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Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Khurram Shahzad, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Abid Iqbal

The objectives of the study were to identify the effects of blockchain technology (BT) on the university librarians, the impact of BT on the university library services and to…

Abstract

Purpose

The objectives of the study were to identify the effects of blockchain technology (BT) on the university librarians, the impact of BT on the university library services and to reveal the challenges to adopt BT in the university libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was applied to address the objectives of the study. Around 25 studies published in peer-reviewed journals were selected to conduct the study.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed that blockchain technology (BT) has positive effects on the university librarians as it assists them in digital resources management, provision of integrated library services, effective records management and continued professional development. The study also displayed that BT has a positive impact on the university libraries through effective information management, user privacy, collaboration, technological innovation and access control. Results also revealed that technical issues, financial constraints, security problems, skill issues and sociocultural issues created challenges to adopt BT in the university libraries.

Originality/value

The study has offered theoretical implications for future investigators through the provision of innovative literature on the prospectus and challenges associated with blockchain in the context of librarianship. The study has also provided practical implications for management bodies by offering recommendations for the successful adoption of blockchain in the university libraries. Additionally, a framework has been developed to adopt BT successfully in the university libraries for the delivery of smart library services to library patrons.

Article
Publication date: 5 December 2023

Alexandra Zimbatu and Stephen Whyte

The growing cost and difficulty related to “finding someone” suggests that the role of service organisations in explicitly supporting and designing opportunities for love between…

Abstract

Purpose

The growing cost and difficulty related to “finding someone” suggests that the role of service organisations in explicitly supporting and designing opportunities for love between customers merits further attention. This study employs a multidisciplinary approach of both services marketing and the economics of mate choice to understand how service organisations can exercise the third place effect and facilitate human mate choice (love) opportunities for consumers in extended service encounters.

Design/methodology/approach

Three qualitative co-design workshops were conducted with actors (students, casual and professional staff) from the Australian university ecosystem (n = 36) to identify consumer expectations related to mate selection in third place service contexts. A quantitative online survey of (n = 1207) current Australian university students was used to rank the importance of core and enhancing service elements.

Findings

The authors find that love holds a status in the minds of some consumers as an implicitly expected by-product of participation within the core service consumption experience in third places. For service providers to facilitate mate choice opportunities in third places, the results suggest that the design of the connective mechanism(s) should maximise opportunities for informal consumer-to-consumer interaction to allow prospective partners to ascertain compatibility. Further, consumers expect the organisational facilitation of engagement in order to clarify expected etiquette and support goal congruence. In the tertiary education marketplace for love, there is an increased preference for interpersonal engagement by those studying on campus (compared to externally), and a positive relationship between duration of enrolment and increased priority for mate choice service provision.

Originality/value

This research makes a novel theoretical and empirical contribution by being the first exploration of the economics of third place love in the tertiary education sector, also being a research primer for the field of services marketing to consider service design in third places to support mate choice.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Irish Tejero-Dakay, Lorafe Lozano and Rosana Ferolin

This paper aims to help higher education institutions (HEIs) develop a better understanding of student support and services needs, thereby enabling them to allocate limited…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to help higher education institutions (HEIs) develop a better understanding of student support and services needs, thereby enabling them to allocate limited resources for initiatives that effectively improve student experience.

Design/methodology/approach

An assessment framework following the Kano analysis is developed to categorize student service features based on customer satisfaction and need fulfillment. The framework is used at a local university, using 23 service features listed as minimum requirements by the national regulatory body for education. Analysis of the satisfaction survey results and prioritization are based on quality indices derived from a factor of importance and the satisfaction gap. A survey was conducted for two academic years to generate a comparison of results.

Findings

Of the list mandated as minimum requirements for HEIs, the study revealed that no features were regarded as “must-be,” eight as performing, 14 as attractive and one as indifferent by the students. As these results were disaggregated per year level, the natural decay of delight as in the Kano theory was exhibited as there were less attractive features for students who have been in the university longest. After a full-year academic cycle, results compared to the baseline figures seemed to reveal of impact of the achievement of performance targets by the units rendering specific activities on client satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

Further rounds of the study are needed to build up more data sets on the relationship between objective performance and satisfaction level for performing features, mindful that this categorization is also bound to change along the way.

