Purpose- The concerns of service quality may differ from one country to another and from one industry to another. It is therefore crucial to develop measures of service quality that are pertinent to the country and culture where the service is offered. This paper proposes developing a measure of service quality in the Iran and then testing this measure in university of Tehran as a oldest and largest scientific, educational and research center of the country which is called the "Mother University" and the "Symbol of higher education of the country".
For attain this purpose we attempt to answer two questions:
1. Is SERVPERF model better then SERVQUAL (gap) model or vise versus?
2. Is dimension of model suitable for universities of Iran or we must adapt these instrument? In other word do we need alternative method of measuring service quality in university of Iran?
The components of service quality were developed through a brainstorming and sorting exercise. Based on the results of this survey, the authors developed a 60-item (30-items evaluate student's perceptions and 30-items evaluate student's expectations) questionnaire comprising the four dimensions. then two model introduced UNQUAL and UNPERF. the first is based on disconfirmation definition of service quality(gap model) and other is based on measurement of performance. The questionnaire was distributed to students of University of Tehran. Factor analysis of the responses resulted in four dimensions. The reliability and predictive validity of these dimensions were confirmed. Finally data subjected to regression analysis.
Factor analysis resulted in four dimensions: Responsiveness, Empathy, Administrative, and Reliability and assurance elements. The empirical analysis indicated that UNPERF four-factor structure with 23 items resulted in more reliable estimations, greater criterion and construct validity, greater explained variance, and consequently a better fit.
This paper emphasizes the need to customize measures of service quality to different industries and countries. This is particularly important for Education services. This paper also provides guidelines for Universities managers in the Iran on which dimensions of service quality they should emphasize in order to retain their customers (students) and attract new ones. This paper has important research implications on the dimensions of service quality in Iran especially in universities.
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