. 3 1.6 Scope and Limitation of Study ........................................................................ 3 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................ 4 2.1. Higher Education ............................................................................................. 4 2.2. The overview of Higher Education in Vietnam in recent years....................... 4 2.3. Definition of Service...................................................................................... 13 2.4. Features of services........................................................................................ 14 v 2.5. Service Quality............................................................................................... 15 2.6. Service quality models and related topics to service quality in Higher Education ....................................................................................................... 15 2.7. Student satisfaction ........................................................................................ 28 2.8. The relationship between satisfaction and service quality............................. 29 2.9. Conceptual Framework .................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 3: METHOD OF RESEARCH MODEL AND TECHNIQUES OF STUDY ................................................................................................................... 32 3.1. Research Procedure........................................................................................ 32 3.2. Sample Size.................................................................................................... 33 3.3. Questionnaire Design..................................................................................... 33 3.4. Measurements ................................................................................................ 34 3.5. Analysis techniques........................................................................................ 36 3.5.1. Testing reliability of scale by Cronbach’s Alpha................................ 36 3.5.2. Exploratory Factors Analysis (EFA)................................................... 37 3.5.3. Multiple-Regression Analysis............................................................. 37 3.5.4. ANOVA Analysis ............................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA...................................................................................................................... 40 4.1. The performance of private universities in the Southern key economic region of Vietnam...................................................................................................... 40 4.2. Sample Description ........................................................................................ 42 vi 4.3. Testing the reliability of training quality in Higher Education scale by Cronbach’s Alpha .......................................................................................... 48 4.4. Testing the reliability of scale of satisfaction by Cronbach’s Alpha ............. 49 4.5. Assessment on Training Service Quality Scale using EFA analysis ............. 50 4.6. Assessment of Customer Satisfaction Scale through EFA analysis .............. 52 4.7. Research Model Adjustment.......................................................................... 53 4.8. Regression Analysis....................................................................................... 54 4.8.1. Correlation Matrix............................................................................... 54 4.8.2. Regression Analysis............................................................................ 56 4.9. ANOVA analysis ........................................................................................... 57 4.10. Discussion ...................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION ................ 66 5.1. Summary and Conclusion .............................................................................. 66 5.2. Recommendation ........................................................................................... 67 5.2.1. Creating and training serving style for non-academic staffs............... 67 5.2.2. Investment more on campus facilities, health care for student and job consulting............................................................................................ 68 5.2.3. Developing academic staffs team ....................................................... 69 5.2.4. Offering good campus for student ...................................................... 69 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 70 APPENDIX...................................................................................................................... 72 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Staff Qualifications in Higher Education Institutions (%)................................. 6 Table 4.1: The number of students of each university in the study .................................. 41 Table 4.2: Frequency of sample........................................................................................ 42 Table 4.3: Descriptive statistics ........................................................................................ 43 Table 4.4: Coding Variables in Measurement Scale......................................................... 44 Table 4.5: Cronbach’s Alpha Analysis of HEdPERF Scale ............................................. 48 Table 4.6 : Exploratory Factor Matrix for HEdPERF scale.............................................. 51 Table 4.7: Exploratory Factor Matrix for student satisfaction scale .................................. 52 Table 4.8. Correlation Matrix ........................................................................................... 55 Table 4.9: Regression Analysis......................................................................................... 56 Table 4.10: Hypothesis of variance between groups Test ................................................ 58 Table 4.11: ANOVA analysis ........................................................................................... 58 Table 4.12: Test of Homogeneity of Variances ................................................................ 60 Table 4.13: ANOVA analysis of modified HEdPERF scale ............................................ 