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This study identifies the factors that postgraduate service management programs (PSMPs) in Korean Universities can use to gain competitive advantage.

A mixed-method approach was adopted in serial order to verify the role of PSMP identity in the relationship between education service quality and student satisfaction established in prior research. Study 1 is a case study designed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the PSMPs in Korea using data derived through a document review of the sources collected from the official websites of PSMPs. In Study 2, focus group interviews were conducted with students and graduates of PSMPs to gain new insights that would help attain competitive advantage. Finally, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Study 3 to statistically test the relationship between PSMP identity, education service quality and student satisfaction.

Education service quality has a positive impact on PSMP identity, PSMP identity has a positive impact on student satisfaction and PSMP identity mediates the aforementioned impacts. The results established PSMP identity as a key factor in enhancing its competitiveness.

Since PSMPs have a short history and are limited number of cases in Korea, their justification is not well-understood by the general public and companies. This problem is not limited to PSMPs but is also shared by other specialized postgraduate programs. With comprehensive data on and new insights into PSMPs, including the determinants of competitive advantage, the results provide basic evidence for follow-up research and useful information for administrative officers in charge of specialized postgraduate programs.

This paper discusses the redevelopment of MSc Civil Engineering and Construction Management of a modern university in the Midlands of the UK in recent years, with the aim to offer flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals and address the sector's skill shortage concerns (Augar Review, 2019 and 2021; Department for Education (DfE), 2020 and 2021; Foresight Review, 2017).

The research method is insider action research and a case study approach. It involves interviews with external and internal stakeholders who contributed to this redevelopment and review of relevant documents related to the development.

The research finding showed that both the internal and external stakeholders welcome the proposed redevelopment of postgraduate courses in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. They found the course offers opportunities for civil engineering and construction professionals to further develop their skills and to address government initiatives on flexible and future learning. The online offer of the course is attractive to potential students. It has brought a substantial financial return to the university and created a new international presence of the course and the university.

It has been argued that an insider research approach may have an advantage in accessing information compared to other research methods. The case study approach may have limitations on generalisability.

This research can be used as an example for other universities that aim to enhance their existing offers to address government initiatives and enhance financial viability.

This paper is a pilot study examining a university's response to skill shortage and government proposal on flexible learning for adults through redevelopment and enhancement of the offer of the existing postgraduate courses.

BUSINESS SCHOOL GRAFFITI is a highly personal and revealing account of the first ten years (1965–1975) at Britain’s University Business Schools. The progress achieved is documented in a whimsical fashion that makes it highly readable. Gordon Wills has been on the inside throughout the decade and has played a leading role in two of the major Schools. Rather than presuming to present anything as pompous as a complete history of what has happened, he recalls his reactions to problems, issues and events as they confronted him and his colleagues. Lord Franks lit a fuse which set a score of Universities and even more Polytechnics alight. There was to be a bold attempt to produce the management talent that the pundits of the mid‐sixties so clearly felt was needed. Buildings, books, teachers who could teach it all, and students to listen and learn were all required for the boom to happen. The decade saw great progress, but also a rapid decline in the relevancy ethic. It saw a rapid withering of interest by many businessmen more accustomed to and certainly desirous of quick results. University Vice Chancellors, theologians and engineers all had to learn to live with the new and often wealthier if less scholarly faculty members who arrived on campus. The Research Councils had to decide how much cake to allow the Business Schools to eat. Most importantly, the author describes the process of search he went through as an individual in evolving a definition of his own subject and how it can best be forwarded in a University environment. It was a process that carried him from Technical College student in Slough to a position as one of the authorities on his subject today.

The purpose of this paper is to address the research question using qualitative research methods: how and why medically trained managers choose to undertake postgraduate management training?

This research used two qualitative methods to gather data. Both methods used purposeful sampling to select interviewees with appropriate management expertise, qualifications and experience. The first stage utilised convergent interviews and was exploratory. The five interviewees were managers and academics. The second stage used case research methodology and was confirmatory. The fifteen interviewees were medically qualified chief executives and chief medical officers. In total, 20 in-depth interviews were carried. Rigorous content analysis of data collected showed emergent themes.

The first theme that emerged was that doctors move into management positions without first undertaking training. The second theme was that doctors undertake such training in the form of a masters-level degree and/or a specialist fellowship. The third theme was that effective postgraduate management training for doctors requires a combination of theory and practice. The fourth theme was that clinical experience alone does not lead to required management competencies. The fifth theme was that doctors choose to undertake training to gain credibility.

This research was exploratory and descriptive in nature and limited to analytical rather than statistical generalisation.

This research has provided insights into the importance of understanding how and why doctors undertake postgraduate management training, and may assist policy makers and training providers in the development of such training for doctors.

The purpose of this paper is to promote and analytically verify an advanced assessment design to evaluate service quality (SQ) especially in postgraduate higher education.

This research adopts a quantitative approach through a survey method. A structured questionnaire was designed as a means for collecting data. Data were collected from 182 postgraduate students in an Egyptian higher education university. Data were examined by exploratory factor analysis to pinpoint the main irregularities explained by the extracted factors. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to filter the ratios and empirically test the assessment efficiency of the developed model.

The final model consists of 33 items loaded into eight dimensions for measuring performance-based SQ of the postgraduate higher education. The results are satisfactory in terms of unidimensionality, trustworthiness, and validity tests.

Although the empirical results are significant, a comparative study can identify relative strengths and weaknesses of this model.

For improving postgraduate higher education institutions’ quality, this paper highlights some dimensions and attributes that should be considered.