Practical implications

As HEIs in the Philippines journey towards the establishment of their own respective internal quality assurance systems, this study provides a practical approach for institutions to transform a mere list of student services for compliance into a strategic tool to enhance the student experience.

Originality/value

In the context of continuous quality improvement, the study presents how the qualitative Kano model, along with simple quantitative tools in the methodology, can be utilized not only in the planning stage of service design but also in closing the planning, doing, checking and acting (PDCA) cycle and opening the quality improvement spiral.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 March 2024

Hoang Viet Nguyen, Tuan Duong Vu, Muhammad Saleem and Asif Yaseen

Improving service quality, student satisfaction and student loyalty is important to higher education institutions’ sustainable growth. The objectives of this study are a twofold…

Abstract

Purpose

Improving service quality, student satisfaction and student loyalty is important to higher education institutions’ sustainable growth. The objectives of this study are a twofold: first, the study seeks to determine the dimensions of higher education service quality with a specific focus on Vietnam. Second, it examines how the service quality dimensions impact student satisfaction and student loyalty, with the moderating role of the university image.

Design/methodology/approach

This study followed a rigorous procedure, including interviews, a survey, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis to identify higher education service quality dimensions and their measures. After that, using the data obtained from 1,550 university students in Vietnam, confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the identified dimensions and structural equation modeling was used to test a proposed model explaining the outcomes of higher education service quality.

Findings

The findings reveal five dimensions of higher education service quality: academic aspect, nonacademic aspect, programming issues, facilities and industry interaction. Most of these factors have a positive influence on student satisfaction. In addition, the university image moderates the positive relationship between student satisfaction and student loyalty.

Practical implications

This study’s findings highlight the complexity of service quality in the higher education context and encourage higher education institutions to improve their service quality in image to enhance student satisfaction and loyalty.

Originality/value

This study suggests a unique measure of higher education service quality dimensions and provides fresh insights into how they impact student satisfaction and loyalty in Vietnam.

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2023

Rita Ambarwati and Dewi Komala Sari

This study aims to determine the effect of Islamic branding, experiential marketing and word of mouth on college decisions and to find marketing strategies through strengthening…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to determine the effect of Islamic branding, experiential marketing and word of mouth on college decisions and to find marketing strategies through strengthening Islamic branding based on experiential marketing to increase the number of students at Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a quantitative method, with data collection carried out using a survey method by giving questionnaires to respondents. The respondents' criteria are active students, at least in semester three, who have studied at Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education in Indonesia, using a sampling technique with accidental sampling. Data analysis used Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling to determine the estimated results or model predictions.

Findings

The results showed a significant direct effect of experiential marketing, Islamic branding and word of mouth on college decisions. There is an indirect effect between experiential marketing and Islamic branding on college decisions through word of mouth, but the word-of-mouth variable could not mediate the relationship between experiential marketing and Islamic branding on college decisions perfectly.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of the results of the study is that it uses respondents who are and have participated in learning activities on the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education, where the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education has added value compared to other private campuses. The added value on the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education is the overall learning activity based on Kemuhammadiyahan Islam in Indonesia. Islam Kemuhammadiyahan is the identity of the Islamic branding strategy on the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education, which is only owned by the Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education.

Practical implications

This study recommends marketing strategies through strengthening Islamic branding based on experiential marketing to increase the number of students at Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah Higher Education.

Originality/value

The novelty of this research is the addition of experiential marketing and Islamic branding variable measurements on word of mouth and college decisions, especially prospective students to study at Islamic Higher Education in Indonesia.