61 viii LIST OF FINGURES Fingure 2.1: The Integrated Gaps Model of Service Quality............................................ 18 Fingure 2.2. Conceptual Model ........................................................................................ 31 Diagram 4.1: The structure of sample in term of province............................................... 42 Diagram 4.2: Mean of student satisfaction within groups ................................................ 59 Diagram 4.3: Mean of service quality’s factors within groups........................................ 62 ix CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND 1.1. Introduction In the past, all universities in Vietnam owned and funded by the Government. There were only few of universities located in big cities. At that time, it was very hard for one student to be accepted for admission by the university. However, within ten years, under the policy of socialization in Higher Education, there have been many private universities, colleges and vocational schools appeared. This policy gives many opportunities to learners for selection. Nowadays, private universities are driven towards commercial competition imposed by economic forces resulting from the development of global education markets. In addition, the reduction of government funds that forces tertiary institutions to seek other financial sources. From now, the competition in recruiting new students between Higher education institutions exploded. According to data collected by Vietnam ministry of Education and Training, some institutions could not recruit enough students, even included state-owned one in last two years. The measurement for success now is the annual number of fresh students. Institution, which meets the requirements of reputable academic staffs, modern facilities, accredited training programs, and has long-term development strategy, will attract qualified students. If not, it is likely to eliminate from this severe market. Service quality in training being considered as the key of problems solving. Only concentration on improving study environment quality is main strategy in forming highly reputable brand in students’ mindset and society. That is reason why measuring and accessing the service quality is necessary for all universities and colleges. It helps to improve and increase the satisfaction of students. 1 1.2. Problem Statement Service quality management in Higher Education considered as an interesting topic, it attracted many researchers to participate and explore the key of service quality in training and education. However, most of them developed research models based on SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, 1985) and SERVPERF (Cronin & Taylor, 1992) model. Although, these models tested and validated in many different industries in different countries and regions, each industry has different features, if we only use the same scale to access the service quality, the value of study will be questioned. Therefore, this study is going to apply new model – HEdPERF (Ferdaus, 2005) to measure and access the service quality in Higher education. This paper aims to extend and validate HEdPERF model with data in Vietnam. Besides, through this thesis, the author also tried to clarify and highlight the status of private universities in Vietnam and in Southern key region of Vietnam, associated with accessing the level of compliance of non-state owned universities on student’s satisfaction. The results draw out from analysis would be helpful to proposed intervention programs or solutions to further improve the quality of service in private higher education. This research is expected that its findings will contribute to consult Management Board in enhancing service quality for their institutions significantly. 1.3. Objectives - To measure and access service quality of private universities in Southern economic region. - To explore determinants of Student satisfaction toward Service quality in Higher education. 2 - To recommend some solutions for service quality improvement in Higher Education. 1.4. Importance of the study Until now, there have been many researchers used SERQUAL or SERVPERF model to measure the service quality in Higher Education. However, it is necessary to apply other model built for education only, instead of applying the same in different industries. If this study completed its objectives, it would have contributed to validation of the HEdPERF model in case of Vietnam and would be helpful for private universities in southern key of Vietnam in order to build long-term strategy in improving training quality and enhance their brand name. 1.5. Time and Place of Study - Time: From February 2013 to December 2013. - Place: Some of private universities in Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City. 1.6 Scope and Limitation of Study This research conducted in Southern Key Economy Region. Its results only is applicable for private universities in this area. Next studies should do research in another regions and make a comparison between them. By this way, it maybe find and collect other factors affected to student satisfaction and service quality. Additionally, it is necessary to apply one or two models to compare with HEdPERF. It will make this model more valid. 3 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Higher Education Higher education is an educational level that follows a completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges, universities, and institutes of technology are the main institutions that provide tertiary education (sometimes known collectively as tertiary institutions). Examples of institutions that provide post-secondary education are vocational schools, community colleges, independent colleges (e.g. institutes of technology), and universities in the United States, the institutes of technical and further education in Australia, pre-university colleges in Quebec, and the IEKs in Greece. They are sometimes known collectively as tertiary institutions. Completion of a tertiary education program of study generally results in the awarding of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees. Higher education includes teaching, research, exacting applied work (e.g. in medical schools and dental schools), and social services activities of universities. Within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level, and beyond that, graduatelevel (or postgraduate level). The latter level of education is often referred to as graduate school. 