STUDENTS’ PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY OF BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Research applied an extended SERVQUAL instrument to determine the perceived service quality delivered to students' of two business schools in Tanzania during and after the service encounter. Three hypotheses pertaining to demographics and time were tested. A longitudinal survey was conducted. Extended SERVQUAL instrument was administered to students in the final year of study in interval of six months period. Expectations against the school's actual service performance along the service quality dimensions were determined. A Likert scale anchored at points 1 to 7 was used for dimension items, whereas a 5-point scale on overall performance was used. Two of the three tested hypotheses (H 1 & H 3) were partly supported while H2 was fully supported, indicating significant differences in students' perceived service quality by demographic groups; stability of students'/graduates' perceived service quality received during the two periods of time; and impact on Process Outcome on the overall level of service performance at T1. It is recommended to managers of business schools in Tanzania to continuously apply the extended SERVQUAL while monitoring students' expectations and perceptions for improvement purposes. The application of the extended SERVQUAL was limited to two conveniently located public business schools in Tanzania in a time interval of six months. This period may not be long enough to track students' perceptions of education service quality after graduation. In future, the extended SERVQUAL instrument can be applied to a large number of business schools to monitor the dynamics of students and graduates expectations and perceptions in a similar setting. A longitudinal study beyond the 6-month period may be conducted. The study can be extended to other emerging markets.