Details

Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0833

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2023

Abd Al-Aziz Hamed Al-Refaei, Hairuddin Mohd Ali, Abdulmajid Mohammed Aldaba and Abdul Rahim Zumrah

This study aims to examine the constructs of job satisfaction and organizational commitment (OC) as the determinants of customer-perceived service quality in higher education…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the constructs of job satisfaction and organizational commitment (OC) as the determinants of customer-perceived service quality in higher education context. It also explores the role of OC in mediating the dynamics of the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

It applied the cross-sectional, ex post facto survey method to acquire data from 1,776 respondents at Aden University. Two sets of questionnaires on job satisfaction, OC and perceived service quality were filled out by 296 academic staff and 1,480 students. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results showed that job satisfaction exercised a significant positive effect on OC and students’ perception of service quality (i.e. the quality of lectures delivered in class that shaped their learning experiences). OC also significantly affected students’ perception of service quality and partially mediated the effect of job satisfaction on perceived service quality.

Research limitations/implications

The current research only investigated the outcomes of job satisfaction and did not cover critical antecedents of job satisfaction, such as employee training and development, rewards and benefits and the like. Its outcomes have important implications for managing the link between organizational practices and customers perception of service quality in higher education context.

Practical implications

The results have accentuated the importance of universities’ ensuring and increasing faculty’s job satisfaction and commitment if they seek to enhance students’ perception of service quality. Universities can do so by improving their organizational practices, which are expected to result in faculty well-being and improved working conditions.

Originality/value

The results have contributed new insights into the current understanding of the dynamics between and among job satisfaction, OC and customers’ perceptions of service quality. It has demonstrated how OC is shaped by job satisfaction and can influence the quality of services rendered by employees if they are happy and satisfied with the organization.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 October 2023

Shahab Alam Malik, Taqdees Fatima, Yong Jia and Hina Pannu

One of the organization's main goals is to maintain their customers' loyalty, as this can give them a competitive advantage. Therefore, this study is intended to look into the…

Abstract

Purpose

One of the organization's main goals is to maintain their customers' loyalty, as this can give them a competitive advantage. Therefore, this study is intended to look into the impact of library service quality using LibQUAL + TM dimensions (library service effect, personal control and library as a place), library image and trust on users’ loyalty with the mediating effect of perceived service value and satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for hypotheses testing were gathered from Minhaj University Lahore (MUL), a private sector university's staff, administration and students, using a survey questionnaire. About 500 questionnaires were randomly distributed, and 407 were utilized as the final sample for analysis. Structural equation modelling (SEM), using SmartPLS 4 and SPSS 25, were used to analyze the empirical data.

Findings

First, research reveals that library image, users’ trust, library service effect and personal control significantly influence user satisfaction. Second, the library as a place and personal control are not a significant indicator of perceived service value. Third, perceived service value and satisfaction have a direct positive relationship with users' loyalty. Fourth, trust and library service effect is indirectly related to loyalty via perceived service value. Fifth, satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between library as a place and loyalty.

Practical implications

Customer satisfaction must be guaranteed by library administration if it hopes to win users’ loyalty. In light of the fact that a variety of factors can affect customer satisfaction, their perception and loyalty, library management should enhance not just the quality of library services along with other factors such as library image and users’ trust.

Originality/value

The study examined the independent impact of library image and users’ trust on satisfaction, perceived service value and users’ loyalty, which, within the framework of the library, has never been addressed in literature.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 41 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Sri Suranta and Rahmawati Rahmawati

This research examined the direct and indirect effect of university social responsibility (USR) on student loyalty through the mediation of service quality and university image.

Abstract

Purpose

This research examined the direct and indirect effect of university social responsibility (USR) on student loyalty through the mediation of service quality and university image.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes 35 students from Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa, a private university, and 74 respondents from Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, a state university, totaling 109 respondents. The data were obtained by sending a questionnaire in the form of Google Docs through the student WhatsApp groups at the universities. Furthermore, the four variable constructs were tested with loading factors to determine reliability, and Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the construct validity. The research hypotheses were tested via path analysis using the WarpPLS 8.0 statistical tool.

Findings

The results showed that the image of the university mediates the relationship between USR and student loyalty. Meanwhile, service quality does not mediate the relationship. The USR had a direct relationship with service quality, university image and student loyalty. The image of the university also had a direct effect on student loyalty, while service quality had an insignificant effect on student loyalty. Therefore, based on the coefficient value, the indirect effect between USR and student loyalty through the image of the university is stronger than the direct effect between USR and student loyalty.