2.2. The overview of Higher Education in Vietnam in recent years Education attainment and growth in Vietnam have been impressive. The country has expressed strong commitment to achieving universal basic education as a foundation 4 for social development and economic growth. Accordingly, primary and secondary net enrolments have grown rapidly with upper levels of education having seen the greatest expansion: Enrolment in colleges and universities has nearly doubled from 2001 to 2011. This increase can be explained by: (i) an initially low enrolment rate; (ii) high demand for higher education as a result of higher returns to skills; and (iii) the Government’s actions in expanding the sub-sector. Access to higher education is becoming more equitable across urban and rural areas and income quintiles but ethnic minority groups have yet to see significant improvement. Individuals from more advantaged groups still outpace those from other groups in terms of higher education enrollment, but rural areas and groups from lower income quintiles have registered the fastest gross enrollment rate growth. These trends, however, stand in stark contrast with almost insignificant improvements of ethnic minorities’ access to higher education between 1998 and 2010.Therefore, reducing the large differences in enrolment between advantaged and disadvantaged groups and closing the large educational attainment gap will require a sustained effort. The emergence of private higher education started in the mid-1990s in response to an increasing demand for and enrolment in higher education. By 2012, Vietnam counted 419 HEIs, of which 80 are private. Although the Government remains by far the main provider in the sector, private provision is playing a critical role and has become an increasingly important share of the total sector provision. The management of the higher education system is fragmented. Responsibility for the oversight of the education sector is shared between the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), and other line ministries and local authorities: some 60 public HEIs 5 are under direct MOET control, while the others are controlled by other ministries (depending on the areas of study and research) or Provincial People’s Committees. HEIs submit their annual plans and budget estimates to their respective ministries for approval and consolidation. Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) consolidate the budget proposals from line ministries and make final allocations based on budget availability. This has led to issues of incoherent and nontransparent budget allocations. The quality of higher education and faculty has not significantly improved. The proportion of faculty members with doctoral degrees is generally used as an indicator of the quality of a higher education institution, especially in the case of international rankings. In Vietnam, the proportion of faculty having a doctoral degree has been falling due to the rapid system expansion, leading to an increase of academic staff without a postgraduate degree. The large number of students for each faculty member has negative consequences on the learning environment. Table 2.1. Staff Qualifications in Higher Education Institutions (%) 19992000 20012002 2003 -2004 20052006 20072008 20082009 Doctorate 14.8 13.8 13.4 12.4 10.5 10.2 10.1 10.6 Master 22.4 26.6 29.3 32.3 36.1 37.3 38.6 40.7 Other university & college qualifications 59.1 56.6 54.6 53.4 51.7 51.2 50 47.5 Professional qualifications 1.9 1.7 1.4 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 Others 1.8 1.3 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.6 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Total Source: Vietnam Ministry of Education and Trainning 6 2009- 20102010 2011 Vietnam is going through a structural shift of its economy, going from a net food importer to the world's second-largest rice exporter. The agriculture sector share of economic output declined, falling to 21 percent of GDP in 2010 as production in other sectors of the economy rose. Industry and construction represented 40.9 percent of GDP and services 38.1 percent in 2010. Foreign trade and FDI have also improved significantly. In this evolving economic context, employment opportunities for tertiary graduates have increased substantially. Nevertheless, employment of tertiary graduates is still concentrated in a few sectors and employment opportunities are still constrained by a high share of self-employment. There is an increasing demand for highly skilled labor, especially in sectors such as manufacturing and FDI. This is also visible from the combination of drastic increases in the tertiary education wage premium over the 1998 to 2008 period (by over 40 percent) with very high “professionalization” rates (over 80 percent). The figure below shows that employment attainment for tertiary graduates remains quite stable over the 2002-2010 period with some variations: Less tertiary graduates worked in state owned enterprises in 2010 than they did in 2002 (respectively 20.84 percent against 8.32 percent) while more tertiary graduates worked in private enterprises in 2010 (20 percent) compared to 2002 (only 7 percent). While demand for higher education graduates has been growing, there are significant levels of skills “mismatches” related to higher education. Skills mismatches are particularly relevant in technologically intensive and export-oriented sectors in Vietnam suggesting both important constraints to country competitiveness and mismatches affecting higher education (quantity and quality). Beyond issues of shortages of highly skilled labor, it is clear that poor quality and relevance of skills acquired in 7 higher education are a big issue. Recent evidence collected from employer and employee surveys confirms pervasive gaps in technical, English and communication skills of professionals. A recent report on foreign employers also confirms that only 10 percent of the recent graduating class of engineers had the potential to become “effective employees”. Two constraints to higher relevance clearly appear: (i) information regarding employment of graduates, labor market and skills is still weak; and (ii) research capacity of universities is not only low but also more supply- than demand-driven. Furthermore, the lack of university-industry linkages and lack of information on