The literature proposes that there is an opportunity to handle SQ from the point of view of postgraduate students covering different contexts to further build a more comprehensive structure specifically for postgraduate higher education SQ. This paper deals with this research gap with analytical confirmation within the context of postgraduate programs in an Egyptian university.

Discusses Australian postgraduate management training needs in the light of the obsolescence of current management development technology. Reports on a pilot study into perceptions within industry and higher education of what is needed for future courses. Academics emphasized content, and managers′ practical and process skills. Advocates a shift from content to process because of the rapidity of change in management′s environment.

The purpose of this paper is to surface themes which may influence Chinese students’ decision making in relation to postgraduate study in international universities.

The study utilises a semi-structured qualitative interview methodology (n=15).

The main findings are discussed according to the following themes: financial and time costs; employment prospects; postgraduate education as a cultural adventure; linguistics; visa issues; admissions; climate; influence of referents; and academic image and reputation.

The sample size is small, yet affords greater depth of data and discussion.

The research offers practitioners in universities who are managing postgraduate recruitment of Chinese students, some greater understanding of the reasons behind prospective Chinese postgraduate students’ choice; from which they can evaluate the effectiveness of their institutions’ recruitment strategies.

Extant research has tended to report reasons why Chinese students study overseas, whereas this study offers deeper insight and exploration of the reasoning of Chinese international students in the postgraduate context. The research is of value given the importance of postgraduate Chinese students to international university recruitment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate employers’ attitudes towards qualities and skills for the twenty-first century of Hanoi Open University (HOU) postgraduates. More specifically, it is to find out employers’ assessment and satisfaction on five sets of skills: foundation skills, professional competencies, personal attributes, organizational skills and technical knowledge and skills.

The study used a survey questionnaire as a tool to collect data. The survey was conducted on employers of HOU postgraduates who graduated during the academic years 2015–2016 from five faculties at HOU.

The findings of the study show that employers highly appreciated HOU postgraduates in numeracy skills, ICT literacy skills and information literacy within foundation skills; critical thinking and problem solving skills, collaboration skills and conceptual skills within professional competencies; responsible, integrity and interpersonal skills within organization skills; productivity, organization and planning and time management within organizational skills; knowledge-related regulations and policies at workplace, capacity to use knowledge and skills at workplace and lifelong learning within technical knowledge and skills.

The values of the study are that the employer attitudes identified can be used to evaluate educational programs and can be used as a quality assurance measure. The study helps to indicate the gap between the expectation and the satisfaction of employers on HOU postgraduates. Thereby, suggestions can be given to HOU’s management to improve the services at the university in general and the services to postgraduate students in particular to upgrade their qualities and skills to meet social demands.

New Zealand postgraduate library and information studies qualifications have undergone a process of continual revision since the first training school for librarians was established in 1946. This chapter begins with an overview of the history of postgraduate library studies qualifications in New Zealand. It continues with a discussion of the establishment of qualifications for record keepers (archivists and records managers), followed by a description of the most recent developments, which established a generic Master of Information Studies qualification, and the associated Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma of Information Studies. It concludes with a discussion of the various drivers for these changes, and the ways in which the relationships between the various professional associations and interest groups and the education providers have evolved.

The purpose of this study is to present the academic pattern of project-based studies on the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach in a comparative manner in the context of Turkey.

Focusing on the context of Turkey, a detailed search was conducted at the National Thesis Center of Turkey, and on Google Scholar between November 28 and December 15, 2021, using the keywords “Lean Six Sigma” and “Lean 6 Sigma” in both Turkish and English. As a result of this search, no conference proceedings on the subject were found. However, 25 postgraduate theses and 19 articles were accessed. It was determined that ten of the 19 articles were produced from these theses. It was observed that nine of the 25 postgraduate theses contained conceptual analyses. At this point, it was concluded that the project-based theses conducted in the context of Turkey provided the necessary representation on the subject. Therefore, the 16 postgraduate theses that had been accessed constituted the sample of the study. These 16 theses were subjected to a comprehensive evaluation with the systematic analysis design, with descriptive content analysis being used as the data analysis tool of the research. In this context, the theses were examined using parameters such as type, number, year, university, institute, department, discipline, original language and title of advisor. Other parameters used were purpose, industry, duration, team, results, tools and techniques of the LSS projects mentioned in the theses.

It was determined that the number of postgraduate theses on LSS was low in number, with only one study having been performed at the doctoral level, and most studies having been produced in 2019. In addition, it was observed that the subject had been studied by different universities, institutes, disciplines and departments with the LSS spreading to different academic disciplines. Most of the relevant theses were written in Turkish, and it has been determined that these theses were mostly carried out under the supervision of academicians with the title of assistant professor. It was also found that the purposes of the theses, the tools used throughout the process and the results obtained were per the LSS spirit. On the other hand, it was determined that the duration of the project and the composition of the team members would vary due to the diversity of features that make the internal dynamics of the projects clear.

The research revealed the academic pattern of the project-based studies on the LSS in the Turkish context. The use of systematic review design and descriptive content analysis as data analysis tools in the research is an important initiative. While the uniqueness of the studies carried out on such a practical subject cannot be discussed, the holistic approach of these studies increases the contribution value of the research. At this point, this study is considered to be especially valuable for an understanding of LSS research in country-specific conditions. In this aspect, it is an aim of the aforementioned research to become a resource for researchers and practitioners interested in LSS, with this research providing a basis for making contextual comparisons in the future.