Originality/value

Several previous models examined the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumer loyalty in general, but this research has applications in the education sector with a different concept, namely USR with different measurements.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2022

Davood Ghorbanzadeh and Mohsen Sharbatiyan

Despite promising conceptual developments in value co-creation behaviors, the scholarly attention afforded to the importance of the university website features in strengthening…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite promising conceptual developments in value co-creation behaviors, the scholarly attention afforded to the importance of the university website features in strengthening the university brand image and reputation through students’ value co-creation behaviors is limited. University website features are conceptualized as a hierarchical construct with three dimensions: usability, availability and information. This study aims to investigate the effect of university website features and value co-creation behaviors of students on promoting brand image and brand reputation at Islamic Azad University in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is quantitative. Using convenience sampling techniques, a responsive group of 384 students was chosen from the Islamic Azad University of Tehran in Iran. Survey methods were used for data collection. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the derived hypotheses.

Findings

The findings of this study indicated that website features have a positive effect on fostering value co-creation behaviors (participation and citizenship behavior), and participation behavior, in turn, improves university brand image and reputation. At the same time, among value co-creation behaviors, citizenship behavior has no impact on the university’s brand image. Finally, the brand image formed through website features and participation behavior positively affects brand reputation.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted in the higher education (HE) sector in one cosmopolitan Iranian city (i.e. Tehran), to which Iranians from other cities travel for studying. Thus, the results of this survey include a variety of subcultures. In the future, a study that incorporates all major metropolitan cities of Iran may increase the generalizability of the findings. Unrelated to the purpose of this study, a future research study may extend the currently studied geographical dimensions and examine the antecedents of university brand reputation across different nations using a cross-cultural approach.

Practical implications

Pragmatically, the findings of this study urge university policymakers, information technology managers and marketers to consider the university website’s unique role in assisting co-creation behavior, which in turn promotes university brand image and reputation in the HE market. One of the ways to assess a university’s brand image and reputation is through the university ranking system. Ascending the ranking system can allow a university to attract qualified students.

Originality/value

These findings contribute to the marketing literature by empirically validating the three elements in the website features construct, providing intelligence on how website features can drive value co-creation behaviors, brand image and reputation. Also, results revealed that the brand image of universities positively affects brand reputation. This study highlights the importance of national and international rankings of universities and students’ sensitivity to such rankings. Undoubtedly, this is evident in Iranian students’ behavior in selecting their university.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Md. Nurul Islam, Guangwei Hu, Murtaza Ashiq and Shakil Ahmad

This bibliometric study aims to analyze the latest trends and patterns of big data applications in librarianship from 2000 to 2022. By conducting a comprehensive examination of…

Abstract

Purpose

This bibliometric study aims to analyze the latest trends and patterns of big data applications in librarianship from 2000 to 2022. By conducting a comprehensive examination of the existing literature, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the emerging field of big data in librarianship and its potential impact on the future of libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a rigorous four-stage process of identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion to filter and select the most relevant documents for analysis. The Scopus database was utilized to retrieve pertinent data related to big data applications in librarianship. The dataset comprised 430 documents, including journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, reviews and books. Through bibliometric analysis, the study examined the effectiveness of different publication types and identified the main topics and themes within the field.

Findings

The study found that the field of big data in librarianship is growing rapidly, with a significant increase in publications and citations over the past few years. China is the leading country in terms of publication output, followed by the United States of America. The most influential journals in the field are Library Hi Tech and the ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. The top authors in the field are Minami T, Wu J, Fox EA and Giles CL. The most common keywords in the literature are big data, librarianship, data mining, information retrieval, machine learning and webometrics.

Originality/value

This bibliometric study contributes to the existing body of literature by comprehensively analyzing the latest trends and patterns in big data applications within librarianship. It offers a systematic approach to understanding the state of the field and highlights the unique contributions made by various types of publications. The study’s findings and insights contribute to the originality of this research, providing a foundation for further exploration and advancement in the field of big data in librarianship.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

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