labor market needs have negative consequences on the relevance of university programs. Vietnam’s national competitiveness increasingly depends on skilled human capital, which its higher education system is expected to deliver. Development Direction for Vietnamese Higher Education: Vietnam’s policies for the development of its higher education in the period 2011-2020 are based on the following fundamental guidelines: (1) The general directions and strategies for socioeconomic development, education and technology, human resource development for the first decade of the 21 century as identified in official documents of the Communist Party and the Government: such as Instrument of the CPV at the 9th General Conference (April 2001), Law on Education passed by the 9th National Assembly at its 4th session (December, 1998), the Planning of Higher Education Institution System for 20011-2010 approved by the Prime Minister in April 2001, the Education Development Strategy for 2001-2010 approved by the Prime Minister in December 2011, the Resolutions of the 9th CPV Congress at its 6th Session about education & training and science & technology, Policies to encourage socialization activities in Education, Healthcare, Cultural Affairs, 8 and Sports approved by the Prime Minister in September 1999. All of these documents have some articles for education in general and higher education in particular; (2) Major trends and achievements and development experiences in higher education in the world at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century represent the second grounds for Vietnam’s education policies. It is always considered an important task to review successful educational development policies in other countries so that they can be applied creatively to the concrete situations in Vietnam. Higher Education Objectives and Policies. The objectives stated in the 2011-2020 Education Development Strategy are as follows: “to provide high quality human resources in line with the socio-economic structure of the industrialization and modernization of the nation; enhance the competitiveness in fair co-operation for Vietnam in its international economic integration; to facilitate the expansion of post secondary education through diversification of educational programs on the basis of a path-way system that is suitable for the structure of development, careers and employment, local and regional human resource needs and the training capacities of education institutions; to increase the appropriateness of the training to the employment needs of the society, the ability to create jobs for oneself and for others”. To realize such objectives, the higher education policies must target the following new points: - Training highly qualified competitive human resources responsive to the needs of the society and ability to create jobs for themselves; 9 - Opening up higher education system to include post-secondary education perception with diversification and standardization of levels, training curricula, flexible pathways among levels and job markets, and the strengthening of training capacities for higher educational institutions. Attention and priority should be given to some new directions in these objectives: “everybody is entitled to education and life-long learning, the whole country becomes a learning society”. In accordance with the objectives, the policies for educational development can be grouped into four categories: - Structural policies which serve as the focal point for other policies. The structural policies deal with educational levels, specialties, types of educational institutions in relation with social human resource structure in different localities. Further structural improvements are needed to establish a new network of higher educational institutions that consist of both public and non-public institutions with more diversity in objectives and modes of delivery, more pathways to make the system more flexible. This will not only help meet the demand for high level human resource but also provide the people with more educational opportunities and choices, making it easier for the re-structuring of both the human resources and the re-structuring of the economy. This will also help with social, gender, ethnic equity and fairness. According to the 2001-2010 Education Development Strategy, the educational level and quality will be based on international standards so that education can contribute to the industrialization and modernization of the country and the gradual realization of a knowledge based economy and a lifelong learning society. 10 - Quality policies form the foundation for all policies towards quality assurance. Higher quality in education is the key factor in ensuring better educational outcomes and the enhancement of competitiveness of the whole economy. Quality policies are based on a new perception that quality must be relevant with the uniformity and diversification of training objectives. Quality assurance process must be carried out at three important points: the input (through selection of students on entrance examinations), training process and the output (at graduation). Quality assurance must be standardized and modernized on all aspects ranging from curricula, faculties, facilities and investments from the Government and society. One new development in the quality policies is the master frame curriculum for all training programs. These shall be the guidelines for different educational institutions to develop detailed and specific curriculum and syllabuses for each institution. A system of quality assurance based on assessment criteria and quality accrediting process will also be introduced. This will be a combination of institution-administered assessments and external auditing and evaluation. Quality policies also emphasize the innovations of training methodologies so that students can develop their self-learning and independent research capacities, problemsolving skills; IT skills, language skills, communication skills and they will be able to form their own business and create jobs for others. To supplement these quality policies, there must be policies targeted at quality assurance, such as criteria for selection of inputs, social equity, training of teachers with standard quality, evaluation of the teaching staffs, incentives for teachers and recruiting young and talented people to work in the higher education system. 11